Lawn Care Tip #4 Provide The Right Amount Of Water To Your Lawn Year
Consistent, year-round watering helps maintain healthy soil and turf. Aim to water once per week in winter and two to three times per week in warm-weather months. But keep in mind, too much of a good thing can bewell, bad. Over-watering can trigger lawn diseases.
Also, timing is critical. Be sure to water your Texas lawn in the early morning so whatever moisture is not absorbed by the soil is evaporated by the sun. Water that sits on a lawn during the night can cause fungal lawn diseases, defeating the whole point of watering in the first place: to keep your lawn healthy.
Lawn Care Calendar: A Month
In this article, Im going to outline the lawn care calendar that I work by every year.
To help you as best I can, Ive broken down this lawn treatment schedule month by month so you know exactly what to do and when.
However, like everything when it comes to lawn maintenance, theres a caveat to everything
And thats the weather.
This lawn calendar is meant to be a guide only.
Unfortunately, we cant control the weather so youll have to use your best judgement when it comes to the timing of individual tasks.
Some years, if the weather is on our side, we can start certain tasks a little earlier than normal. Sometimes though, you might have to wait a little longer.
So dont stick to this like glue just because its in black and white on a computer screen.
Take a look at what the weather is doing and plan your jobs around that.
A Simple Lawn Maintenance Schedule
We arent always looking for complicated encyclopedia type guides, occasionally we just want simple lawn care tips and tricks to keep our yard looking as good as possible all year round.
We have taken advice from the experts, and whittled it down to a simple lawn care plan that is easy follow and doesnt cost the world.
It should be noted that this plan is written around a northern cool season lawn. Although it can be applied to any zone, but you may have to adjust the timings a little.
In order to keep this guide as simple as possible, we have not gone into detail on what each step is and how to complete it. Where it will help, I will provide a link to a helpful resource in case you need to research each step further.
Apart from the mowing height, we do not mention mowing in this guide. You should mow your lawns as per best practices the main rule is dont mow too short!
Don’t Miss: How Often Should You Water Your Lawn In Texas
Tip No : Use A Sharp Mower Blade
A well-maintained, sharp and balanced blade cuts grass cleanly and evenly . A dull one tears grass instead of cutting it cleanly. Damaged grass turns yellow, requires more water and nutrients to recover, and is more susceptible to disease. An unbalanced blade compounds the problem and can damage your lawn mowers bearings. Sharpening and balancing a blade three times a year is usually enough to maintain a good cutting edge unless you hit lots of rocks. Heres how to sharpen a lawn mower blade.
Family Handyman
Seed And Lime The Lawn As Needed
Plant grass seed in bare spots in your lawn or wherever growth is sparse. Consider seeding while applying a slow release nitrogen fertilizer. Early spring and fall are ideal times for reseeding.
- Spring is the best time to test your yards pH to determine if your soil is too acidic. Most grasses grow best when the soil pH is between 5.8 and 7.2. If your soil is too acidic, you can see an influx of moss, weeds, diseases and insect pests.
- Use a soil test kit to find your soil’s pH or ask a county extension agent if he or she can test for you.
- In many parts of the country, lime application can make the soil less acidic and help the grass better absorb fertilizers and nutrients from the soil.
- Soil pH changes over time, so retest yearly until your results are balanced. Afterwards, an established lawn can be tested every three years or so.
- Spring and fall are the best times to add lime to a lawn that needs it. Use soil test results to know how much lime to apply and follow the directions on the lime package.
Tip: Grass planted in spring may need extra watering, weeding and other attention during the summer. Fall seeding requires less fuss.
You May Like: Does Scotts Lawn Fertilizer Expire
Lawn Care : Your Seasonal Guide To Lawn Care & Maintenance
Letâs admit it a healthy and lush lawn is every homeownerâs dream. It not only improves the general appearance and value of your home but also provides a space for your family and friends to enjoy. Lawn care, like many other home maintenance tasks, calls for proper preparation and planning if youâre to have an enviable lawn throughout the year.
For the best results, you need to use different approaches for different seasons depending on the prevailing weather conditions. In this comprehensive guide, we explain everything you need to know about taking good care of your lawn and keeping it in tip-top condition during the four seasons of the year. Inside, we will show you when to mow, fertilize, seed/overseed, aerate, dethatch, water, and treat.
And thatâs not all.
Weâve also compressed the most important tips into a downloadable infographic. Get your copy below and if possible, even print it out for use as a point of reference whenever you want to prepare for a new season.
Ready? Letâs get started!
Dispose Of Lawn Clippings As Needed
It’s acceptable to leave grass clippings on your lawn unless they begin to form a thick thatch layer. Then remove the clippings and dethatch your lawn as needed.
Tip: If you use chemicals on your lawn, do not add the clippings to a compost pile.
Effective DIY lawn care during spring can save you time and effort later in the year. Follow these lawn care tips to make sure that your grass is greener.
When determining how much grass seed or mulch you need, don’t guesstimate, calculate. Know exactly how much you need with our project calculators.
Tools
Recommended Reading: Harbor Freight Hand Truck Tires
Overseeding In The Fall
Cold temperatures can make turf grasses brown. But if you overseed in the fall, this is avoidable. This season is the last growing period of the year, so overseeding is essential, even if you did it in the spring.
The amount you overseed depends on the type of turfgrass you have in your yard. If your lawn is comprised of warm-season turfgrass, Virginia Tech provides a useful list. If your lawn has cool-season turfgrass, University of Massachusetts Amherst provides a useful list as well.
During the overseeding process also, you may consider introducing more resilient grasses that can withstand the harsher climatic conditions of winter and summer. While at it, ensure that the seeds youâre spreading in the thin spots or bare patches get into good contact with the soil. Thereafter, water them until they germinate. The core goal is to ensure that the grasses are well established before winter comes.
Why I Dont Need To Water Often
My Atlanta-area property hasnt seen significant rain this year, but I havent had to water my lawn even once. As I built up a healthy soil base and focused on soil and root health, I continued to push watering to the limits. I wouldnt irrigate until the grass began to show signs of distress. I dont recommend this approach for other plants, but its a good way to be as efficient as possible when watering grass.
Over time, the roots of my turf were able to grow deeper and stronger while the rich, healthy soil is able to retain moisture longer. For both these reasons, my lawn has developed a resiliency that allows it to sustain on its own for the most part without the supplemental watering my neighbors provide their grass.
As you follow these fundamental principles and developing a healthier turf, I encourage you to occasionally put your lawn to the test. You will find that you can water less and less often too.
Mastering these seven healthy lawn care topics will give you a low maintenance lawn that is the envy of your neighbors.
Read Also: How To Start Your Own Lawn Business
Lawn Care Tips For Beginners
Caring for your first lawn is a great feeling. You’ve worked toward this moment, and now the grass under your feet is in your hands. By learning how to care for your first lawn, you can see your plans for lush, thick turf and backyard entertaining come true. Take on your lawn one task at a time, and work through these lawn care basics. Here’s how to start and where to go from there:
How To Take Care Of Your Lawn Year Round
Regular year-round lawn care and maintenance is essential for a green, healthy lawn. Without it, your grass can become overgrown and more susceptible to all types of lawn diseases and outdoor pests. Seasonal lawn care and maintenance requirements change as temperatures rise and fall, so its important to pay attention to the time of year for proper care. Heres a helpful guide on how to take care of your lawn year-round in Northern NJ.
Also Check: Which Lawn Weed Killer Is The Best
Spring Tasks To Foster A Great Lawn
The Spruce / David Karoki
When spring is in the air, you’ll see the first crocuses or daffodils return, marking the coming of the season. These signs should also signal to you that it’s time to get your lawn ready for the growing season. The exact timing of these lawn care tasks depends upon the climate of your region. If you get snow in your area, then start when you are pretty confident the snow season is over. Or time the start of your yard work with the point when the local forsythia plants stop blooming and the local lilac bushes begin to flower.
For homeowners in most regions, there are eight tasks you should complete in the spring to foster a healthy lawn.
Fall Lawn Treatment: 7 Musts For Your Yard
Take note of these helpful tips that your lawn needs before the onset of winter.
Among turf care experts, it’s a well-known fact that the best way to ensure a thick, green, and healthy lawn in the spring is to give it some well-timed care in the fallin other words, right now. But according to Scott Frith, CEO of Lawn Doctor, a lawn care company with more than 200 franchises around the country, many homeowners make the same basic mistakes before grass goes dormant, and then wonder why their grass isn’t doing better the following year. Wonder no more. Here is Frith’s seven-step program to getting a beautiful lawn next year.
You May Like: What Is The Smallest Riding Lawn Mower
Service The Lawn Mower
Spring also means it’s time to get out the lawn mower and give it a once over. Start it up stubborn start-ups are a sign that it might be due for a tune-up. Give your mower a tune-up once a year. In three easy steps, you can get your mower back in tip-top shape. If your lawnmower needs more than a tune-up, then consider getting a new one.
Among the key tune-up tasks is sharpening the mower blade. A regular sharpening will ensure the blade severs, rather than tears, the grass plants, leading to a nice green lawn rather than one with ragged brown tips.
Grass & Lawn Care For Beginners
Maybe you just bought your first house with a yard. Or maybe youve been a mow it and forget it kind of person for years. Many people have no idea where to start, or even what their lawn needs to thrive. Check out our tips for lawn care for beginners to grow a soft, green yard to enjoy all year long!
Recommended Reading: Lawn Mowing Simulator Mount Codes
Tip No : Aerate Your Lawn To Help It Breathe
Grass roots need oxygen as well as water and nutrients. Aerating the process of removing small plugs of soil produces multiple benefits. It improves air-to-soil interaction. It allows water and fertilizer to penetrate the soil deeper and easier. It reduces soil compaction and opens space for roots to grow. It removes some thatch and stimulates the breakdown of the remaining thatch. The best tool for this task is a gas-powered aerator, available at most rental centers.
Again, timing is critical. You can aerate in the spring. But fall, after the kids are through trampling the grass and there are fewer weed seeds to set up home in the open spaces, is the optimal time to aerate. Its usually best to aerate first, then apply any weed killers so the open holes are protected against weeds.
Family Handyman
A well-aerated lawn provides space for grass roots to grow, reproduce and take in more oxygen, moisture and nutrients. The plugs, composed of thatch and soil, quickly break apart and decompose. The roots of a compacted lawn have difficulty absorbing air, water and nutrients.
Family Handyman
Now that you have a beautiful lawn, check out these tips for landscaping your backyard.
Should I Clean Or Replace Spark Plugs
Cleaning your spark plugs is essential, and a quick and easy way to keep them working and prevent necessary replacements. It is important to consider the main reason why your spark plugs need to be cleaned. If you notice that the spark plug is dirty, then it is often best to replace the old and dirty spark plugs.
Also Check: How Often Should I Water My Lawn In Colorado
Tip No : Mow Only The Top One
The top one-third of a blade of grass is thin and leafy, decomposes quickly when cut and can contribute up to one-third of the nitrogen your lawn needs . While its decomposing, this light layer of clippings also helps slow water evaporation and keeps weeds from germinating. Check out these handy mowing tips.
But the bottom two-thirds of a blade of grass is tough, stemmy and slow to decompose, contributing to thatch. When thick enough, thatch prevents sunlight, air, water and nutrients from reaching the soil. Cutting more than the top third also shocks grass roots and exposes stems, which tend to burn in direct sunlight.
So if two inches is your target grass height, cut it when it reaches three inches. Since grass grows at different rates at different times of the year, every Saturday isnt necessarily the best time to mow. Sometimes you need to mow it more, other times less. The ideal length for cool-climate grasses is three to four inches for warm-climate, one to two inches.
Mow when the grass is dry and avoid mowing in the heat of the day when youre more likely to stress the grass and yourself.
Family Handyman
Winter Lawn Care Tips
While your lawn may not require as much care in the winter as it does in spring, summer, and fall, you dont want to ignore it completely.
While your lawn may not require as much care in the winter as it does in spring, summer, and fall, you dont want to ignore it completely. To ensure it will be in good shape come springtime, youll want to take the following steps.
Don’t Miss: Who Sells Murray Lawn Mower Parts
Starting A Yard From Scratch
Starting your yard from scratch can seem like a daunting task. Taking the time to properly plan your yard will help you to create a tangible plan of action.
Find simple steps to set you up for gardening success, visit Planning Your Yard.
Limit your lawn
Lawns are great for relaxing and play, but they need a lot of water and work.
Consider replacing unused green space with YardSmart plants like annuals, perennials and groundcovers or trees and shrubs.
Lawn Care Tip #2 Dont Wait For Weeds To Grow Before Treating Them Preventive And Curative Weed Control Works Best
Pre-emergent weed control is a treatment that is applied to your lawn before you even see the weeds. Pre-emergent applications help prevent weeds, particularly crabgrass, from reaching the soil line. Pre-emergent is a proactive way to manage crabgrass, which is a problem in many Texas lawns.
But, pre-emergent is not a stand-alone solution for minimizing weeds, as it mainly addresses crabgrass. Curative treatments are also critical, and we call this post-emergent weed control. The take-away: Pre-emergent and post-emergent applications work together, so both are part of a complete lawn care program.
Recommended Reading: How To Get Rid Of Geese On Lawn
A Simple Lawn Maintenance Schedule 10 Steps A Lush Lawn
Some articles will lead you to believe that you need to spend lots of money and follow a super complicated plan to achieve a great-looking lawn. While those plans undoubtedly work, most people dont need something so in depth.
With a little planning, and some local knowledge you can have a great looking lawn with a minimal amount of planning and effort.
In this guide, we will give you a lawn maintenance schedule with only 10 simple steps.
Disclosure:It is important you understand that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. All opinions are our own we pride ourselves on keeping our articles fair and balanced. For more info see our disclosure statement.
In This Article:
