How To Get Lawn To Grow

How To Ensure Good Coverage

Sometimes its challenging to ensure ample coverage of grass seedlings. If you are using a drop spreader, I suggest distributing the seeds in one direction and then making a second pass in the perpendicular direction. This two-directional overseeding promotes more even grass seed germination and distribution. If you are spreading the seed by hand, its a bit easier to eye, but dropping the seeds from different angles helps.

How To Tell How Much Shade You Have

We need you to talk a little bit about how to assess your site to see if turfgrass is going to do well there or not. One thing that we need to realize and when we talk about this is the human eye is really poor at seeing degrees of shade. We can tell if there’s shade there are not, but the amount of shade there or how heavy that shade is, the human eye is really poor at.

Look at this diagram, letter A and letter B . Now, you’re not going to believe this and some of our folks still don’t believe it until they cut it out and lay them side by side, but A and B are the exact same shade. It doesn’t look like it from the diagram, and that’s the optical illusion. That shows you, it illustrates why the human eye is so poor at seeing degrees of shade. A and B are the exact same color.

When you go out on your site, since you know that the human eye is not that great at seeing at how heavy the shade is, is to look at the area. Is there anything growing there now? If you go to an area and there’s not even a weed growing underneath the tree, chances are turfgrass isn’t going to grow there as well.

Compost Your Kitchen And Garden Waste For Greener Grass

Composting your grass clippings is a great way reduce waste and help your garden and lawn grow. Additionally, you can compost other waste from the garden and even from your kitchen. Adding compost to your soil is one of the best ways to green up your grass and all your garden plants. Compost has a number of other benefits, including:

• Compost improves water drainage in clay and sandy soils.
• Compost creates a slow release of plant nutrients and stimulates root growth.
• Compost helps reduce problems with soil-borne plant diseases and garden pests.
• Compost prevents erosion of precious topsoil.
• Compost recycles yard and kitchen wastes instead of sending it to the landfill.
• Compost balances the pH levels of most soils.
• Compost attracts beneficial insects, worms, and other organisms

Composting is easy and rewarding. Read more about composting at the Compost Instructions web site.

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What Can You Do

• Assess the amount of sunlight on your site over the entire course of the day.
• Remove lower limbs of trees to increase the amount of light.
• Reduce the number of trees in an area.
• Use mulch directly under trees instead of turf.
• Mow lawns in the shade at a higher setting.
• Keep leaves off the lawn.
• Restrict walking on a lawn that’s too shaded.
• Choose the right turfgrass for your shade conditions and location.

Mix Grass Seed With Clover Seed

Grass plugs could be planted in holes 6-inches apart along the lawn area. Water must be sprinkled into the soil to moisten the holes with one plugin one hole. Again, roll the planted area with a lawn roller filled with half a tank of water.

Besides the best choice of grass type, good grass growth could be encouraged with clover seed as the latter has long roots to break up the chunky clay. Clover seed also contributes nitrogen to the soil for better soil conditions.

Clover is also a great grass alternative for the soil in the midst of an extremely high clay percentage. Its advantage is its short growth, which does not require frequent mowing. However, it does not handle traffic well. Moreover, clover attracts bees easily.

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Why Does My Lawn Have Bald Patches

If you notice Bare Spots in your lawn, they could be the result of a number of factors, including excessive foot traffic, poor soil conditions, pet urine, grubs, chemical spills, and any number of other causes. To prevent bare spots from forming, its important to keep your lawn clean and well-maintained.

The best way to do this is to maintain a healthy balance of grasses, shrubs, trees, flowers, and other plant life in the lawn. This will help to prevent the spread of disease-causing bacteria and fungi, as well as the growth of unwanted plants.

Follow Up Maintenance And Care For A Lush Full Lawn

Caring properly for your lawn is possibly the best change you can make to achieve a fuller lawn. You may be asking yourself,

Why is my grass so thin? How do I achieve that green, carpet-like look?

The root of the problem may lie in a few simple bad habits or neglected routines. Lawn grass needs care and attention just as much, if not more than other garden plants.

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How To Remove Grass Before Mulching

The first step is to mow your lawn as short as possible.

Next, you’ll need to remove any obstacles in your way such as rocks or toys.

Once your path is clear, use a garden hose to wet down the area where you’ll be mulching.

This will help keep the dust down while you work.

The second step is to loosen the soil.

You can do this with a spade or garden fork.

Be sure to loosen the soil to a depth of at least six inches.

This will help the mulch penetrate the ground and prevent it from blowing away.

If you have a lot of grass, you may need to use a sod cutter to remove it.

The next step is to apply the mulch.

You can do this with a shovel or by using a spreader.

Be sure to apply the mulch evenly and at the right depth.

The general rule of thumb is to apply two inches of mulch for every foot of garden bed.

You can always add more if needed.

Once you’ve applied the mulch, water it well to help it settle into place.

You may need to add more water as the days go by.

Be sure to keep an eye on the weather and adjust your watering accordingly.

Aerate The Bare Spots In The Lawn

The first step of fixing the bare spots in your lawn is to aerate the soil, odds are that the bare spot has compacted soil which means beneficial microorganisms and bacteria are absent in that patch of soil. In order to aerate the soil you can either till it or use a soil aerator, simply raking the soil will not be enough. There are Commercial Soil Conditioners which you can use, although my personal recommendation is to use organic material. In case you are fed up with constantly tending to your lawn, then you should convert it to a wildflower garden, for more information check out my recent article Wildflower Garden .

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Grass Selection For Shady Area

One of the first steps to getting a green lawn in a shady location is selecting the correct grass type.

So what are the best types of grass for a shady lawn?

Here are a few of the best low light grasses:

1. Zoysia: Like St. Augustine, Zoysia is a warm-season grass that grows well in both sun and shade.

2. Fine-leaf fescue: Fine fescue is a cool season grass that is drought tolerant and will even grow in poor quality soils.

3. St. Augustine: St. Augustine is a southeastern favorite and grows tremendously well in warm areas.

4. Perennial ryegrass: Ryegrass is a cheap option that grows in partly shaded areas.

5. Bahai: Grows well in moderate shade and handles many different soil types.

What is the Best Shade Grass for Warm Climates? According to Pennington, zoysia is the best warm season grass for shady spaces.

What is the Best Shade Grass Variety for Cooler Climates? For cooler climates is likely going to be a mix of fescues. Some landscapers report simply buying several grass seed types available locally and mixing them for best results.

Trim Or Remove Your Trees

If you haven’t already, you may want to trim your trees back to allow more sunlight to reach your lawn.

The reality is, growing a perfect lawn in a shady spot can be challenging. So if you can trim your trees back to allow more sunlight in, you may have an easier time maintaining your lawn.

Of course, there is always the option of removing trees entirely, but this option should be carefully considered, as trees can add a lot of value and privacy to your home.

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Sow The Grass Seeds In Fall

I know that you want to fix your bare spots in the lawn as soon as possible, although if you have a lot of bare spots in your lawn then it is extremely important to sew the grass seeds during the fall. Ideally, you should check the first frost date in your local area and sew the grass seeds around 50-60 days before it. On the other hand, if you have a small bare spot in your lawn you can sow the seeds even during the summertime although make sure to keep the soil moist for the first couple of weeks.

Aerate And Overseed Annually

Here’s the deal, like most of these tips, you should try to aerate and overseed a lawn whether or not it is in a shady area.

But when it comes to growing a healthy lawn in a place that gets very little light, annual aeration and overseeding becomes more important.

Additionally the overseeding will fill out any of the thinner patches of grass in the lawn, which shaded lawns are prone to.

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Everything We Build Is Professional Quality

While we stand by these professional lawn care tips that you can use to grow the most attractive lawn on your block, we primarily build machines for commercial clients. Our equipment sees use on NFL fields, MLB diamonds, and huge golf courses where the grass needs to be pristine every time. Every single one of our homeowner-specific machines whether its an aerator, roller, or verticutter is built to the same impeccable standard that we use for professional landscaping tools. When you buy a piece of equipment from TurfTime, youre trusting the same line as the nations best landscapers.

Get the Right Equipment to Grow the Perfect Lawn

Learning how to grow the perfect lawn is a combination of both expert knowledge and the right equipment. At TurfTime Equipment, we want to provide both to homeowners. We hope you found these professional lawn care tips helpful and are ready to try a few of them right now. When it comes to getting the elite equipment you need, were the team to trust. If you have questions about what equipment to invest in or you want to get specific prices, talk to our team today!

Test And Amend Your Soil

You have exposed and evened out the planting surface, but its not yet time to lay down the seed. For the seeding project to have the best chance of success, you need to know what kind of soil you have. So test.

Good: At a minimum, test for pH. Thats a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of your soil. Most grasses like slightly acidic soil, with a pH of 6.2 to 7.

A simple moisture and pH tester can be found for $10.

Better: Also test for the major nutrients in your soil. For around $20, you can get a kit that in addition to testing for pH, will test for the major plant-building nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash the N, P, and K numbers you see on all bags of fertilizers.

Best: Test for both major and minor nutrients. There can be more than a dozen you can test for, and which ones you test for will vary depending on the testing facility and on which micronutrients tend to be lacking in your area. For that, youll need either a fancier kit or take your soil samples to a testing lab.

There are private laboratories, and also many state extension service offices. The latter often offer low-cost or even free soil testing. Here are four very good soil tests you can buy on Amazon.

Test the soil as soon as you can. There can be a wait of up to two weeks to get test results back. If you dawdle, you could miss your ideal planting window.

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How To Get Rid Of Weeds In Grass

The severity of your response to these invaders should depend on the numbers: When half the lawn is covered with weeds, it’s time to get a soil test and renovate the entire lawn. For a scattering of weeds, a hand weeder or targeted spray is kinder to the lawn ecosystem. The stand-up sprayer above holds 16 ounces of any weed treatment. Pushing down on the handle dispenses a 3 1/2-inch-diameter mist beneath the 7-inch cone.

How To Identify Of Treat The Issues

It could be a weed that is growing faster than the lawn.Different kinds of grasses on your lawn.Did you fertilise your lawn recently?Your lawn may need aeration

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The Most Obvious Ways To Make Grass Roots Grow Deep

If you watched that short video then you know that two of the most obvious ways to encourage deep root systems in lawns everywhere is to irrigate deeply and infrequently. Many experts also frequently advise homeowners to apply heavy applications of phosphorus to the lawn to help promote extensive root systems.

Instead of watering three times a week for 20-30 minutes per zone you might try watering once every 5-7 days for an hour or two per zone thats deep watering and its not a unique concept.

Starter fertilizers contain ample amounts of Phosphorus which plants use to establish strong roots in addition to high levels of Nitrogen. They can usually be applied to lawns when local restrictions allow for it but applying lots of phosphorus is not the best way to get the deepest roots its simply a tool in the shed that can be easily abused and its an incomplete solution anyway.

In my premium web-course Deeper Grass Roots = Healthier Lawns I teach you exactly what to do beyond watering deeply and ensuring your soil has adequate amounts of phosphorus available to stimulate the deepest root systems possible in your lawn.

If you want to buy in now you can do so through this link. Otherwise keep on reading and Ill explain it a bit.

Now lets quickly look at what you will learn about root growth in the grass in your lawn once you decide to purchase access to this web-course.

Overseeding For A Thicker Lawn

Its only logical a thicker lawn requires more grass. Overseeding can make all the difference, so long as the lawn has been properly prepared. Once the soil has been tested, the grass dethatched, and the lawn aerated, you are ready to overseed.

Keep in mind that timing is everything the right time to overseed will depend on your variety of grass.

When choosing your seed, you do not necessarily have to choose the exact same seed as your current lawn. As long as the new seed will work well with the existing lawn, is non-invasive, and the right variety for your environment, it will do. As the entire process of overseeding can take some time and effort, be sure to invest in a top-quality seed and get it right the first time.

Spreading seed is made easy with the help of an inexpensive lawn spreader. Spread the seed according to the instructions on the seed package. Mixing the seed with sawdust will ensure more even distribution. Different varieties of seed will require different ratios. You can check out the seeding rate per 1000 square feet in the picture below.

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How To Grow The Perfect Lawn: From The Experts

For many people, a beautiful lawn is the finishing touch on their home décor. After all, it makes any house look even better! However, achieving that picture perfect lawn takes careful work, a strategy, and the right equipment. In todays blog, were exploring how to grow the perfect lawn one whose color and fullness will turn heads.

At TurfTime, we build ground maintenance equipment used everywhere from homes to the largest golf courses and athletic fields in the country. Our clients depend on our equipment to grow the healthiest grass that looks good enough to be seen by millions on HD televisions all across the country. Were sharing our expert tips specifically for homes to help teach you how to grow the perfect lawn.

Mowing A New Lawn: Be Gentle

Be careful with the lawnmower the first few times your new turfgrass is mowed. The roots will not be long or well-established, so it will be easy to accidentally rip up the young plants. Sharpen the mowers blade, so you cut, not tear the tender plants. Try to start the mower on a flat surface away from the lawn, and minimize the number of turns you make with the mower. Abide by the rule of , which is to never remove more than a third of a grass plant in one mow.

Once you have mowed at least once, cut back on your frequent shallow watering, and switch to watering a couple of times a week, deeply. Get water down to six or eight inches deep to encourage your new lawn to root deeply. Once established the lawn will start spreading to cover any gaps.

After about six to eight weeks, your lawn should be well-established. Hit it with a little more fertilizer to encourage deep roots, and take down your keep off the new lawn signs. Your new lawn is ready for you.

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