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.
Fertilizing In The Fall
Lawns are less likely to brown if you apply a slow-release fertilizer in early fall. When shopping for these fertilizers, buy products with controlled-release nitrogen. The steady release of nitrogen helps grass retain its green color. The amount to apply varies slightly based on the type of turfgrass you are using. Most individual applications, however, are around 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. Where possible, use fertilizers that also contain potassium which is known to aid in root growth, drought tolerance, and disease resistance. For example, you may apply a 24-0-10 granular fertilizer where those numbers indicate the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, respectively.
A general tip here is that you should never fertilize a dry lawn. Instead, fertilize after rainfall or after you have finished watering for the best results. Be careful not to miss any spots in your lawn when fertilizing to facilitate uniform growth of grasses. For best results, consider using a walk-behind drop spreader although you could still opt for a crank-style broadcaster if the former is not available.
New Sod Care Everything You Need To Know To Take Care Of That Sod
You just had your fresh new SOD installed, and your lawn has never looked better! No weeds and a full beautiful lushes green. But now what? If you were planning on Mother Nature to give your new lawn everything it needs you will quickly find yourself in some serious trouble. Without proper SOD care, your new lawn will quickly show it is unhappy! Wait too long, and your SOD will not be able to recover.
So how do you take care of new SOD? Well for the next few weeks and even the following year, you are going to have to treat your lawn like a new child giving your SOD extra TLC until it find its footings.
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Weed Control In The Spring
Weeds, such as crabgrass, begin to germinate during late spring and emerge fully during the summer, but you can curb and eliminate their presence. The product youâll need to use here is pre-emergent herbicide. According to Pennsylvania State Universityâs Center for Turfgrass Science, the pre-emergent herbicide is the most critical component of an effective chemical control program. These herbicides are readily found in supermarkets and should be applied 10-14 days before the germination periods of weeds.
Later on in spring, you may consider using post-emergent herbicides to control any grassy or broadleaf weeds that often show up during summer.
Summer Lawn Care Tips
When it comes to lawn care, the majority, if not all, of us do it with summer in mind. It is during this season that lawns are used intensively as nearly everyone is spending more time outdoors and having lots of fun. As you can imagine, your lawn also is likely to suffer the most during this time due to the longer and drier days as well as increased foot traffic. But donât worry as weâre about to show you easy tips to help you keep this space in its best possible condition.
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How To Take Care Of Your Lawn
This article was co-authored by Jeremy Yamaguchi. Jeremy Yamaguchi is a Lawn Care Specialist and the Founder/CEO of Lawn Love, a digital marketplace for lawn care and gardening services. Jeremy provides instant satellite quotes and can coordinate service from a smartphone or web browser. The company has raised funding from notable investors like Y Combinator, Joe Montana, Alexis Ohanian, Barbara Corcoran and others.There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 88% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 75,934 times.
Dreaming of a lush, green, healthy lawn? Taking good care of your lawn will keep the grass healthy and prevent dreaded brown and bare spots from forming, and it doesnt have to be a constant struggle against the elements. Making simple changes to how you water, mow, and fertilize your lawn can make a big difference. Check out the tips below to learn about the best things you can do for your lawn to keep it healthy!
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!
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Short Term Care For New Lawns
A newly laid lawn should not be allowed to dry out over the first couple of weeks. Once established, you should first mow your turf when it has grown to 6cm high remembering never to mow more than 1/3 of the leaf. We also recommend using a fertiliser to keep your lawn green and healthy.
Watering
It is essential that for the first 7-14 days, or until the turf has taken root, you keep the soil moist. This will ensure your new lawn can establish a good root system and will help it last through hot and dry weather.
After your lawn has taken root you shouldnt be able to pull corners of the turf up, water carefully for the next 3 weeks.
Mowing
New turf must be firmly rooted before you can start mowing. The first mow happens when the lawn reaches about 6cm in height, do not let it grow higher than this before the first mowing.
Subsequent mowings, while the turf is still establishing, should not be done below 4cm.
Fertilising
Remember to never mow more than 1/3 of the leaf. We recommend you fertilise your lawn six weeks after laying, followed by a deep watering. This will help give the new turf the nutrients it needs to grow into a strong and healthy lawn.
Include A Mix Of Plants
Be sure to include a mix of many different plants and grasses in your lawn. A diverse landscape is better for the environment and can be easier to maintain, because it prevents pest problems from spreading to the whole lawn.
For places where it is hard to grow a lawn, try plants more adapted to the area. See Plant diversity for more information.
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Dethatching In The Winter
One of the most important tasks you can do on your lawn during winter is to ensure it is cleaned up at all times. Never leave debris, children toys, lawn furniture, or plant leaves out on the grass. This is to avoid smothering the grass, inviting harmful pests, or creating favorable conditions for diseases. An exception to this rule is when the leaves are not too thick or wet and can therefore serve as mulch and add nutrients to the grass.
Extra: Aerating Your Lawn
If you continue to have issues with heavy thatch layer on your lawn and hard, compacted soil, consider aerating your lawn. Aeration is the process of mechanically removing small plugs of thatch and soil from the lawn so that air, water, and nutrients can reach the roots. Root growth is essential for a healthy lawn.
In many home lawns, the natural soil was seriously disturbed by the building process and often fertile topsoil was removed, leaving subsoil that is more compact, higher in clay content and less desirable for healthy lawn growth. Even when topsoil is added before lawns are planted, it is generally too thin to support proper turfgrass rooting, which will reach 8 below the surface. Walking on the lawn and irrigation further compacts the soil.
Aeration can be done by renting an aerator from your local improvement stores or by hiring a lawn service to handle it. Aeration is best done in the fall. It will not only speed up thatch breakdown and allow oxygen and water to reach the roots, but it will also enhance fertilizer uptake.
Do you have any other lawn care tips? Leave them in the comments below!
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Hydroseed Care & Maintenance:
-With proper germination, you will see germination start in some areas within 10-14 days, and a lawn you can mow in about 6-8 weeks. The lawn will be fully established in 6-9 months.
-Keep as much traffic as possible off of the newly seeded areas for the first 6 weeks.
-Some areas will come in much better than others in the first few weeks, this normal and typical with all hydroseed applications due to differing amounts of sun, shade, and water. After 4-5 weeks as the lawn begins to fill in it is recommended that you scratch up the thin areas and seed some of those areas by hand to help everything along. Use a mix of fescue, rye, and Kentucky bluegrass for the best match.
-2 weeks after we hydroseed your lawn, it is highly recommended that you apply an18-24-12 starter fertilizer to the lawn. That fertilizer is available at any SiteOne Landscape Supply location. 3 weeks after that application you can follow up with an additional starter fertilizer application. Do not apply any weed control to the lawn for the first 10-12 weeks.
-You may get some weeds in your lawn, they can be taken care of with a weed control fertilizer once the lawn begins to mature.
-If your hydroseed is washed out due to rain or any other circumstances we will come back to spray the area again for you at 50% of the original cost.
– Please call us if you have any questions 978-957-TURF. Enjoy your new lawn!
Is There An Ideal Length To Cut My New Lawn
We recommend that you never cut more than one-third of the leaf off in any one mowing session. Ideally the first mowing should be set at about 30mm for Couch and 40mm for Sapphire and Zoysia. If you so desire, you can gradually reduce the height over the next two to three mows.
Most importantly, if you have a specific question about your new lawn, shoot us an or call us on 5496 9790. And remember, there is no such thing as silly question!
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Level Up Your Lawn Care Knowledge
There may be nothing more American than a green, manicured lawn. A lawn is a blank canvas for your memories, and caring for your lawn gives homeowners the opportunity to show their neighbors, friends, and family that they take pride in caring for their home.
Its the largest investment most of us will make in our lifetime. So lets take care of it!
When To Mow A Newly Turfed Lawn
The grass plants in turf are already reasonably mature. However, they will have lost a lot of root mass during the harvesting and re-laying process. Its vital that those roots have started to re-grow before you start your mowing regime.
The ultimate test to find out if your newly turfed lawn is ready to mow is the tug test. Grab a handful of grass and tug on it. If you feel the earth move that means that the turf is lifting and therefore the roots need a little longer to settle in. Leave the mower in the shed for now and try again in a few days-time.
If you do the tug test and blades of grass break off in your hand its OK to give your newly turfed lawn its first cut.
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Assess Your Lawn Baseline
The first step to lawn care for beginners is figuring out your baseline. Youll want to assess your lawn to better understand what steps youll need to take to improve it.
Is your yard nothing but crabgrass and weeds? Do you have dead spots everywhere from outdoor furniture or pets? Is your yard so compacted that you cant plant any new bushes or trees? All of these problems are symptoms of an unhealthy lawn and will require time and elbow grease to fix.
On the other hand, you may have just a few patches that need to be reseeded and watered. Knowing where you are and what your dream lawn looks like will help you develop a plan and a schedule.
Watering A New Sod Lawn
The wonderful thing about sod is that it can provide you with an instant lawn. The rules for watering a new lawn are basically the same for seed and sod, with just a little variation. When sod is harvested, the roots are cut making it extremely important to lay it as soon as possible. The faster you get water on the sod, the better. Any soil preparation work should be done before the sod arrives.
What to do first
Depending on the thickness of your existing lawn, you may need to kill the existing grass before the new sod arrives. It may take a few weeks for the old grass to completely die back. Some contractors are placing the sod directly over the old grass without killing it first with reportedly good results. I have not tired it myself. The sod laid on top will suffocate the old grass and will be completely killed within a few weeks. You may get some grass braking through along seam gaps or thin areas. I will have to research that more.
Make sure the ground is leveled where the sod will be placed. Fill or remove any large dips and hills. Large rocks near the surface should also be removed. If not, the grass that rests over a large rock will likely be stressed or could even die. The sun can heat the rock and any roots that do begin to grow will perish.
Watering a New Lawn of Freshly Laid Sod
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Lawn Care During Drought
In extreme heat conditions, with prolonged periods without precipitation, it is important to remember that your lawn is stressed. In this situation, it is best to let the grass become dormant.
Several types of grass survive in hot, dry weather, including Manila grass, Bermuda grass, St Augustine grass, Bison grass, Bahia grass, and Fescues. They become dormant in dry weather, no longer needing food or water. When the rain and cooler temperatures come back, your lawn will turn green and healthy.
Remember the following tips during a drought:
Pest Control In The Spring
As the spring weather warms the soil, earthworms and other bugs emerge toward the upper soil levelsâbut moles can return as well. Moles attack and damage the root systems of lawns in their search for worms and other food. Most moles in North America are found in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The most common family of moles in the U.S. is the Eastern moleâgenerally found in the Southeast and Northeast.
Theyâre a pest throughout spring, summer, and fall. However, the best time to lay mole traps is during the spring just before they build more tunnels. According to UConnâs Home & Garden Education Center, homeowners need to simply place a harpoon trap in the main tunnel, use a toxic bait , or try these other recommended methods.
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Winter Lawn Care Tips
The extreme nature of winter means thereâs very little you can do on your lawn to save the grass from browning or even dying from the freezing ice. However, this doesnât mean you should ignore it completely. For example, you should continue doing regular maintenance work and taking care of grass in preparation for the upcoming and more favorable spring. The following are simple tricks you can try to keep your lawn healthy during winter.
Caring For Your New Lawn After Germination
As your new lawn becomes established, you can start easing up on the water, depending on the weather. If you continue your everyday watering routine, youre likely to overdo it and rot the young seedlings. Also, if the ground is too wet, you can inhibit root growth.
When you have a pretty even ground cover of new seedlings, try skipping a day of watering and see what happens. Watch the grass carefully. If the color starts to go from bright green to dull gray green, the grass needs water. You may have to water some quick-to-dry areas with a handheld hose.
If the grass doesnt dry out, keep stretching the intervals between watering until youre on a schedule of once or twice a week, or as needed. When you do water, dont forget to water deeply, getting the moisture down 6 to 8 inches.
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