If your lawn has brown or bare spots, or just plain ugly weeds starting to pop up, it’s tempting to throw up your hands and let it happen. But learning how to keep the grass green doesn’t have to be hard. At Royal J’s Home and Lawn Care Services, we have a handle on keeping the lush in your lawn so it can continue to be a summer showpiece. And we’ll take the heavy lifting off your hands. Call today.
You can do this on your own, as well. Below is a recipe of green lawn tips, but it also will take some consistent effort on your part.
Top 5 tips on how to keep the grass green
- Mow high. Set your lawn mower at the high setting to keep your lawn’s grass blades taller. “A scalped lawn is vulnerable to diseases and weed infestation,” HGTV states. “Scalped turf tends to be weak and sparse, which exposes soil. One of the No. 1 contributors to weed success is exposed soil that allows weed seed to take root.” While you’re at it, ensure your mower blades are sharp. Grass cut with dull blades tears grass and creates a jagged, uneven edge. “These tears create openings for pests and diseases to enter grass blades,” HGTV reports.
- Aerating your lawn allows it to breathe, breaking up compacted soil so nutrients can get back in the soil. We agree with HomeAdvisor here: “Your lawn needs loose soil for several reasons. Vital nutrients, water, fertilizer, and pesticides will more easily move into loose soil. Plus, grass roots will more easily extend into the soil to extract these nutrients. An aerated lawn will also promote a healthy population of microorganisms that breakdown lawn thatch. Left unchecked, a spongy layer of thatch can block water and nutrients from reaching your lawn and will leave it more susceptible to disease.”
- Fertilize your lawn to avoid grass drying out in summer. Like humans, sometimes lawns need a little help in the nutrient department. They get ample oxygen and hydrogen from watering, and carbon from the air, but sometimes they’ll need a bit more food to encourage proper growth and to reduce weeds. The Lawn Institute advises: “Fertilizer can help your lawn stay healthy, encourage leaf and root growth, reduce troublesome weeds, aid in recovering lost nutrients and help the lawn recover from numerous activities.”
The Lawn Institute offers a great tutorial on how to pick the right fertilizer and how to apply it.
- Power rake. Imagine how your lawn feels when built up thatch blocks its channels for water or food. Power raking lifts compacted thatch on your lawn, which blocks water, air and nutrients from getting to the root system. Here are some great reasons to power rake your lawn.
- Water, water, water. You may be tempted to water daily, for a few minutes at a time, but there is a better way on how to keep moisture in lawn. According to Scotts.com, “Frequent, shallow watering encourages grass to grow short roots, causing the grass to stress out during droughts.” You should try to water a good inch a week and water as early as possible to reduce evaporation. “Longer grass allows the growth of longer roots, which can reach down for moisture even on hot, dry days,” Scotts.com states.
With self lawn care, there are a lot of steps and a lot of work to learning how to keep the grass green. That’s time-consuming when you work hard and want to spend your spare time with your family. At Royal J’s Home and Lawn Care Services we can do it all for you. Check out our services and contact us today.
