Once your grass is growing you may want to help it along with some of these more advanced lawn care tips and tricks!
Dethatching
Dethatching is the removal of living and dead stems, leaves and roots which accumulate between the layer of actively-growing grass and the soil), and irrigating it.
Fertilizers
Fertilizer are available in two main types – liquid and granular. Choose the one that meets your lawn’s needs and is easiest for you to use. Liquid fertilizers are fast-acting. Since they are quickly absorbed, they require application every 2-3 weeks. Most are mixed with water prior to application with a garden hose attachment.
Granular fertilizers are applied with a spreader and must be watered into the grass. Granular fertilizers are easier to control because you can actually see how much fertilizer you are using and where it is being dispersed. Granular fertilizers are produced in two different formulations: quick-release and slow-release.
Weed Control
Weeds are unwanted plants that can have a detrimental effect on your lawn and landscape. Proper weed prevention techniques and weed control methods can prevent these nuisances from taking their toll on your grass and plant life.
Apply a weed preventer to stop new weeds from appearing, but only if you haven’t seeded recently. Weed preventer also stops new grass from growing.
Use a weed spray a few times a year to kill the existing weeds. Be careful about spraying if the lawn was seeded recently (read the label). Also make sure you use a spray that doesn’t kill the grass too. Weed Sprays are usually a mix of a few different herbicides. The mix of herbicide varies from brand to brand. Some types of weeds are particularly vulnerable to one herbicide, but not others. It helps to identify the offending weed, what kills it, and compare this information to the list of active ingredients on the weed sprays.
Avoid nighttime watering because prolonged moisture invites disease. The best time to water is pre-dawn or early morning. You’ll lose water to evaporation by sprinkling in midday.
Mowing Your Lawn the Right Way
Proper mowing is one of the most important practices in keeping your lawn healthy. Grasses are like most plants — if you clip off the growing, the plants branch out and become denser, which in this case, turns thousands of individual grass plants into a tightly woven turf or a lawn.
If your hopes include a green lawn, the key is frequent cutting, which forces it to grow thick and keep out weeds. Keep mower blades sharp so the grass isn’t beat up and made vulnerable to disease.
Follow the one-third rule. For a thriving lawn, never cut away more than one-third of the grass blade in any one mowing.
Edging and trimming are the finishing touches of mowing – think of it like getting a shave after you’ve had a haircut. Edging and trimming are very similar. Some tools are called edgers because they’re designed to trim the lawn along a hard surface like a driveway or sidewalk. Edgers cut a nice clean edge but leave some dirt and grass debris that you need to clean up. On the other hand, you can use trimmers anywhere — along a hard surface, in tight spaces, next to planting beds, and so on. Trimmers also leave some clippings on paths and driveways that you need to sweep up.