Lawncare

A beautiful lawn starts with preparation and proper lawn maintenance keeps your grass growing and looking its best.  This article will outline some of the basic considerations, so you can approach do-it-yourself lawn care with confidence.

 

---

Our review process:

 

---

Lawn Care Tips:

Keep your lawn beautiful all year-round with these lawn care tips for every season.

 

What type of grass seed should you use?  The type of grass you have in your yard or to determine the type of grass that will work best depends on your location.  To provide you an example of the types of grass out there, for now we will look at the areas in the U.S.  The area in the middle of the country is the transition zone.  Mixtures of cool and warm season grasses are often necessary there, but cool season varieties are the most successful.

Popular cool season grasses:

1. Bluegrass
2. Perennial ryegrass
3. Tall fescue
4. Fine fescue

Popular warm season grasses:

1. Bahia
2. Common Bermuda
3. Hybrid Bermuda
4. Centipede
5. Zoysia

 

Where do you start with getting your lawn in shape?  Perform a soil test for your lawn soil.  This will give you valuable information on what your soil has and what you need to add to it.  Home soil test kits include vials and tablets to test your soil, as well as charts to interpret the results.  With testing meters, you simply insert the meter probe into the soil and read the results.  Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for home testing solutions.  Be sure to take the sample test when the soil is fairly dry because wet soil can give a false test reading.  You may want to check your soil more than once to verify your results.

---

Did you know?  Soil can be tested at any time but fall or early spring is preferred because it allows time to make adjustments before planting.

---

 

When should you seed and fertilize the lawn?  Before you plant new grass, perform a soil test first.  The results will tell you what to add to the soil to make it ideal for the grass you plan to grow.  Once you do that, use the information below to learn when to plant and feed common cool and warm season grasses.

Cool season grasses:

1. Bluegrass
   • Seed in the early spring or early fall
   • Fertilize in early spring (after a mild winter) or late spring (after a cold winter), late summer and fall.
   • Tip: add small amounts of a shade-tolerant grass (such as fine fescue) or a wear-resistant grass (such as perennial ryegrass) to enhance a bluegrass lawn.
2. Fine Fescue
   • Seed in early spring, late summer or fall (spring plantings are at risk from hot and dry conditions over the summer).
   • Fertilize in early spring (after a mild winter) or late spring or early summer (after a cold winter), late summer and fall.
   • Tip: Fine Fescue can improve shady lawn areas or lawns that face very cold winters.
3. Tall Fescue
   • Seed in early spring or early fall (spring plantings are at risk from hot and dry conditions over the summer).
   • Fertilize in the early spring, late spring or early summer, late summer and fall.
   • Tip: Tall Fescue tolerates hot, dry conditions better than other cool season grasses.
4. Perennial Ryegrass
   • Seed in spring, late summer or early fall.
   • Fertilize in early spring, late spring or early summer, late summer and fall.
   • Tip: Perennial Ryegrass seed provides quick green, germinating in as little as five days.

Warm season grasses:

1. Bahia
   • Seed in spring or early summer (fall planting is possible in southern locations that don’t face cold temperatures).
   • Fertilize in early spring, late spring or early summer and fall.
   • Tip: Bahia has woody stems that look ragged if cut.  Set your mower high enough to cut the grass blades rather than the stems.
2. Common Bermuda
   • Seed in spring or summer.
   • Fertilize in late spring or early summer and late summer or early fall.
   • Tip: over-seeding with Perennial Ryegrass in the fall can keep a Common Bermuda lawn looking good over the winter.
3. Hybrid Bermuda
   • Seed in spring or summer.
   • Fertilize in early spring, late spring or early summer, late summer and fall.
   • Tip: mow often in the summer to encourage new stems to develop.  The stems weave together and will help your lawn resist weeds.
4. Centipede
   • Seed in mid-spring to mid-summer.
   • Fertilize in spring and summer.
   • Tip: Centipede is a relatively low-maintenance grass.  You won’t need to mow or fertilize as often as other types of grass.
5. Zoysia
   • Seed in mid to late spring or early summer.
   • Fertilize in early spring, late spring or early summer, late summer and fall.
   • Tip: a reel-type mower will give the stiff blades of Zoysia grass a clean, even cut.  If you use a power mower, make sure to keep the blades sharp.

 

How should you seed and fertilize the lawn?  Fertilizers, weed killers and other soil amendments are typically sold by the amount necessary to cover a certain square footage.  The fertilizer package will tell you how many square feet of coverage it contains.  So, determine first the square footage of lawn to be fertilized by multiplying the length of your lawn by its width.  Then subtract the square footage of the house, driveway and other areas not to be fertilized.  An example using rough measurements:

1. Lawn Measurement: 250 x 150 ft = 37,500 sq. ft.
2. House Measurement: 80 x 36 ft = 2,880 sq. ft.
3. Driveway Measurement: 12 x 50 ft = 600 sq. ft.
4. Total: 34,020 sq. ft.

The most common size fertilizer bags are 5000 and 15000 – there are others. In the example above, 34,020 divided by 5000 sq. ft. per bag equals 6.8 or roughly 7 bags of fertilizer. Or, 2 bags of 15000 and one bag of 5000 sq. foot coverage.

To fertilize a sizable lawn, you will need a spreader.  Spreaders come in 2 varieties, drop and broadcast.  Drop spreaders drop the fertilizer directly below the spreader, while a broadcast spreader covers larger areas in a shorter amount of time.  You can choose the right spreader for you.

 

How can you mow your lawn correctly?  Here are basic guidelines for mowing heights.  Keep weather conditions (hot, cold, drought) in mind whenever you mow.

1. Mow when the grass is dry and avoid mowing in the heat of the day to prevent heat stress and blades from clumping.
2. Keep mower blades sharp and balanced.
3. Change the mowing pattern each time you mow and mow moving forward.
4. Discharge the clippings (unless you bag them) towards the area you have already cut and leave clippings on the lawn unless they form clumps or rows.
5. Mow grass higher in shaded areas or under trees.
6. Reduce mowing frequency and raise the mowing height of cool season grasses when hot.

Mowing height for cool season grasses

• Bluegrass: ½” to 1”
• Fine & Tall Fescues: 2” to 3”
• Perennial Ryegrass: 2” to 3”

Mowing height for warm season grasses

• Bahia: 2” to 2 ½”
• Common & Hybrid Bermudas: 1 ½” to 2”
• Centipede: 1 ½” to 2”
• Zoysia: 1” to 2”

 

When should the lawn be watered?  The best time to water your lawn is the early morning because the sun will help dry the grass.  Nighttime watering can result in prolonged moisture on blades, which can open the door for some diseases.  It’s better to water less often but for prolonged periods.  Just wetting down the grass is not watering the grass.  You need to soak the lawn, so the soil moisture goes down several inches.

---

Did you know?  You can try the ‘soup can’ test to see if you are watering enough.  Set an empty can next to your sprinkler.  When there is about ½” of water in the can, it’s time to turn off the sprinkler.

---