Your lawn is the first thing visitors see approaching your home. Please give them the best first impressions following our top tips below. There are many ways you can make your garden attractive without it costing you the earth. Or the fees of a professional.
How to Care for Your Lawn
Making the most of the space
Whether you have a small sun trap or a large grassy area to work with, you must make the most of what you’ve got. This means removing weeds and other unwanted plants. There are two ways to do this; prevention and removal.
Let’s look at prevention first; as you know, the best defense is a good offense! Getting the conditions right at the beginning of the season to prevent weeds from growing is the simplest thing to do. Getting weed prevention in place means you can enjoy your leisure time in your garden instead of doing damage limitation.
Weed preventers are only effective if used at the right time of year. Using them too late – after the weeds have begun to grow – is time-consuming and pointless as you’ll need our next piece of advice also, as weed preventers must be used before weeds start to grow.
How do I know when it’s right to apply weed prevention?
Nature will tell you when it’s time to apply weed preventers to target the most common weed, Crabgrass. Crabgrass begins to grow just after forsythia blooms, so when the bushes drop their blooms, apply your weed preventer with water to have an excellent start to the season.
If you miss the weed prevention window, your next course of action should be weed removal. Weed removers will work on actively growing weeds, so ensure you don’t treat them too early. Pick the product that most suits your needs and ensure that it’s suitable for any household pets who will frequent your lawn before using it.
When should I apply weed removers?
You should apply weed removal agents when the weeds are actively growing and wet – so early morning with a healthy amount of dew on the grass is a great place to start. Apply a hearty coating of weed removal to the wet weeds and allow them to soak. Regardless of the type of weed removal agent you use, if you apply it to dry weeds during a humid period, you’ll be wasting your time and the product you’re using with little to no effect on the weeds.
Gaps in the lawn?
If your lawn isn’t growing evenly or has become damaged due to leaving something in one place for too long, we recommend reseeding it. Be careful when choosing the seed you purchase, as different types should be used at different times of the year and in specific seasons.
For example, if you need something that recovers fast and it is drought tolerant you should definitely opt for Celebration Bermuda.
Also, remember not to use weed products in the same areas as seeding to avoid the weed products impacting seed growth.
Now you have the lawn, and you want what next?
Once you have grass growing in all the places you want it to grow and have rid yourself of any weeds, you might ask yourself what the next steps are, and the answer is simple; you need to keep it looking as good as it does now for the rest of the season.
To achieve this, you need to give your lawn regular TLC. It doesn’t need to become another household chore but will need care and attention, and there are a few things that will help keep your lawn in good condition. The most important thing to do is to pay attention to what you can see when looking at the grass; if you see the lawn looking less than optimal, take immediate action. The longer you allow a problem to continue, the worse it will get.
Issues to look for and ways to fix them
If your lawn is compacting or has had a lot of foot traffic in a rainy season, it may become poor and have more soil than grass, and you’ll notice that you can see more of the soil, and it may have a clay-like appearance. One way to help your lawn to heal from a situation like this is to aerate it. Aerating involves creating small holes throughout your lawn to allow air and nutrients to permeate the soil and grass. Aeration should be applied evenly throughout damaged areas and, although not required annually, can be a great way to prepare your lawn for the following year. You should aerate your lawn while it is growing and avoid aerating dry and cracked soil to give the best chance of repair.
If you notice your lawn becoming brittle and the soil cracking, a simple way to revive it is by watering it. Depending on where you live, this may need to be done more regularly; again, apply this resolution evenly across your lawn and never after heavy rainfall, as you could drown your lawn and cause different problems. When watering your lawn, ensure you apply enough water to wet the soil several inches down to encourage root growth rather than only hitting the top section of the soil and the grass itself.
If your lawn is becoming unkempt, ensure that you are mowing it regularly, again the best way to know when to mow your lawn is by sight; if lots of sunshine have followed a wet period, you may need to mow the lawn more regularly than if there hasn’t been much rainfall. Mowing the lawn regularly is beneficial for the grass and your friends, family, and pets, as fleas, ticks, and other irritating bugs love to live in long grass and can be transferred into your home, causing more expense to remove.
If you notice your lawn is not growing well or looking limp, a fertilizer could be a quick and cost-effective way to improve the growth and appearance of your lawn. Used correctly, fertilizer will improve your lawn for the long term following a short-term higher cost outlay. Fertilizer is easy to use but must be used at the right time when the grass is actively growing.
Hello, My name is Shari & I am a writer for the ‘Outlook AppIns’ blog. I’m a CSIT graduate & I’ve been working in the IT industry for 3 years.