When you’re just starting out with caring for your lawn, it can be challenging to figure out what’s most important to do. From mowing to using fertilizer, there’s a lot to think about. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to keep your lawn looking great — as long as you follow a few steps.
Have a look at our top five lawn care tips, and your lawn will be in great shape in no time! Keep reading on to find out how to take care of your lawn.
1. Keep Your Lawn Hydrated
You water your other plants, right? It’s one of the lawn care basics, too. The grass on your lawn needs hydration, so around one or two inches per week should do it.
Depending on the time of year and where you live, rainfall might be sufficient. Otherwise, it’s important to water your lawn yourself. If not, you risk your grass thinning, and weeds making an appearance.
If you’ve only recently seeded your lawn, it’ll need less water overall, but hydration at more regular intervals. If you can, try to water your lawn in the morning.
2. Make Sure You’re Mowing Correctly
All too often, people mow lawns incorrectly. They’ll cut the grass so short that they risk weed growth. A length of at least 3.5 inches is ideal for minimizing the risk of weeds, as well as the grass yellowing.
You should also ensure that you’re edging correctly — if not, weeds like crabgrass risk spreading. Make sure that your mower’s blades aren’t too dull, as this will reduce the quality of your grass.
3. Aerate Your Lawn
Aerating your lawn is another one of our lawn maintenance tips. It essentially means that you’ll be pulling plugs of soil out of the lawn, allowing oxygen to get down into the lawn.
This is particularly important if there’s a lot of excess thatch or hard soil. However, it’s best to do it in spring and fall if possible, and when the soil is moist. Once or twice a year is generally the right number of times to aerate your lawn — any more, and you risk causing damage.
4. Keep Soil Healthy
Yes, you need to use fertilizer. There are a lot of choices, but it depends on your lawn. You should monitor the pH of your soil — if it’s acidic, use a lime treatment, and if it’s basic, use an acidic treatment.
Many people forget to pH test their soil, as it’s one of the most common lawn care mistakes. However, once you’ve done it, you should probably fertilize your lawn just twice per year. Compost is great as well, as it keeps your lawn healthy and is good for the environment.
Healthy soil contains microorganisms like bacteria and fungi, and these are not only good for your plants but also protect your lawn against pests and potential diseases.
5. Seed Properly
Seeding is best after you’ve aerated your lawn. As you’ve created small holes, they’re great places for grass seeds to settle and germinate, filling up bald patches in your lawn.
Overseeding is also an option. This is when you add new seeds over the pre-existing grass, making your lawn look healthy and more robust.
Putting Our Lawn Care Tips to Use
These are just our top five lawn care tips, but they’re a great starting point when you’re wondering how to care for your lawn. No matter how much experience you have, you can get started on caring for your lawn today. What are you waiting for?
Of course, looking after your lawn is just one aspect of making your home look great. If you’re after more tips for looking after your home and garden, check out some of our other posts.