Effective Tips For Lawn Maintenance

There is nothing like a lush and well maintained lawn in the garden of your home. However, the lawn does not simply become lush and lovely out of nowhere. From time to time, you will have to take extra care to keep it in the best condition. Whenever you notice that the lawn is looking slightly lacklustre, you should begin working on it and it will immediately respond to the attention. You can simply turn a brown lawn green by watering it in the months of summer. You can also spike the trampled areas in order to aerate the grass and see it growing. Alternatively, you can turn a thin lawn into a soft carpet by raking out the dead growth.

Lawn maintenance is an important aspect for a lush garden and you will have to take out time from your busy schedule in order to ensure that your home has the best lawn. Here are some tips to help you maintain the best lawn throughout different seasons.

• Stay away from compaction: If there is compacted grass, it will not grow very well and this will lead to bare patches in the summer as well as mud baths in the cold winter months. You will have to relieve the compaction by aerating the soil. This can be done by pushing a garden fork about 10cm deep in the soil and rock back and forth on the handle. This will open up the soil and allow the root to breath. It encourages the grass to grow and on heavy ground like brush sharp sand and clay soil, there will be an improvement in drainage which will prevent any further compaction.

• Edging: You need to use a pair of long handled shears in order to define the edge of the lawn and to stop the grass from growing into the borders. This will immediately neaten your garden and will create an appealing finish. If the lawn has grown on the border, you can use a hand moon edger or a spade in order to reshape it and to create a shallow moat. Alternatively, you can install permanent edging so that the grass does not cross.

• Feeding: Those with a large lawn will be required to invest in a wheeled lawn feeder for a quick job. You need to apply fertilizer to the grass when the rain is forecast so that it will get washed down right to the roots and it will help stop burning the leaf blades. When it does not rain, you need to water the fertilizers well. This will help your grass look greener within a week. The lawn will need a feed in midsummer and in the spring.

• Cover bare patches: You can easily make bare patch fillers for the lawn. At the time of reshaping the lawn, all you need to do is collect the strips and then place them 5cm apart in a compost filled seed tray. You can then grow them on the outside or in a cold frame. In order to replace the bare patch, you will have to cut out a rectangle or a square around the area then use a hand towel to dig up the soil in the rectangle to the depth of your new turf strip. You can then lay the turf and fit it over the patch. Ensure that you firm it down so that there are no gaps and the turf does not look lower or higher than the existing lawn you have.

• Mowing: In order to ensure that your lawn is less prone to drought, you need to leave the lawn longer in summer which is about 5-10 cm. You can also benefit from a shady lawn as it will be less prone to bare patches and moss. Keep the mower well maintained and ensure that the blades are sharp. You also need to cut the lawn at least once a week in the summer and once in every two weeks in autumn, spring and winters. With regular trimming, the roots will spread and it will help fill the gaps as well as block out the weeds.

• Watering: One of the most important tips for lawn care Boise is to water the young lawns thoroughly. When the weather is hot, you can leave a hose or sprinkler on for a couple of hours during the evening. Established lawns will need watering in hot weather and if you leave it unwatered, it will survive and will green up in autumn again. You should raise the mower blades in the months of summer because longer grass will go brown less quickly. For those who do not want to water the lawn often, you need to choose a tough fescue which consists of a variety of grass that will spread by rhizomes and will fill the bare patches easily.  It will also help keep the roots green and they will survive drought for a longer period of time.

• Weeding: Dandelions as well as plantains have flat leaves which are wide and can smother large lawn areas. They are also easy to trowel out. Buttercups, clover and yellow medick will spread faster through a lawn hence, raking it before you mow can help to lift them up into the mower blades and killing them off over a period of time. With regular feeding and mowing you can easily handle weeds. Using chemicals can be expensive and might not help tackle poor grass health that causes the weeds to thrive.

For those with a small lawn, do not fret! Your lawn does not have to be plain or uninspiring in any manner. Your healthy lawn will give the garden a quick life and there is a lot you can do to keep it looking good and healthy. Right from choosing the perfect grass seed to aerating, you will be able to make a feature out of your small lawn. Follow the tips mentioned below to make your small lawn healthy and aesthetically pleasing.

• Give it shape: Do not be tempted to extend the lawn into every nook and corner. You need to understand that small patches might be tricky to mow and instead you need to keep the lawn at a useable size which has a simple and well defined shape.

• Aerate the lawn: If you have a lawn in the small garden, it will become prone to soil compaction and water logging will occur in wet weather. Since the rain cannot soak in and in the dry weather, the water will simply run off. Hence, you will have to take efforts to aerate the soil by driving in the fork in the lawn and make holes. Rock the fork to loosen the compaction and brush in coarse sand so as to keep the holes open at all times.

• Use bulbs in the lawn: You can add an aesthetic appeal to your small lawn by putting bulbs. Do this with daffodils or crocus and do not mow the lawn for a period of six weeks after the flowering. It will give the leaves enough time to return the nutrients to the bulb.

• Create a path: You might have noticed bare patches on the lawn which is walked on regularly. You can create a beautiful path by laying a series of stepping stones and also reduce the strain on the grass.

• Use storage: Every garden requires a lawn mower and you need to pick one which is easy to pack. Look for handles which you can fold and put inside a box. Push mowers are light in weight and you can hang them on a wall for easy and convenient storage. Since you have a small lawn, keep in mind to pick products that are easy to store.

• Select the grass: Incase of a small lawn, you need to look for a seed mix which suits the spot. There will be numerous mixes available for shady lawns. Choose seeds keeping the lawn in mind so as to ensure that it grows right.

• Trim the lawn: Using a mower will you give a neat finish to the lawn but you might be able to ditch the mower if the lawn is small and it will save you money as well as storage space. You can use electric grass trimmers which are designed for tidying the lawn edges and they will take up minimal space.

If you care well for your lawn, even a small lawn will do the perfect job of absorbing heart rainfall and will make your garden look beautiful. If you want to replace it, opt for gravel instead of paving. You can also replace the grass in your lawn with chamomile for a scented feature each time you walk on it. But ensure that it is not as tough as lawn grass. Every size of lawn needs optimum care and maintenance. It is your responsibility to look after the garden if you want the lush, green carpet at all times.