Healthy grass out-competes most weeds and diseases and by adopting good turf maintenance practices, your lawn will look good and be free of most obnoxious weeds.

How do I mow my lawn?

Seems like a simple question, right? Well most people seem to think so until they find out the proper way to mow. The problem is most people seem to mow in the same pattern and direction each time. By doing so, they create streaks and striped lines that grow back irregularly and look rather unsightly. To keep your lawn as healthy as possible, it is important that your lawn is not trampled or continuously matted to the point were it is not allowed to grow properly. To help avoid this problem, it is best to change your mowing directions each time you mow. You should either cut cross-diagonally or in the opposite direction each time you mow.

 Should I mulch my lawn?

In general, mulching your lawn is a good idea because it helps provide the soil with increased ground cover to hold moisture, and acts as a fertilizer. Clippings can contain up to 80% water and 5% nitrogen that can continuously fertilize your lawn! Additionally, mulching can reduce the amount of fertilizer you need to apply to your lawn. Mulching also reduces the headache of bagging your lawn and disposing of cut clippings. Again, the common side effect to mulching is development of thatch in your lawn. As a rule of thumb, mulching is recommended during times of seasonal droughts, heat waves, and after fertilization and lawn development. Conversely, it is recommended that you try to rake and bag your clippings occasionally, especially when you witness either a build-up of clippings on the lawn surface or an excess development of thatch in the lawn.  

Fertilizing The Lawn:

Fertilizers are commonly labelled with N-P-K ratios (N=nitrogen, P=phosphorus, K=potassium). Nitrogen makes lawns green, phosphorus promotes good roots, potassium is a disease fighter. Other trace elements are needed for a healthy lawn. Calcium promotes root hair growth, magnesium is a big part of chlorophyll, sulfur helps seeds form, boron improves the yield, copper makes enzymes work harder, manganese stimulates germination, molybdenum makes nitrogen enzymes work harder, and zinc is needed for chlorophyll and growth.

What kind of fertilizer should I use?

There are two basic categories of nitrogen fertilizer -- soluble and slow release. Soluble fertilizers are available quickly to plants (even at low temperatures), stimulate rapid growth and are depleted quickly. To keep your lawn healthy, use fertilizer with slow release nitrogen. To maintain uniform growth over a long period of time and to prevent possible burning, you'll need to make frequent, light applications of the materials. Slow release nitrogen sources depend on soil bacteria or moisture to gradually decompose the materials and transform the compounds into usable forms of nitrogen. Consequently, they release nitrogen to the grass over a longer period of time.  

How often should I water my lawn?

 Water (or rainfall) at a rate of 1" per week about every 3 or 4 days during the growing season. A little more often if the temperature is very high. Water deeply to wet the top 3 to 5 inches of the soil to encourage deeper root growth. Avoid daily light watering as this will promote shallow root growth and make the lawn more prone to drought conditions. If you are starting a new lawn, frequent watering to keep the soil moist is essential. An automatic lawn sprinkler system will help you water properly and easily without wasting water.