Go Green(er)
There’s nothing like a nice green lawn. It helps keep your house cool, provides a great place for your kids to play, and it just looks good. It can be hard to keep your lawn green, though. During the summer, the heat dries out the grass faster, causing it to turn yellow. It’s not pretty; but even worse than a yellow lawn is a mostly green lawn with dead spots.
Avoid Dead Spots
dead spotsAvoiding dead spots isn’t terribly tricky, but it can take a little work. Here are just a few things you can do to avoid dead spots.
1. Don’t Leave Things on the Lawn
In the summer, everybody wants to play on the lawn. They also want to keep cool. To kill two birds with one stone, we often set up kiddie pools and inflatable water slides on the lawn. Now, there’s nothing wrong with either of these things, but you shouldn’t leave them there. The size and weight of them when filled with water is heavy enough to crush the grass, and they block the sunlight. They can also get very warm. All of these things combined will kill the grass underneath very quickly. If you want to leave a pool or slide up, be sure that you move it around regularly, and put it away when it’s no longer being used.
2. Water Properly
Grass needs water, as all plants do. We’ve already talked about watering practices at length, so I’ll simply summarize the main points. The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning, before it gets hot. That way, the water gets down into the soil instead of evaporating. Make sure your sprinklers point at the grass and don’t veer off onto the road, where the runoff will be of no benefit. Make use of sprinkler systems to keep your watering on a consistent schedule so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it. Water more heavily in the spring so that it encourages the roots to dig deeper and stronger to survive the summer droughts.
Proper watering will keep your lawn nice and healthy.
3. Proper Lawn Care
There are three major parts of proper lawn care aside from watering: mowing, aerating, and fertilizing.
For mowing, make sure that the blades are sharp and that you wash the underside of the mower regularly. Sharp, clean blades will cut the grass cleanly, causing less trauma. Make sure that you don’t cut it too close to the earth, either. Grass needs to have enough surface area to absorbe sunlight.
Aerating is important for keeping your soil from becoming too packed. The process allows water and air to get into the soil, which helps break down the soil into nutrients your lawn can absorb, while also making a place for water to go when you water it.
When you fertilize, make sure that you use the right kind of fertilizer for your lawn. Follow the instructions carefully. If you over-fertilize, it can attract fungi that can harm your law.
Can You Fix Dead Spots?
Dead spots in your lawn can be fixed if you can’t avoid them. If the grass has just yellowed a bit, you can usually spruce it up by giving it a good, regular watering. If the grass has completely died, leaving bare patches of soil, you’ll need to reseed or resod the patch. But first, it’s best to make sure that soil isn’t contaminated. This can be especially important if you’ve over-fertilized a patch, or if a dog has routinely done its business there. All you need to do is grab a spade and dig up the patch, then flip the soil over. This buries the contaminated layer of soil deep enough for it to dissipate before new roots reach it. Once you’ve reseeded, you’ll need to water it regularly until it can sprout.
Let Us Help
CV Lawn King – Landscaping and Yard Maintenance Cache Valley UtahHere at CV Lawn King, we’re professionals. It’s our business to help keep lawns healthy and green and we’re more than happy to help you out if you’ve got some dead patches that you want cleaned up. Get in touch with us and set up an appointment for us to drop by. We’ll get your lawn back on track and looking good.