Have you always admired your neighbor's green well-kept lawn? Hard as it is to imagine, such a lawn could be yours, if you do what they did. Here's how you can stop envying your neighbor and becoming the envy of the neighborhood.
Prevent Weeds from Growing
Weeds will stifle your lawn and make your yard untidy. The trick is to prevent them from growing using a pre-emergent herbicide.
Proper Watering
Water regularly but deeply. Your lawn needs about 1 inch of water per week. You can place a soup bowl within the reach of your sprinkler and measure the amount of water collected in it using a ruler.
The best time to water your lawn is in the morning. Night watering can cause too much moisture to remain on the grass and attract disease.
Fertilize
Watering is not enough to have a perfect yard. You grass also needs to eat. Use landscape fertilizer that contains a mixture of slow-release and fast-release nitrogen. The best time to fertilize your lawn is fall and spring in the north; and spring and summer in the south.
Reseed
Make it a habit to add seed to bare patches to ensure your lawn stays uniform. For cool season grass, do it in fall. Warm season grasses are best planted in late spring.
Mow Right
You not only need to mow your grass often; you need to do it right. Cutting your grass too short will expose it to weeds. As a general rule, never cut off more than one third of the blade.
Also make sure your mower is sharp to avoid shredding the grass. Shredded blades will turn brown at the tips, making your lawn look dull.
Remove Debris
Using a rake, make it a habit to clear your lawn of dead leaves, twigs and pine cones. If not removed, such debris can prevent sunshine from reaching the lawn.
Trim your Trees
Wild, shapeless trees and shrubs will remove make your yard look ugly. You need to keep your trees, shrubs and hedges looking as good as your lawn. Trim off dead tree branches and shape shrubs and hedges.
Mend Fences
Seal any gaping holes or sagging wires. If you have a wooden fence, spruce it up with a lick of paint.
It takes hard work to have your dream lawn. If you plan ahead, it is all possible. It takes a combination of watering, weeding, fertilizing, weeding, seeding and trimming.
If you do it right, you may be on your way to becoming the Joneses. If you find all this rather overwhelming, consider hiring landscaping services, like Bishop Horticulture, to assist you.