Taking care of your lawn

If you have a green garden or a backyard, you already know how important it is to maintain your lawn in good conditions. The first thing anyone will see entering your home is your garden, and will definitely look at your lawn. Nothing as a green, smooth looking green lawn. If you do not maintain your lawn at good conditions, or are simply not taking care of your lawn, it will reflect in a vanishing colour appearance, an untidy careless look of your property.

Taking care of your lawn is not just mowing it every now and them. Is about keeping it healthy and well taken care of, and to keep it healthy does not mean you have to water it regularly, there are other things to be considered to achieve that golf club looking green lawn, that intense tone, that even texture and still keep it strong enough to resist stepping on it.

To begin with, you must be aware of the kind of soil. Is it nutrient rich enough for growing plants? That is what lawn is after all.  Maybe watering it will not be enough for a strong grass to grow, you could require the use of fertilizers so it can grow healthy, stronger and faster.

In second place, verify the drainage of the soil. If it is really bad and water gets accumulated you will end up flooding your little plants and not only damage them from constant excess of water, but also promote the appearance of certain fungi.

Watering is fundamental for an adequate care, but there are a few facts to take into consideration. The kind of soil is determinant on the watering frequency,  if there is a big percentage of sand on it, your watering needs will be more, since sand does not keep much water within. On the contrary, a clay type does maintain a higher amount of humidity, so the need of watering will be reduced.

Where is your lawn located. If there are areas of your lawn that for some reason are mostly under shadow, the need for water will be less than when exposed to sun light since there is almost no evaporation happening, therefore the lawn will maintain humidity for longer periods of time.

Regarding watering your lawn, setting the appropriate schedule is fundamental too. You must avoid central hours of the day when the sun is vertically directing it’s rays. Not only you loose some water from evaporation, but  getting fresh water when exposed to high temperatures and sun rays, will directly damage your lawn. A burned appearance will not take longer to show up if you do this. Besides, doing so will favour the appearance of fungi, which can have devastating effects on your lawn and are not so easy to get rid of.

Fertilizing is necessary too and the frequency will depend on the soil itself, but generally speaking you will have to fertilize it at least once a year to replace the nitrogen, potassium, magnesium and other nutrients that your lawn is consuming.

Bad grass has to be taken care of too. There are some type of bad grass you will not want to have among the green leaves of your lawn. Not only they compete for the nutrients and produce a weakening of your desired green grass, but also produce an abandoned look.  You will have to purchase a specific product that will kill the undesired bad grass.

You will have to look for little bugs too. Simply get down on your knees and spend some minutes observing. You will realize if there are bugs damaging your lawn just by taking a good look at the leaves. They simply “eat” those smooth green leaves, also look for colour spots on the leaves that will indicate the presence of unwanted guests. There are general and specific pesticides, it will depend on whether you have clearly identified the type of specie destroying your lawn or not.

Mowing it is mandatory for a neat image and proper growth. Summer requires to do it more frequently than winter, but that is something you will be evaluating by simple observation. Taking care of your lawn is not exhausting, nor boring, just demands some little attention from you and some work but believe me, it will be worth it at the end when you can finally sit back and pleasantly observe that intense bright green extension in front of you.