5 Tips to Keep Your Lawn Green and Healthy

September 14, 2015 Guest Post

It takes a lot of effort to keep your lawn green. When you see your neighbor’s lush green lawn, you can rest assured he’s worked hard at it. If you want your lawn to look like your neighbor’s, you’ll have to work hard towards it. Maintaining a healthy lawn isn’t rocket science and if you’re doing it correctly it shouldn’t take a lot of effort. There is a lot of misinformation regarding lawn care circulating out there. To steer you in the right direction, we have compiled a few useful tips that you can use.

Use Fertilizer Sparingly
It’s true that plants need nutrients to grow and the easiest way to provide it is to use fertilizers. However, too much of a good thing can also be bad. If the grass grows too tall it will be plagued by pests and diseases. This shows that using fertilizer in excess can actually damage the plants. Use fertilizer once a year during the fall season. That should be enough to keep your lawn healthy. If you want to use fertilizer, use the organic kind. I don’t have to tell you why that’s a better alternative.

Avoid Pesticides
Pesticides are like nuclear bombs, meaning they don’t differentiate when they kill. Not everything that crawls between the plants is out to destroy it. Earthworms for example naturally aerate the soil. They may look like a threat, but spiders and ants actually protect your lawn from pests. When you use pesticides every living organism that is working towards a healthy lawn dies along with the microbes. If you don’t want that to happen then stop using pesticides at once. Sure your lawn will suffer a little at the hands of pests, but it is a sacrifice you should be willing to make.

Water Infrequently
Plants need water to survive, that’s a no brainer. However, they don’t need to be watered daily, once a week is fine. This will encourage the roots to grow deeper and find groundwater. When you do water the plants make sure you do it well. You’re only doing it once a week so it shouldn’t be a problem for you. Water the grass until there is an inch of water accumulated over the surface. Water your lawn in the morning, preferably at the break of dawn. This will keep the lawn cool until the water evaporates under the afternoon sun.

Mow Your Lawn
Unfortunately this is the area where the majority of your work lies, there’s just no avoiding it. As mentioned before tall grass is susceptible to diseases and pests, which is why you need to mow your lawn regularly. Keep the blades of your lawn mower sharp, to get a clean cut. The point is to cut the grass, not butcher it. Cut about one third of the grass and no more. You don’t need to emulate a military barber and give your lawn a crew cut. Mow your lawn in varying patterns for best results.

Aerate When Necessary
Earthworms and microbes aerate the soil, but when they can’t get the job done it’s up to you. Aerating the lawn enriches the soil by allowing the passage of water, air and organic matter deep into it. Excessive mowing and foot traffic prevents the flow of oxygen to the microbes. When this happens it’s time to use an aerator to punch holes in the ground. The holes act like pores that allow the soil to breathe. Without them the soil will asphyxiate causing the plants to die. The spring and fall season are perfect for aerating the soil.

Lawn care isn’t something you should take lightly. If you do, you’ll find bald patches forming all over. Your lawn is a symbol of your social status in the neighborhood. The greener your lawn is the better your standing. If your lawn looks like a devastated mine field you’re not going to get a lot of social visits from your neighbors. While this might be a good thing, it’s no reason to keep your lawn in such a God-awful condition. There are better ways to keep your neighbors away. Plus, with a superior lawn you can make them burn with envy. It’s probably the best advantage of having a lawn.

Leslie Kramer, the author of this post is a freelance blogger, who is currently writing for T-Quip, one of the leading suppliers of lawn equipment. Leslie is an adventure enthusiast and her ultimate goal is to travel the world.