Lawns make the most of your home, either the front and back yards. The front yard is even the first thing people can judge from the outside, which includes the fences, curb, to landscapes that are maintained by professional landscapers. It’s every American’s ideal—to have the perfect cut, vibrant, healthier, and thicker lawn.
If you want to improve the facade of your home, start taking your lawns more seriously. With pets, kids, weather, and all, lawns can be prone to becoming bald and being infested with moss and weeds.
The grasses play a huge role in giving your home character and life. The greener, the better. But one doesn’t need to be green-fingered or enslaved to lawn care to make the grasses more vibrant. Just follow the proven methods and you’re good to go.
Mow the Right Way
Mowing can significantly make your grass thicker since a mower’s blade has growth-suppressing hormones that prevent the grasses to grow horizontally.
Preferably, you should mow your lawn weekly, but if yours grow quicker, you might have to mow more often. Other lawns grow slower, and so, will require mowing just once every other two weeks or ten days.
Make sure that you use only a sharp, balance, and well-maintained blade in your lawnmower. A dull blade will only tear the grasses, not cut them cleanly. Torn or damaged grasses will require more nutrients and water and are more vulnerable to diseases. Make sure to balance and sharpen your blade thrice a year.
Don’t mow the grass when wet or its blades will stick together, which will result in an uneven cut. Mowing them wet can only mat down some parts of the grass and so, you skip on them. Popping only later, those wet grasses will only make the lawn uneven.
Since grass blades grow in the direction where they are mowed, alternate the pattern when mowing to ensure they grow upright and healthy.
Finally, don’t throw the grass clippings. Make them a mulch while mowing, which makes composting less work for you. This way, you add nutrients as the grass clippings are decomposed and retain moisture in the soil.
Aerate
A high-traffic lawn usually suffers from soil compaction. Even mowing can make it compacted. This can result in poor water drainage, nutrient absorption, and circulation.
Aerating your lawn is a simple process, and you can use various means, such as a manual aerating tool or a large aerating machine that you can rent. You only have to punch holes about three inches deep throughout the lawn.
This allows the soil to loosen up and air to circulate better as well as invite earthworms that can’t otherwise penetrate in compacted soil.
Water deeply
A few minutes of light sprinklings will not get to the depths of the soil. In fact, they only moisten the surface; hence, leading to shallow growth, and will even need frequent watering.
To get deeper into the soil (both water and fertilizer), water your grasses deeply, preferably at least one-inch depth of water once every week. To determine if it’s gotten that deep, you can place shallow containers around the lawn. Turn the sprinklers on and see if most of the containers are filled with water.
Ideally, after three to four days, test the soil with your finger if it needs deep watering again. It may be time to water again when the first three to four inches of your soil feel dry.
Another way to determine your lawn needs watering is when it loses its resilience and bounce. The bottom of the grass blades shows dull green color when it wilts.
Take note that early morning is the best time to water your lawn so it can get plenty of time to dry before nightfall. Letting your lawn remain wet during nightfall can make the grasses more susceptible to diseases brought by fungi or molds.
Fertilize and Weed Out
Recycle the grass clippings so you can have a natural mulch. It will also help save time for mowing, reduce your need for fertilizers, and not have to throw plenty of wastes into the landfill.
Take note that timing can make a great difference too so that weeds and fertilizers can work well. You can get rid of weeds by the early spring and summer to hinder them from reproducing or developing root systems.
You can choose to fertilize in the early spring to stimulate root development. Fertilizing by fall repairs the damage brought by summer, helping grasses to survive winter’s harsh conditions.
Tend to Other Complementary Parts
A healthier, thicker lawn itself can already make your home look more appealing. But don’t just settle on the grasses. While maintaining your front yard lawn, strive to beautify your fences, landscape, curb, and all the other parts too.
