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So you bought your first house and everything is great. You especially love the large green lawn that surrounds your new home. The kids and the wife love it also, as does the dog that just left his mark. It looks like the phrase lawn maintenance is coming to meaning. Except, you have never owned a lawn or even had to take care of one before. You’ve seen your dad put bags of fertilizer in a machine that he pushed around in order to evenly distribute his lawn fertilizer. But you never paid too much attention to the details or had much to do with the lawn care. Well, except perhaps the weekend mowing that your father forced you to do every Saturday morning. But beyond knowing how to start and push a lawn mower, you do not have the slightest idea about the finer details of watering and fertilizing a lawn, not to mention everything else that goes along with owning and maintaining a lush, green lawn to be proud of.
Lawn Maintenance
So comes the time that you must become knowledgeable in the ways of lawn maintenance, and just perhaps even pick up a bit of gardening knowledge along the way. When it comes to lawn care, there is quite a bit that can be known on the subject. In fact, there are many books on the subject. So naturally, the many different tips and pieces of advice that you pick up will most definitely come in very helpful when it comes to ensuring that your lawn remains green and lush. However, out of all of these, there are few aspects to lawn care, in particular, which are of great importance and which you will want to learn right off. Learning how to maintain a lawn as well as a golf course’s lawn will take a little time and experience. But these tips should help keep your lawn lush and green.
Fertilizing Your Lawn
Many people do not quite realize the importance of properly fertilizing your lawn. In fact, this is one of the most important aspects of lawn care in order to maintain that deep green color and lushness that you desire. How you fertilize and the types of fertilizers that you use on your lawn is a subject that you will want to take seriously. But it really is not too complicated once you get familiar with the basics. Ideally, a home lawn will only need to be fertilized when nutrient levels drop below a certain level in order to maintain a healthy condition of lushness and durability. But as fertilizing your lawn can get quite detailed, let’s let our friends at Home Depot explain in this short video.
How to Fertilize Your Lawn
Soil PH
A part of your lawn maintenance schedule will need to include the testing of the soil on a regular basis. Proper PH levels and moisture content are essential to healthy lawn growth.
To test the PH of your soil you will need a PH meter. A soil PH meter can be purchased at most hardware and department stores such as Ace Hardware or Walmart. Just look in the gardening area or ask for assistance.
The pH value of soil is one of a number of environmental conditions that affects the quality of plant growth. The soil pH value directly affects nutrient availability to the plant. Plants have different soil pH ranges that they thrive best in. Azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries and conifers thrive best in acid soils (pH 5.0 to 5.5). Vegetables, grasses and most ornamentals do best in slightly acidic soils (pH 5.8 to 6.5). Soil pH values above or below these ranges may result in less vigorous growth and nutrient deficiencies.
Adjusting Soil PH
Once you have purchased your soil ph meter, follow the instructions provide with the meter to get your lawn’s soil ph level. For your lawn you will want a ph range between 5.8 and 6.5. Anything out of that range can restrict the nutrient intake to your lawn causing it to yellow or even die.
Fact: The PH level best suited for lawns and grasses is between 5.8 and 6.5
Increasing the Soil PH
To make soil less acidic, the common practice is to apply a material that contains some form of lime. Ground agricultural limestone is most often utilized for this purpose. The finer the limestone particles, the more rapidly it becomes effective in the soil. Different soils will require a different amount of lime to adjust the soil pH value to the correct levels. The texture of the soil, organic matter content, and the plants to be grown are all factors to consider in adjusting the pH value of your soil. For example, soils low in clay will require less lime than soils with high clay content in order to make the same pH changes to the soil.
Selecting a Liming Material
When it comes to selecting a lime for a lawn, homeowners can choose from four types of ground limestone products: pulverized, granular, palletized, and hydrated. Pulverized lime is finely ground and suited for quickly adjusting the ph. Granular and pelletized lime is less likely to clog when spread with a fertilizer spreader over turf areas and releases slower in the soil than pulverized does. Hydrated lime should be used with caution since it has a greater ability to neutralize soil acidity than regular limestone
Fact: The finer the grind of the limestone, the faster it will change the soil pH value.
Decreasing Soil PH
Many ornamental plants and some fruit plants such as blueberries require slightly strongly acid soil for best growth. These species develop iron chlorosis when grown in soils in the alkaline range. Iron chlorosis is often confused with nitrogen deficiency because the symptoms (a definite yellowing of the leaves) are similar in nature. Iron chlorosis can be corrected by reducing the soil pH value.
Two materials commonly used for lowering the soil pH are aluminum sulfate and sulfur. These can be found at most garden supply centers in your area. Aluminum sulfate will change the soil pH instantly because the aluminum produces the acidity as soon as it dissolves in the soil. Sulfur, however, requires a bit of time for the conversion to sulfuric acid with the aid of soil bacteria. The conversion rate of the sulfur is dependent on the fineness of the sulfur, the amount of soil moisture, soil temperature and the presence of the bacteria. Depending upon these factors, the conversion rate of sulfur may be very slow and take several months if the conditions are not ideal. For this reason, most people use the aluminum sulfate.
Both materials should be worked into the soil immediately after application to the soil. If these materials come into contact with plant leaves as when applied to a lawn, they should be washed off the leaves immediately after application. Not washing the plant material will cause a damaging leaf burn to most living plants. So take extreme care not to over-apply the aluminum sulfate or the sulfur.
Thatch
Another very important lawn care component and one that many homeowners are not aware of, is thatch. Thatch is a layer of dead and living grass shoots, grass stems and grass roots, that builds up between the green vegetation and the soil’s surface.
Thatch contains high lignin content, and because of this, it resists microbial breakdown and can block out light, making your lawn look patchy and brown. Thatch tends to accumulate if the growth of the crowns of the grass plant and the lateral stems exceeds their decomposition.
A dethatching rake is best for removing thatch from your lawn. Dethatching rakes are not like your typical garden or leaf rake. Dethatching rakes are designed with long blades for specifically removing thatch without damaging your lawn.
Lawn Dethatching Video
Watering
Of course we all know the importance of watering and the resulting brown look of an under watered lawn. Keeping proper moisture content in your lawn’s soils is another essential component to proper lawn care maintenance. However, did you know that over watering can be just as bad as under watering? Actually, if you water too often, you will end up drowning the grass or causing root rot and potentially killing your entire lawn.
Just by keeping a watch on your lawn you will notice when it is in need of water. How often it rains, drought periods, and other environmental factors such as humidity all play a part of when your grass needs watering. The best idea, especially if you do not have the greenest of thumbs, is to have a lawn irrigation system installed. These are set up on a timer and you will have all the watering taken care of for you. A lawn sprinkler system can save you hours of time as you will never have to worry about watering the lawn yourself again. Just flip a switch to turn off the system in times of heavy rains and simply turn it back on to have all of the watering done for you.
Just a Few of the Basics
These are just a few of the basics of lawn care and just a little something to get you started in maintaining a lush, beautiful lawn. Keep in mind that the type of grass, soil, age of the lawn, weather conditions, and various other factors are going to play a role in the health of your lawn. At times you may need a lawn care professional to help you out with an ailing lawn.
For a more comprehensive look at lawn care and lawn maintenance, pick up a copy of “The Lawn Bible: How to Keep It Green, Groomed, and Growing Every Season of the Year”, written by David R. Mellor. I highly recommend it for those that are new to, as well as seasoned in lawn care and lawn maintenance.
Thank you for visiting the BladeDriven Services website. We hope that you enjoy our lawn care tips and information and wish you the best in all of your lawn and gardening efforts.
Spring is here and it’s time to clean up the yard and get the garden tilled. We can help with that. Just give us a call and we’ll have your garden ready to plant and the grass debris free in no time.
