Looking for a few simple tips and tricks to a healthy, lush, green lawn – all without having to spend hours upon hours and a small fortune working at it?
One thing is for sure, no matter the size of your lawn, it can often be expensive and time consuming to care for. Especially if you are having to purchase all kinds of fertilizers and weed killers on a regular basis. And if you are paying someone else to do those tasks, it can be even more outrageous!
In addition, aside from the expense, more and more homeowners are looking for a more natural approach when it comes to their lawn. After all, constantly having to apply and reapply herbicides and pesticides is not the best for us, our pets, or the lakes and streams they often end up in.
But here is the good news – you really don’t need them to grow a beautiful lawn. In fact, with just a few simple tips – you can start having your lawn looking better in as little as a few weeks. And all for far less than you ever imagined!
3 Simple Tips To A Lush, Green Lawn
There is nothing more satisfying than having a lawn that is thick, luscious and green. Not only is it beautiful, it also happens to be much easier to care for and maintain in the long run.
A thick lawn helps retain moisture in the soil by acting as a living mulch for the soil and grass roots below. The more dense the blades, the more they can help to shade out the hot sun’s rays. That same thickness also helps keep the soil from drying out in windy conditions too.
All of that means a lawn that needs far less water to survive and thrive. But even more, a thick lawn also helps to keep weeds out. It does this by not allowing the seeds of weeds that blow in a chance to find the soil below to germinate.
So what is the easiest way to get your lawn thicker? Even though feeding your lawn a little bit is important, the first and easiest method to a thicker lawn is to simply raise the blades on your mower!
Mowing Higher – The Easiest Tip Of All For A Lush, Green Lawn!
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make with their lawns is to mow them too low. Mowing your lawn close to the ground can cause a long list of issues for your grass, starting with never allowing it to grow full and thick.
A low cut leaves a lawn vulnerable to drying out quickly. And once it does, that leads to your grass turning brown and lifeless in a flash. Mowing too low is also hard on your mower, as the blades scalp soil and rocks, and the deck can easily clog without space to discharge fresh clippings.
But the issues don’t stop there. When lawns are mowed too low, they also open up the floodgate for weeds to take over. With a low lawn height, weed seeds find an easy route to the soil. A low mow also allows creeping weeds to easily take hold and thrive.
Setting Your Mowing Height Up For A Lush, Green Lawn
For most fescue and perennial rye grass mixes, the mowing height should be set at three and a half and four inches during the spring, summer and early fall season. At this height, the blades are long enough to protect the soil. They also allow new emerging grass underneath cover while they grow.
Unfortunately, when a lawn is mowed short, any new grass attempting to grow fails easily without protection. But by raising your mower deck higher, you allow for the lawn to fill in at a faster rate.
The only time you ever need to lower your mower is for the last mow of the season. Other than that – keep it high! For more, see: How To Mow Your Lawn For The Last Time – Before Winter Arrives!
Sharpen Blades Regularly
Believe it or not, the second best thing you can do for your lawn is to keep your blades sharp! More often than not, a brownish, sad looking lawn is the result of dull blades – and not a lack of water or fertilizer. Dull blades do not cut grass, they tear it. And when they do, the tips of the blades quickly turn brown.
Ever mow your lawn one day, and the next day it suddenly all looks brown and dry? It is probably because all of the tips of your grass have turned brown from a poor cut.
To keep your grass staying lush and green, sharpen your blades at least once a month. Replace blades that are old or have huge nicks or gouges that cannot be smoothed out. The more nicks and cuts in your blades, the more wear and tear it will put on your turf.
In addition to sharp blades, keep the underside of your mower clean and free of wet or clogged grass. This can keep the grass from discharging freely, and leaving wet clumps throughout the lawn.
And sharpening doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. You can find inexpensive blade sharpeners that fit on a common drill that keep your blades honed and sharp in mere minutes! Product Link : Blade Sharpening Stones
Finally, always try to mow your lawn when it is as dry as possible. Mowing wet grass not only injures your turf, but it will also dull your blades quickly.
What About Fertilizing?
It is true that every lawn can benefit greatly from a little extra energy. But that energy doesn’t have to be fancy or incredibly expensive. A simple feeding every spring of a basic 10-10-10 all purpose granular fertilizer will do the trick. Affiliate Link: The Andersons PGF Balanced 10-10-10 Fertilizer
Not only are basic 10-10-10 granular fertilizers far less expensive than fancy lawn weed and feed fertilizers, they are also far safer to use than ones loaded up with herbicides and all kinds of other chemicals.
One single feeding in the spring is more than enough to green up your lawn and help keep it lush and green all season long. Here is to taking a few simple steps to keep your grass in tip top shape – without a lot of work or cost!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!