Lawn Care

In times of hectic schedules, frenzy routines, water restrictions and apartment buildings, having a beautiful lawn may seem to many like a  medieval dream. That however is far from the truth as multiple ways to grow and nurture your lawn crop up every day thanks to gardening experts and specialists. In this section, we'll share those basics with you so that you too can be the proud owner of a dream turf.

Lawn Care consists of three essential rules that you need to have on your fingertips always;

1. Rule of Nutrition
2. Rule of Timing
3. Rule of Maintenance

Rule of Nutrition

All living things thrive on nutrition as does that tuft of green in your yard. And all basic rules of nutrition apply to your lawn as well; balanced lawn food is essential to grow the perfect lawn. Ideal lawn care demands a healthy combination of a variety of nutrients with multiple benefits that give you both short and long term benefits.

All lawn care and gardening stores these days are designed to confuse you at best with their multiple rows of hundreds of varieties of nutrients. The solution is to know your nutrients before you step in that store!

Organic Nutrients

Organic foods are useful for slow-release, long-term nutrition of your lawn and help it strengthen itself for different seasons. Organic foods are typically composed of substances like animal manures, compost, blood meal, bone meal and seaweed extracts.

Synthetic Nutrients

Synthetic or inorganic are chemically processed fertilizers designed to give immediate aid to the lawn. While organic foods are comparable to 'healthy foods', synthetic nutrients most often serve as 'snack foods' for the lawn; giving that much needed spruce up to the lawn.

Combination Nutrients

Combination Foods, as the name suggests, are nutrients with a mixture of organic and inorganic foods. This, in the manufacturers opinion, gives the combined benefits of both foods in one product.

Slow Release Lawn Nutrients

This kind of lawn nutrient is mostly granular in nature, allowing for slow nutrient release into the soil. Lawns are enhanced by the use of this kind of nutrient as it is a long term beneficiary.

Liquid Hose-On Fertilizers

These are instant lawn foods that deliver the fastest results for emergency situations when a lawn needs to look at its best. These fertilizers are not good for long-term benefits but are excellent quick fixes for birthdays, parties and dinners.

A balanced fertilizer is what's best for your lawn. By the balanced fertilizer, we mean a healthy mix of organic, inorganic and slow-release foods. By maintaining a balance, you can give your lawn the best of all worlds.

Expert Tip:
(From Better Homes and Gardens)
Look for an ideal N(Nitrogen) - P (Phosphorous) - K (Potassium) ratio of 11:4:8 which gives you the optimal amounts of all foods for perfect lawn care.

Rule of Timing

Good lawn care, more than anything else, is about doing the right thing at the right time. If you know when to feed, reseed, water, cut and areate your lawn, you're on the right track to creating the dream lawn for yourself.

Time to Water

An inch of water per week is the standard requirement for healthy lawns. Watering is also most effective in the morning as watering the lawn in the evening breeds disease and infection in grass.

Time to Reseed

Cool season grass is best sown in mid-August to mid-September as the warm soil helps the seed germinate and young shoots emerge just in time for cool air to help them thrive. Warm season grasses on the other hand are best sown and fed in Spring and Summer only.

Time to Weed

Weeds like Henbit and Chickweed germinate during the Fall and Winter, so by applying a post emergent, enivronmentally safe herbicide in Fall, winter weeds are caught and controlled in time. To prevent spring weed outbreak, treatment in the preceding fall is required. However, since most herbicides are not lawn care -safe , our experts recommend the following organic weed removal tips:

• Keep your grass cut high and mulch your grass clippings. This helps prevent weed germination to begin with.
• Apply corn gluten meal every spring as its a natural pre-emergent that stops weed growth well in time.

Expert Tip:
Always pre-plan and preempt your lawn's needs. Planning ahead is very rewarding in gardening and lawn care as it makes the task of growing and nurturing  a beautiful lawn easier.

Rule of Maintenance

Apart from the major tasks, there a re a hoist of seemingly minor routine jobs that help you keep your lawn in shape. Here's a handy list so you never forget these small yet important details:

Cutting and Mowing

Adjust your mowing frequency to suit the natural rate of growth of your lawn's grass. As a rule of thumb, always cut only 1/3rd of the length of the grass as sufficiently long and strong blades compete with weeds and kill them.

Perfecting the pH Balance

Grass normally prefers soil that lies between slightly acidic to neutral. Weeds on the other hand thrive in acidic or alkaline soils hence making it critical for you to optimize your soil for your grass by using Lime wood or Wood ash to sweeten acidic soil.

Caring for your mower

Ideally, your lawn mower needs two to three tune ups every season depending on its usage. Sharpening the mowers blade is extremely important to avoid trearing and damaging the grass which makes it susceptible to infection.

Mulching your Grass Clippings

According to lawn care experts, mulching your grass clippings shades the surface of soil and makes it harder for weeds to germinate. Grass clippings are also said to be 10% nitrogen which is a major component of fertilizers. All the more reason for you to mulch!

Follow these three golden rules religiously and you'll be on your way to a beautiful turn through expert lawn care. If professional lawn care is what your turf needs, click here for the best in  lawn care.