Can anyone give me a good lawn care schedule?
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at
5:55 pm
I just bought a house with a decent but not great lawn. I have maintained a pretty good watering and mowing schedule, but have seen the lawn begin to brown and appear thinner.
Can someone tell me from beginning to end what I should do and when to bring the lawn back? I want to give it a shot before resorting to just pulling it out and putting in new sod.
Also I have a dog and obviously fear using anything toxic that he may be exposed to.
Tagged with: great lawn • sod
Filed under: Wall Mount Hose Reel
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Buy or use a mulching mower….fertilizes the grass everytime you use it……I fertilize my lawn by the rule of threes: weed and feed at Easter, Memorial Day and Labor Day…..makes it easy to remember when to do it….I like Scotts Turf Builder plus 2 or Vigoro or Green Power weed and feed….all do a good job. Keep lawn watered if you are in a very dry area…..all lawns need a good drench once or so a week in the summer.
I would mow once a week while its growing the fastest in the spring. Do your watering in the evening after the sun is not overhead to avoid burning it. Also dont cut it too short, leave some length. This may be a couple of the reasons its browning. Give it time it will more than likely be fine.
New sod is costly. I would avoid any chemicals right now until the grass is healthy again to avoid any further burning.
are you in the south? sounds like your winter ground cover is dying off and it will turn brown regardless of what you do it…you should figure out what kind of other grass you have…and reseed and fertilize it..and then water it…you want your lawn to eventually kill off the winter ground cover..and a good bermuda or st augustine or centipede will do just that it will go dormate in the winter and pop back out in the spring when it hits 70ish or 80 ish…
Every year imo you should aerate and over seed (Every Spring or Fall have someone aerate it for you and then you spread seed everywhere). And when getting an aeration, be sure they are actually removing the cores of soil not just poking holes. You will want to water it lightly right after seeding to keep it moist for germination – but normally water oncea week depending on weather conditions. A trick is to place a tuna can in the path of the sprinkler and when it is full the lawn got enough water in that area. Watering longer, less often forces the roots to go down instead of sitting on the surface making your lawn stronger and more resistant in the long run. Also, remember to sharpen your mower blade once a year, and most mowers don’t come pre- sharpened when you buy them!
HTH, and good luck (and maybe consider a dog run? Otherwise poke holes anywhere you see dog damage and water heavily)
I was in the same situation. My neighbor told me to get a bottle of the "weed and feed" which attaches to the hose and sprays on the lawn. I did and it helped make the grass deep green and get rid of some of the weird grass that was coming up. Another problem was my husband was cutting the grass to low and it would get brown after he mowed. Then finally, I had to stand outside and watch the sprinklers cycle on and off. I discovered that there were a few spots that the sprinklers didnt overlap and if there was any wind at all those spots werent getting watered. Now the lawn is mostly great. Some grows faster than other parts and some is greener than other parts but the neighbors always mention how great our lawn looks so it must be better.