Lawn Care

When you have a lawn around your home, no matter how small or large it may be, you do want to make sure it looks its best at all times of the year. The most commonly known method of lawn care is to cut the grass on a regular basis. Weeds can cause damage to a lawn, so steps must be taken to remove these plants from the grass. Some of the ways of maintaining a lawn through mowing include:

Ensuring that the blades of the lawn mower are sharp to cut the grass off at an even height.
Grass should never be mowed when it is wet.
Never cut the grass down too low to the ground. This removes too much of the plant tissue and the grass can burn with the heat of the sun.
Alternate the cut of the grass each time you mow.
Make sure you rake up all the dead grass clippings from the lawn leaving it clean and smooth.
Rolling the lawn helps to level the ground and till the grass plants.
Aerate the soil by poking small holes in the lawn at regular intervals. These holes are too small to see and will not mar the look of the lawn. Aerating the soil gives it the oxygen the grass roots need to grow.
Water the grass on a regular basis in times of very little rain or when the weather is hot. The best time of day for watering is early morning or early evening.
Grass needs fertilizer in the spring and fall to help the roots get the nutrients they need.

The lawn care you provide for the grass in the different seasons of the year depends on the climate of the area in which you live. During the cold winter months, when there is ice and snow, most people do not do any lawn care. In these areas, lawn maintenance starts in the spring and continues through the summer and fall up until the time of the first frost. Spring or early summer is the best time to seed a lawn in any climate. Putting in a new lawn requires a load of topsoil, but any lawn can benefit from a light coating of topsoil in the spring.

In the fall, the grass should be mowed at a lower height than in summer and any thatch buildup should be removed. Fertilizer can be applied at this time as well. In areas where there is no snow or ice in winter, although you won’t have to mow your lawn, this is a good time to add composted material to act as fertilizer.