At times, it can feel like a luscious green lawn is nothing more than a pipe dream found on the cover of a Better Home and Garden magazine. Chin up, friends, because this is the year that your backyard will join the ranks of your neighborhood’s landscaping elitists! Follow these seven steps so that you can enjoy a greener lawn all season long:
Fertilize Once in the Spring (like right now!)
Fertilizing is a tricky game that takes proper precision and astute attentiveness. We recommend fertilizing three times during the year, and the first time is in the spring. Fertilize sometime during April or May, but don’t go overboard. An excess of nitrogen is too much for the grass roots to handle, which weakens its ability to hold up against summer heat. Always follow the fertilizer instructions!
Maintain a Consistent Watering Schedule
We all know that watering is a biggie, but when you water and how much water you give your grass influences its health. We recommend watering in early morning when it is less likely to evaporate. Whether it is through rainfall or a sprinkler system, grass should receive about one inch of water each week. Learn how to conserve your outdoor water use.
Don’t Cut Grass Too Short
Kind of like when getting your hair cut, you don’t want to go too short mowing your lawn. Grass with a buzz cut is just going to get sunburned, especially since we’re closer to the sun in Colorado. Play it safe and just mow ¼ inches – ½ inches at a time.
Aerate Your Lawn
Every now and then, your lawn needs to breathe. Aeration can help air, water and nutrients pass through to the grass roots, which results in the increased overall health and greenness of your lawn. Spring is a great time to aerate to start the growing season off right!
Add Compost
Organic matter can work wonders when it comes to greening up your lawn. Cover the grass with a layer about ½ inch thick and then rake it into the ground. Whatever you do, don’t use compost that is still steaming because that means it is not fully decomposed.
Fix Your Lawn’s Problem Areas
As cool as it would be, problems don’t go away just because you ignore them. If you are serious about greening up your lawn, identify its problem areas. This means pulling weeds, reseeding dead grass spots, nixing the dandelions – you know the drill.
Rake the Grass at Summer
And finally, at the end of the season, rake the grass to get rid of all the debris that has collected on your grass over the past several months. Don’t let it go into winter with stray pinecones, dead leaves, random twigs, the neighbor kid’s toys, etc.
Need a little extra help with greening up your lawn? Give us a call at 970-304-1183 and our super green team will be there in a jiffy!
