Make Lawn And Tree Maintenance Easy With These Tips

Make Lawn And Tree Maintenance Easy With These Tips

You may think that all you need to do to keep your lawn looking beautiful is to mow and water it, but there are many different elements to lawn maintenance. Like any other plant, grass needs certain conditions to thrive, and making sure your grass is lush and even requires more work than just mowing and watering. Lawn maintenance doesn’t have to be a headache, as long as you keep a few things in mind. Moreover, you can depend on Seattle tree service specialists for proper care of your shrubs and trees.

To keep your lawn healthy, grass should be mowed to about three inches tall. The frequency of mowing depends on how fast grass grows. Grass tends to grow faster in springtime, so you should mow more frequently, but in summer, grass is slower growing and requires less mowing. Also, it’s a good idea to leave grass clippings on your lawn after you are done mowing rather than bagging them. Grass clippings quickly decompose and add nutrients to the soil as well as helping the grass retain water.

Watering Grass also needs water to thrive, but you might not need to water as often as you think. Using a sprinkler on your lawn for just a few minutes three days out of the week doesn’t do much for your grass. Start watering your lawn more thoroughly and less often. Watering deeply and infrequently encourages grass roots to grow deeper into the soil to find water. This may sound like a bad thing, but you want your grass to be able to stay green during periods of drought or high heat, and they need deep roots to do so. In the summer months, make sure and water at dusk or dawn so that the water will sink into the soil and not evaporate.

When you walk on or even mow your grass, the soil gets packed tight or compacted. Compact soil makes it harder for water to drain and for nutrients to get into the roots of your grass. Aerating the soil creates better air circulation, drainage, and more nutrient rich soil. Aerating means introducing air into the soil by punching holes in your lawn about three inches deep. You should aerate your lawn about once a year in springtime when the grass is growing. You can rent an aerating machine or buy a simple handheld aerating tool.

Even with aerating your soil and replenishing nutrients with grass clippings, your grass may need an extra boost of nutrients to stay lush and green. You want to fertilize when the grass is actively growing. Slow release nitrogen fertilizers are good for cool season grasses, and can be applied in the fall as well as in the spring. Natural fertilizers are also a good alternative to chemical fertilizers because they are safe for children and pets.

Weeds are not only unattractive, but they can harm your lawn by stealing nutrients that your grass needs to stay green. The best way to keep weeds away is to use a product that kills existing weeds while also preventing future weeds from growing. You want to make sure and get weeds before they go to seed.

John Clayton