A home that has a neglected lawn looks ugly. It’s actually a clear indicator of an abandoned home. On the other hand, keeping your lawn in good shape requires effort and commitment. This is because the grass will not grow unless it’s well nourished with water and fertilizers. Weeds must also be eradicated to prevent them from spreading. The problem with most homeowners is that they are not aware about the things they should do to maintain their lawn. Here are simple tips that can help you take care of your lawn stress free.
- Mow the Lawn Regularly
Cutting the grass more often enhances its growth. This means that you will need to own a lawn mower or you won’t be able to tend to the grass. Hiring electric lawn mowers for domestic use is never economical because you will be using the equipment after every few weeks. When mowing the lawn, you should avoid cutting the grass too low as it will encourage weeds to grow. You should never trim more than the quarter length of a blade. This helps in maintaining a thick grass cover that denies weeds an opportunity to thrive because there are few nutrients in the soil that can sustain their growth. It’s also important you gather the cut grass with a rake and burn it. Leaving it lying around can create breeding grounds for pests and weeds. You can also use the cut grass as mulch in your vegetables and fruits garden.
- Watering the Grass
Grass that’s not watered regularly tends to dry fast. You should therefore make sure that your lawn is watered once or twice in a day during dry weather. This is because high temperatures cause a lot of moisture to evaporate from the soil. You should also avoid watering the grass during wet weather as it might be damaged by excess water. Since you can’t water the grass with a bucket, you should consider installing a sprinkler system because it helps in spraying water uniformly. You can even invest in an automated sprinkler so that the grass will be watered even when you are gone.
- Apply Fertilizer
Deficiency in nutrients causes grass to lose the green pigment. In fact, the lack of nutrients often results in patches that are pale in color. You can not use any type of fertilizer on grass. Since grass is a legume, you should top dress with a fertilizer that is rich in Nitrogen. The application of fertilizer should be done a few days or weeks before the onset of the rainy season. This is because the ground water will enhance the absorption of the nutrients of the fertilizer by the soil. Farm yard manure can also be applied sparingly because it’s highly concentrated.
- Weeding
Weeds should not be allowed to persist in the lawn. This is due to the fact that they are nutrient guzzlers. As a matter of fact, they cause the grass not to be healthy as they pave way for pests and diseases. If the lawn area is not big, you can use a hoe to flush out the weeds while they are still in their early development stages. But if your home compound is big, you should opt for a weed control herbicide because it’s more efficient.
