7 Successful Tips on Lawn and Garden Care

7 Successful Tips on Lawn and Yard Care-Written by Romona Weston, publisher http://kitchencarts360.com. Looking after your lawn has multiple benefits. Not only do you present a beautiful front to the rest of the neighbourhood, a well-cared for lawn is a haven for birds, prevents soil erosion and absorbs pollutants from rain-water and the air. Although your lawn may be small, an aerial view of most areas illustrates how much green land is contained in people’s gardens.
The key to having a healthy and great-looking lawn is to work with nature – not against it.

1. Right soil; right grassr
Before you think about what to plant, make sure you understand the composition of your soil. Take a handful of soil and examine its consistency. Is it sandy and crumbly or compacted and heavy? Adding compost can help sandy soils absorb more nutrients, while regular aeration (removing areas of soil) benefits heavy clay soils. A soil pH test will determine whether your soil is too acidic or alkali. You should aim for a slightly acidic soil (6.5 to 7) to maximise absorption. Add sulphur to increase acidity or lime to decrease it.
To make your job easier, it is a good idea to buy the right sort of grass for your climate, and sow it at the right time. If you live in the North, cool-season grass is more suitable, while warm-season grass is ideal for Southern states. Regardless of where you live, the grass is likely to go dormant at some point during the year; for cold-season grass, this will be in the summer, while for warm-season grass it will be in the winter. If you live in a transitional area you can either mix varieties for an illusion of all year round greenness or choose depending on the patterns of dormancy above.

2. Using a lawn care servicer
You may decide to take the easy option, and use a lawn care service. Before you pay out any money, you should think about the following:
• What do you want? Lawn care services vary in what they offer so think carefully about what services you need. Weed/pest control, aeration, fertilization, mowing and tree and shrub maintenance are often included.
• Are they recommended? Word of mouth recommendation is always promising, while the Better Business Bureau can give you advice on local companies.
• Contracts and prices? Be careful about companies that charge a flat rate fee. Lawns vary in scope and size and a good lawn care service will carry out a lawn inspection and provide an estimate. Check if you will need to commit to a contract or not. Some companies give significant discounts if you pay for a year in advance.

3. Tackle problems earlyr
It is not good lawn management to wait until the grass is looking sick and malnourished before treating it. Ensuring your lawn is as thick and healthy as possible when the high temperatures arrive is key to staving off disease and competition from weeds. Fertilize sensibly in May and then leave until fall, unless you have warm-season grass which will require monthly topping up with Nitrogen.

4. Mower lorer
Mowing a lawn requires more than just pointing your machine and cutting. Blunt blades lead to torn leaves which are susceptible disease, so ensure blades are sharpened prior to use. Cut frequently, removing no more than a third of the grass height at each time.
Cool-season grass, like Kentucky bluegrass, should be kept at between two and two-and-a-half inches long, whereas warm-season grass can be cut shorter (three-quarters to one-and-a-half inches)

5. Water properlyr
Watering is all about training your lawn to delve deep for water. Watering too frequently will lead to shallow roots which weaken the grass. For cool-season grass, wait until it has gone a week without rain and then water deeply, ideally with an in-ground or sprinkler system. You should aim for an inch of water a week (two in the South) including rainfall.

6. Mid- and late-season carer
When summer arrives, lay off the fertilizer and weed-killer (except in the South) and allow the grass to grow; you want the roots to be as shaded as possible. Despite this care, you can expect cool-season grasses to become discoloured over the summer months as they enter their dormancy period. The grass should recover fully when fall arrives.
In the fall, keep the grass short to maximize drying by the time spring arrives. Weed-killers are more effective now, since weeds are absorbing nutrients to survive the winter.

7. Emergency managementr
Regardless of how well you look after your lawn, you may come up against weeds and pests that need to be dealt with. Broad-leafed dandelions, clover and chickweed can often be weeded by hand as can crabgrass; moss can be raked away and the area re-seeded in fall.
Brown patches of lawn may indicate the presence of beetle larvae, which can be eradicated with an insecticide but if there are strange patches of colouration or other unusual symptoms, take a sample to your local nursery for investigation.