Tips For Keeping Your Lawn Healthy
Do you have a new lawn? If yes, then you should know the keys to maintaining the health of your grass.
New-lawn care involves three main components: water, mowing and traffic.
Water
New lawns should be watered daily during their first few weeks. This is crucial in new lawn care. Daily watering will help the roots to get established. Keep the turf very moist. If you are experiencing a drought in your area, or if you live in a very hot climate, you may need to water your new lawn twice a day at the very least.
While the key to new lawn care requires keeping the turf moist, you should not over-water your new lawn to the point where it is a wet, muddy mess. Try to not saturate the soil. If puddles are forming in your lawn, you are watering too much. Too much water in the soil can keep the roots of your new grass from achieving a deep hold.
If your grass starts to take on a gray color, this tells you that it is not getting the water it needs. A quick way to see if your lawn is getting enough water is to use a knife or screwdriver to dig into the soil. The dirt should be damp to a depth of six inches.
Once your new lawn has passed the two week time period, you can reduce watering to two or three times per week. How often you water your new lawn at this stage will depend on your environment. A new lawn in a dry climate or in an area experiencing significant drought may need to be watered four or five times per week.
Mowing
New lawn care guidelines for sod state that initial mowing can be done within three weeks of planting.
New-lawn care guidelines for seeded lawns state that it may be eight weeks before mowing is needed.
Another key component to maintaining the health of your new lawn is to mow your grass only when it is dry. Mowing new, wet grass can pull the newly rooted grass out of the soil.
Never scalp your new lawn grass. It is better for the grass to be a little high than to be too short. By allowing your new lawn grass to grow a little higher before cutting will ensure that the grass is well rooted and established before it undergoes the trauma of a lawn mower blade.
Traffic
You should try to limit the amount of traffic on your new lawn during the first few weeks after planting. While it is unnecessary to keep all traffic off your new lawn, traffic should be kept to a minimum. You will not want your children riding bikes or playing ball on your new lawn grass.
A lawn that is not protected from high traffic may get damaged and die. Friction on the new grass can pull up newly established roots that are still weak. Reducing friction is important in new lawn care.
Tips For Seeding New Lawns
If you are seeding new lawn, you should know that the best time for sowing is during late summer and early fall. At these times, the soil is still warm. This allows the fragile germination process to take place and gives the roots a chance to firmly establish themselves. Seeding a new lawn in late summer and early fall will keep your new seed from being exposed to high temperatures. It will also cut down on pesky weed problems.
While you can sow seed in spring, it is usually recommended for warm season grasses only. But, keep in mind that while germination can take place in the spring, the new sprouts may not be firmly established before the heat of summer sets in.
To get the best results when seeding a new lawn you should use a hand-cranked seed spreader. Many people sow seed by hand and this leads to uneven grass coverage. When you use a seed spreader, you should make sure the spreader is set to the proper seed rate. Put down two or three applications of seed. Each application should be spread in a different direction than the previous application.
You should then apply a dressing to the lawn. This will ensure that your seeds are not disturbed. Dressings can include peat moss or straw. After you have sown your seed and applied a dressing, you should use either a lawn roller or a rake to ensure the seed comes in contact with its growing soil. You should then proceed to water the lawn. The lawn must remain moist until the grass seed germinates.
During the first few weeks, you should apply about one inch of water to your new lawn weekly, taking into account any rainfall you may have had prior to watering. This will ensure that you do not over-water your new lawn.
You should not mow your new lawn until it is at least 2½ inches tall. After the first mowing, it is recommended that you apply fertilizer to your new lawn. After you apply the turf fertilizer, you should water your lawn. This will help to prevent burn.
You should protect your new lawn from trauma. Keep lawn traffic to a bare minimum during the first month. Do not allow anyone to drive onto your new lawn, ride bikes or do other activities that would damage your new lawn.
Special Tip on Seeding a New Lawn
Before you go out and buy grass seed, you should ensure you are buying one that will grow in your area. You should also know if the grass you are buying is a cool-season grass or a warm-season grass. Warm-season grasses do best in the southern states, while cool-season grasses grow better in the northern states. And, warm-season grasses can be planted in spring and cool-season grasses can be planted in late summer or early fall. It is important that you know which grass you have and which growing season it will thrive in to make seeding new lawns a rewarding project.
