Gardening How-to
July/August 2006

Lawn Care the Easy Way
Maintaining a beautiful lawn doesn't have to be complicated—keep it simple with this quick lawn-care primer.

By Meleah Maynard

When it comes to lawn care, knowing what to do and when to do it can make a world of difference in how your grass looks and whether maintaining it is a breeze or a struggle. Master these six easy tasks for a lawn that looks good all season long.

Watering

When Mother Nature doesn’t water your lawn on a regular basis, you’ll need to do it yourself. Instead of giving your lawn a quick drink every day or two, water infrequently but for a longer time so water reaches a depth of 4 to 6 inches, encouraging deep root growth and healthy, drought-tolerant grass. Turf grass needs an inch or two of water per week, including rainfall, to thrive. Use a rain gauge to determine how much additional watering you’ll need to do.

Water early in the morning or early evening when there is less wind and heat. One disadvantage to evening watering is that wet grass is more susceptible to diseases during cooler nighttime temperatures.

Fertilizing

Most lawns do just fine with one dose of fertilizer per year. But you’ll get more lush growth if you apply two. Read instructions on a few brands of fertilizer before choosing which type is best suited for your lawn.

Feed grass during its active growing season. For example, fertilize warm-season grasses like Bermuda, buffalo, St. Augustine, and zoysia in the early spring or summer. Fertilize cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and fine fescue in early spring and late fall. If you plan to fertilize only one time per year, choose spring for warm-season grasses and fall for cool.

Apply fertilizer when the grass is dry, then give it a good dose of water to move nutrients into the soil and prevent fertilizer from burning grass tips.

Mowing

When grass is growing fast, as it does in the spring, mow more frequently than later in the hot summer when grass growth slows down. A good rule of thumb: Don’t remove more than one third of the grass blade at one time.

To control weeds and reduce the amount of watering your lawn needs, keep grass on the long side—about 2 to 3 inches. Leave grass clippings on the lawn after you mow. They’ll decompose and add nitrogen to the soil.

Weeding

If you don’t have many weeds, you can pull them by hand. Just make sure you get the whole plant, roots and all. To control heavier infestations, apply a pre-emergence herbicide that will kill young weeds before they sprout. Pre-emergence herbicides don’t work once plants have begun to grow, so apply them in early spring just before weed seeds tend to sprout in your area.

To effectively rid your lawn of broadleaf menaces like dandelions and clover, you'll need a post-emergence weed killer. Apply either a spray-on broadleaf weed killer or a weed-and-feed product when your lawn is wet and the grass is actively growing in the spring or fall, depending on grass type.

Aerating and dethatching

Even the most healthy, green lawn can benefit from a good aerating. To prevent soil compaction and allow for better root development in heavy soils, aerate you lawn every couple of years. Aerators punch small holes in your lawn, allowing more air and moisture to penetrate the soil. Rent a core aerator from a local home or garden store. It removes plugs of soil, which remain on top of the grass and decompose there. Don't use tine aerators and strap-on shoe spikes—they compress soil in the area around the tines, adding to compaction problems.

Water your lawn well before aerating. Like fertilizing, aerating is best done during the season when your type of grass is actively growing.

Dethaching removes the layer of roots, stems, and other organic matter that builds up over time between the grass and soil line. Less than ½ inch of thatch is not a problem, but anything more than that prevents nutrients and water from getting to a lawn’s root system. Remove thatch with a dethatching rake, which is equipped with sharp tines. Or save the workout on your arms by renting a dethatcher or power rake to do the job.

Overseeding, patching, and replacing

If your once enviably lush lawn becomes plagued by brown spots, sparsely covered sections, or bare patches, first figure out what’s causing the unsightly areas. If you need help diagnosing the problem, call your local extension office. Pet urine, fertilizer spills, insect damage, weed killer drifting from other spots, too much or too little water, or a closely cropped mowing job are all causes of lawn damage.

Once you know what you’re up against, you can try repair strategies like overseeding, plugging, or sprigging for small spots. Overseeding works well in areas where grass is thin but still green. When overseeding your existing lawn, it’s important to make sure the seed makes contact with the soil. Mow grass close to the ground, then rough up the spot with a rake. Spread seed with a drop spreader or by hand.

Plugs and sprigs work best when patching bare areas with warm-season grasses like Saint Augustine or Bermuda. Sprigs are usually soilless pieces of grass, and plugs are small chunks of sod. Before planting, prepare the soil by clearing the area of old grass and weeds, then till and amend with compost or other organic matter. If your lawn is diseased or more than 50 percent bare or weed-infested, consider replacing it with new sod.

Sidebar 1: turf tip: choose the right grass
To simplify lawn care, start by planting the right grass for your area. Cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass thrive in cold-weather climates, while warm-season species like Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass do best in the South and Southwest.

Sidebar 2: turf tip: consider ground covers
It’s always a challenge to grow grass in the shade. Even when grass seed is labeled for shade, it won’t do well in deep, dark shade—it needs some dappled light to thrive. If you have a shady spot where grass won’t grow, consider ground covers like periwinkle, sweet violet, and lily-of-the-valley instead. Mulch in between plants to reduce weeds.

Ground covers naturally spread quickly—sometimes too quickly. Check with your local nursery or cooperative extension office to find out which ground covers are invasive in your climate.

Sidebar 3: turf tip: weathering the drought
In many states, watering restrictions are common during the hot summer months. To ease stress on your lawn between designated watering times, water deeply so soil is wet to a depth of 6 inches, reduce fertilizers (especially nitrogen), and keep grass height at about 3 inches. Buffalo grass, Bermuda grass, and some zoysia grasses can survive with no water at all for long periods of time.

Meleah Maynard is a garden writer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

© Meleah Maynard