The outside of your home is the first thing people see when they pull up and the last thing people see when they leave. Whether you're sprucing your place up to sell it or just wanting to improve it for yourself, great landscaping will make a big difference in the look and feel of your property. Part of great landscaping, is a great lawn.
We've all seen that neighbour with the perfect green grass all summer long. How do they do it? How can you have it? Where do you even start?!
In this blog post, I'll tell you how you can get your lawn looking amazing!
1. Timing:
The time to get outside to prepare your lawn for the summer is in the spring time, which means NOW is the optimal time to get started if you haven't already!
As well, the beginning of spring time is the best time to tune up your lawn mower and get your blades sharpened, before you start cutting!
2. Prepping:
- Thatching - Helps remove old dead grass, moss, and can help level the lawn.
- Seed and soil any bare patches
- Use sand to help fill any uneven areas
- Apply moss treatments to kill off moss
- Use weed killer to kill off any weeds
- Fertilize the grass
- Water your lawn regularly so it becomes thick and healthy!
3. Strategic Grass Cutting:
Yes, there is a grass cutting strategy that WILL help your lawn grow faster!
- Each time you mow your lawn, mow it in the opposite direction. Doing this stimulates the root system and strengthens the grass as opposed to when you mow in the same direction every time.
- Mow the lawn earlier in the day or in the evening (but not when the grass is wet)
4. Strategic Watering:
The ABSOLUTE best time to water the grass is in the evening. Grass will have a better opportunity to absorb the water overnight rather than watering in the morning and having it dry up quicker during the day.
- Refer to your city watering regulations for how often you can water; however, as a general guideline, you want to water based on exposure to sun and the current weather trends. If it's cloudy and rainy, you won't have to worry too much about watering as often. If it's hot and sunny, you will want to make sure your grass is well watered every other day.
5. Weed Eating
Using a Weed Eater on the edges of your lawn will keep it looking sharp and clean. It also keeps grass from invading your flower beds and makes mowing around edges much easier!
6. Maintaining Over the Summer:
- Fertilize a minimum of 1 - 2 times throughout the summer or a maximum of once every 3-4 weeks.
- Strategic Watering - as above.
- Strategic Grass Cutting - as above.
If you're reading this post after the spring time window to prep your lawn, no worries. You can still follow what I have above with the exception of thatching your lawn. As well, moss killers work best when applied in the early evening and when overnight temperatures are forecast to be mild (above but near 10 C) in the spring. So if you're attempting to kill moss in chilly damp weather, it might not be as effective.
Good luck with the lawn and here's to a great summer!