Caring for your lawn is a balancing act. There are four things you need to do mow, feed, water, and weed. One influences the other. For example, water and fertilizer make your lawn grow faster so you mow more often. The key is striking just the right balance to minimize input while keeping the lawn healthy.

                       

                            MOWING

Frequent mowing at the proper height keeps your lawn thick. A dense carpet of turf competes with invading weeds and withstands foot traffic. Meanwhile, a lawn that is allowed to grow tall during a two-week vacation and then is cut back to its original height will be left thin and weakened. Weed seeds find their way to the surface of the soil and take hold. Thin turf is easily torn or uprooted when a 10-year-old rounds third base, leaving an even larger opening for weeds.

How Often Should I Mow?

When you mow depends upon how fast your lawn is growing. The rule of thumb is never to remove more than one-third of the grass blades. When moisture is plentiful and the lawn is well fed, you may have to mow every four to five days to keep it at the desired height. If the weather has been dry, the lawn's growth will slow down. Delay mowing until after watering or rain. Mowing a parched lawn will open it up to sun and wind, leaving it even drier.

The ideal cutting height can vary with the type of grass. During the hot, dry months of summer, it is a good idea to let it get a little taller. (See the chart below for recommended heights.) By letting your lawn grow to the taller end of its range, you will have a deeper rooted turf that is more resistant to both weeds and drought.

Collecting the clippings gives a neat appearance, but this also removes nutrients from the lawn. If you can mow often and not let the clippings get too long, a mulching mower does a good job of chopping and blowing the clippings into the turf where they break down and release their nutrients back to the soil. And don't worry mulching mowers will not increase thatch.

 

FERTILIZING

How Often Should I Fertilize?

Because you want to fertilize when the lawn is growing, cool-season lawns, such as fescue, and cool-season blends will need to be fed in early fall (September), late fall (November), and spring (late February/early March). You may want to use one of the low-nitrogen, high-potassium winterizing formulas such as 8-8-25 for your late fall feeding and calculate the rate as 1 pound of potassium (instead of nitrogen) per 1,000 square feet.

How Much Should I Apply?

The general rule is 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. If the fertilizer is 16-4-8, it is 16% nitrogen. To calculate how many pounds of this fertilizer you will need to deliver 1 pound of nitrogen, divide 100 by 16. The answer is 6.25. However, this is just a starting point. If your lawn is growing too vigorously, gradually reduce the amount you apply.

Which Product Should I Buy?

Look for a fertilizer that is at least 30% slow-release nitrogen. That means that the fertilizer granules will dissolve slowly and the nutrients will not wash into the neighborhood creek with the first hard rain.

 

WATERING

Proper watering will ensure a lawn that is deeply rooted and drought tolerant. If you water correctly, you can get by with watering less often.

Watering is not hard, but some understanding helps. If you apply only a little water every few days, you will moisten the soil only 1/2 to 1 inch deep, and that's where the roots will be. However, if you water deeply and less often, the roots will grow several inches deep, and they'll stay moist there for a longer period of time.

Wait until you see signs of stress in your lawn before you water. If footprints remain in the turf, the blades are too limp to spring back. Also, a grayish cast to the lawn indicates that it is dry and needs water. Ideally, watering should be done as early as possible in the cool of the day (6AM to 10AM).

 

WEEDING

Before applying any chemical, know what type of grass you have and the type of weed you want to kill. Always read product labels carefully.

A pre-emergence weed killer is applied before the seeds germinate in the lawn. Some of these products are combined with fertilizer, and others are sold separately.

A post-emergence weed killer eliminates the weeds that you can see. It may be combined with fertilizer in a product called weed-and-feed, or it may be sold separately as granules or as a spray. To be most effective, it should be applied to the lawn in warm weather when the weeds are growing.