Cultural Tips to Keep Your Lawn Healthy!

MOW TALL!-  This is the most important tip to keep your lawn looking thick and healthy.  For most turf, mowing at 2-3 inches is best.  This will offer more protection against extended drought periods.  Taller grass shades the soil and helps conserve moisture.  The taller the grass, the more natural defense you have against weed and insect infestation.  Tall grass will also have deeper, healthier roots!  It is a common misconception that the higher you set the deck, the more often you have to mow.  However, this is not true.  We recommend mowing every 6-8 days during the peak growing season.  Try to mow during the coolest part of the day to help prevent damage.  Keep the blade sharp to make sure you are cutting the grass, not tearing it!  The last mowing of the year should be at 1-1/2 inches to lessen the chance of disease and vole damage over winter.

WATERING-  Like all living things, lawns will not survive without water.  How much and how often to water depends on Mother Nature!  As a general rule, a lawn should receive, on average, 1-2 inches of water per week.  When this happens, the soil should be moist down to a depth of 4-5 inches.  The best advice during an extended drought is to water the lawn deeply every week.  Lawns with slow release, dry, granular fertilizer will also recover faster when moisture returns!  In the absence of water, your lawn will eventually become dormant and turn brown.  Recovery will be slow once normal rainfall returns.  When a lawn is allowed to turn dormant, it can make it difficult to spot and insect and/or disease damage until lawn recovers.

MULCHING-  We recommend using a mulching mower instead of a bagging mower when cutting the lawn.  Mulching helps your turf by replenishing water and Nitrogen found in the cut grass blades as well as reducing evaporation from the soil surface.

CONTROL THATCH-  In a healthy lawn, the thatch level is ½ inch or under.  when the thatch layer is over ½ inch, the chances of insect and/or disease manifestation are greatly increased.  Thick thatch prevents air, water and nutrients from reaching the root zone.  This means your lawn looks less than satisfactory in spite of loving care!  We recommend yearly aeration to reduce thatch, lessen soil compaction, and encourage deeper root growth.