Category: Do It Yourself

Last week, as I drove down the street on my way home from work, I noticed several nice and soft looking green lawns. When I arrived at my home, I noticed that my lawn was still green, but had that slightly dry, bluish-green, crunchy appearance. I knew that if walked on the lawn barefoot, I would feel the prickly blades of grass poke the bottom of my feet. The lawn was thirsty and was begging me to give it some water, so I set the irrigation timer to begin watering early the next morning.

When your lawn has that slightly dry, bluish-green, crunchy appearance, it is time to make sure it gets some water. Here are three simple tips to ensure the time and money you spend watering your lawn are efficient and effective.

1. Water Deep

The first tip for watering your lawn is to apply water long enough to get the soil wet. Ideally, you want to get moisture to penetrate the soil about six inches deep. By getting that much water in the soil, you will promote the growth of roots deeper into the soil. Having deep roots will allow your lawn to be more drought-resistant and the lawn will require less water in the long run.

Winter is releasing its chilling grip across the U.S., and your thoughts are likely turning to springtime flowers and a beautiful, lush, green lawn.

You want a nice green, weed-free lawn, right? §

There are three things you need to be doing this spring to help that lawn start growing.

1. Apply Crabgrass Preventer

If you lawn was infested with crabgrass last summer and you don’t want a repeat occurrence, then your first task is to apply crabgrass preventer.

The timing of this step is important. Crabgrass preventer discourages the crabgrass from germinating, but only works for about a 10 week timeframe. If you do it too early, the effectiveness will wear out before germination. Too late, and the seeds will germinate before the crabgrass preventer can take effect.

The exact time varies each year depending on the weather. However, the general rule of thumb is to apply crabgrass preventer when the forsythia bushes in your area are almost done blooming.