Did you know that a 2,500 square foot lawn can produce enough oxygen for four people?

While we all want to breathe easier, maintaining a healthy lawn is harder than it seems. In order to preserve a lush, green carpet of grass, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and get some dirt under your nails. 

If you’re unsure of where to start, we’ve put together this helpful list of our top 5 lawn maintenance tips. 

Read on to discover if the grass really is greener on the other side! 

1. The Correct Cut

Mowing your lawn is like giving the grass a haircut. You don’t want to hack the long grass away. It needs to be delicately and evenly cut.

To do this, you need to make sure your mower blades are sharp. Dull blades tear your grass instead of cutting it, damaging your lawn and affecting growth.

You also want to avoid cutting your grass too short. Scalping your lawn makes the grass more prone to heat damage and weed infestations. Follow this grass-cutting guide to see how high you should cut your lawn.

2. Hydrated and Happy

There’s a fine line between over and under watering your lawn. Soaking your lawn too often bogs down the grassroots and creates muddy, saturated soil. Under-watering your lawn can cause the roots to grow too shallow, weakening your lawn.

It’s best to water your lawn in the early morning. This allows the water to soak into the soil before the hot sun causes it to evaporate. Avoid watering your lawn at night as it takes longer to drain away and may result in waterlogging.

3. Nutrient-Rich

When it comes to lawn care, the best way to ensure your grass receives all the nutrients it needs is by fertilizing it. You should only apply fertilizer during your lawn’s growing season. This means autumn and spring for cool-season grasses and spring and summer for warm-season grasses.

You can test the pH of your soil to ensure that you haven’t over-fertilized your lawn. A white crust on the surface of your soil is a common sign of over-fertilization.

4. Aerate Your Lawn

As your soil compacts over time, it creates a barrier that prevents nutrients, water, and oxygen from penetrating down into the roots of your lawn. This is why aerating your soil is an essential part of good yard care. Aim to aerate your soil once or twice a year, in fall and in spring.

Aerating creates small holes in the soil at specific intervals and depths. You can do this with a garden fork, aerating roller, or aeration shoes. Follow this guide to learn how to use a lawn aerator.

5. Clean and Tidy

Debris lying on the top layer of your lawn blocks air and nutrients from getting to the roots. This debris is often made up of leaves, weeds, grass cuttings, and moss.

Make sure you rake your lawn thoroughly as part of your weekly yard maintenance routine. Raking will remove leaves and dead grass lying on the surface of the lawn. You can either pick out weeds by hand or use one of these weed killers.

Moss thrives in shady, low-lying areas where there is excess water build-up. Hire a professional landscaping service, like the experts at www.imperiallm.com/landscaping to level your lawn and ensure that it drains properly. 

Regular Lawn Maintenance Leads to a Lush, Green Lawn

If your lawn is crying out for help, test out these lawn maintenance tips. They are sure to rejuvenate your yard and leave you with a vibrant and thick, grassy green lawn. 

If this article got your green thumbs twitching, check out the rest of our blog for more great content!