Lawn Care

By Matt Morrison

With temperatures rising and rain fall decreasing, summer time is putting a serious strain on your lawn. If you are not careful, your lawn could end up dead. No rain and water restrictions can really take a shot at your ability to take care of your lawn. However, there are some tried and true tips that are sure to beat the summer heat.

When your lawn is suffering from a drought, these tips will help you survive:

1. Raise the blades on your mower. Taller grass provides more protection from sun and grows deeper roots, which makes it more resilient.

2. Resist the temptation to bag your lawn and use a mulching mower instead. The clippings will provide a barrier that keeps moisture in your lawn longer.

3. Aerate your lawn twice a year (fall and spring) to keep out thatch and help the roots grow deeper.

4. Sharpen your lawnmower blade. Dull blades put your grass under lots of undue stress. Stressed grass needs more water.

5. Water early in the morning and when it is not windy to avoid unnecessary evaporation of your rationed water.

6. Use a drip type irrigation system like a soaker hose. It put water in the ground, where it is needed, more efficiently.

7. Do not fertilize in the summer. Experts will tell you that fertilized lawns are more sensitive to heat and require more water.

Green is definitely a color to envy in the heart of the summer. Do yourself a favor and follow these tips to keep a green lawn that makes your neighbors squirm with envy.

For more information on Lawn Care visit Blades Lawn Care.

Article Source: Ezinearticles.com

By Barb Jensen

No matter where you live you will probably go through a dry spell and your lawn will turn brown. Should you wait for Mother Nature to water it or should you step in and water it yourself?

Even though your lawn is brown and dried up, one good rain will bring it right back to life. That's because the root system of the grass is close to the surface.

You hate looking at a brown lawn, so you decide to water it. All you have to do is turn on the hose and your lawn will be lush and green again, right? Well, sort of. But there is more to watering your lawn than just turning on the faucet.

If there is a drought in your area the community may have restrictions on outside watering. They may limit the hours you can water or ban it all together. Even if you have your own well, in time of drought you might want to think twice about using precious water on your lawn.

If you decide to water your lawn the best time of day to water is late afternoon or early evening. If you water in the middle of the day, water will be lost to evaporation. Don't put too much water on your lawn as a well irrigated lawn is more prone to diseases.

Water moves slowly through the ground so you will need to throughly soak the ground for the lawn to benefit. If you are using a hand-held hose, water one area of the lawn for about ten minutes, water another area for ten minutes, and then go back to the first area and water again. Keep watering until the lawn is well saturated.

Rotary sprinklers work well. These sprinklers allow one area to be watered while the other side is soaking up the water.

Remember the more you water your lawn, the more it will grow, and the more you will have to mow. If you are a person who doesn't like to mow, maybe that brown, dried up lawn doesn't look so bad after all.

Barb Jensen lives in upstate New York. She enjoys flower and vegetable gardening and mowing her lawn. http://freewebs.com/greenthumb1

Article Source: Ezinearticles.com

By Simon Whiley

All lawns require the correct nutrient levels to remain healthy and vigorous. When you maintain the correct nutrient input the chances are that you will have a lawn that is weed free, disease resistant and drought resistant.

There are three key nutrients required for a healthy lawn. These nutrients are Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P) and Potash (K). Any lawn that is deficient in any these three nutrients will not be healthy and will suffer. We will look at the role of each of these three key nutrients in turn.

Nitrogen - Nitrogen is responsible for healthy vigorous growth during the summer months and it gives the grass its deep green colour. Nitrogen is the most important of the three nutrients and should be applied in greater quantities than phosphate and potash. The reason being it is that it is used up by the plant quicker, it is also more prone to leaching through the root zone. Nitrogen is applied during the spring and summer to encourage and maintain grass growth and keep the lawn in a healthy condition. When your lawn is growing vigorously the grass can suppress any weeds and moss that would invade a weaker lawn. Nitrogen should not be applied heavily during the late summer and early autumn as it can encourage disease, especially fusarium patch which can be very damaging.

Phosphate - Phosphate is important for a deep and healthy root system, resulting in a more drought resistant lawn during periods of drought. Adequate phosphate levels mean an earlier start in the spring time and a healthier lawn during the growing season. Phosphate is more readily available in the root zone than nitrogen, but it would still beneficial to apply some phosphate annually.

Potash - Potash hardens the plant and helps with disease and drought resistance and can be applied at any time of the year.

For more information on all aspects of lawn care you can find us at http://www.lawn-craft.co.uk

Article Source: Ezinearticles.com

Push Reel Lawn Mowers

By Steven Blades

One of the unsung points of caring for an organic lawn is in the equipment you use to keep your lawn looking pristine and picture perfect. Yes, your lawn mower plays a vital role in helping you care for an organic lawn, and odds are that the lawn mower you're using is potentially harmful to your lawn. It's no secret that many rotary lawn mowers run on gasoline and oil. Sometimes this oil can leak out of the mower or drip down the sides of the mower when first poured into the machine, and we all are aware of just how dangerous gas emissions are to the environment. That's why you should consider using a push reel lawn mower. Yes, it's not the most appealing idea, but there are definitely advantages to it.

For instance, a push reel lawn mower is actually better for your lawn. Many rotary mowers tear at the grass, while push reel lawn mowers give you a clean cut every time they're used. A fine cut keeps moisture in the grass blade, while keeping dangerous organisms out.

Another advantage of using a push reel lawn mower is that they are safer than your conventional rotary lawn mowers. They stop when you stop, they start only when you start, and they don't throw rocks at you at one hundred miles per hour.

Finally, think of the price. Most rotary lawn mowers run for, at minimum, $200. That does not include the growing price of gasoline, which means you could be paying between $1 and $2 dollars every time you cut your lawn. With a reel lawn mower, you can spend as little as $65, and never spend a dime on gasoline.

There are other reasons to think of going with a push reel mower, but when you take those three reasons listed above into account, the decision should be simple.

To learn how I do organic lawn care, visit http://www.bladeslawncare.com/ where you'll learn everything you need to know about lawn maintenance, sod installation, and much more.

Article Source: Ezinearticles.com

By Ling Tong

Having a beautiful lawn during the spring summer and fall shouldn't have to cost you money. By taking advantage of the lawn care tips you find in books and magazines, online and by asking questions of experts at your local lawn and garden store, you can easily take care of many of these jobs on your own. Once you are aware of some basic factors associated with lawn care, you can become a professional in your own right and your neighbors will start asking you for advice. The only requirement is that you spend some time researching how to take care of your lawn during every season of the year and devote some time to the tasks.

Mowing is one of the basic essentials of having a great looking lawn. However, there is a trick to this. In the spring, when you mow for the first time, mow the grass at the lowest level on the mower. This will remove all the dead grass and allow the roots to start producing new shoots. Make sure you rake up the lawn even if there are not many clippings because raking helps to revitalize the grass and the soil. Then when you mow the grass again, you should move the blades up a level. The lawn needs to be mowed on a regular basis. During how weather in summer, you can even have the blades higher so that you don't mow too close to the ground and cause the grass to burn and turn brown. When you mow the lawn for the final time in the fall, place the blades at the lowest level again.

Watering plays a major part in lawn care. Without water the grass will not grow and will die causing brown patches to appear in the lawn. You have to know the type of grass you have and the type of soil so that you give it the appropriate amounts of water. You should never water the lawn after a rainfall because this could saturate the soil and cause the grass to die. When there is very little rainfall, the best time to water the lawn is in the early morning or just at sunset. This is because there is less chance of the water evaporating before it gets a chance to soak into the soil.

Fertilizing the soil is also important. For this you do need to know what type of soil you have. If you are not sure, you can bring in some of the soil to a garden center and the experts there will be able to provide you with the right fertilizer for your needs. You can also decide whether you want to use organic or chemical fertilizers, but whichever one you choose, you do have to follow the directions on the packaging. Using too much fertilizer can be harmful to the grass.

One thing that people do not realize is that the soil and the roots of the grass need air in order to grow, especially if the soil is compacted. To check to see if this is so, pour a small amount of water on the soil and wait a few minutes to see if it starts to soak down through. If it doesn't this means you will have to aerate the lawn. What this means is to perform a simple procedure or poking small holes in the lawn a t regular intervals so that the oxygen can reach the roots and the water can get to them. The holes are small and will not be noticeable in the lawn.

For more great lawn care tips and lots of information on lawncare related topics such as spring lawn care visit http://www.HobbyLawncare.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com