My Lawn Care

By Keith Markensen

Every lawn is not the same but for some lawns all they need is just a little TLC from their owners. To make your lawn stand out from the rest, you need a simple, two step maintenance plan.

Fertilize

Start with a spring, summer, and fall fertilizer treatment. All grass and soil needs regular safeguarding either to help in soil fertility and/or grass' demands. Make sure the all-purpose, dust-free, pellet fertilizer you choose is made for your region and applied at a 2-2-1 ratio. Most common components to look for are nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Nitrogen in various forms will give you the long-lasting green you desire, with quick and extended release formulations. Make sure to water your lawn after application and to keep it well saturated throughout your dry season.

Pest and Disease Control

The next step to a lush lawn is to rid it of pests and disease. Among the first pest to look for are the annoying tan colored moths that come out at dusk. These pests lay eggs that become sod webworms that dine on grass bases. Chemical products for these pests from Ortho and Bayer will help you get a handle on these bugs. This same chemical can be applied for white grubs that prefer eating at your grass deeper down. You can tell you have grubs when you find dead patches in you lawn that you can lift up.

Some common lawn diseases are brown patch and snow mold. The first is a fungal disease that attacks your lawn in circular shaped spots and makes your grass turn dark green to light brown. To cure your lawn, apply a fungicide, water the diseased lawn less and aerate the soil.

Snow mold and moss growth can benefit from lawn fertilizers rich in nitrogen, iron and sulfur. The soil will be too healthy for these to grow in. To identify snow mold, your lawn will appear pink and cotton-like. This develops from compact snow melting off the top of your lawn. Make sure to sweep or brush the affected lawn before fertilizing. The presence of moss is a bad omen. It means that your soil lacks fertility, your grass has been watered too much or too little, it has improper soil drainage, extra acidity and/or has been too compacted. Again, nitrogen will save your lawn and return the green to the diseased areas.

In times like these it is easy to see why so many people like yourself are interested in best lawn fertilizers. Don't be shy - check us out at plant-care.com.

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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 David Shifflett

A brown spot on your grass happens to everyone at some point. Brown spots can be cause by many different things; compacted roots, animals, insects, high traffic areas, not enough water and not enough sun. Here is a quick and simple fix to help make that lawn look great.

You don't need to buy expensive products to fix your lawn. All you need to fix your lawn is, seed, fertilizer, and compost. To get started we are going to want to rack the affected area with a firm rack, to rough it up. Then with a hoe, cultivator, or a garden fork loosen the soil down a couple of inches to give the grass the chance to germinate and grow long and healthy roots. Following the manufactures instructions place the fertilizer down and work it into the soil with a garden fork or your hands. Make sure that you use gloves when dealing with fertilizer. Once that fertilizer is worked into the soil lightly sprinkle the grass seed over top of the soil. You want to sprinkle the seed like you would salt on some French fries. When buy the seed to use you want to use a type that is a perennial type that is right for your area, not one that is annual and dies after the season. Then once you have the seed is in place cover, the area with compost to aid in the growth of healthy grass. Step on the patch to set the seed. Finally water the seed thoroughly to give the planted seed a great start.

If you think that a pet or animal created the spot with urine, you will want to add lime to the soil to neutralize the acid in the urine. If you are not sure if it was an animal, you can test the soil with a PH tester that you can buy at the store. For grass to grow right it prefers a PH level of 6 - 7.

When dealing with a lot of fixes, you can place the seed fertilizer and the compost into a bucket. Mix the bucket up good to make sure that everything is dispersed evenly. Now you're going to want to roughen up all the areas that need to be fixed. Then place the mixer on to each stop and press it down with your foot. Water the patches daily till the new grass is about two inches high. Then water every other day till the grass is hardy and well rooted.

For more articles like this visit http://www.pshomehelp.com

Article Source: EzineArticles