How to Care for Your Lawn

Creating and landscaping your yard and garden does not end there.  Now you have to maintain your lawn properly.

Here are a few tips on how to care for your lawn:

1.  Have your soil tested to see what nutrients it lacks. This way, you'll know what kind of fertilizer is needed for your soil. If you just dump fertilizer without really analyzing the components of your soil, you may be damaging the natural nutrient balance.

2.   Watering depends on the climate, the kind of soil and the variety of grass. Be sure to find out the proper amount of watering for your area and type of grass.  Don't overdo nor skimp with the water. Over watering can result in fungus and rot problems.

3.   If it rained recently you can skip watering schedules when your lawn has been soaked well enough. Just wait for the lawn to dry up before you water it manually.

4.   You should keep grassy weeds and crabgrass seeds from germinating. Crabgrass can be prevented by using Crabgrass preventer, which kills these four weeks after it first sprouted from the ground. Crabgrass preventers are pre-emergent herbicides that work by interrupting the seed germination process. You should apply Crabgrass preventers about the beginning of May.  Since they remain effective for 30 days,  Weeds can often be killed using a solution of vinegar and water.

5.  Lawn fertilizer must have a mixture of nitrogen in order to make the lawn green faster. It also feeds the grass for up to three months.

6.  Most lawn damages are caused by mowing improperly. Lawn mower blades must always be sharp in order for them to achieve clean cuts. The grass should also be cut taller than what is recommended for specific grasses. The average is three inches. Nonetheless, don't let it grow taller when cutting in between. When grass is too tall, it damages the blades and also weakens the roots. This results in the clumps of clippings on the lawn.

7.  Watch out for stagnant water areas as they are the favorite breeding places of mosquitoes.

8. Apply winterizer or winter conditioner that has nitrogen and potassium to help the lawn endure the stressful winter. This application will also allow the lawn to become green faster during the spring.

Synonyms: awn, alwn, lwn, lwan, lan, lanw and law are common typos for "lawn."