Three Components to a Healthy Lawn

Three Components To A Healthy Lawn

Watering:
Water your lawn only when soil moisture is inadequate. Frequent watering will cause shallow roots, preventing your lawn from being able to find moisture during dry periods. The best time to water your lawn is in the early morning or early evening with about one inch of water.

• Too much water can flush away nutrients.
• Adjust the way you water to prevent runoff.
• Newly seeded lawns need to be watered up to three times a day for up to three weeks.
• Newly sodden lawns need to be watered daily for the first two weeks.

Soil pH:
It is important that the pH of your soil is between 6.3 and 6.8 in order for your lawn to absorb the nutrients needed for healthy growth. Symptoms of improper pH are disease, thin turf, matting and moss or fertilizer ineffectiveness. The pH is measured on a scale from 1 to 14, a pH below 7 is acidic and a pH above 7 is basic. Most plants and grasses will thrive best when the pH of the soil is between 6 and 7.

The pH of your soil can be adjusted using lime to raise the pH and lower the amount of sulfur. Spring or fall is the best time to apply lime to alter the pH of your soil.

Mowing:
Most types of grasses will survive best when cut to 2.5 to 3.5 inches in height. You should cut your lawn to be 3 inch in height in the summer due to the stress caused by hot weather. Cool season grasses, such as bluegrass, creeping red fescues and perennial ryegrass will survive best when cut to 3 inches in height. Mow your lawn as often as needed, but do not remove more than a 1/3 of the grass blade in one cutting.

• Avoid scalping (cutting your grass too short).
• Change the direction in which you cut your grass.
• Do not mow when the grass is wet.
• Leave the grass clippings on the lawn.
• Be flexible with your lawn mowing schedule.

- EC Grow