9 Tricks for Caring for Your Lawn’s Landscaping

To have a beautiful lawn, most Americans will do almost anything. The backyard is used for so many gatherings like picnics, barbecues and games of badminton. There are even unique furniture pieces that will entice you to spend more time in your backyard. It’s vital that you are for your lawn throughout the entire year to have it looking its best.

1. Sod and Seed in the Right Season
April is a great month to lay down sod and seed your lawn. Make sure you ask for sod that is right for your yard type. It should be good in sun or shade depending on your yard layout, and how many trees there are. The early spring is great as long as the soil is warming up and the rainy days make it easier for the sod to grow. Other maintenance should be done in the winter, so your lawn is ready for spring.

2. Fertilize with the Right Nutrients
You should be fertilizing twice a year. It should happen once in the spring with nitrogen, and once in the fall with potassium. The nitrogen in the spring encourages growth while the nitrogen in the fall will toughen the grass for the coming winter.

3. Don’t Cut Grass too Short
“In the summer, longer grass can shield the weed seeds from getting enough sunlight to grow,” said Distinctive Outdoor Spaces LLC. It also reduces evaporation in the soil. Leave the grass at approximately 3 to 3 1/2 inches throughout the summer. In the fall, you can reduce the length of the grass to an inch or less.

4. Keep it Watered
While you should water frequently, you should avoid watering at certain times of the day. The best time to water is early in the morning, between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., when the grass has longer to dry before the hottest part of the day. If that’s not possible, you can water between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

5. Eliminate Weeds
The best time to remove weeds is after a rain shower. The softness of the soil makes it easy to pull out the entire weed root. You’ll often see them sprout then too. Make sure you’re digging weeds, like dandelions, completely out of the ground. Other types of weeds you might need to spray.

6. Don’t Let Leaves Cover the Lawn
When leaves start to fall, it’s best to rake them immediately. You can use them for natural compost on other parts of the yard too. Add them to your garden or flower bed, which will slowly release nutrients to the flowers or vegetables.

7. Regular Maintenance
You can’t have a great lawn without having a plan for the right time to plant, water, mow or weed. If you wait too long to fertilize or place sod, you’ll end up with dead patches and a problem with weeds in your lawn.

8. Add Lighting
Your lawn landscaping should include some lights. The exterior isn’t always just about plants and foliage. It can be about lighting the best areas of the yard and boosting the appeal of certain areas.

9. Have a Plan
Each year, you should plan your regular maintenance and decide what you’d like to accomplish in the yard this year. You could spend time with drawings and budgeting to figure out the best way to improve your landscaping.

Whether you decide to have a landscape crew maintain your lawn or do it yourself, there should be a plan in place that will lead you to a beautiful, landscaped lawn. That plan should include eliminating weeds and leaving the grass longer during the summer months.