There are four basic steps to lawn care: watering, fertilizing, aeration, and pest control. These steps will help you keep your lawn healthy and beautiful. However, if you’re unsure of what to do, you can call a lawn care company for advice.
Watering
In lawn care Kent, one of the essential aspects is watering. Ideally, you should water your lawn once or twice a week, giving it about an inch of water per application. However, this amount will vary depending on the type of grass you have, its age, and the climate where you live. The best time to water your lawn is early morning or early evening. This helps the grass absorb the water, reducing disease risk. However, watering your lawn at night may encourage the growth of fungi and bacteria and lead to a wet lawn. It’s also important to avoid watering your lawn during the hottest part of the day, as water will evaporate before the plant can absorb it.
If you’re using a sprinkler system to water your lawn, it takes approximately an hour to get an inch of water to the grass’s roots. To determine how much water you need to apply, measure the time it takes an inch of water to run off into the soil. For example, an inch of water will soak up about 6 to 8 inches of soil. If you want to water your lawn a bit less often, you can use a small can and divide that amount of water by three. The smaller the amount of water you give your lawn, the less stress it will experience.
Fertilizing
Fertilizing is an important part of lawn care. It allows your lawn to compete with weeds and withstand certain stresses, including drought, disease, and insects. In addition, proper mowing, watering, and fertilizing can help you transform your lawn into a green and healthy one.
Depending on your grass type, fertilizing should be done at least once a year. Typically, you should fertilize your lawn in the early fall or late summer. Fertilizer should be applied with a rotary spreader, a push-powered tool that discharges dry granules from small holes near the bottom.
The fertilizer you choose for your lawn should contain three primary macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Each nutrient is essential for grass growth and is listed as a percentage on the fertilizer’s bag. Nitrogen helps your grass grow fast and gives it its green color. Phosphorus, on the other hand, helps the roots grow properly. Finally, potassium helps plants survive drought and regulates water movement in the soil. Different fertilizers release these nutrients at different rates.
Aeration
Aeration is a crucial component of lawn care and is particularly useful for lawns with high foot traffic. This is because more foot traffic reduces the airflow in the soil, which is crucial for the growth of healthy grass roots. Aeration also increases the water and nutrients reaching the soil underneath the grass, encouraging deeper root growth.
Aeration helps relieve soil compaction, a condition whereby too many solid particles form a compact mass. Compacted soil blocks water and nutrients from reaching the grassroots, which can be caused by excess lawn thatch and organic debris. Compacted soil can also result from children running around in the yard, reducing water absorption. Additionally, newly built homes often have compacted topsoil and haven’t been aerated.
In addition to aeration, you should fertilize your lawn regularly. Aeration can improve soil health and improve the color of your lawn. Compacted soil is a stressful environment for lawn grasses, resulting in their struggling to grow healthy. This can result in their losing their color and becoming thin. Eventually, they may die due to a lack of water, oxygen, and nutrients. Aeration restores the oxygen, water, and nutrients that they need to thrive.
Pest control
A basic part of lawn care is to prevent pests and other problems from destroying your lawn. Pest control is vital to the health of your grass and your garden. Some common insects that cause damage include armyworms and grubs. These insects feed on the grass during the day and rest under the dead sod at night.
A pest infestation can destroy your lawn and make it look unappealing. A professional team of pest control specialists can keep the critters away from your lawn and protect your plants. These experts can also help you protect your lawn and garden from harmful invasive species. This way, you can enjoy your garden without worrying about pests.
To protect your lawn from pests, apply insecticides in strategic areas. Typically, you will want to target areas that are shaded or damp. This will help to eliminate the breeding grounds of pests. For instance, adult mosquitoes are attracted to shaded and damp lawns. Pesticides applied to these areas will disrupt the life cycle of the pests, preventing them from returning.