Lawn Care Basics

March 30, 2010, By Jeff Waddle 1 comment

A lush green lawn is a great source of pride for many guys. It’s the entrance to their castle, a Field of Dreams where they watch their kids grow up and entertain family and friends. It’s as much of what they call home as their house.

So it stands to reason that guys have been known to obsess over their yards for hours on end, watching over it like a doting parent. If that’s what you like, fine—cancel golf with your buddies and get to work on the yard.

Luckily, you can have both—a great-looking lawn and some extra time to do other things, like having friends over to enjoy it. Follow these basics for lawn care and chances are you’ll still have a lawn that will make you proud.

A 3-Season Job

Summer may be the time where you’re the busiest just keeping the lawn mowed, but early spring and late fall are optimal seasons to do important maintenance work that will keep the yard healthy. Consider doing these lawn maintenance activities in the spring and fall:

• Test your soil. Soil testing is a good idea on occasion for any yard but especially if your lawn isn’t looking as good as you’d like. Testing kits are available at hardware and home improvement stores, and they can reveal if your soil is lacking certain nutrients or has an unbalanced pH level. These test results will help you determine what type of fertilizer will yield best results for your yard.
• Fertilize. Spring and fall are the best times to fertilize and many guys do it both seasons with a simple walk-behind spreader. The fertilizer you need will depend on the specific makeup of your soil. A lot of people do just fine with a basic "weed & feed" application that contains a pre-emergent herbicide that prevents many weeds from germinating while giving your grass a dose of fertilizer. If you don’t want to hassle with testing your soil, a knowledgeable salesperson at a nearby garden shop or home improvement store probably knows what fertilizer does well in your area since soil content tends to be localized.
• Aerate. You likely won’t need to aerate your lawn every spring and fall but occasional aeration is a good idea. That’s because lawns may become compacted over time, making it harder for water and nutrients to reach the roots. There are several ways to aerate, including lawn tractor attachments, self-propelled aerators and even long spikes that attach to your shoes. Some guys even use old golf spikes to poke holes into the soil but if your yard is of a decent size, you might find it cost effective (and a lot less hassle) to let a lawn service aerate your yard.

Mowing

There is a little more to mowing a lawn properly than simply cranking up the mower:

• Keep the mower blade sharp. A dull blade tends to tear grass blades, not cleanly cut them, which can lead to unhealthy lawns. It’s a good idea to have the blade sharpened every year at a mower repair shop or at least file the crud off the blade yourself. For safety, remember to take the plug wire off the sparkplug before turning the blade.
• Watch mower height. Cutting the grass too low is a common mistake many guys make. The gurus advise against cutting no more than 1/3 the length of the grass blades at one time. Otherwise, it puts too much stress on the grass and makes it more vulnerable to disease.
• Watch clippings. The type of mower you use also can affect lawn health. A mulching mower chops up the clippings finely and leaves them in the lawn. That’s not a bad thing since they can provide important nutrients, as long as they’re not too heavy. A bagger completely removes the clippers, but a side-discharge mower without a bagger might require that you rake the clippings to keep them from building up and creating harmful thatch—a thick layer of dead clippings and other organic matter that can form between grass blade and roots. For least hassle, consider a mulching mower or one with a bag.

Other Considerations

• Water Early. If you need to water your yard—and that’s determined by many factors including climate, soil and type of grass—it’s best to water in early morning. That’s because it minimizes evaporation and gives the grass time to dry during the day. Watering at night tends to encourage disease by keeping grass wet overnight.
• Don’t over water. Like too much fertilizer, you can love your lawn too much by over watering it. Water deeply but let your lawn get partially dry before watering again.

Fortunately, lawns are very forgiving and they usually let you know when they need some TLC. And, whatever the problem, it can be fixed.

Jeff Waddle is a featured contributor to ManoftheHouse.com.