Landscaping is important for your home's appeal and value, but you may not realize the lawn should be the focus of your landscape design. While this may be surprising to hear, many experts believe a healthy green lawn is just as important for your home's appeal and value as a fresh coat of interior paint. Therefore, ensuring your lawn is both healthy and attractive will be a smart investment.
Of course, your lawn will experience a great deal of stress over time. Knowing the signs of distress and the ways to restore your lawn back to a healthy state is possible. This guide and your
lawn care professional will help you understand and treat two common problems your lawn may face.
1. Excessive or Insufficient Irrigation
Watering your lawn is essential for growth and maintenance, but determining how much your specific lawn actually needs can be difficult. An excessive amount of water or an insufficient amount of water can both be detrimental to your lawn, depending on the type of grass and your local climate.
Overwatering your lawn can lead to fungal growth, which can cause brown spots to grow across your lawn. An excess amount of moisture can also attract insects, such as mosquitoes and grubs.
Mosquitoes are not only annoying but they can also be dangerous because they carry many diseases. Grub worms may not harm you or your health, but they will feed on your grass, negatively affecting your lawn.
Insufficient watering can also be problematic. If you have a cool-season grass, such as fescue, planted, your lawn will require more water during the warmer months, especially in dry spells. Without sufficient water, cool-season grasses will brown and die very quickly in hot temperatures.
On average, water cool-season grasses every few days. Warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda and zoysia, need about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water every
1 to 3 weeks.
To ensure you water your lawn properly, consider installing an irrigation system with a timer. Adjust the settings so the irrigation system does not water during periods of rain.
Also, discuss sod options with your lawn care professional.
If you live in a warmer climate and your yard is mostly sunny and hot, a warm-season sod, such as Bermuda or zoysia, is ideal. If you live in a cooler environment and have a lot of shade in your yard, fescue sod that thrives in this type of climate would be a smart option.
2. Weed Growth
Weeds are also problems for your lawn because they can grow and take over your lawn quickly. In addition, some weeds are more difficult to control than others are.
If you notice weeds growing in your grass, examine closely to determine what type of weed it is. This is important, since you need to treat some weeds in a specialized manner.
You can pull the weeds, but this can be time-consuming and physically stressful if they have started to take over your lawn. Thankfully, professionals can help.
Prevention is your best weapon against weeds. In the early part of spring, before the growing season begins, apply a pre-emergent herbicide to the lawn. This treatment prevents weed growth by creating a protective barrier around the weed seeds.
If your lawn already has weeds, applying a post-emergent herbicide is necessary. Apply this treatment directly to the weed, targeting and killing the roots.
Proper watering, fertilizing, mowing, aerating, and reseeding to keep your lawn healthy will also help control weeds.
For more information on caring for your lawn, contact the professionals. Wright Turf offers installation and maintenance services to establish and maintain a beautiful, healthy, and valuable lawn.
