Every homeowner wants lush, green grass in their yard. This means grass that is thick, healthy and free of weeds. Knowing how to fertilize your lawn is an important part of regular lawn maintenance. But it can be tricky knowing the right products to use and steps to follow. When should you fertilize? How often? What’s the right nutrient mix for your soil? Let’s explore these questions and more as we learn the right way to fertilize your lawn.

The first step in fertilizing your lawn is to determine the right mixture of nutrients for your grass. Warm-season grasses, like St. Augustine, bermuda and zoysia, need different fertilizer blends than cool-season grasses, like Kentucky bluegrass or rye.

Most yards in southern states have warm-season grasses. These grasses grow best in warmer weather, when it’s at least 75 degrees outside. Warm-season grasses go brown and dormant in the fall if they are not … Read Full Post »

If you have grass, you want to be able to take pride in your lush, green lawn. But maintaining healthy grass requires time, effort and know-how. Sometimes, you have to deal with problems like bald patches. Yellow or brown areas are another common issue. Knowing how to bring back dead grass is an important part of keeping your lawn thriving. If you know what’s causing the issue, you can take steps to fix it.

One important thing to know is the difference between dormant and dead grass. Sometimes, brown grass looks dead, but it’s not.

Dead Grass Versus Dormant Grass

All grass varieties have a dormant season, when they stop growing and lose their green. For warm-season grasses, this happens starting in fall, when the temperature outside cools down. Once the soil temperature drops below about 50 degrees on a consistent basis, the grass starts to go dormant.

Grass will also go dormant during … Read Full Post »

Adding fertilizer to your lawn gives it an extra boost, helping it stay healthy so it can establish a good root system. A solid root system protects the lawn from foot traffic, mowing and weather extremes. All plants—including the grass that makes up your lawn—use a lot of energy to not only establish roots but also to grow naturally. Fertilizer can help your lawn in all of these processes.

As with anything else, you can use too much fertilizer, so you should take steps to ensure you are applying the correct type and amount for your lawn’s needs. Fertilizer can be made of a number of things, from synthetic compounds to a variety of composted manures. When shopping for the right type, check the bag. It will have three numbers on the label, listed as # – # – #. Each number on the packaging represents the fertilizer’s percentage of three … Read Full Post »

Many homeowners strive to find the perfect combination of watering, mowing and fertilization to create that coveted lush, weed-free lawn we all want, but they overlook the importance of using a pre-emergent herbicide to keep weeds at bay. If you love having a healthy lawn, you may be wondering about these products, also called “preemergence herbicides,” and how to use them. How long do pre-emergents last? How do they work? And when is the best time to apply them to your yard?

Fortunately, pre-emergents are a relatively straightforward and effective step to add to your lawn care routine, as long as you make sure to select the right product for your yard and add it at the right time. The name “pre-emergent herbicide” refers to the fact that these products are to be used before the weeds emerge—which really means before their seeds have taken root.

Typically, pre-emergents will be effective for … Read Full Post »

Many people have questions about topsoil versus compost—namely, what exactly are they, what are the differences between them and which is best for growing beautiful flowers or thick, lush grass. Whether you’re planting a garden or simply looking for ways to help your lawn thrive, you’ve probably considered both topsoil and compost as a lawn amendment, and you might have felt confused about which would be best for your yard’s particular needs. Topsoil and compost are similar in appearance, after all—they both look a lot like regular dirt. But they aren’t the same, and while both play important roles in creating outdoor spaces that thrive, they have distinct uses and applications.

Put very simply, topsoil is the very topmost layer of soil on the ground. When people add it to their yards or gardens as a soil amendment, they usually purchase it in bags or in bulk, although you can create … Read Full Post »