Taking care of your lawn is the chore that most of you consider one of the very important thing to do at home. Since this helps beautify and create a good ambiance within every home. Lawn care tips that we always bare in mind is not just enough to learn but also the mistakes that we often neglect or caught unaware of it. Just to freshen things up, here are some lawn care mistakes that we should avoid.

* Wrong schedule of fertilizing and watering of lawn - There is always a right time to water and fertilize your lawn. But this will also depend on which area you belong as well as the season and weather condition in your place. But, the most required time to water lawn should be done early in the morning for the grass to absorb it thoroughly and so your grass would not remain its moist for long compare to watering it on night time which most of us do especially when we are working during daytime. Same goes with fertilizing, it should have the right timing and schedule depending on the climate and area you have.

* Cutting lawn very short – Usually when we have a busy schedule everyday, we use to come up to an idea of cutting the grass in our lawn too short for us to have a longer period of break till we mow them again. But it is not a healthy for the grass to cut it more than 1/3 of grass blade this will make them weak and will result to unhealthy growth.

* Ignored mulch importance – Mulching plays an important role in lawns since this makes lawn grow healthy. It provides nutrients and blocks pests that would invade lawns.

* Mistakes in Using seed and sod – When making a new lawn, one should decide which method to use either seeding or sodding depending on its advantages or main purpose to your lawn. Sodding prevents soil erosion and seeding helps fills bare spots from your lawn.

* The use of powder and organic products – Powder products is less expensive compared to organic products but this has the tendency not to stay within your lawn because can easily be blown. While organic products could be penetrated within your lawn provided this is time consuming and could produce longer results.

Photo by Stan Shebs

1. Buffalo Grass – This kind of grass requires only less maintenance and this could tolerate drought.

2. Bahiagrass – this soil is best for those acidic and very sandy types of soil.

3. St. Augustine Grass – this is a very quick growing grass, and its roots grow deep.

4. Zoysia Grass – this is the most elegant grass type, also has restance for drought and very flexible type.

5. Bermuda Grass - This type of grass could very much fight all diseases, and could grow well even on drought or cold season since it could tolerate both season. And this grass spread fast.

6. Bluegrass - flexible to any damages type of grass and most common among cool season grasses. They spread evenly and good for bare spots since they tend to fill it in.

7. Red Fescue – This kind is under cool season grasses too and this is only good for cool places and in shaded area.

8. Ryegrass – This type of grass is only good for one season. They develop fast and best for dampand cool area.

9. Tall Fescue - This type of grass grown in during the season of fall and spring that this helps in the lawn to be free of weeds thus lawn could grow healthy.

10. Fine Fescue – This has the best skill that could even grow in dry shaded area which is very impossible to imagine. But is very much stable.

Photo by: MichaelPloujnikov

Aiming for a beautiful healthy lawn needs a lot of effort and strategy. Any kind of lawn care could be possible as long as you are doing the right thing for your lawn’s good health. Here are 5 easy steps for your lawn care guide that will help you yield good results:

1. Mow efficiently – This does not only require cutting of your grass to its required height but also depends on mowing at the right time of the year. In mowing your lawn, it should not be less than one-third of its height for the efficient absorption of the sun. This should consume the right amount of light from the sun that is needed by the grass to develop a healthy plant. After mowing, your mowed grass should be left on the lawn to decompose as fertilizer that would be best for your lawn.

2. Use a sharp blade – It is important for your lawn to use sharp blade when cutting grass so it will not tear grass that would make your grass unhealthy easy to catch diseases and difficult to fight off pests. Few days after mowing, check on your grass very well especially the tip of it. If you can see brown lines on its tips, then you should make a move to get rid of those unhealthy signs.

3. Regulate water supply – The right irrigation system could help you prevent lawn problems especially the growth of pests on your lawn. Too much water would not do good for your lawn. On the average,grasses only need weekly water supply of 1-1.5 inches. that would just be enough for the clay to moistened, 4-6 inches below the surface and 8-10 inches for sandy soil. Rain Guage is the most advised in determining water supply during rain also to regulate the proper amount.

4. Keep fertilizers and pesticides at normal levels – Overfeeding your lawn with chemicals is very harmful. Be always prepared most especially during seasons of spring, summer, early fall & after the first fall be sure to provide it with balanced amount of fertilizer.. then on drought, you can skip summer feeding but not fall feeding.

5. Prevent, rather than cure – In Lawn care, you can also apply the statement that says prevention is better than cure. Regular feeding of your lawn could save its life from bugs and pests as well as diseases this could also help repair bare spots and you can use right herbicides to help you control and manage growth of weeds.

Maintaining proper care for your lawn is this easy but it also requires your proper attention for you to make things right in whatever strategy for the best of your lawn care.

The grasses that thrive in cool season areas can withstand cold winters, but most types languish in hot summers. Lawns of these grasses usually started from seed. Some are available as sod. Seeds come either in mixtures and blends of several different grasses or as individual types.

Lawns composed of a single grass type are the most uniform in appearance, giving you the maximum expression of whatever characteristic you select. A fine texture, or a tough play surface. The main disadvantage of a single type grass lawn is that it could be wiped out if that one grass were susceptible to a pest or disease in your area or sensitive to a local environmental condition. A blend of several kinds of compatible grasses is safer.

If you are unsure of the type of grass you want or the best blend for your area, you can have a tour on your neighborhood for you to locate the lawns thet meet your requirements and are suited to your particular climate. Kentucky Bluegrass and Annual Ryegrass is probably the most important cool-season grass . Cool-Season grasses tend to grow best in the cooler conditions and climates. You will commonly find cool-season grasses growing in the northern areas of the U.S. and Canada, as well as moderate coastal areas, damp climates, and higher elevations. Cool-Season grasses are the hardiest of grasses and tend to do best during the spring and fall months when temperatures range from 60-75 degrees F. Conversely, Cool-Season grasses tend to do poorly during the hot and dry summer months and can even brown and go dormant during extreme conditions.

Moreover, drawbacks of cool season grasses is that they could not sustain the extreme summer conditions, specifically the heat and drought. So they needed more water and irrigation to survive. Also, these type of grasses could be use to reseed warm season grasseson winter months when lawns go brown and dormant.

Stripping is pushing the grass down in one direction then the other as you mow your lawn. Then you can see the effects in two different shades in alternate. In shades of light and dark green. Stripping a lawn could add up a dramatic and attractive effect just like a golf course. Alternating patterns by 90º or 45º adds up to the aesthetic and is good for the grass

How to do it?

A finely tuned reel mower is needed for a bold stripping of a golf course. This mower has rollers in the front and back, first roller sometimes grooved and helps in lining up the grass for an even effect. The reel cuts in a way for the grass to be lining up for an even reel and pushes the grass down in one direction and the rear weighted roller pushes the grass down a final time. Those mowers in golf course and ball fields are commercial reel mowers that creates a more bold stripes and very high tech machines.

Getting it Stripes..

Striping kits are being attached to the rear of the mower or right behind the mowing deck. This can ranged from a weighted back roller assembly to the firm rubber flap to lay the grass down. Another alternate for stripping is the home made attachment made of lumber that could also be used for stripping your lawn. Striping also depends on the grass you have for your lawn. The low growth habit and coarse leaf blade will not allow it to lay over. Bermuda grass may be difficult to trim for stripes since it has a low growing warm season grass.

If you are willing to accept a lawn that turns brown in winter consider the Bermudas, St. Augustine grass and Zoysia grasses - Three types of subtropical grasses that are very drought tolerant.

All subtropical grasses do best in  warm climates. They survive temperatures down to 20 degrees F. and thrive in summer highs of 110 degrees. Fertilize all of these grasses with a high nitrogen fertilizer at least once in fall and once in winter. In summer, fertilize at 6-week intervals.

The Bermuda - These grasses need the least amount of water because of their deep roots. Plant either by sod or stolons (4-6 bushels of stolons per 1,000 sq. ft.) Mow the bermuda grass as low as possible.

St. Augustine Grass - Plant from sod, stolons ( 6 bushels/ 1,000 sq. ft., or plugs. To plant plugs from flats, use 10 flats/ 1,000 sq ft., placing 2 inch plugs in rows about 10 inches apart. Keep the ground moist until grass is established.

Zoysia Grasses - These grasses need warm nights for best growth. They are commonly planted from plugs or stolons. Allow 10-14 months for grass to fill in.