Brown spots on your grass? This can be the cause of many different things: compacted roots, animals,insects, high traffic areas, less water and sun. No need of buying expensive products just to fix your lawn. Here are some tips for you for a healthy lawn:

In fixing your lawn, you need a fertilizer, seed, and also compost. To begin with, rack the affected area with a firm rack, to roughen your lawn. With a hoe,cultivator,or a garden fork loosen the soil down a couple of inches to give the grass the chance to germinate and grow long and healthy roots. place the fertilizer down and work it into the soil with a garden fork or your hands. Just make sure you have gloves when working with those fertilizers. When fertilizer worked into the soil you can then sprinkle the grass over the top of the soil. In buying the seed, choose the perennial type that fits your area an that would last in your area will not die after its season. Once the seed is in the area, cover the area with a compost to help in the healthy growth of your grass. Then water the seeds thoroughly to give it a good start.

If your dog or pet created a spot of urine in the area, add some lime to the soil to help neutralize the urine acid and not ruin your grass. If not sure if its an animal urine, you can test the soil with the PH tester. Grass requires a PH level of 6-7 to grow right. And when dealing with some fixes, place the seed fertilizer together with the compost in a bucket then mix up to make sure it is dispersed evenly, now, roughen the area that needs to be fixed and place the mixer to each stop and press down finally, water the patches everyday until about a two inches high new grass grow an do water it at least every other day until the grass is well rooted that would create a healthy lawn.

Here are brief descriptions of the different kinds of lawn grasses. The kinds that you can plant as seed include bahia, bent, Bermuda, blue grama, buffalo, centipede, fescue (all kinds), bluegrass, ryegrass (both annual and perennial), and some zoysias.

Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) a tough coarse grass popularized in southeast a low maintenance and low quality lawn. Tolerant in drought and shade that requires frequent mowing

Bent grass, creeping (Agrostis stolonifera) loves to creep up in cooler weather. It grows relatively low and has slender, pointed, light-green leaves. It’s actually welcome in some environments, such as golf courses, but it’s no friend to the average front yard.

Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) The Sun Belt most important lawn grass that has all the essential characteristics that a lawn needs Its aggressiveness is also its key disadvantage. Bermuda grass is tough and fast growing enough to be one of the most popular grasses for sports fields. It’s good for pet owners for the same reasons: damage from whatever cause will repair quickly.

Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) is a North American native grass. Well suited in northern plains. It is very cold hardy and able to survive a North Dakota winter. Mowing it 3 or 4 times a year will make it more lawn like.

Buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) North American native grass, a once dominate grass of the vast American short-grass prairie. For obvious reasons, it makes good sense as a lawn grass in much of the low-rainfall West.

Centipede grass’s (Eremochloa ophiuroides) Centipede grass’s Centipede Grass is a low, medium textured, slow growing, but aggressive grass that can produce a dense, attractive, weed-free turf. It is more shade tolerant than bermudagrass but less shade tolerant than St. Augustine and zoysiagrass. Since centipede produces only surface runners, it is easily controlled around borders of flower beds and walks.

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). By far the most popular type of lawn grass for most of the northern half of the country. It is also planted further south, usually in areas with significant coastal influence, such as coastal southern California. It grows there, but long term survival is rare.
Ryegrass, annual (Lolium multiflorum). Often found in low priced grass seed. It does not over-winter in cold climates. Germinates quickly and can be used as a temporary ground cover while the slower growing bluegrass plants take hold. Used mostly as a forage plant for animals. DO NOT PLANT GRASSES INTENDED FOR HOME USE IN PASTURE AREAS. Certain toxins may increase in lawn grasses that may be harmful to grazing animals. Check with manufacturer on suitability.

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) Seashore Paspalum is native to tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America. Seashore paspalum grows naturally in coastal environments and is often found in brackish marsh water or in close proximity to ocean waters. It also grows in areas that receive extended periods of heavy rains and low light intensity. Its best growth occurs in response to warm temperatures and long daylengths.

St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) is one of the most important grasses of the South and West. It’s fast-growing, deep-rooted, and coarse-textured with broad, blunt-tipped blades. It is a spreading grass via above-ground runners. Seed of this grass is not available; plant it from sprigs, plugs, or sod only.

Zoysia grass (Zoysia species) is often touted as a miracle grass, and while many of the claims of its virtues are true, there are also drawbacks. Three species available: Japanese lawn grass (Z. japonica), Manila grass (Z. matrella), and Korean grass (Z. tenuifolia). Korean grass is more a ground cover than lawn grass. It’s wiry but fine-textured and creates interesting mounds as it grows.

“Weed control is more than making a pretty yard. Weeds compete with grasses for water and nutrients,” says Walheim. “A well-cared-for, vigorous lawn will resist weed invasions.”

Below are the five steps to keep your yard in top shape for weed resistance:

1. Mow high – Mow the upper end portion of the required height for the type of your grass encourages deeper roots and better heat as well as drought tolerance because the grass helps shade the soil to reduce evaporation and it maximize the soil moisture content. With this, the need for frequent water could be minimize. Mower should be set at 11/2 inches high for common Bermuda; 1 inch high for hybrid Bermuda; 3 inches high for tall fescue; 21/2 inches for Kentucky bluegrass; and 21/2 to 3 inches for St. Augustine.

2. Water properly – Water the soil thoroughly down to its depth of 6 – 8 inches to prevent shallow root system, It is important to wet the soil properly so they could absorb the water very well. To check for its thorough absorption of water, insert a rod or screwdriver into the soil; it will stop when it reaches dry dirt.

3. Fertilize at the right time of year - This is one of the most important step. This depends on the type of grass. Fall or spring for cool-season lawns and late spring and early summer for warm-season lawns. But be aware of the insects that might ruin your grass like grubs that eat grass roots.

4. Aerate and dethatch - Remove small cores of soil as it is necessary for better water and penetration of nutrients.

5. Kill weeds – Buy such product that would be best for your lawn and try to know what kind of weeds you have in your lawn so you could have the right protection for your lawn against weeds. And learn to follow instructions properly.

Source: Lawn Care

* Garden Hose, Grass Seed Or Sod & Shovel Or Trowel are the things you will need for the procedure.

1. Depending on the kind lawn maintenance you have, If it is highly fertilized lawn its soil already contain more concentrations of nitrogen. Usually female dog urines is not more highly potent compared to male dogs. But females do urinate all at one spot thus causes a lot of problem.

2. Upon seeing your dog urinating on your lawn, try to discipline him and water the area he urinated thoroughly even after few days to wash off any damage it will

3. In case the damage is there already, try to dig out the damaged turf and water very well to dilute the excess nitrogen.

4. Reseed or resod the spot.

Tips:
Urine damage has nothing to do with acid, so canine dietary supplements that alter the urine’s pH have no effect on the “burn” spots.

Source: Ehow.com

As we all know, watering is a very important process in caring for our lawn. Without water, the grass won’t grow healthy and a beautiful lawn won’t be the result.

There are two types of watering. The first is establishment watering, done by watering everyday, preferably three times a day for short periods of time. If you have an automatic watering system, set it to water in the morning, in the early afternoon, and at 6 or 7 o’clock at night.  If you water by hand, water until the point of runoff. do this everyday until the new grass is out of the ground and has grown to around three inches tall.

The mowing will then start at this stage. Remember to let the ground dry before mowing.

After mowing, start watering again, only with half the amount of water compared to establishment watering. Maintenance watering is done by watering every other day, and in longer periods of time. Gradually change your watering schedule to once or twice a week only, and in longer periods of time, enough to soak the ground to six inches deep.

Do not water at night at this stage. Watering at night will encourage the growth of fungus, which can kill the new grass. When fungus grows on your lawn, your grass will look like it needs more water. However, more water will bring about more fungal growth. When this happens, it is advised that you get help from a local lawn spray company.

When you begin to care for a lawn, one of the things that you have to remember is that the entire lawn is up to you to take care of, and the healthiest lawns are going to be those that are taken care of in each and every way. This means not only that you have to worry about pulling the weeds and making sure that your grass is growing in the right areas, but you also have to worry about smaller details, such as grass roots lawn care, which might not seem as important as caring for the grass that you can see, but it most definitely is important.

Most of us don’t know that it is important for you to work on grass roots lawn care while you are taking care of your lawn. They assume that if the grass is growing, that is what you should be focusing on, the grass that you can see, and not the roots underneath. However, in order to have a very healthy lawn, and in order to have the best looking lawn that you can have, it is important for you to look at grass roots lawn care and to put up a plan that hits the most important areas.

Caring for the roots of the lawn is something that might seem frustrating at first, but can very easily be done by implementing a series of things that need to happen. First of all, when you are raking in the spring and early summer, you want to be sure that you aren’t pulling too hard at the roots of the grass. The same goes for the fall as well. Heavy duty rakes might get things out of the grass better, but they aren’t good for grass roots lawn care because they will pull up the grass at the roots and the grass is going to die.

Another thing that is important to grass roots lawn care is making sure that you have plenty of watering systems that can reach the roots of the grass. This means that if you are simply watering the top, and no water is soaking through to the roots, the grass is not going to grow as well. You also want to be sure that you are not watering too much, because this will also be bad for grass roots lawn care and will cause the grass to die.

Bermuda grass is a sun loving grass, found mostly in the Southern parts of the United States from California to the East Coast. It is a grass that ranges from course to fine texture, and is very tolerant to droughts, making them a good ‘medium plus’ turf grass. Moderate Bermuda grass lawn care is required however, as well as regular mowing and maintenance. Bermuda grass lawn care varies, but there are specific ways to care for your lawn depending on the season. March through May requires you to get your lawn ready for the summer months.

Most Bermuda grass lawn care dictates that you start mowing at the first sign of spring, with a mowing set to 1 inch. This allows you to mow as close as possible without scalping the lawn. Practice grass cycling which is where you leave your grass clippings on the lawn so that it provides your lawn with up to 25% of their fertilizing needs. This also applies to the summer months up until September.

Applying fertilizer in both the spring and summer months, once at the beginning of each season will help turn your grass into the lush thick grass you have always wanted to. Bermuda grass lawn care also includes a large amount of watering. Bermuda grass needs at the least an inch per week to assure a quality grass. This is for both the spring and summer months. Spring is when you apply the pesticides if needed to control the insects and growing weeds. In the summer months you may only have to perform a spot treatment if needed, so be on the lookout for expanding weeds during this time.

For Winter, before the first sign of freezing, mow your Bermuda grass at 1 inch before the grass gets higher than 1 inches. You can leave the grass clippings there unless they are massive amounts, and in that case you want to remove the extra clippings because of the weight under the snow. Raking leaves is important in this case, as Bermuda grass is easily damaged because of its fragility.

You do not need to fertilize if your Bermuda grass has been over seeded. Bermuda grass lawn care requires you to water it however, even in the winter months, if you have a few days with warm or windy weather. Watering is very important if your lawn has been over seeded, especially in winter. To control blue grass which is a type of week that is specific to Bermuda grass, apply a fertilizer in November or December. Broadleaf herbicides are effective in keeping weeds such as chickweed, henbit, and clover from growing during winter. Bermuda grass lawn care is necessary to keep your lawn look at its best, so make sure to follow a regimented schedule.