You may be harming your lawn without knowing it!
Do you hate mowing? Do you attempt to solve that problem by cutting your lawn as close to the ground as possible, then letting it grow as long as possible, until you mow it when you just can’t stand the way it looks any longer?
Do you water your lawn every other day or so, but not too much because you don’t want to drown your poor yard?
If you do, you could be harming your lawn!
Mowing Your Lawn
Every blade of grass is a living thing. The roots burrow into the soil where they absorb nutrients in the soil, but that green blade of grass has its own job to do as well. It absorbs the sunlight which produces photosynthesis.
If you cut the blades of grass too short, they can’t absorb enough sunlight. Losing so much of the blade at once will also stress out the root system, which will make the lawn less resistant to disease. On the other hand, you don’t want the grass to grow to long, either, because the longer the grass is, the more nutrients it needs, and so the more stress placed on the root system.
For cold-weather grasses, therefore, the best height is about three inches, and for warm weather grasses, two-and-a-half inches is the optimum height. Depending on the season, the grass will grow more quickly and need to be mowed more often.
Don’t mow your lawn in the same pattern each time- mow east to west one week, and north to south the next week. And don’t mow with a rusty blade – sharpen the blade of your mower three times a year. A dull blade will play havoc with your grass.
Watering Your Lawn
It is not necessary, or advisable, to water your grass every couple of days. Grass doesn’t need it – unless you live in a very hot climate.
Put an inch of water into an attractive dish, and place this somewhere on your lawn where it won’t be spilled. When this water evaporates out of the dish, it is time to water your lawn.
When it come time to do your watering, give the ground a good soaking. If you merely moisten the top inch or so of the soil, the root system does not go deep into the soil as it should, but rather remains shallow – and thus easily harmed.
The best time to water your grass is in the morning, before the heat of the day has time to evaporate it. However, it’s also important to be careful about water run-off. If your soil doesn’t absorb water easily, the best thing to do is water it lightly to begin with – and wait about half an hour for that water to be absorbed into the soil. Then water it again, so that the additional water will then have time to be absorbed into the soil as well.
Proper watering and proper mowing procedures are the two main keys to maintaining a healthy and beautiful lawn.