What 6 Things You Must Never Do to Your Lawn

Is the grass greener on your neighbor’s side? Are you turning pale with worries seeing your turf droop? How can you achieve that opulent lush green look for your lawn? Well, you need not have costly lawn services or high-tech sprinkler systems to do this. A few simple lawn maintenance steps can help you master the art of lawn maintenance and thereby keeping it green.

Stop using salt to melt ice: Winters are the worst of times for your lawn. Ice, sleet, snow or freezing rain; every element can be a hazardous. Most people in cold climate areas have stone or concrete walkways carved onto their lawns. In order to keep the frozen areas open, most people prefer putting salt on them. Brown patches might appear in portions where the salt has settled down. In most cases, the spring snow melts and rain will flush away all the accumulated salts.

Never scalp your lawn: Cutting the lawn too short, or scalping, damages the roots of the grass. Scalping occurs when only the stem is left after two-thirds of the leaf blade is removed. Studies show that if the grass is cut high, roots grow deeper, allowing them to take in more nutrients and moisture. The grass, as a result, grows thicker. The taller the grass, lesser the weeds and the soil is moister.

Do not bag the clipped grass: Mulched leaves and other factors help the grass stay green, providing them with the much needed nourishment. The clippings also cover all bare spots. Moreover, bagging the grass saves valuable landfill space and transportation costs. It is always best to mulch leaves in the spring. They add in nutrients to the soil satiating their thirst for fertilizers and moisture.

Do not over-fertilize: Fertilizing is another step to be taken very carefully. One slip and you will have your lush lawn turned into a dirty desert. Also you do not want to fertilize your lawn at the wrong time. Fertilizers contain salts, which helps grow your grass, when put in small amounts. Overdose will lead to destruction of the turf drying them up to their roots.

Never mow with a dull blade: Taking the lawn mower to get it serviced and thereby tuning it up helps sharpen the blades. Sharp blades are important to the look and health of a lawn. Sharply cut grass increases photosynthesis and decreases water loss from the grass. You will know if your machine needs a tune up, when there are visible white tissues sticking out of the leaf blade. The cut from a dull blade results in nutrition deficiency for the grass.

Don’t use poisons: Experts often tell you not to use herbicides or pesticides to kill insects. These chemicals find their way into the environment restricting the movement of water in the soil. Pesticides kill all microorganisms helping keep your lawn healthy. But weeds need to be controlled in an eco-friendly manner. Non-chemical weed killers are usually made up of corn gluten and other organic sources.

A few lawn owners achieve that great “my-grass-is-greener-than-yours” success by pampering their lawns to the right degree. Try these steps and let your neighbors turn green with envy while you can say to yourself, “The grass is greener on my side”.