In order to maintain a lush and healthy lawn, it is important to fertilize
and water your lawn regularly. When watering your lawn, if you start,
do not stop. Each week your lawn needs between ½ and one inch
of moisture. Whether the moisture comes from daily watering or a large
rainfall, your lawn needs to have at least ½ inch of water.
When you water, make sure you water deeply, soaking the soil. The
roots will follow moisture and you will have a deeper root system.
Shallow watering should be avoided.
Many sprinkler devices will give you the dimensions of their coverage.
If you do not know or do not have access to the original box, measure
the coverage area. It is also a good idea to place several tin cans
or rain gauges around the coverage area. This way you will know
how much water is applied per hour from your sprinkler and with
your water pressure.
When to Water:
Watering in the morning is generally considered to be the best time.
If it is physically impossible to water your lawn in the mornings,
then late afternoon is the next best time. Try to avoid watering
overnight, the cooler air with the moisture you are applying is
a breeding ground for plant diseases and fungus.
Initial Watering:
There is a large difference when first watering a newly seeded lawn
versus a sodded lawn. A newly seeded lawn needs to be kept moist
until germination (10 to 14 days). You do not want to over water
a newly seeded lawn because over watering would cause the seeds
to wash away. A newly sodded lawn needs to be soaked to a depth
of six to eight inches and watered daily until the root system has
taken hold (two to three weeks). During the next few weeks, it is
important to keep your lawn moist.
Fall is a good time to aerate. After the foot traffic of that your
lawn endured during the summer, the soil has compacted so there
is less ability for water to soak deeply. Spring is also a great
time to aerate. Make sure the aeration method removes three-inch
cores so there is less ability for water to soak deeply. Root growth
will increase and your lawn will thicken up. The holes left from
aeration are ideal for areas for grass seed to lodge when over seeding
early in the fall.
When Can I Mow:
Seeded areas with existing grass can be mowed as needed. Do not
let clippings accumulate on the lawn, as smothering of new seedlings
may occur. New lawns should be moved as the lawn 
reaches
a normal mowing height. For Ryegrass, bluegrass and Fescue, this
should be in the 2.5 to three-inch range.
Controlling Weeds in Your Lawn:
With the fall season comes winter weeds. They germinate in the summer,
grow in the winter and fall, then die in the spring. Weeds can be
controlled if the proper method is used. The two methods are pre-emergent
and post-emergent. The pre-emergent method is the most effective
because the weeds
are
controlled before they ever emerge. Use a product such as ProvenCrabgrass
Preventer plus lawn food to prevent weeds in your lawn. The other
method is post-emergent. This involves spraying the weeds after
they have emerged and are showing. Use a product such as Fertilome
Weed Out to kill broadleaf weeds in your lawn. There areseveral
different products that you can use when removing weeds in large
areas, along fences, gates and borders of the lawn.
