1. Check for excessive thatch - that’s the thick mat of clippings, cuttings and stems that builds up between the green blades and the soil surface. Get down on your knees and part the grass with your hands to see if it’s built up to more than an inch.

2. Understand how de-thatching works: When air, water and light cannot reach the soil surface any longer because of thick thatch, you have to rip it out. The lawn looks rough for a while, but soon you’ll see healthy new grass shoots taking off.

3. Start by really raking the grass with a stiff-tined garden rake or a de-thatching rake. Work up a sweat - sink the tines into the thatch and pull out as much as you can without pulling up the grass.

4. Can’t see the ground even after vigorous raking? Try using a de-thatching blade if your mower has one, or rent a de-thatcher from a reliable dealer who can brief you on its safe operation.

5. Water the lawn the day before de-thatching only if it’s very dry. Begin running the de-thatcher at the farthest point from your home so you can master it before hitting the high-traffic areas.

6. Watch what you’re doing - keep the de-thatching blades on target to cut through the debris without scraping the soil surface. Run the machine over each swath of lawn only once.

7. Use a leaf rake to clean up the messy piles of thatch you’ve removed. Recycle all of it in your compost pile.

Tips:

• Make annual raking a part of your lawn care routine to prevent thatch buildup.
• Fertilize once after de-thatching with a slow-release lawn food formula.
• Keep foot (and paw) traffic off the area for one month if possible.

Warning!

• Use a power tool only if you understand its operating and safety features.
• Always wear long pants, closed-toe shoes and safety glasses when operating power equipment.

Source: eHow: How to De-Thatch a Lawn

Here are essential ways to make a perfect lawn for cool areas:

Cleanup
Rake the lawn. Rough up bare or thin spots and add grass seed. Sprinkle them with a little special starter fertilizer, high in phosphorous (P), if you have it.

Fertilizer
Apply fertilizer three or four times a year, starting in early spring, again in mid-May, then around Labor Day, and finally an organic fertilizer in late fall. But beware, too much nitrogen makes thin cells walls and fragile grass. Use only the right amount, more is not better. Iron (Fe) makes grass greener. Potash (K) makes it tougher. There are many, many fertilizers for each phase of growth and for each season, as well as alternative lawn care programs that add plant hormones and beneficial organisms.

Lime
Grass likes a pH 6 to 6.5. Lime is usually needed only every few years, but test the soil first.

Mowing
Start mowing when the the spring shoots get 3 to 4 inches high. Try to remove no more than 1/3 of the green shoot at each mowing. Current theory is that mowing high ( about 3 inches) shades out weed seeds, especially crabgrass. For a perfect lawn, mow regularly and often. Keep the blade sharp.

Mulch the Clippings
Best for the lawn is to let chopped up, small grass clippings stay on the lawn to compost and return nutrients to the soil. The fastest way to mow is in a big circle, not up and down with many turns. However, if you love your lawn, you probably prefer a particular pattern to the mowing lines.

Crabgrass
There exists a passionate hatred for this spreading greenery whose seeds germinate over a long period of time. Pre-emergent herbicide control may be applied (with fertilizer) in early spring, however, herbicides may not be a good idea where there are children or dogs. An alternative safe crabgrass control (made from corn gluten meal) is available but has to be re-applied for two or three years to get reasonable results. Combined with mowing high, overseeding spring and fall, aerating, and yes, hand pulling of the light green seedlings, crabgrass can be kept under control.

Pesticides
Use them only when needed after a particular problem has been identified. Then treat just that problem. There are lots of books on the subject or get professional help. Fortunately, there is a new, safer pesticide called Merit for white grubs in the lawn. (Grubex is the same thing.) Apply it in May for control of the new grubs which will hatch in summer. It works slowly and is most effective on small grubs.

For more immediate insect control, one can apply a strong chemical pesticide (after identifying the insect). But remember, if children or dogs play on the grass, they will be exposed. Better to let the kids grow up first.

Water and Sprinkler Systems
Ideally a lawn likes one inch of water about once a week to encourage deep, healthy roots. Fight to get your sprinkler company to cut your frequency to once a week, twice at most. Overwatered grass is shallow rooted, fungus prone, soft and fragile. Have a manual sprinkler override to turn it off when rains are heavy and don’t begin irrigating until the first long heat wave in late May or June. If you pay for sewer charges based on how much water you use, try to get your sprinkler system on a separate water meter. It will save sewerage charges.

Fine Tuning
Aeration (making holes for air in the soil) helps a compacted lawn so, if you own some, wear spikes when you work on the lawn. Topdressing with a fine compost or topsoil helps too. Current theory suggests that a late fall application of organic fertilizer will melt thatch.

Overseed
Lawns grow best in the cool of spring and fall, so twice a year regularly apply grass seed at the start of each growing season to replace all the little grass plants that didn’t get all the love and attention they were crying for.

Another effective way for a healthy lawn during growing season is an organic fertilizer. They contain natural ingredients like seaweed for potassium, bone meal for phosphorous, and feather meal for nitrogen. Not like the conventional fertilizers that deliver a heavy, instant dose of those synthetic nitrogen, also phosphorous and potassium for your lawn to binge on. Because organics usually provide an easier to handle diet of nutrients that are slowly released. The thicker the grass the more that it can easily crowd out weeds. Once the soil has been treated, overseed the lawn by using such appropriate turf grass. You can choose a seed mix that cuits your climate, sun/shade conditions, and moisture needs, and make sure it blends well with your existing lawn. For a new growth to be fully established, you can water them on daily basis.

Many types of grass on peoples’ lawns in the

Sunlight is one element of lawn care that people cannot provide for it. All plants need sunlight to survive; if a person were to live in an area with less sunlight they should be careful in choosing a grass. Some types such as Kentucky Blue Grass, rye grass, or fuscue grass are forgiving in this way. Places with lots of sunlight will need grasses which are a bit more tolerant of the heat, and will sprout up early in the spring. To keep warm weather grasses happy, the lawn care regiment includes the need for plenty of water during extremely hot months to keep their color. Warm weather grasses include centipede,

Every lawn care regiment should include fertilizer as nourishing the grasses in this way will help to build a thick green lawn that is desired by everyone. Fertilizing is important because a well fed lawn will not need as much long maintenance. When the grass doesn’t have to ‘worry’ about starving, it can ‘focus’ on slow steady even growth. This slow and steady approach will give the grass strong roots and reduce the amount of cutting the lawn care routine. Stronger roots will withstand a cold snap or drought better as well as mowing and people walking or playing on their lawn. The basic lawn care routine should plan on four or five feedings each year including the first and last cutting. Booster doses are helpful after the first thaw, during the early days of summer when temperatures are rising or starting to equalize, and late in the summer when drought could be taking hold and/or temperatures are their highest.

Great lawns can’t happen in just a snap of a finger, continuous lawn care combined with preventive maintenance can help keep a lawn strong, green, and beautiful year after year. Giving the grass everything they need through out the year will help maintain a strong healthy lawn that will last.

One of the best parts of Caring for your lawns is the proper way of mowing, followed by right edging and trimming that could reduce weeds, thickens turf. Here are steps for proper mowing, edging and trimming :

Mowing * Choose the proper mower for your type of lawn. Use a rotary mower for taller, soft grasses such as bluegrass, fescue or ryegrass; use a reel mower on wiry or low-cut grasses such as Bermudagrass, bentgrass or St. Augustinegrass. * Set mower blades to the proper height according to grass type. Set blade height by placing the mower on a flat, paved surface. Use a ruler to measure between blades and pavement. Adjust according to the manufacturer’s instructions. * Mow the lawn when it is about a third higher than the recommended mowing height. * Leave grass clippings on the lawn, unless the grass has grown very tall between mowings. They will contribute organic matter and nutrients as they break down. Edging and Trimming* Use a handheld edger between pavement and grass. Place the wheel on the pavement with the blade over the edge and push and pull. For large lawns, use a power-driven model.
* Use grass shears around trees, around the edges of beds or in places that are hard to reach. * Use a string trimmer to trim and edge large lawns or to cut grass too tall to mow. * Create a tailored, ‘English garden’ look by using an edging tool (a shovel with a small blade shaped like a half moon) between beds and lawn. Push the blade in with your foot so that it slices off a thin piece of turf, leaving a clean, straight edge of soil between lawn and bed. * If you use an edging tool, return slices of soil to the garden beds to break down; chop slightly and bury them under the mulch for a neat, nourishing edge.