Spring season is once again here and its time to take a look at your lawn for a double effort of taking care for it inorder to avoid diseases since on this season, lawns will be more attractive to fungus and other bugs. Therefore, this time you should be very much aware of what’s going on with your lawn. Check out for signs of diseases and fungus in your lawn. When you see mushrooms showing up, molds or mildew, then you should be alarmed and take necessary actions to block those diseases that would start to ruin your lawn.

These spring lawn diseases that you usually see is the result of decaying organic materials or too much moisture from your lawn. You couldn’t get away with heavy rains during spring but to help prevent them, you can fix drainage or the debris in your soil. Then, you can also dig through the dead roots of your trees and always aerate. And try to get those mushrooms you see growing within your lawn so through that you would be able to block their growth and not spread in your lawn.

And finally, Do not over fertilize your lawn as they may push growth of fungus more since other excess nutrients may help them grow and spread out more in your lawn. Always check labels before you fertilize.

photo by Garry R. Osgood

- It Lowers water run down and rainwater in ground.

- For best result of turfgrass root development.

- Boost the lift of water in soil and its use.

- Also boost the lift of fertilizer and its use.

- Helps improve the recovery of soil from being compressed.

- For better interchange of air between the soil and atmosphere.

- It aids in water conservation.

- Aids in the wear out of thatch.

- Reduces the compression of soil.

- It helps to overcome stress, drought and heat from the soil thus this will help soil to breathe.

Watering – This is the very first important component for lawn care. Water is not just important for human beings but also very much needed by your lawns. At least 6 to 8 inches of deep into the soil is required to deeply penetrate it to its roots to grow. This may also have different variations according to the type of soil. To have a healthy lawn, grass should not be left dry. Water your lawn early in the morning before the sun rise so it wont easily evaporate and will make a cooling effect to the grass especially during the season of summer.

Mowing – This component helps grass expand more and grow healthy. However, it should not be cut down too short,it should maintain regular length for the grass to easily absorb nutrients and grow thicker so as not to be susceptible to lawn diseases or weeds. The recommended time to mow your lawn is during its growing period. For cool season grasses, it would be best to maintain 3 inches tall and 2.5 inches tall for warm season grasses. But during the season of summer, let it stay long to serve as shade for the soil.

Fertilizing – the most basic component is feeding your lawn to protect them diseases and maintain its nutrients. Spreading granular fertilizer would promote healthy growth at least two times annually. Or if you choose to go organic it will also be best for the lawn.

Aerating – In traffic areas from your lawn, it needs to aerate for the soil to breath and absorb enough nutrients, That will enrich them to grow and produce green lush grass. Aerating it periodically will best for the lawn.

De-thatching – As most people do believe that it composed of grass clippings but a true thatch is compose of culms and crowns that dried out normally. This helps also save water in soil because they block evaporation process.but too much thatch is not also good since it hinders air and water to the soil. Therefore, it is best to de-thatch the excess of it.

Weeding – This is the process wherein you can detect easily that your grass needs your help. It means it is weak when you see lots of weeds grow in your lawn. This shows that you have cut down grass too short that water in your soil is logged.

Fighting Disease – A sick lawn simply shows that your lawn is being invade by pests. When this happens, you should take immediate action, order to eliminate pests within your lawn. They should be treated with pesticides or fungicide to stop them from attacking to your lawn.

Image Source: Greenline Company

The Hand Spike Aerator - An easy to use aerator. This one creates a punch holes in the soil for the air and other essential nutrients including water could penetrate to the grass roots. And could also be the best exercise for you while pulling through your lawn. However, this could only cover small lawn area.

The Core Plugger Aerator - This is a big help to prevent lawn thatch and lessen compaction of soil. Also a unique tool for aeration since this could create a more fixed hole within the soil for proper absorption of air to promote healthy growth from the grass roots.

Lawn Aeration deals with taking out from your lawn those tiny soil plugs. Through aeration, you can have a healthy lawn that simply means that it has been provided with proper lawn care and maintenance. Thus, lawn aeration is very important to your lawn’s health. When aerating your lawn, you are giving your lawn best care that air could move freely into the soil. Usually, lawn aeration is done with a machine that has hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum.

There are a lot of factors that could promote a healthy lawn and one of them is that it can block compaction of soil that helps lessen the pore space within the soil that is closing the way of air in it. so soil could not have the air needed for the lawn to grow in good condition. Since Oxygen is the most important requirement for the grass roots to absorb more nutrients,water and it could hinder the growth of its roots. With proper aeration, it could lead a lot of excellent benefits for your lawn. The activity of your soil micro-organisms that decompose thatch will increase as well as the water,nutrients and oxygen in the soil will greatly improve. That is how essential the role of lawn aeration to your lawn care. Moreover, its rooting will grow more healthy and could trip off all pesticides and other lawn problems that could ruin the growth of your lawn.

Here are the tips for proper aeration best for your lawn:

* If it is possible, use a coring aerator as opposed to a spike aerator. Spike aerators just further compact the soil while making a hole.

* Water your lawn heavily, up to an inch, the day before you plan on aerating. The soil should be soft and moist when aerating but not muddy.

* Be careful of shallow sprinkler lines getting punctured by the aerator.

* Aerate during spring or fall or also during late summer

* Aerate only twice a year in arid or dry climate.

* Don’t waste your time or money with shoe aerators.

* After core aeration, leave the plugs on the grass and allow them to dry out, then rake the plugs into the grass if you like. If not, don’t worry they will break up after the first mowing and help to breakdown thatch by providing micro organisms that will feed on thatch.

1. AERATION- Loosening the soil so that water, air and nutrients reach the root zone quicker. Aeration enhances the effectiveness of the products applied to your lawn. By loosening the soil, items needed by the roots (air, water & nutrients), are more available. Therefore, when fertilizer is applied, it is used more effectively by the grass plants.

Core aeration is accomplished by running a machine over the lawn. The machine pulls up plugs of soil, about the size of your finger, and leaves them on the ground. It takes a couple of weeks for the plugs to break up and blend back into the lawn. Liquid aeration provides the same great results as core aeration but is much easier to do. It also is cheaper, and cleaner.

2. MOWING - In general, keep fescue, rye and bluegrass mowed at a minimum of three inches. Zoysia and bermuda grasses can be mowed shorter. Mowing at the proper height will strengthen the grass plant and inhibit the growth of unwanted weeds. As a matter fact, studies have shown that simply mowing at the correct height will eliminate crabgrass over time. The shorter the grass is cut, the shorter the roots will be. Mowing high causes the grass to shade the weeds, so they cannot grow. Mowing high also makes the grass stronger, as more grass is using the sun to make it grow. Always keep your mower blade SHARP! Sharpen the blade after 8-10 hours of use. Grass clippings are a good source of nitrogen for your lawn. It is recommended that you not bag your grass clippings. Let those clipping fall to the ground and breakdown, thus returning nutrients to the soil.

The frequency of mowing should be such that you cut 1/3 of the grass stem off each time. Removing more than 1/3 of the grass stem at a time will damage the plant. This means that you should mow your grass at or before it reaches 4-1/2 inches. During periods of drought it is advised that you mow even higher, at 4” or more. It also advised that you mow higher in areas that are heavily shaded.

3. PROPER WATERING - Proper watering encourages grass growth and deters weed growth. Watering too frequently will actually discourage grass growth, as the roots are not required to go deep to find their water source. Weed roots are much shorter than grass roots, so watering less frequently will cause the weed roots to die, while the longer grass roots will be seeking deeper water. The grass will tell you when to water, usually once a week. The grass blades will begin to curl when they need water. They will curl before they turn brown. Another way to tell is to walk across your grass and take a look where you walked.

If your footprints remain, the grass needs some water. If your footprints disappear, the grass is fine.
You should water all areas of your lawn with an inch of water. Simply set a cup in the watered area and keep an eye on the water level in the cup. When it reaches an inch, stop. To conserve water, water right after it rains. You will need to know how much rain fell, then “top it off” until you have an inch.

4. WEEDS & TRIMMING -Have you ever given any thought as to why weeds tend to grow next to the fence, or the driveway, or around the planted areas? The answer is probably that these are the areas you are using the trimmer in. If you are mowing your lawn at the proper height, usually 3 inches, chances are the middle of your lawn looks nice. The problem areas tend to be the edges of the lawn, where the trimmer is used.

Weeds love to be cut short, and it is difficult to maintain a consistently high cut when using a trimmer. Besides the fact that weeds thrive when cut short, they also thrive in these closely cut areas because the grass is cut too short to shade the growth of the weeds. So, take a little extra time when trimming to keep the trimmer up in the air, instead of letting it touch the ground.

5. SHADED AREAS -Shaded areas of your lawn are probably the most difficult area to have a healthy lawn in.

Below are suggestions for dealing with the shade.

- The amount of sunlight can be increased by trimming the lower branches, and thinning higher branches of trees.
- You can trim shrubs to allow more air movement. To further reduce stress on grass in shaded areas, you may choose to mow this area 1/2 to 1 inch higher.
- Increased fertilizer will also help.
- If you plan to seed a shady area, be sure to use seed which is shade tolerant.

6. SEED & SEEDING -Unless you have a specific preference for a particular variety of grass, I suggest you use a mix of grass seed. Using a mix will help you obtain a uniformly green lawn, as different varieties of grass green up at different times, and some do better in different areas of your lawn than others. So, using a mix, will keep the entire lawn looking nice. Using a mixture of fescue, bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass. The key to choosing seed is to make sure the seed is high quality and contains very few weed seeds. All seed bags have a label which will list the content varieties of the seed, and the percentage of weed seed included. To determine if you need to seed and how extensive the seeding needs to be, you will need to take a close look at your lawn. Basically, if you do not have much grass, you need to do extensive seeding and work the seed into the soil. If you have a pretty good stand of grass, you can simply sow the seed and leave it alone. If you are pleased with the thickness of your lawn, you can probably skip seeding, and only do it every other year.