Learn the Top lawn care mistakes to help you improve your lawn at home. According to the Lawn Doctor, the nation’s leading expert in lawn care since 1967,the nation’s compiled a Top 10 List of common mistakes homeowners make when it comes to home landscaping:

1. Cutting lawn too short to save time between mows: Removing more than one third of a grass blade results in a weakened root system and leads to future lawn issues.

2. Unprepared planting strategy and methods: Plants thrive when planted with appropriate depth, spacing and rootball preparation. Research plant’s species and conditions it best thrives in to accommodate root system and growth needs.

3. Ignoring differences between mature and young plants: Water needs of young and mature plants differ. Young trees and shrubs require extensive water and different sun conditions than mature plants with established root systems.

4. Watering at the wrong time of day: Homeowners should maintain a deep and infrequent watering schedule throughout the year, watering no more tha 1 inch a week.

5. Skimp on mulching: Mulch promotes lawn growth with nitrogen in soil and reduces fertilizer needs by one third.

6. Misunderstanding differences between seed and sod: Sod reduces soil erosion and requires less watering and is most effective for “building” a new lawn. Seeds fill in grass gaps and build a defense against pests.

7. Fertilizing out of season: Timing is critical to maximize fertilizer effectiveness. Northern homeowners should only fertilize lawns three times a year: once in late spring, once in late summer, and following the last mow of the year. Southern homeowners should fertilize lawns in the spring after grass maintains a green color and then again in July or August.

8. Using powder products to treat a lawn: Powder products are often cheaper, but less effective in treating lawns since powder blows away in the wind before it can saturate soil.

9. Using “green” products to fix problems immediately: Organic and “green” products take longer to work since more applications are required to produce results.

10. Ignoring soil tests: Soil tests are essential to healthy lawns since pH balance determines the best type of grass to grow successfully.

Brown spots on your grass? This can be the cause of many different things: compacted roots, animals,insects, high traffic areas, less water and sun. No need of buying expensive products just to fix your lawn. Here are some tips for you for a healthy lawn:

In fixing your lawn, you need a fertilizer, seed, and also compost. To begin with, rack the affected area with a firm rack, to roughen your lawn. With a hoe,cultivator,or a garden fork loosen the soil down a couple of inches to give the grass the chance to germinate and grow long and healthy roots. place the fertilizer down and work it into the soil with a garden fork or your hands. Just make sure you have gloves when working with those fertilizers. When fertilizer worked into the soil you can then sprinkle the grass over the top of the soil. In buying the seed, choose the perennial type that fits your area an that would last in your area will not die after its season. Once the seed is in the area, cover the area with a compost to help in the healthy growth of your grass. Then water the seeds thoroughly to give it a good start.

If your dog or pet created a spot of urine in the area, add some lime to the soil to help neutralize the urine acid and not ruin your grass. If not sure if its an animal urine, you can test the soil with the PH tester. Grass requires a PH level of 6-7 to grow right. And when dealing with some fixes, place the seed fertilizer together with the compost in a bucket then mix up to make sure it is dispersed evenly, now, roughen the area that needs to be fixed and place the mixer to each stop and press down finally, water the patches everyday until about a two inches high new grass grow an do water it at least every other day until the grass is well rooted that would create a healthy lawn.

Everybody is dreaming of a healthy and perfect lawn at home. Especially for those living in a cool season grasses rule. But, not every lawn needs a complete renovation. Maybe others just needed an extra care with tender loving. For cool season lawns & planting seed, early fall could be the best time to finish such a renovation then spring for a warm season grass and you can do laying new sod, plugs or sprigs, almost anytime during the growing season. Here are the six essential steps to follow:

1. Test the Soil – Investigating the soil is very important before removing your old lawn and that the soil has adequate nutrients and proper pH ideal for the grass to grow. Once you had undergo thorough test on the soil, you will exactly know what to do for a best possible place for your lawn to grow.

2. Remove the old lawn – these requires an average strength to help haul away the remains of the old loan.

3. Preparing the Site - Remove all rocks and expose all the roots. Large visible rocks must be dig up and tree roots be put down below soil level if it is a problem as well. With the sod removed and taken away from the site, rocks removed, holes filled, you’ll want to start adding the necessary amendments. You’ll probably want to add some sand (about 3 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet). To better condition the soil, add aged compost. This will add a lot of bio-mass to the soil (about 3 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet).

4. Tilling it in and Fertilizing - Turn the soil until there are no big clumps or patches of packed earth. with a rotary tiller and add lime, peat moss, or sulfur to balance the soil’s pH level. Spread peat moss with shovel, you can use pelletized lime or sulfur, to spread with a walk-behind spreader set to the appropriate calibration rate listed. And spread a starte fertilizer to the whole area using. Using a metal rake you can work on the fertilizer in one place. Finish grading the soil by raking it level. Pay attention to drainage slopes being careful not to alter the natural drainage pattern.

5. Spread the seed - Select a grass type that would fit in your area. With a simple hand sprinkler, apply the seed as evenly use a walk behind spreader.

6. Water regularly – When seed is sown, Don’t just spray your lawn with a hose nozzle.3 times a day to keep the soil evenly moist, but not soaked. Avoid over watering.Once the seed has sprouted, cut back watering to once a day (depending on local weather). It’s best to water in the morning.

Here are brief descriptions of the different kinds of lawn grasses. The kinds that you can plant as seed include bahia, bent, Bermuda, blue grama, buffalo, centipede, fescue (all kinds), bluegrass, ryegrass (both annual and perennial), and some zoysias.

Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) a tough coarse grass popularized in southeast a low maintenance and low quality lawn. Tolerant in drought and shade that requires frequent mowing

Bent grass, creeping (Agrostis stolonifera) loves to creep up in cooler weather. It grows relatively low and has slender, pointed, light-green leaves. It’s actually welcome in some environments, such as golf courses, but it’s no friend to the average front yard.

Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) The Sun Belt most important lawn grass that has all the essential characteristics that a lawn needs Its aggressiveness is also its key disadvantage. Bermuda grass is tough and fast growing enough to be one of the most popular grasses for sports fields. It’s good for pet owners for the same reasons: damage from whatever cause will repair quickly.

Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) is a North American native grass. Well suited in northern plains. It is very cold hardy and able to survive a North Dakota winter. Mowing it 3 or 4 times a year will make it more lawn like.

Buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) North American native grass, a once dominate grass of the vast American short-grass prairie. For obvious reasons, it makes good sense as a lawn grass in much of the low-rainfall West.

Centipede grass’s (Eremochloa ophiuroides) Centipede grass’s Centipede Grass is a low, medium textured, slow growing, but aggressive grass that can produce a dense, attractive, weed-free turf. It is more shade tolerant than bermudagrass but less shade tolerant than St. Augustine and zoysiagrass. Since centipede produces only surface runners, it is easily controlled around borders of flower beds and walks.

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). By far the most popular type of lawn grass for most of the northern half of the country. It is also planted further south, usually in areas with significant coastal influence, such as coastal southern California. It grows there, but long term survival is rare.
Ryegrass, annual (Lolium multiflorum). Often found in low priced grass seed. It does not over-winter in cold climates. Germinates quickly and can be used as a temporary ground cover while the slower growing bluegrass plants take hold. Used mostly as a forage plant for animals. DO NOT PLANT GRASSES INTENDED FOR HOME USE IN PASTURE AREAS. Certain toxins may increase in lawn grasses that may be harmful to grazing animals. Check with manufacturer on suitability.

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) Seashore Paspalum is native to tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America. Seashore paspalum grows naturally in coastal environments and is often found in brackish marsh water or in close proximity to ocean waters. It also grows in areas that receive extended periods of heavy rains and low light intensity. Its best growth occurs in response to warm temperatures and long daylengths.

St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) is one of the most important grasses of the South and West. It’s fast-growing, deep-rooted, and coarse-textured with broad, blunt-tipped blades. It is a spreading grass via above-ground runners. Seed of this grass is not available; plant it from sprigs, plugs, or sod only.

Zoysia grass (Zoysia species) is often touted as a miracle grass, and while many of the claims of its virtues are true, there are also drawbacks. Three species available: Japanese lawn grass (Z. japonica), Manila grass (Z. matrella), and Korean grass (Z. tenuifolia). Korean grass is more a ground cover than lawn grass. It’s wiry but fine-textured and creates interesting mounds as it grows.

- Turn on sprinklers or set timers to water between midnight and 8 a.m.

- Every few days but not everyday, water deeply and only when needed.

- If recent rainfall occur,cancel a scheduled watering.

- If a fertilizer has just been applied, only water the lawn lightly.

Watering prevents the grass from becoming dormant during summer’s high temperatures. Proper watering ensures a denser lawn and allows the turf to compete more effectively with weeds. A healthy lawn will also reduce pest problems.Watering should take place before intense sunlight causes too much water to be lost to evaporation. Watering in the early evenings will leave the lawn damp all night, and may increase the lawns susceptibility to fungus and molds. Deep watering encourages deep root growth. However, when fertilizer has just been applied it is better to water lightly to prevent the fertilizer from leaching past the root zone, where it will not be usefull to the grass.

Source: Local Motion

Eco-Friendly lawn care is one of the healthy ways to take care of your lawns. American lawns has generated a large amounts of “green waste”, waste water, require tons of herbicides, and would cost much money and time.

“According to the Audubon Society, the average American lawn generates almost 2 tons of clippings a year, and requires 2½-4 times more water than shrubs or trees. Homeowners use 50% more herbicides than they did 20 years ago, spend 40 hours per week mowing the lawn each year, and spend over $8 billion annually on lawn care products and equipment.”

Here are some more tips for a more Eco-friendly lawn care:

1. Instead of using a conventional gas-powered lawn mowers, use an electric or manual push mower to cut your grass to avoid air pollution and global warming.

“According to Sylvan Garden, “atypical 3.5 horsepower gas mower…can emit the same amount of VOCs—key precursors to smog—in an hour as a new car driven 340 miles. To top it off, lawn and garden equipment users inadvertently add to the problem by spilling 17 million gallons of fuel each year while refilling their outdoor power equipment. That’s more petroleum than spilled by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska.”

2. In maintaining your yard, Use hand tools or electric-powered tools such as hedge trimmer or lawn edger. Don’t use gas-powered tools instead, Use good old fashioned push broom and rakes for yard clean up, instead of noise and air polluting leaf blowers. Don’t use the hose to wash down your driveway or sidewalk, as this is just a waste of water. On the coasts, the leaf and grass clippings end up in the gutter and go down the storm drains, out to the ocean.

3. Diversify your lawn by planting a mix of different grasses–that way, if one variety doesn’t do well or dies, you still have grass that can “take over” for the dead variety. But you can also use organic fertilizer for your lawn.

4. Avoid toxic chemical pesticides and herbicides According to PANNA (http://www.panna.org/campaigns/pesticideFreeLawns.html ) “Every year U.S. homeowners apply at least 90 million pounds of pesticides to their lawns and gardens…pesticides are applied more intensively for lawn care than for farming! One recent survey reported that when informed about the risks posed by lawn chemicals, nearly 70% of homeowners indicate a preference for non-toxic alternatives.

5. Conserve water. Instead of using sprinklers, water your lawn with a hose. This will avoid waste of water from runoff as well as avoid water spills from your sidewalks and driveways.

6. Conserve water. Water your lawn by hand with a hose instead of using timed sprinklers.Water at night to avoid evaporation of water before it has a chance to soak into the ground.

7. Save your grass clippings you can use them as mulch for your yars. It is anything that is put on top of the soil around your trees and shrubs to give nutrients back to the soil, grass clippings, tree bark, leaves and other yard called a “greeen waste” also a food waste from the kitchen ans even shredded newspapers. Mulch breaks down over time an adds up nutrients to the soil. Mulch also prevents soil erosion and hardpan (tough, dried-out topsoil). Make a compost pile and feed it your grass clippings.

8. Research plants that are native to your area and resistant to pests and drought, and replace some or all of your grass with these low-maintenance alternatives. I’ve let the shrubs in front of the house, on one side of the yard, grow down to the front sidewalk, eliminating about 24 square feet of lawn.

Try to follow these simple ideas for your lawn..lesser environmental impact, save money and you can have a healthy green lawn that you always long for.