Do you want a great looking lawn?

The following advice will help you achieve a great looking garden. Start with the basics and first contact a local turf farm or nursery who will give you the necessary advice and educate you on which turf is suitable for your area. About a month before laying the turf mark the area out to the shape you want, avoiding shady spots as most grasses don’t like the shade. Another piece advice is to avoid areas that are too small for the lawn mower to reach; you can use mulch or ground covers there. Also ensure that the site drains well to avoid problems later.

Why Have A Lawn?

A great looking lawn is easily achieved so long as you follow good preparation and maintenance procedures. As well as being a great place to relax, it can also enhance the value of your property. Aside from this, a lawn has a number of added advantages for the environment as it:

• is a lot cooler than any other surface
• absorbs water in large quantities
• helps reduces storm water runoff
• aids in preventing erosion
• improves the ground water quality by filtering rainwater
• cools the atmosphere
• provides oxygen
• reduces noise
• encourages micro-organisms that are beneficial to humanity
• traps dirt and dust, significantly bringing down air pollution and contamination

Preparation

Make sure you dig the soil to at least a spade depth; if it’s a large area or heavy soil you might consider using some sort of mechanical device such as a tiller to help you.

Aim for the soil to be loamy, with a proper mix of clay, sand, and silt. Organic matter like grass clippings or compost will improve the site if it is clay, on the other hand the same process would also build humus where the soil is sandy, increasing the nutrients and augmenting the water retaining capacity. Improve your soil by achieving and then maintaining a pH between 6.5 and 7.0, which is a little bit acidic and the ideal level for turf. Guesswork will be avoided if you buy yourself a simple pH test kit from your garden center or hardware store  to monitor the Ph levels.

If the acidity of the soil is high, sprinkling garden lime would rectify the problem, while sulfur could be added to the soil if it is more alkaline.

Maintenance

To keep the grass looking good, it needs regular maintenance, feeding, and watering. The grass should not be cut too short, with the ideal height being 2.5” to 3.5”. In the growing season it should be cut on a weekly basis. Watering the grass should be deep but at proper intervals and is best done in the morning. Use fertilizer that contains NPK this means it has Nitrogen(N) which keeps the grass nice and green, Phosphorous(P) to promote healthy roots for better drought tolerance and Potassium(K) which increases strong foliage and helps prevent disease. Another fertilizer to use is certified organic chicken manure; this works wonders and should be applied four times a year.