6 Proven Ways to Keep Your Lawn Green and Healthy

A stubborn lawn can become a headache to those trying to maintain a yard with nice appearance.

Let’s face it

We all want our lawn to look like a golf course, vibrantly green without a single trace of weeds. But the fact is, those lawns are cut on a daily basis and meticulously fertilized. However, for the regular homeowner, here are 6 tips to keeping your grass green and healthy.

1) Perform a soil test

Every three years a soil test should be performed on your lawn to understand what nutrients it needs.

2) Mow high

Although you may want your grass looking like a golf course, cutting the lawn low has many disadvantages such as allowing weeds to grown, killing the grass, and you will have to mow more frequently.

Instead, it is recommended to set your mower at 3 inches.

As an added note, mow more frequently in the spring and fall when the grass is most active, and less in the summer.

3) Seed and fertilize in the fall

Studies have shown that it is best to seed your lawn during late summer and early fall. Similarly, fall is the optimal time to fertilize your lawn.

4) Utilize grass clippings

Most people use grass catchers to discard grass clippings. Interestingly enough, those very clippings hold a high amount of Nitrogen that will decrease the amount of fertilizing you will need. It also prolongs fertilization. Instead of discarding them, leave them on the grass. You might say that it looks bad, but clippings decompose fairly quickly into the grass.

5) Ground Covers

Do you have a shady area of your lawn that struggles to maintain grass? Use ground covers. Ground covers are plants that grow relatively short. They will cover the bald spots and add curbside appeal, giving your lawn more character.

6) Use fallen leaves as mulch

Do you hate raking the leaves?

Good news!

According to a study by Michigan State University, you don’t have to. Instead, mow over them and create mulch that will add nutrients to your lawn. Ideally, you want the leaves to be cut into dime size pieces allowing the grass to show by half an inch of the mulch.