Home Ownership Basics: Tips For Making Your House A Home

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Lush Lawns 101

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Many people stare in envy as they pass a home that features the kind of lush, green lawn that makes people want to kick off their shoes and sink their bare feet into it. If you're one of those people, you may be telling yourself that while beautiful to look at and lovely to walk in, that sort of lawn requires spending entire weekends doing lawn chores. However, that isn't the case. The secret to getting a lawn like this is to cultivate healthy, thriving grass. Here's how: 

Water Deeply But Infrequently

The biggest mistake most people make when trying to cultivate a healthy lawn is watering too often and not deeply enough. This practice encourages shallow, weak root growth. Watering deeply once per week is enough for most lawns unless drought conditions exist. Place an empty tuna can near your lawn sprinkler in the area you'll be watering -- when it's full, you've watered enough. 

Get Rid of Weeds the Old Fashioned Way -- Pull Them 

Although this may sound time consuming and counter productive, pulling weeds by hand is more efficient than loading up your lawn with the latest herbicide designed to keep weeds at bay. The problem with herbicides is that even if they're designed for broadleafed vegetation and therefore not a threat to lawn grass, the chemicals they contain may still weaken your grass -- and a weak lawn in vulnerable to weed infestations. You may spend a little more time at first pulling weeds by hand, but the investment will be well worth it. Strong, healthy grass is your best defense against weediness. 

Avoid Scalping Your Lawn 

Scalping a lawn is done by setting the mower at its lowest height. Although the practice is thought by a very few to have some benefits, most experts advise against it. Scalping interferes with the process of photosynthesis because the majority of the blade is completely cut off, leaving very little surface for the plants to transform sunlight into energy for their own use. Scalping also provides weeds with a prime chance to gain a firm foothold in your lawn area. Instead of scalping, mow your lawn about once per week during the growing season and leave plenty of green blades. During the spring rush when it grows faster than usual, you may have to adjust your schedule for more frequent mowings. 

Please contact your local lawn care company and check out sites like http://www.krupskesprinklers.com for more tips and tricks on cultivating the kind of strong, healthy lawn. 


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