Top 3 Lawn Maintenance Tips 

One of the foremost attractions in the home is the green state of the lawn.  After all, it is the first thing that you notice upon entering the premises since it is the first thing you step on, literally and figuratively.  To impress your guests and neighbors with a lawn as beautiful as can be, no matter that it is the size of a dime, here are the top three lawn maintenance tips categorized into fertilizing, watering and sprigging your piece of the earth.

Fertilizing Your Lawn

Lawn fertilizers have three main components - nitrogen, phosphate and potassium - with other nutrients thrown in.  Amongst all these nutrients, a good balance of nitrogen is necessary for healthy grass growth.

To determine which among the numerous lawn fertilizer brands is best for your lawn, you have to determine the grass growing on it.  Thus, if your grass is of the centipede type, 2 pounds fertilizer is sufficient while Bermuda grass require 6 pounds max of fertilizer to thrive.

You must fertilize during active growth periods, which usually fall on spring and fall in cooler climates and early and late summer in warmer climes.  Also, you have to submit your lawn soil to testing every 3-4 years to determine changes in composition, which will affect fertilizer choice.

You have a choice between organic and commercial lawn fertilizers.  It all depends on your lawn goals just make sure you can live with the results.  

Watering Your Lawn

Although it can be very tempting to put hose to lawn, it is also very wasteful of natural resources.  There are better ways to water your lawn, of which the following steps can help:

    * Water the lawn only of the top 6 inches of the soil is dry.  This can be determined by digging a 12-inch deep wedge of lawn soil and then observing its moisture content.
    * Choose the best time of day to water your lawn, which is basically during the cool evenings and early mornings.  This way, little evaporation occurs.
    * Opt for the most appropriate watering method.  Although aboveground sprinklers water large areas of the lawn, it may not be appropriate if you have disease-prone plants like beans, roses and raspberries.  A better choice is the drip irrigation method that promotes greater water efficiency and lesser plant disease outbreaks.  You also have to regularly adjust the water systems.

Plugging and Sprigging Your Lawn

These activities are somewhat more complicated than the first lawn care tips.  First, you have to prepare the soil by removing all weeds and other undesirable plants, applying fertilizer, moistening and tilling the soil, and then raking everything smoothly.  Second, you must make a planting grid.  Keep in mind that spacing plugs and sprigs in a closer manner makes for a fuller lawn but is expectedly more expensive but is necessary for grass species like zoysia.  Third, you need to install the plants and then rake, roll and water them.  You must make sure that the plugs are in firm contact with the lawn soil.

Of course, you have to water and fertilize your lawn on a regular basis. Just like gardens, lawns also require care and attention in order to fully enjoy its benefits. Did we mention that a beautiful lawn makes for a good first impression of the house?