You will find that each grass type has a specific height that is the optimum height for it to be mowed. So, if you mow that grass at that specific height, it would be healthier, it would look better, and far more than that, it would not die of lack of water. Most of the experts believe that the depth of the root system of your lawn grass would be directly proportional to the height of your mowing. This means that the higher you mow your lawn, the deeper the root system will be.

You will find that there are generally two types of grass that we have to consider on the basis of the seasons in which they grow. The first one is Cool Season Grasses. The most common cool season grasses are Fescue, Bluegrass and Ryegrass. The majority of the grasses in the southeast are the cool season grasses. You will find that these grasses should be mowed at a range of three inches to three and a half inches. Fescue is generally mowed to about three inches in height and even though Bluegrass is very much tolerant to low mowing, you should not be mowing it less than two and a half inches in height.

The next type of grass is Warm Season grass. Some of the common grasses of this type are Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede etc. All these grasses could be mowed at a low height of your mower. You would find the maximum use of Bermuda and Zoysia in golf courses. There the grasses are mowed as low as one inch. If you are planning to have these types of grasses, you should mow them at about one to one and a half inches, but you should have a smooth grade, otherwise you have have some scalping problems.

And if you have healthy grass you will want to leave the clippings. A good mulching mower is the best for this. Do not let it get too long before you cut it. And use sharp blades. Dull blades rip the grass instaed of cutting it.

So there you have it. The health of your lawn depends on you. Cut it too low and you will encourage shallow roots and weeds. The proper mowing methods will encourage healthy grass with deep roots. Your lawn will be looking like a carpet!

For your second feeding you will want to include a post-emergent weed killer. This will help to kill some of the weeds that did come up. This should be a couple of weeks after the first feeding.

Just a word of caution. This plan is not for new lawns or reseeded lawns. And on the post-emergent try to keep it away from established bushes, flowers, and other things that you do not want to kill! As with anything: “Read and follow all instructions”!

And more is not better with fertilizer. Use the recommended amount only. And do not put it down after the end of May.

What I do is keep some weed killer in a pump sprayer and evry week or so take a walk around the lawn and spot shoot the weeds. And you don’t have to do the whole lawn. Just a little at a time. And the same caution. Read and follow the directions.

I did want to mention cutting. Do not cut your lawn too short. That encourages weed growth. Your grass should be 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall.

So there you have it. A good weed control plan. The most important things are to keep a healthy thick lawn. And try to stay ahead of the weeds.

There are two types of watering to consider. The first is for new lawns. If you have just planted seed you will want to water a munimum of three times a day. Morning, noon, and at night. Your goal is to keep the seeds and soil MOIST. You do not want too much water. The seed will wash away.

The second is for established lawns. You must water deep. Do not think that you are doing your lawn any favors by wateing for 15 minutes. These type of shallow watering encouge the root system to be shallow. This is unhealthy. You want to encourage a deep root system. And you do that by watering deep. You should probably water for around an hour, every other day. Of course all watering methods are different, so you may have to run some tests. Try to get the soil damp 4 to 6 inches below the surface. And just like any other plant, you want to give it a chance to dry up a little before watering again. And obviously where you live, the weather, and your soil conditions will have an effect.

Always water your lawn early in the morning, or before noon. You will want to give it a chance to dry out before nightfall. Wet grass during the night encourages fungus. And fungus is very hard to get rid of. And it can also be very expensive. You could spend hundreds of dollars per month and still not get rid of it. Prevention is better than the cure in this case.

And again there are different circumstances that will determine your watering schedule. Just keep the two main points in mind. You want to water deep to encourage deep root growth and you want to give the lawn a chance to dry out before you water again. Before you know it you will have a lawn that looks like a carpet!

To start your education, we start with the main ingredients of fertilizer: nitrogen, phosphate and potash. Obviously, if fertilizer contains these three ingredients, they must have some specific functions. You need balanced diet to remain healthy and the same applies to your lawn also. Fertilizing would involve the administration of all these constituents but in different amounts. Your lawn would need nitrogen in the maximum amount as it helps in fast growth, gives it dark color and also thickens the grass. But what would happen if you just go on giving lots of nitrogen and not enough phosphate and potash? The direct result would be too much top growth and in addition to that it would also mean less than sufficient root growth and less than desired capacity for recovery.

So, you need to have a balanced fertilizing program-a fertilizing program which would include all the three ingredients in the proper amount and also micro-nutrients. You should understand that micro-nutrients are nothing but minerals like iron, manganese, boron, zinc etc and even though these are not needed that much, these still have their own place in grass growth. Your soil might have some of the micro-nutrients but you would have to provide those micro-nutrients that the soil is deficient in.

This translates into the fact that you would have to get a soil test done. And when you have received the results of the soil test, you should administer the suggested fertilizers that were recommended in the suggested amounts. More is not better where fertilizing is concerned. You might find very good top growth but that is deceptive. It won’t have the same effect on the root system and it might also cause ecological problems. Over fertilizing might contaminate nearby lakes or streams (runoff problem) and that might ultimately harm the entire ecosystem.

The best time of fertilizing is thirty days before the growing season. And you should go on fertilizing after every sixty days or so throughout the growing season. That would help your lawn grass to grow well. And it would also allow your grass to remain healthy and thick. That has a direct impact on the growth of weeds. The stronger your lawn grass is the more resistant it would be to weeds. Thus, fertilizing would also help your in fighting weeds.

To summarize, we have seen the results of fertilizing and some of the technical details of fertilizing.

There are several different types of fungus that can grow in your lawn, all which grow in relation to the amount of water that is in your yard, as well as the type of climate that gives them room to flourish.  Fungus may also have an opportunity to grow if your soil isn’t balanced from fertilizer or compost at the beginning of the season.  Some types of popular fungus include mushrooms, mildew, dollar spots, and fairy rings.  These are a few of several types of fungus that can move into your lawn.  Some ways to notice the fungus is through patches of yellow, red, or orange in your lawn.  Other types of fungus will begin to spread from the tips of the grass, causing brown blades to form.

No matter what type of fungus begins to take over your lawn, it is known that they can eventually spread over your entire lawn, taking the nutrients and moisture that is needed for your grass.  Because of this, there are ways to prevent the fungus from appearing and taking over your lawn.

1.  Keep your lawn dry.  Most fungus will begin to form after the winter is over or during the fall.  If extra snow is not drying on your lawn or if there is too much shade, it gives a perfect spot for fungus to grow.  By removing snow that won’t melt you can prevent some of the fungus that will grow in your lawn.  Before the winter arrives, you can also make sure to cut your grass down in order to make sure that the grass stays aerated and doesn’t keep the moisture locked into the grass.  If it is spring and fungus is beginning to grow, it is probably because the water isn’t drying during the days that you water.  Make sure to water in the morning so that the grass has time to dry during the day from the sun.  If it is not going to be warm and sunny that day, it is best to wait to water until you know that the water will be dried from the sun.

2.   Kill the fungus with different products.  There are several different types of natural ingredients that will take the moisture out of the fungus that you have in your yard.  One type of ingredient is baking powder mixed with water.  You can spray this over the area where the fungus is.  The baking powder will act as a neutralizing agent to get rid of the fungus.  You can also use plain corn meal by spreading it over the area where the fungus is.  If you choose to use one of these ingredients, make sure you know what type of fungus is in your yard first, then use the proper type of ingredient in order to get rid of the fungus.

3.   Prepare the soil to prevent fungus.  Before laying fertilizer or soil in the spring, or before you have put in new sod, it is best to make sure that it has some type of preventative ingredient from fungus.  This, as well as mulching will balance out the nutrients in the soil in order to prevent fungus from appearing.  Often times, it is best to make sure that there is enough nitrogen in your soil and grass.  If there is too much nitrogen, or not enough, it will often cause problems with fungus having room to grow.  Things such as greensand or glauconitic can be purchased in order to balance out your soil again.

In order to keep your lawn looking healthy and green throughout the seasons, it is best to find ways to prevent different types of fungus from overtaking your lawn.  This can be done through simple maintenance of making sure that the soil, water and grass all remains balanced and healthy.

The measurements that have been made for cutting grass have been averaged out for several reasons.  The main purpose of this is that allowing this much length in your grass allows nutrients to continue to move through each blade.  When the blades of grass are growing, they take a certain amount of soil, water and sun in order to grow properly.  When you cut the tips of this off, they have to adjust how much of the nutrients they should continue to get.  If this change is too drastic, it will cause problems with the grass.

This moves into the second reason as why you should not cut the blades of grass too short.  Because of the change in size and nutrients, cutting blades too short will stress out the plants.  This is because they have to adjust to the different length.  The second type of stress that they receive from the shorter blades is if the weather is hotter, the blades will not have enough protection provided from the length that they once had.  Too much of a difference in blade length can then cause problems by either causing brown patches, wilting, or grass burn.

A third reason why it is always good to only cut this much off, and consistently, is because each time you cut your grass, it grows back thicker and faster.  If you only cut the grass by a third, it will continue to be able to receive the same amount of nutrients and sun.  By doing this, it will be able to grow back at a faster pace, turning even more green and filling out space more than it did before.

On the maintenance side, you won’t have to remove as many grass clippings when you don’t cut as much off.  It is known to be healthy to leave some of the grass clippings that you have cut on the grass, as this provides more nutrients as well as protection to the growth of the other grass blades.  With this in mind, if you leave too many grass clippings, it will take away the sunlight and water that the plants are supposed to be receiving.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the grass should not be mowed when the grass is wet.  This causes a spreading of diseases, as the dampness that is on the blades of grass can not be evaporated, and eventually begins to mold or turn into a disease.  Mowing with wet grass may also cause you to slip and injure yourself.  The best time to mow a lawn is in the early evening.  This will prevent the grass from getting stressed.  The sun in the afternoon usually stresses out the grass and the mowing in the afternoon will only add to this.

Grass should always remain at a length between three and three and a half inches.  When it begins to move past three and a half inches is the best time to mow the grass.  Beyond this, you should never take off more than one third of the blade.  If grass is not mowed at the right height, it can cause problems with stress, nutrients, and diseases spreading throughout your lawn.  By cutting your grass at the right height, and mowing when it is over three and a half inches tall, you will not only keep your lawn healthy, but you will also provide a better looking, greener lawn.

2.   Environmental factors.  One thing to consider with your lawn mower is how it will effect the environment.  Several normal lawn mowers pollute the air with their use of gas.  The gas may also cause a mess where it is being poured into the mower.  Having a gas mower not only causes pollutants to go in the air, but may cause problems with aeration in the lawn.  If this is a concern, then there are different types of lawn mowers that won’t cause pollutants or problems with gas.  Reel lawn mowers are one option that is available for those who want to be environment friendly.  These are usually cheaper than regular lawn mowers, and don’t use a motor to mow the lawn.  There are also self-propelled lawn mowers that will make it easier to cut the lawn, and also allow for a more even cut.

3.  Cords that are connected to lawn mowers.  Several lawn mowers will limit how you can move through your yard because they require cords.  If you have a large yard, then you might consider getting a cordless lawn mower, or a reel lawn mower.  This will save you time by allowing you to move around your lawn freely, without having to step over the cord and change your position when mowing your lawn.  If you have a larger lawn, this is one thing to consider.  You may also consider getting a lawn tractor in order to move through larger spaces.

4.  Knowing where to put grass clippings.  When you mow, you will be left with grass clippings through your yard.  One thing to consider with the perfect mower is how you want to handle grass clippings.  Several lawn mowers will come with a bag so that the grass clippings won’t move onto your lawn.  There are also mulching lawn mowers, which will cut the grass clippings into smaller pieces before they go back onto your lawn, making it so that the clippings don’t prevent aeration or nutrients from water to move into the soil.  If you don’t have these clippings taken care of through the mower, you will most likely need to pick them up after you mow.

5.   Finding the Right Cut for your Grass.  It is suggested that you cut your grass when it is about three to three and a half inches in height and that you don’t cut it down more than one inch.  Certain lawn mowers will allow you to pre-measure how much it will cut allowing for an even cut that won’t be too long or short when you are finished.  If you don’t want to measure how much you will be cutting from your lawn, finding a lawn mower that will measure for you is one thing to consider.

When considering a lawn mower, there are several different factors to consider.  The right equipment will help with your grass, allowing for less maintenance or other problems to occur when mowing your lawn.  By finding the right lawn mower, you will be able to cut your grass easily, leaving an even cut and healthier grass.

If you have to cut grass on a slope, the best type of lawn mower is one with high wheels.  This will make it easier to push up a hill, or to move back down the hill with.  The second type of lawn mower that is available is a cordless or electric mulching lawn mower.  This doesn’t have gas, making it less messy to mow with.  It also helps with mulching on your lawn.  The third type of lawn mower that can be used is a reel lawn mower.  These are said to be more environmental friendly, not contributing to pollution and are easier to mow with.

Beyond deciding which is the right type of lawn mower to use, is the maintenance which it receives.  This will not only allow the mower to last longer, but will also give your grass a better cut.  Every spring, the different parts of the lawnmower should be cleaned or repaired.  The main thing that should be looked at is the wear and tear that is in the spark plugs.  This also includes the nuts and bolts that are holding the mower together.  They should be tight when they are fastened to the lawnmower.  Besides checking or replacing this in the spring, you should check to make sure they don’t become loose throughout the duration of the season.

One part which should be cleaned at least twice throughout the season is the deck of the lawn mower.  This helps the lawn mower to remain consistent while cutting and will help it to last longer.  It will also help in preventing the spread of diseases in grass.  In order to clean the deck of the lawnmower, you should first empty the gas tank and make sure that the spark plug is not connected.  You can then stand the mower up on its side and spray the mower with water.  You can then scrub off the rest of the dirt and grass that is stuck on the mower.  Make sure to dry the mower after you have finished rinsing it off, to make sure that none of the parts rust.

Two other parts of the mower which should be maintained are the oil and the air filters.  The air filters should be cleaned or replaced on a regular basis.  Before removing the filter to replace, make sure that you know whether it is paper or foam.  The oil that is maintained includes lubricating your mower by putting some oil into the fuel.  This is only for two-cycle engine lawn mowers.  The four-cycle engine lawn mower should always have oil filled before you mow.

One important part of maintenance, which will help your mower to last longer and will help your grass look better, is sharpening the blades every one to two months.  This will allow a clean cut of the grass, rather than rips that may happen in the lawn.  You can easily do this by removing the blade from the mower and sharpening it with a file.

When it is no longer necessary to mow your lawn, there are certain things that you can do for your lawnmower to make a better hibernating season.  The first is to remove the gas from the gas tank.  You should also remove the oil from the mower.  If these are left in the mower over the winter, they get to old and get a bad texture to them.

With consistent and proper care of your lawnmower, you will be able to keep your lawn looking great through the seasons and years.

Schedule when to put fertilizer in.  Depending on the region in which you live, the climate you have, and the type of soil which you are dealing with, your lawn will need to have fertilizer put in at different times of the year.  Some of the fertilizer provides the best nutrients in the spring, where the nutrients can be soaked into the soil for the season.  Other types of fertilizer is best put in before the winter season as it will provide nutrients to the grass throughout the ice season when your grass is getting ready to hibernate for the winter.  If you schedule out the right times for your lawn fertilizing maintenance, it will allow for better growth throughout the season.

Using weed control fertilizers.  There are several different types of fertilizers that can be put in the ground for the main purpose of eliminating weeds from your yard.  By doing this, you will have to do less maintenance on your lawn when weeds start to show up on your grass.  It will also prevent weeds from slowly appearing throughout your yard and taking the nutrients that are intended for the grass.  By applying weed control at the same time as regular fertilizer, it will help provide more nutrients for your grass.

Spread the fertilizer evenly.  There are spreaders available in order to spread the fertilizer evenly throughout your entire yard.  If this is not done, it will cause grass burn in some places from too much fertilizer being placed, and not enough fertilizer in other places will cause more weed growth, and less nutrients to be able to go to the grass, causing brown patches.  This is especially important if your yard is sloped, as the unevenness can cause problems in how much fertilizer is put in each area.

Know how much fertilizer to apply.  It’s important to know the pH of your soil, as well as the type of soil that you have.  You can measure the type of soil by seeing the thickness which it has.  The soil can be anything from sandy, to silt, loam, or clay.  By knowing the texture and thickness of your soil, you will be able to tell exactly what kind of fertilizer you should apply and how much of it you will need in order to change the balance of your soil and allow for more growth and greener grass from your lawn.  By measuring out how much fertilizer you need, it will help to prevent a lack of nutrients or too much fertilizer throughout your yard, which can cause problems.

By knowing what type of yard you have, as well as knowing how much fertilizer to apply and when the best time to apply it is, you will be able to have greener grass and a better, healthier lawn throughout the year.  If you choose not to fertilize your yard, it can cause several problems, such as brown patches, a lack in nutrients, weeds, and problems with water being absorbed into the ground.  Fertilizer is known to help the yard to look greener and have better nutrients year round.

Let’s look at the type of grass that is best for your yard.  One of the first factors is to decide what zone you are in.  There is a difference between the cool season zone and the warm season zone.  Warm season grasses are used best in the southern states in the United States and the cool season grasses are used in the North as well as Canada.  You may well be found in the middle of these two zones; in that case, you can contact your local county extension to ask which types of grass are best for your zone.

Warm season grasses are:

Bermudagrass

Buffalograss

Zoysiagrass

These are the most common grasses used in the warm season zone.

Cool season grasses include:

Bentgrasses

Bluegrasses

Fescues

Ryegrasses

The grasses can be mixed in your lawn to take advantage of the strength of the various types of grasses.  One of the items you may need to consider is if your lawn has shady spots.  Along with that, spaces in your yard that have at one time been covered by pine tree branches or have heavy foot traffic deserve special attention.  You may also be in a region that often is affected by drought.  For shaded spots, some of the cool season grasses such as bentgrass and bluegrass may be the answer to your problem.  In areas of heavy traffic, try the sturdy Kentucky bluegrass.  Some new strains of Kentucky bluegrass are also specially designed to be drought tolerant.

Red fescue is used to keep the lawn together and show a tighter appearance.  It is fine leaved and can stand close mowing.  Especially good for cool zones, it is strong and durable.  Meadowgrass is an excellent choice for regions that are prone to drought conditions.  It has a beautiful dark green color and has a good resistance to fungus diseases.  Bentgrass provides a good base to a lawn and by over seeding can give you an attractive tight looking lawn.  Ryegrass has a newly developed strain that stays green all year and has great wear tolerance.

Here are some recommendations of grasses for different parts of the country.  Kentucky bluegrass still seems to be the favorite grass for the Rocky Mountain and Plains states.  Bluegrass varieties that need minimal maintenance are; Belmont, Caliber, Cobalt, Monopoly, and Unique.  Kentucky bluegrass needs to be watered often, as the roots don’t grow deep and is an excellent choice for sports fields and for parks.  It likes to be mowed to a height of about two inches.

The grass recommended for the Northeast and Midwest is a good fescue.  This grass grows slowly, has wiry blades, and has a height of only six inches.  Lots of shade and moisture requires a hardy perennial relative of bluegrass called Poa supine.

The Southeast has a grass called centipede grass.  The grass is light colored, grows slowly, and requires less maintenance than other warm season grasses.

Sources say that grass is hard to grow in the Southwest.  A popular grass is regular Zoysia.  It turns brown in October and stays brown through March.  Zoysia loves the warm weather, turns brown if the temperature gets below 55 degrees, and loves to be cut short.  This grass is not a good grass to use in areas that get a full-blown winter.

In the great Northwest, bent grasses are well adapted to the climate of that area.  They do tend to be high maintenance but there are strains that have been developed for cool areas and are also low maintenance such as Velvet bentgrass.  Ryegrass is also a good choice for cooler weather climates.  You can use annual ryegrass for a quick fix on a lawn or you can choose perennial ryegrass for keeping your grass year after year.