If you prefer your lawn to be a little shorter or taller, that is fine, too.
For example, if the lawn is 6 inches (15 cm) tall, then cut no more than 2 inches (5. 1 cm). Even if your lawn is growing quickly, don’t cut more than one-third of the growth. Cut it more often, such as twice per week instead of once per week.
You can sharpen a lawnmower blade yourself, but you will need some special tools and mechanical knowledge of lawnmowers, such as where the spark plug is located and how to remove it. [4] X Research source If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, then taking the blade to a professional is the safest option.
Get a food grade, 55 gallons (210 L) barrel that has a spigot at the bottom of it and place it outside to collect water when it rains. Skip watering after it rains because enough water will fall directly onto your lawn. Wait to use the rainwater until you hit a dry period. You can connect a hose to the spigot on the barrel and use the rainwater to water your lawn.
Your lawn will usually recover from turning brown. Although, grass can turn yellow or brown quickly during dry periods, this does not mean the grass is dead or dying. It is only becoming dormant. [7] X Research source
For example, you could set your sprinklers to go off first thing in the morning, or water your lawn with a hose right before you go to bed at night. Watch the weather reports too and try to water your lawn on a day that is supposed to be cooler than other days.
Look for a granular fertilizer that you can just sprinkle onto the lawn.
The grass looks thin or patchy. The lawn is heavily used, walked on, or driven on. The soil is a heavy clay type. The thatch layer (combination of living and dead grass) of the lawn is more than 0. 5 inches (1. 3 cm) tall. The lawn is more than 1 year old. Do not aerate a newly seeded or sodded lawn.
Check the roots early in the summer because this is when they will be the longest during the season. The roots will gradually shrink as the summer goes on.
Core aerators are expensive to purchase and rent, so you may want to band together with your neighbors to rent one for a weekend. An aerator is a heavy duty piece of equipment, so you will also need some help using the machine, such as someone to help you transport it to and from your property. [13] X Trustworthy Source Virginia Cooperation Extension Publications and Educational resources from Virginia Tech and Virginia State University Go to source You can always hire a landscaping company to aerate your lawn for you if you do not want to deal with the equipment yourself.
Before you aerate, the lawn needs 1 inch (2. 5 cm) of watering to ensure it is moist. Measure down into the soil to make sure that the moisture extends down by 1 inch (2. 5 cm) and then wait 1 to 2 days before aerating.
For example, you could aerate the lawn in straight lines going from left to right, and then aerate over those lines again going from right to left.
Keep in mind that it is easier to spot weeds if the lawn hasn’t been mowed recently. You can look up common weeds online and look at picture to help you identify the type of weed you are dealing with. This may be helpful if you are dealing with something invasive or persistent, or if you’d just like to know what weeds are common to your lawn. [18] X Research source
At the same time, try to avoid mowing right after you have spread your weed killer. Wait a day or two to allow the weed killer to spread through the entire weed.
Avoid spraying weed killer on your lawn right after a heavy rainfall or if it is supposed to rain that day or the following day.
Avoid using “weed and feed” products. These might not work for your lawn type and they may even cause damage. [22] X Research source Alternately you can try targeting the individual weeds you spot. This targeted weed killer usually comes in a spray or gel form.
Try to avoid applying weed killer right at the end of summer as weeds may be going dormant and a weed killer may be less effective. You may need to apply weed killer once in early summer and once later in the summer.
Pulling weeds by hand is time consuming, but you may prefer this option if you do not want to spray chemicals on your lawn due to children and pets playing on the lawn. You can slow down the growth of some weeds, like dandelions, simply by removing their heads. Tear them off by hand or mow over them. [26] X Expert Source Ben BarkanGarden & Landscape Designer Expert Interview. 14 April 2020. You may need to do this several times over the summer, however, to keep them from growing back. Believe it or not, mowing is a type of weeding—you’re just keeping all of the plants under a certain size. [27] X Expert Source Ben BarkanGarden & Landscape Designer Expert Interview. 14 April 2020.
