Have you been admiring the beautiful lawn that your neighbors have? If you have, you probably want to know what is the secret to achieving a lush and vibrant lawn that enhances your home. Successful germination and growth is only achieved through proper preparation. You also need to select the right grass.
If all of this sounds good to you but you don’t know where to start, it means you are in need of a guide. Luckily, the following information will be all that you need to ensure that you have a beautiful lawn as quickly as possible
Choosing the Right Grass Seed
Before you can dive into planting, it’s critical that you select the best seed for your location and the climatic conditions that you are currently living in. Grass seeds can be categorized into two main types: warm-season and cool-season grasses.
Warm Season Grasses
Warm-season grasses are great for regions that have scorching summers and milder winters. Warm-season grasses have a wide variety, here is a list of some of them.
- Bermuda
- Centipede
- Bahia
- Saint Augustine
- Zoysia
These grasses are lovely and don’t mind a bit of sunbathing. The best time to plant them is from March through to September.
Cool Season Grasses
As the name suggests these glasses are more suitable for cooler climates. Here’s a short list of some cool season grasses.
- Kentucky bluegrass
- Fine Fescue
- Perennial Ryegrass
- Tall Fescue
A great choice to grow Tall fescue is the Pennington The Rebels Tall Fescue Grass Sun Shade Grass Seed. For Ryegrass try the Winter Rye Annual Ryegrass Full Sun Grass Seed. Think about all the factors that will come together to affect your grass, this usually means you have to pick your brain a little and think about soil type, foot traffic and even water availability. Thinking along these lines will make sure that you choose the right grass for your lawn.
Prepare for Planting
Now that you know exactly what type of grass is needed, you need to dive in and start preparing. This is where the fun begins if you love gardening. The following steps will ensure that everything is in tip-top shape and that your grass germinates and grows.
Remove Weeds
One of the first things you’re going to need to do is to make sure you’re getting rid of those pesky weeds. All existing grass, weeds and debris need to go. You can use a shovel to do this. Make sure you pull them out from their roots.
Enrich the Soil
The next thing you’re going to do is make sure you’re enriching the soil. Fatten it up a bit!
You can do this by using organic matter such as compost, since this will improve the surface and also give the soil a good dose of all the essential nutrients it needs to grow healthy seedlings.
Smooth Things Over
The next thing you’re going to do is smooth things over. You can use a stiff garden rake to smooth the soil surface and get rid of any rocks, clots and debris that may be remaining. You need a level surface so that you can plant your seeds with ease.
Planting the Grass Seeds
The next step you’re going to take is the actual planting of the seeds. There are around four major steps that you need to follow. Once you follow these steps you’ll be well on your way to see a beautiful lawn in no time.
Distribute Your Seeds
The next step in the process is seed distribution. You’re going to scatter the grass seed evenly over the soil surface. You can use hand broadcasting to distribute them. If you have a larger surface, you might consider using a spreader.
Seed Coverage
The next thing you are going to do is make sure you’re raking the entire area lightly to cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil. You don’t want to bury the seeds too deep. Remember they require sunshine to make them start germinating and come alive.
Protection Is Necessary
You need to make sure that you are protecting your seeds to prevent them from becoming “gone with the wind”. Seeds can get blown away and start soaking up moisture, so you need to spread a thin layer of straw over any areas that you have seeded.
This will form a layer of protection. You may be wondering what the protective layer is doing. It’s helping to create a microclimate that is ideal for seed germination and growth.
Start Watering
Watering is a very important part of the entire process. You want to make sure that you use a lawn sprinkler to water the seeded areas very lightly right after you have planted them. You need to make sure that the soil is continuously moist but you don’t want it running like a river. That will make it waterlogged and defeat the entire purpose.
There you have it! That’s the entire process you’re going to need to make sure that you are setting up your grass correctly so that you can have a stunning lawn that is eye-catching.
Maintaining Your Lawn
Maintaining your lawn is now the next important course of action that you need to take. You want to keep things looking beautiful and have that continuous curb appeal.
You can do that by making sure that you are mowing when it reaches a certain height. It’s hard to miss when your grass needs cutting. After about four inches you’re going into “Forest mode”. It usually looks unsightly and needs to be cut very quickly.
You need to make sure that you are controlling all the weeds. Once they start popping and rearing their ugly heads you have to rid your grass of them as soon as possible. You can apply a weed prevention product to curtail the growth. If you do notice any damage you can use the Scotts Ez Seed Mixed Sun or Shade Grass Repair Seed to plump things up again.
As you can see there’s quite a process involved. However, once you go over the steps in your mind and then start taking action you’ll find that it’s not too difficult. Once you’ve done it once or twice you will have established a routine and developed muscle memory. You will know exactly what to do and when to do it, before long you will be an expert at creating beautiful lawns.
