How to Save Time and Money on Lawn Care

Home owners spend an incredible amount of money on lawn care. Yet many continue to have problems the grass grow - except in places they don 't want to grow. Grass problems are often caused by poor maintenance habits, such as overuse of fertilizers and pesticides. These tips should help you save time and money and result in healthy turf that is less susceptible to insect damage, drought, weeds and disease. Determine the size of your lawn before using lawn-care products. When calculating the square footage,
subtract the space taken by the house and garage, patio, deck, flower beds, sidewalks and driveway. Never apply more fertilizer than recommended. Too much fertilizer causes the growth is spindly and unhealthy. Test your soil. Call his office at the county extension and request a test kit from the ground. The analysis will tell whether your soil has any shortcomings. Aerate your soil. This allows moisture and nutrients reach the roots. Meet with your neighbors and meet the cost to rent an aeration machine base for a day. Check the Yellow Pages under "Centers", renting for equipment rental firms. Develop good mowing habits. Mow your lawn when needed, using the rule of a half: Don 't cut more than half of the grass' s height at one time. Sharpen your mower blade two or three times a year. Do it yourself with a sharpening stone, or take it to a repair shop for lawn mowers. To prevent disease, never mow when the grass is wet. Mulch your lawn. The grass clippings left on the lawn food and add organic matter to soil. A light straw of grass clippings (about 3 / 8 inch deep) conserves water and blocks light, preventing the germination of weed seeds. Water wisely. A healthy lawn requires about 1 inch of water, including precipitation, one week. Clay-based soils benefit from two 1/2-inch waterings a week. Very sandy soils may need additional water. Over-watering leaches soil nutrients. Remove the guesswork from watering lawns by timing how long it takes your sprinkler to put an inch of water in the soil. Place an empty glass on the lawn, and turn the shower. Keep track of how long it takes to accumulate an inch of water in the glass. Then, when you want to water your lawn 1 inch / 2, just that time of irrigation cut in half.