For those of you that haven't seen our house (Karla), here it is. We painted it several years ago with the help of Kendall's brother and sister-in-law. We still haven't finished painting the trim but hopefully that will happen soon. The lawn is brand new as of last fall and it is growing like crazy, I've already mowed it twice. We still have a long list of things we would like to do including a new front porch, flooring in the back hallway and bathroom, and redoing one of the bathrooms. Maybe it will all get done in the next 5 years. Here are a few lawn care tips for the spring: (which is part of my job at the Rec)
Mowing
1. Never remove more than 1/3 of the grass height in any one mowing, so if your mower is set at 2 inches mow the grass when its 3 inches tall. Mowing more than this can shock the grass which can cause a thin lawn and shallow roots.
2. Don't bag your clippings- If you follow the 1/3 rule above there is no need to bag your clippings. In fact it is healthier to drop your clippings because clippings contain nitrogen which is essential for a healthy lawn. Clippings won't contribute to thatch because they are 80 to 90% water. If you bag your clippings you will have to apply 25% more nitrogen when you fertilize.
3. Try not to fertilize in early Spring- Fertilizing in early Spring can cause your grass to grow too quickly. This growth exhausts the grass's food stock and leaves it little in reserve for the stressful summer ahead.
Next time: watering tips
1 comment:
Since I live in an apartment, I'm going to have to translate the mowing tips into something that I can relate to... never cut off more than 1/3 my hair... don't bag my nail clippings? Hmm, maybe the water tips will work better for me, I do have three plants you know :)
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