Getting the Best Out of your Lawn - Five Tips to Success

By Grant Eckert Eckert

Whether you are trying to sell your home or simply want your lawn to look its best, make sure you are doing everything possible. For most of us, lawn care is limited to watering from time to time and cutting it when it gets too long. However, in order to create a healthy and attractive lawn, a bit more care is required. Here are five tips that can help your lawn this year.

What Kind of Grass Do You Have?

When you are taking care of a lawn, the first step is determining what type of grass you have in order to give it the best care. If you didn't lay down the grass yourself, find out what kind of grass you have before you do anything else.

Here are some of the basic grass types:

Bahia
Bentgrass
Bermuda
Bluegrass
Buffalo
Carpet
Centipede grass
Fescue
Rye
St. Augustine
Zoysia

Check with Tru Green or do some basic research on the internet to view images of the various types of grass and compare them with your lawn.

Once you know what the type of grass you have, determine if there are any special needs that this particular type will require.

Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!

If you want to maintain your grass's green color, begin to think about fertilization. Because your soil can only hold so many nutrients from season to season (especially when you have your home for a long period of time), you need to reintroduce those nutrients by fertilizing.

Since you now know the type of grass you need, you can go out and purchase the appropriate fertilizer. Apply the fertilizer during a time when it will not be disturbed (i.e. before the colder seasons and at night) and then watering as recommended.

However, before you apply a fertilizer to your entire lawn, you might want to try out the fertilizer on a section of lawn that is unseen by others. This will allow you to preview the effectiveness of the fertilizer without applying it to the entire lawn

Watering Your Lawn

If you live in a drier climate, you will need to water your lawn more frequently than others. Watering can take place via an installed sprinkler system, a sprinkler that you move into the preferred area, or via a hose. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Installed sprinkler system - When you don't have the time to take care of watering your lawn, you can program a system to take care of it for you. This system can be expensive, but is maintained by the installation company and will last for years without needing repairs. This system can also help to control water costs as you can adjust the water pressure and the number of watering times. You will also get a more even coverage of the watering since the sprayers will be professionally installed.

Traditional sprinkler - With a traditional sprinkler, you can focus your attention on certain parts of the lawn, moving the sprinkler as you see fit. A traditional sprinkler is an inexpensive item to buy, but because you have to move the sprinkler around and the water pressure cannot be controlled, it can be expensive in terms of water costs.

Hose - Needless to say, the hose option is often the most wasteful of water. Since it's difficult to control the spray, you can end up spending more time on your lawn without getting the results that you want.

Trim Your Lawn Often

It's important that you trim your lawn regularly in order to allow the right amount of sunshine onto the blades of grass. When the blades are not getting enough sun, they will begin to turn brown and to die.

Depending on the rate of growth, try to trim about once a week, but not too closely to the ground. A few inches of grass are best for proper growth and thickness.

About the author:
About Author:
Craig Elliott is a writer for TruGreen. TruGreen is a leading provider of lawn care | lawn service

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Tips for Maintaining Lawn and Garden Equipment in winter

By Craig Elliott Elliott

The winter can be a hard time to deal with your lawn and garden equipment. It is a tough time on many aspects of your home and your lawn, because of the frigid temperatures. The equipment usually has a much rougher time than you would imagine, because many people seem to forget about their lawn mowers, weed whackers, and other types of equipment when the leaves fall. Many people stick these pieces of lawn and garden equipment into the shed or the garage without a second thought, and are then surprised when they don’t work right in the spring. You spend a lot of money on these pieces of lawn and garden equipment, so why not make sure that they are taken care of?

When you have pieces of lawn and garden equipment that you want to take care of, there are many things that you can do to make sure they are taken care of well when the snow flies. First of all, the pieces of lawn and garden equipment that run on gasoline should be emptied after the last time they are used. Before you mow your lawn for the last time in the fall, be sure that you put in just enough gasoline to do the job. After you are finished, run the mower so that all of the gasoline is used, or empty it completely out. For these items that use gasoline and have a motor, you want to make sure that they are cleaned, and then drain the oil and take out the spark plug. After that, you want to put in just a few drops of oil and crank the engine only enough to move that oil around. Then, you should put the spark plug back in place. The next thing that you should to the pieces of your lawn and garden equipment that have engines is to tighten any of the loose screws in the machine. Now, wipe down these machines and get them ready for storage along with the others.

For the lawn and garden equipment that don't run on gasoline, you should make sure that they are functioning properly and then unplug them for the year. If they have batteries, remove the batteries and store them someplace else. Wrap the chords around these and get them ready for storage.

The other parts of your lawn and garden equipment - the ones that don’t run on gasoline or electricity - should be completely cleaned before the fall ends. Make sure that they are wiped off, that all of the dirt and grass is removed, and that they are ready for storage.

After you have taken care of each individual piece of machinery or other pieces of supplies, you have to gather them all together for storage during the winter. This is a very important aspect of getting all of your items stored properly. You want to find a place where you can store your items safely and where they won't be bothered by the weather. Usually, your garage or your shed will suffice.

Once you have chosen a location, be sure that you gather all of your equipment together. You want to store it all neatly and in a well organized fashion, so that you can find it again in the spring. Be sure that anything you leave out is covered well. This will help them from gathering moisture. Also, you want to be sure that you are able to secure anything that is attached to the walls. This is because often things slip and slide during the winter or animals get into your shed or garage. You simply want everything to be secured during this time of year.

Another thing that you should think about is the moisture on the floor. Leaving your garden supplies and equipment in a wet garage or shed is just as bad as leaving them outside. If you have a garage or shed that tends to lead or one where the floor tends to get wet, an easy solution is to lay down some plywood or some higher pieces of board, and put your equipment on that. You can secure the equipment to these pieces of wood, and then cover everything with a tarp.

Remember, it might seem like much too much work to do for a small amount of time. However, each piece of lawn and garden equipment that you own is something that you are going to want to hold on to, and something that you have already spent a lot of money on. Take the time to do these fall chores, and you will be able to rest easy over the winter - waiting for the spring.

About the author:
Craig Elliott is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to home maintenance such as Lawn Service | Lawn Services

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com