Lawn Care Tips for an Amazing Exterior
Want to make the most of your home’s exterior? Focusing on your lawn is a great way to go about that without having to spend money on extensive landscaping or other similar approaches. It can take a while to get it right, and you might need to spend some money upfront, but it’s going to be well worth it in the end. Let’s take a look at some of the basic points you need to consider.
Invest in the Right Tools
There’s no going around this – you’re going to need to hire the right gear if you want to get the job done right.
Exactly what you’re going to need depends on your specific plans – but for an established lawn; a lawn dethatcher and edge trimmer are going to get you started nicely.
Plus, to make clean-up after the dethatcher easier, adding the power broom to your hire list will be a decision you thank us for later!
If your lawn is showing signs of neglect over winter, you should also consider hiring a lawn aerator to ensure the water, oxygen and fertilizer you put on top gets down to the roots where it’s needed.
So why do you need to dethatch your lawn?
If you’re the base of your lawn is thick with a blanket of debris, you need to dethatch it.
You will know this is the case in your lawn if you notice your lawn in “spongey”, or you see a lot of intertwining of living and dead grass material at the base of the grass or even if your lawns fails to become a vibrant green colour and stays a yellowy-green.
A thin layer of thatching is beneficial, as it protects the lawn from extreme temperature variations and keeps a layer of moisture in the soil. Too much however prevents the grass and soil from absorbing water and nutrients. Thatching also causes shallow root growth, suffocation, and rot – so not ideal!
The best types of grass to dethatch are warm-season grasses such as kikuyu, couch, zoysia and buffalo, and for best results it should be done between October and December to let the grass recover from winter.
It’s also vitally important that you clean up the thatch immediately. Leaving it where it lands will not only covers and hinders the growth of your grass – but it also looks really unsightly.
Don’t Postpone
Last but not least, remember that this is a seasonal project, and you can’t keep putting it off forever. If you do, you risk having to go for several extra months without a proper lawn, which can eventually turn into a major eyesore. Get the job done right, as soon as you know that your lawn requires some work.
