Aeration | Brown Patch | General Lawn Advice | Lawn Disease
Leaf Spot | Managing Weeds | Perfect Mowing | How to Water

General Lawn Advice

It's A Jungle Out There, But You Can Help Tame It

Your lawn gets put through a lot. Weeds invade it, insects chew it, heat shrivels it. But nothing is as hard to tame as fungus diseases on the loose. Once out of their cages, they can run wild over your property and be very tough to get back under control. That's why we need to get your help in keeping diseases as locked up as possible. And the way you water and mow your lawn makes a huge difference in disease activity.

 

Here Are Some Tips That Work.

Water, but deeply and only when needed

On hot, dry days, 1000 square feet of grass can lose 190 gallons of water. That's almost 1500 gallons of water consumed by an average lawn, per day! And since your grass is 80-90% water, its important to replace the water that's lost to prevent water weakness that gives disease an easy entry.

Water early in the morning (between 4 - 8 a.m. is best) to give water on grass blades time to dry.

Most fungal diseases use the moisture on grass leaves to produce spores and to move from plant to plant. When the water is there long enough, these spores have time to cause problems.

Water deeply, at least 6-8 inches into the soil to encourage deep roots. This usually means you have to apply 1-2 inches of water a week.

Water when your lawn needs it, but only then.

Your lawn has ways of showing you when its ready for a drink. Grass will turn deep bluish and footprints wont spring back.
 

Mowing To Trim Disease

The way you mow also affects your lawns ability to resist diseases.

Mow higher - most grass should be cut at the highest recommended setting during the summer, to protect the stem from heavy sunlight. The shorter you trim your grass, the smaller the root system will be.

Mow more often - mowing higher means doing it more often. Make sure you don't remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade in one mowing. Scalping, or cutting your grass extremely short, leaves it wide open to disease.

Don't use a dull blade because this shreds the tops of the grass, and exposes the turf's tissue for disease spores to easily enter. Mowing with a dull blade is shown to increase disease activity by 20% or more. And it even uses 20% more fuel than mowing with a sharp blade. To avoid this, have your blades sharpened several times a season.