Lawn Care: Expert Guides and Resources

A lawn is so much more than just a patch of grass; it’s the soft spot in your yard where you play with your kids, entertain friends and family, spread out the picnic blanket, and settle in for an evening of stargazing. For many of us, a well-kept lawn is a thing of beauty, a bright and healthy expanse that creates a welcoming stage for our homes and gardens.

Choosing an irrigation system is about convenience, efficiency, and water conservation. Deciding on portable sprinklers or an in-ground irrigation system basically comes down to cost versus time and convenience.Portable sprinklers aren’t necessarily the most efficient system to use to water your grass. You know — hooking up the oscillating or impulse sprinklers, dragging the hose all over the lawn, watching the clock, and trying to remember when you should move the sprinkler to a different part of the lawn.

How to mow a lawn or grass the right way is one of the most important practices in keeping your lawn healthy. Grasses are like most plants — if you clip off the growing points (for grass, it's in the crown, where the new leaves develop), the plants branch out and become denser, which in this case, turns thousands of individual grass plants into a tightly woven turf or a lawn.

Tool sheds and garages can harbor some of the least green garden products on the market. In addition to chemicals for killing weeds and pests, you’re likely to find fossil-fuel-burning gas-powered lawn mowers and electric tools. Cut down the energy you use in the garden by replacing your power tools with manual alternatives: Replace an electric or gas lawn mower with a push reel mower, also known as a hand mower.

Laying sod is a gratifying experience—you get a new, green lawn in no time! The time to lay sod is early morning before it gets too hot. The soil in the planting area should be moist, not soggy or dry. Water thoroughly one or two days before the sod is delivered so that the top several inches of soil are wetted.

Edgings help give your lawn a very finished and manicured look. They help prevent grass from migrating onto any sidewalks, gravel, or mulched areas along the edges of your lawn. They also help keep ground covers like ivy from migrating onto your lawn. Finally, they help provide clean, clear edges for your mower or trimmer to keep the grass cut neat and trim.

When and how often you should apply fertilizer to your lawn depends on the type of grass you grow. Grasses need nitrogen and other nutrients during their seasons of active growth, and they grow best with an even supply. Fertilize grasses when it’s naturally dormant, and you’re wasting fertilizer. Space your applications too far apart, and your grass grows fine for a while, then slows down, and then speeds up again with the next application.

If you live in a hot-summer, mild-winter area where warm-season grasses predominate, you can overseed the lawn with cool-season grasses, which keep the lawn green all winter. Because annual ryegrass fills in so quickly, it’s usually used for overseeding, but you can also use perennial ryegrass or one of the fescues.