Caring For Your Lawn
To keep your lawn in peak condition, you can perform a few easy tricks used by professionals. Depending on the growing conditions on your property, these techniques should be done every 1-3 years.
One of the easiest and best treatments for your lawn is top-dressing, which you can do in fall. Simply sprinkle a 1 /2 in (1.3 cm) thick layer of screened, dry compost or very well-rotted manure over the grass, where it will release nutrients, encourage earthworm activity, and condition the soil. Spread any clumps evenly with the back of a metal rake and water it thoroughly. You can also use a mixture of topsoil, sand, and peat moss instead of compost, which will help to make soil friable.
Even in the healthiest lawns, stems, shallow roots, and other wiry plant parts can knit together into a tight mat known as thatch, which keeps water and fertilizer from penetrating the soil. This tough vegetation is slow to decompose, but you can help it break down by encouraging earthworms and soil organisms to do their jobs. Grow grass to the optimum height for the species, cut no more than one-third of the blade at a time, and let the clippings fall back into the lawn for beneficial soil organisms to recycle into nutrients. Use a balanced organic fertilizer and limit use of herbicides or fungicides. Keep in mind that vigorous, mat-forming grasses, such as zoysiagrass are more prone to developing thatch.
If thatch builds up thicker than 1 /2 in (1.3 cm), it must be removed. Simply probe with your fingers around the base of grass plants to determine how thick the layer is. You can remove thatch manually by raking vigorously with a special thatch rake. For large lawns, rent a power dethatcher, often called a power rake, which cuts through the layer and lifts it so it can be raked up. Dethatch in spring and fertilize afterward to help the grass recover quickly.
Soil must be crumbly, or friable, enough for air, water, and fertilizer to move through it freely to the roots of grass. Lawns grown in clay soil or in soil that has been compacted by heavy foot or vehicle traffic lose vigor and are easy prey for diseases. To break up heavy or compacted soil, pierce the surface with numerous tiny holes. In very small areas, you can do this by sinking in a garden fork straight down, then wiggling it back and forth to enlarge the holes. For large lawns, you can rent a machine called a lawn aerator, which pulls up plugs of soil and leaves them on the grass. Don't bother to remove the plugs; they break down in about a week.
Aerate your lawn in early spring, when the soil is moist, and spread fertilizer when you've finished to promote new growth. You can also spread gypsum at the rate recommended on the package label. Gypsum is a soil conditioner that helps to break up sticky clay soil particles and it improves water and air circulation around the roots of grass plants.