This Weekend’s Home Improvement Project: Fixing the Lawn My house is like every house on the block. The lawn constantly needs help, because it is either burning out, not getting enough water, or simply has too much fertilizer. At the beginning of the season, I decided that I would change the way I approach my landscaping, and took a proactive stance on preparing the lawn for the upcoming summer.
I went to the home improvement center and purchased a seed spreader, so that I could sprinkle out a fair amount of fertilizer and seed starter. Following the instructions on the package, I carefully moved across the lawn with my new seed spreader, to ensure I get an even flow of fertilizer all across the lawn.
I purchased the time release fertilizer that would last for months, minimizing my need to do this every few weeks. Based on the instructions, I then watered the lawn accordingly, to begin the process where some of the fertilizer pellets would begin to “melt” and add nutrients to the lawn, at the beginning of the season.
Within a few weeks, I noticed where there was new growth coming up, and the grass was much greener than it had ever been before. I was well into late spring, before I noticed that I had forgotten to take the spreader over a specific portion of the lawn. It was easy to tell, because the grass was noticeably less green, and sickly looking. I instantly pulled out my seed spreader, filled it up, and disperse the adequate amount of fertilizer over that area.
Within a couple weeks, it had caught up to the rest of the lawn, making it all look beautiful in appearance.
At the same time I purchased in my seed spreader, I also bought a high quality sprinkler system that I could use on the lawn. Using nothing more than the portable system, attached to my garden hose, it uses a timer to ensure that each blade of grass is getting the proper amount of water a few times a week.
I noticed that some of the grass was turning yellow at the stems, before it was time to cut the lawn, and realize I was not giving the grass enough water. I simply bumped up the timer, to allow an additional one minute of water, which was all it took to maximize the look and appearance of a healthy looking lawn.
To ensure that my grass remained good looking through the entire summer, I changed the blade on my lawn more to ensure that it was a sharp as possible. I recognize at the end of last year, that the blade was merely pushing the grass over and chopping it off, instead of giving it a good slice. With a high-quality sharp blade on the lawnmower, I get a clean cut that keeps the grass healthier and reduces the amount of bruising caused by the push of a dull blade.
With a little forethought, my weekend home improvement project to fixing the lawn has proven to be highly successful. I now have the best looking grass and the entire neighborhood.
