Having an awesome-looking lawn isn’t rocket science, but it does take some work. It’s worth it though to be the envy of the neighborhood and to have the thickest, greenest, most pristine, deep green lawn in Cedar City. The easiest way is to hire it out. If that’s what you want, you’re a quick click away from getting the grass growing and your domination line started. If you’re looking for a more hands-on or DIY lawn care approach, here are some guides:

1- Feed it Often
Grass is a living organism. It needs food, water, and nutrients just like you do. Although we all love Thanksgiving dinner, it isn’t enough to sustain us for the whole year. If you want your lawn to look better and you do only one thing, this is it. Fertilize your lawn frequently. Ideally every 2 or 3 weeks will give the best results. This does not mean a full serving of fertilizer if you are fertilizing this often. You’ll want to do a half-portion or so of what the label says. With this method you should get 7 full applications, applied at half the rate 14 times and your lawn will look better. Make it easy by going to the store and buying all the fertilizer you will need for the entire season now, then you don’t have to go to the store each time.

 

2- Water Properly
Don’t follow the government outlined schedule of what days and times to water. Do a little trial and error on your lawn and see what your lawn ACTUALLY needs. Most likely it won’t need any more water than what they say, but it will need it more frequently. Just as with feeding, you can’t do it all at once. A deep watering where water is pooling and running off into the gutter only wastes water. You need to find the amount of time needed for each of your zones and set them accordingly. You can use measuring cups, the screwdriver method, or basic common sense. You want a cheat sheet? Click here! Then, set the times in your control timer and forget about it. Save your time and energy for mowing and fertilizing and enjoying the lush creation that is about to come.

 

3- Annual (behind the scenes) Items
There are some behind the scenes, infrequent yet important, items to address. Soil compaction and too thick of a thatch layer will thwart your progress. You should aerate your lawn in southern Utah at least once a year, but twice would be ideal. Aeration loosens soils compaction and provides room for root growth and better nutrient absorption. The other often missed secret is a lawn power raking or dethatching. (Power raking and dethatching are the same thing, just referred to by two different names.) You’ll want to do this or have it done once a year or once every other year. If you’re feeling brave you can do these yourself. Home Depot or other local tool rental businesses rent these machines. Just be sure you time it right and perform the service right. If you would rather pay to have this done, click here and say you want the “Spring Green-Up”!

4- Prevent bugs
They say that defense wins championships. In lawn care it seems to be easier and cheaper to play defense and then cherry pick on offense a little bit. Twice a year you need to lay down a broad-spectrum insecticide. This will prevent any of the gross and itchy creepy crawlies from crashing your party. Bugs can not only crash your real back yard party, but they can crash your green lawn party too. Some insects eat the roots while others devour the leaves and stems, ruining your lawn. Regardless, they are not wanted and your 5 minutes of spreading a granular insecticide will pay dividends when you receive the compliments of the neighborhood.

5- Micronutrients
Fertilizers generally contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate. Your lawn needs a few other little “goodies” if you will. No one is happy without dessert! Some micronutrients include iron, copper, zinc, boron, manganese, and humic acid or humates. If the fertilizer that you are using doesn’t contain these nutrients then try adding them once or twice a year into your fertilizer regimen.

6- Mow Frequently
You need to mow every 3-4 days. Mowing weekly cuts too much of the grass blade at once. It is unhealthy for the lawn and reduces the green. Be sure to sharpen your blades and tune up your mower. Mow in a different pattern or direction each week to avoid wheel ruts or training the grass to lean sideways. If mowing that often isn’t your thing, make your kid do it, or hire it out. We’re always looking for employees so if you aren’t cutting it in the parent disciple department here’s a link to an application. If you’d rather just pay, then click the green button in the bottom right corner right now.

Easy right? Program some reminders in your phone. Go to the store and get your needed lawn fertilizers, grass micronutrients, and any application tools you will need. Go sharpen the blades on your mower and get ready for a fun summer!

Thanks for the read. We hope you learned something and had a good laugh or two. If you liked what you read, we publish a new blog post each Thursday so keep your eyes open. You can always go visit past blogs as well as all are archived on our website.