Secrets to a weed free lawn - Watering

In our series, Secrets to a Weed Free lawn, we have established that the best way to do this is to have a healthy lawn.  One of the key components to a healthy lawn is the proper watering of your lawn.  Here are some tips on how to water your lawn in San Antonio:

1.  Inspect your irrigation system every year to make sure it is working properly.  You may have some broken heads that need replacing or to readjust the spray pattern. 

2.  If you are starting a new lawn, consider installing drip irrigation under your turf.  Just like in a landscape bed, drip irrigation is the most efficient way to water your lawn and creates a green, lush lawn even during periods of drought.

3.  During the season, water once a week in San Antonio (unless there are drought restrictions in effect which limit that).  This will help your lawn create deep roots

Secrets to a Weed Free Lawn

We have been discussing that the best way to a weed free lawn is to maintain a healthy lawn.  A key aspect of maintaining a healthy lawn is proper mowing techniques.

Here are the highlights:
1.  Don't cut off more than one-third of the leaf blade at a time.
2.  Mow often - usually once a week.
2.  Leave grass clippings on lawns to decompose; it returns nutrients to your soil.

For more detailed information, here are links to previous posts on the proper mowing techniques:
http://preferredlandscape.blogspot.com/2013/07/lawn-mowing-tips-for-san-antonio-lawns.html
http://preferredlandscape.blogspot.com/2011/06/make-your-lawn-happy-with-these-mowing.html

Secrets to a Weed Free Lawn - Feed It!

We have been discussing the best way to get a weed free lawn and creating a healthy lawn is the best way to do that.  We have discussed about the correct timing of a pre-emergent herbicide as well as the benefits of aerating your lawn.  Today we are going to discuss feeding your lawn.  Most of the nutrients required by a healthy lawn are supplied in the soil, but additional nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium may be needed to support healthy plants.

While most people realize that applying fertilizer is an important part of creating and maintaining a healthy lawn, many people don't know the right way to go about it.  The biggest mistake is the frequency of applying fertilizer.  Many folks like to fertilize once, right at the beginning of the season, to help with the green-up of the lawn in the spring.  While this will provide good short term results for your lawn, it is not the right long term solution.

Fertilizer should be applied several times during the year -anywhere from 3-5 depending on your lawns needs.  For most warm-season lawns,  you should generally fertilize in mid-April, early June (as may be needed to maintain a healthy green color), and early October.  Of the three fertilization times, the most important one is the fall fertilization because it helps the lawn grass over-winter better and enhances spring green-up in the spring.  

Another common mistake is not using the right type of fertilizer or the right ratio of nutrients. Fertilizers are labeled with three numbers that represent the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the product.    Use fertilizer with a N-P-K ratio of 3-1-2 unless you have your soil tested and it recommends otherwise.  

Secrets to a weed free lawn - Aeration!

This week we are talking about the best way to have a healthy lawn in an effort to snuff out weeds.

 Yesterday we talked about the importance of the right timed application of a pre-emergent herbicide.  Today, we are going to talk about one of the easiest ways (and least known ways) to gain and maintain a healthy lawn.

Many times a lawn will have no evidence of any insect or disease issues yet the lawn is off color, thinning or easily stressed in high heat. About 66% of residential lawns are growing in compacted soil and this is especially true in San Antonio where the little soil we do have is hard.  

The way to fix this issue is aeration of your lawn.  Aeration is the process where thatch and soil are pinched and pulled out of your lawn.  This process opens up the soil and allows water, nutrients, and oxygen to penetrate and improve the root zone. This results in a healthier soil and stronger turf root system which will help you to have a healthy, weed free lawn.

You can rent an aerator at your local rental center for usually for less than $100 a day and it doesn't take very long to do.  If you can coordinate it with your neighbors, you could probably get 3-4 lawns done in one day.  If you would rather leave it up to the professionals, let us know and we can help!

Secrets to a weed free lawn

The best defense against weeds in your lawn is to have a healthy lawn.  If you have a healthy, thick lawn, the weeds will have a tougher time taking root in your lawn.  So how do you make sure your lawn is healthy?  Over the next few weeks we will cover the best things you can do to have a healthy lawn.

One of the most important ways you can maintain a healthy, weed-free lawn is to start the year off right by applying a pre-emergent weed control product.  These products work best when applied prior to weeds actually germinating.  For the San Antonio area, late January to early March is typically the best time to apply a pre-emergent weed control to your grass.   

If you are applying yourself, avoid products that are "weed and feed" which contain both a fertilizer and a pre-emergent weed killer.  If you need help with your lawn or application of a pre-emergent, please give us a call at 210-657-7737.