Everyone wants a nicer lawn, including you.

3 tips to having a better lawn

1. Water just right. Don't just water your lawn all the time. It may be getting to much water. Too much water produces the right conditions for bugs and mildews that will damage your lawn. Adding water will make the problem worse. Too little water will stress some of our Florida warm season grasses. Some varieties, such as St Augustine, are heavy drinkers. Your lawn should look lush, green, and be resilient when you walk on it.

2. Don't let your grass grow long, then cut it short (called "scalping"). This practice will stress a lawn. Cut no more than 1/3rd of the grass blade length at a single cutting. If you have already let your lawn get too long, then cut high and come back in two days and cut it shorter. Also, grasses such as St Augustine have "stolens" that run horizontal through the grass. If you cut it too short and expose these stolens, they can sunburn and the grass will often die.

3. Cut regularly. In Florida summers, the wearther is warm, sunny and usually it rains regularly. This causes the grass to grow much faster than in the winter months, when warm-season grasses grow slowly because of the shorter days and cooler temperatures. Either cut your grass regularly, or hire someone who will.

Fertilizer isn't the always the best solution

If your soil is poor, and you are providing the right amount of water, then fertilizer might give your lawn the necessary boost to "green up" and get healthier. If your grass is a lush paradise that grows quickly, you might want to give it some fertilizer once or twice a year to maintain its health because it might be pulling too many nutrients from our poor Florida soils.

Other lawns that look poorly probably need other solutions before fertilization. Maybe they need some water, less weeds, less cars parking on it, less dogs urinating on it, etc. First, find out the reason why your lawn looks poorly, solve that, then fertilize for optimum health.

Choose the right kind of grass for your yard

Is your yard shady or sunny? That's the biggest question. Our yard has a large shady area in the back, but very few leaves to choke the grass. We never water this area and it is beautiful and lush all summer long. Other areas of our yard are sunny and get a lot of "traffic" on them. Again, no water, and these areas look poorly in the summer, but pretty good all winter.

Our customers with heavy concentrations of oak trees in their backyard usually have very little to no grass. Sorry, it's just not going to happen. Oak leaves are plentiful and choke out the grasses. Consider planting beds or just mulch the yard to keep down the dust. Another option is planting Boston Ferns. These lush-looking plants are actually native to Florida and grow well under oak trees. They "eat" the many leaves that fall from the trees, they are pretty drought resistent, and don't die off with our occasional (though usually light) winter freezes.

The "typical" beautiful Florida lawn is usually St Augustine grass in full sun with ample watering. When you see that lush lawn, just know that they're paying a water bill to get it. It sure is beautiful, though.

If you are planting new sod, choose the type that will work well depending on whether your yard is sunny or shady. You can always buy BOTH types and plant some under the trees and the other in the sun. Your local sod company can help you choose which type to purchase.

If you would like to have a better looking lawn and need some help, or you would like to maintain the beautiful lawn you have, contact us by phone or email and we'll be happy to come out to see your lawn first-hand, and discuss your options with you in person.