Lawn maintenance for busy people

Without a doubt, life is getting busier. Between work, running a household, raising kids and trying to have a social life, there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the week. Add to this the need to maintain a lawn and it can all seem like a bit too much to get through. Never fear, Daleys Turf has the best tips for lawn maintenance for busy people.

Maintaining your lush, green, healthy lawn doesn’t need to be as difficult or time consuming as first thought – in fact, some people are doing way too much and actually increase the risk of damaging their lawn. Take mowing for example – mow too often, or too short and you leave your lawn open to scalping, disease, weeds, pests and you can even dry out the soil below so that the lawn struggles to survive.

Watering – you can install an automatic watering system that only waters the lawn when it absolutely needs it. If you are manually watering, you should aim for less often, but more deeply. Only water when there is no rain on the horizon, your grass blades are yellowing and curling (signally they are in need of water) and a maximum of 2.5cms of water across the entire lawn each water. Watering more deeply but less often encourages a stronger, deeper root system and ensures your lawn becomes more drought tolerant.

As mentioned above, you should only mow your lawn when it’s required and not too often. During the cooler months and the dormant phase you can mow less often than during the warmer months. Even during the hottest time of the year, leave the grass longer to protect the soil from the harsh sun and evaporation. Never remove more than one third of the blade in any one mow. Mowing also causes stress to the lawn so don’t mow too often to give the lawn time to recover.

Most lawns only require fertilising a couple of times a year, especially if you select a slow-release fertiliser. Aim to fertilise at the beginning of the growing phase at the very least. Make sure you use a fertiliser specifically designed for the variety of turf you have at your place and always follow the instructions. Applying too much fertiliser can potentially cause the fertiliser to burn the lawn so, easy goes it.

Tasks such as aerating compacted soil and dethatching can be completed on an annual basis. Treating for pests and weeds should only be undertaken when necessary – this is a fix of a certain problem, rather than as a preventative task. And, if you are still too busy to fit it in, engage the services of a local lawn care service. They will come in, often when you’re not even home, and take care of everything for you.

For more help with lawn maintenance tips just contact the team at Daleys Turf – here to support you for the life of your lawn.