Our cool and wet spring appears to have yielded to a cool and wet summer. Yet, this is the time of year that many of us begin to set our sights on a green, lush carpet of a lawn. That can be challenging anywhere but especially in an urban setting for a number of reasons — not the least of which is the number of trees in our decades-old city landscape. If you are hoping to grow a green, healthy lawn this year here are a few tips to get you started.

Let’s start with the bottom up – for a healthy lawn you need healthy soil. The soil is important because it holds moisture and nutrients needed for growth and promotes stability. If you really want to grow a healthy lawn a soil test is recommended. You can do a home soil test with a kit from the lawn and garden center, but these are not attuned to our Minnesota soil characteristics, nor can they provide recommendations for how to amend your soil to produce the lawn you want. The University of Minnesota has its own soil testing lab that can provide you with info on soil texture, organic matter, phosphorous, potassium and PH level of your soil, and recommendations for how you can improve all of these characteristics. The cost of a soil test from the U of M is $17 and it can save you money in the long run by helping you avoid applying the wrong amendments or fertilizer or more than is needed. *

Once you have determined what amendments your soil might need to support a healthy lawn, you can determine what type of grass will do best in your yard. There are two primary factors that should be considered — the growing conditions and the level of maintenance you are willing to provide for your lawn.

• Kentucky Blue Grass is probably what comes to mind when people think of large expanse of lush green lawn. However that may not be the best choice in our area. It is a high maintenance grass that is the best quality for full sun. It spreads well and is what you usually get when buying sod, and so it is usually seen in new developments with nary a tree in site. Very few of us in the city have that type of yard.
• Perennial Ryegrass is another high maintenance grass that is a preferred seed because it germinates quickly. Unfortunately, it also does poorly in the shade and has low tolerance of harsh winters and summer stress.
• Fine fescues are shade tolerant, but are slow growing, for that reason and the fact that they are also drought tolerant and have low fertilizer needs they are considered low maintenance grasses.
• Tall fescues are heat and shade tolerant, wear well under foot and are disease resistant but are not winter hardy under an ice cover.

Aerating is a practice that can contribute to a healthy lawn. Grass roots need both oxygen and water in order to grow. Thatch is a layer of dead and living materials between the grass blades and the soil, composed of crowns, stem and roots and leave parts that resist decay. Heavy thatch prevents air and water from getting to the roots of the growing grass. Aerating is the practice of removing small cores of thatch down to the soil in the lawn in order that water and air can reach the roots.

Water your lawn wisely. How much to water depends on many factors, including the type of grass, the soil type, temperature and rainfall, and your own desire for a green grass. High maintenance grasses require more water than low maintenance and drought resistant types. Sandy soil needs more watering because it lets the water percolate down into the soil, while clay holds the water in the soil. The higher the temperature the more moisture will evaporate from the soil and of course you will not need to water if there is sufficient rainfall. And then there is your tolerance for a less that green lawn. Grasses that are drought tolerant tend to go dormant when they are not watered. If you can tolerate the look for a while, the grass will perk and green up once it does get some water. When you do water, water in large amounts at infrequent intervals. This conditions the roots to grow deeper to get moisture after they have used the water in the upper part of the soil. This is called “root conditioning.” Constant moisture does not encourage deep roots and can even lead to some fungus diseases.

Proper mowing helps create a healthy lawn. Set your mowing height to between 3 and 3.5 inches, but never remove more than 1/3 of your grass length at a time. Keep your mower blades sharp and return grass clippings to the lawn where they act as fertilizer. You can mow less in hot weather – or try a no-mow grass variety if you want to eliminate that job altogether.

If your goal is a thick green lawn try these tips to help get you there.

 

 

*You can find out more about a soil test from the U of M at extension.edu.mn. Click on the gardening tab and search for soil test.