Lawn Talk

Your lawn needs about 1" of water a week. Place a small plastic container or can out in your yard to measure rainfall / sprinkler output if you don't have a rain gauge.

Early in the morning (5am!) is best. The water is likely to evaporate if you water midday, while watering in the evening increases your lawn's chances of disease.

Generally speaking, it is best to water deeply (30–40 mins per zone average) every other day vs. watering 10 mins every day. This allows the water to get down to the depths of the roots. It depends on the weather conditions too — in extreme drought you would need to water more; in a wet season, you would water less.

The fertilizer we apply will be watered in if you follow the watering instructions above. Watering in within 4 days is beneficial for all the fertilizing.

If you do not have the ability to water (except for whatever rain we get), then the one application we strongly suggest you water in is the grub application we apply to most lawns in the summer. We recommend it be watered in a day or two after the application — this helps get the material into the soil quicker so it is more effective.

We recommend at least 3½" high, keeping it at 3" even for the last mowing. Also, make sure your mower blades are sharp!

You should never be mowing more than 1" or ⅓ of the surface at a time. This generally requires mowing more often in the spring and fall.

As Bob Mann of the National Association of Lawncare Professionals explains, when you over-mow “you're cutting off the little parts of the plant that conduct photosynthesis” — the natural process that delivers much-needed sugar and starch to the roots. “If you cut them off, you're robbing your lawn of an enormous amount of food that it could be creating for itself.”

No! Leaving the clippings returns valuable nutrients to your lawn. Returning clippings also helps shade the soil surface and reduces moisture loss due to evaporation. The exception is if your lawn is very high and the clippings would leave "clumps."