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Weeds are the enemy of a beautiful healthy lawn. They can quickly take over and turn a lush green carpet into an eyesore. But there are ways to deal successfully with a weed problem, and there are things you may not be aware of that promote the spread of weeds. So here are the top 10 tips for getting rid of weeds in your lawn.

1. Don’t mow your grass too short. By mowing too low this can cause weeds to seed easier and spread much faster throughout your yard. And also avoid mowing right after applying a weed killer product to your lawn, as this can cause the product to be picked up out of the ground and blown around instead of moving into the weeds where it belongs.

2. Fertilize your yard. Without proper nutrients in the soil, your grass simply won’t be able to grow like it should. That means that the nutrients that are available will most likely go to the deeply rooted weeds instead and help them take over the yard.

3. Don’t fertilize at the wrong time of year. If you don’t follow the instructions that come with most fertilizers carefully, and lay down your fertilizer at the wrong time, the weeds may be the only thing in the yard that gets the fertilization, leaving very little nutrients for the grass instead.

4. Avoid over watering your yard. If you’re putting so much water on your yard that the soil simply can’t soak it up in time, that leaves a perfect opportunity for the weeds to use that extra water for their own growth. So try to make sure that the water you put down is all going into the soil and being used for your grass.

5. Try to avoid having too much shade on your yard. Excessive shade can contribute toward the growth of many weeds. There are many different types of weeds who actually began in the shade first and then spread throughout other parts of the yard. So by cutting back some of your tree branches and bushes, you can often stop this process before it starts.

6. Avoid applying herbicides with low soil moisture. Herbicides can be effective in preventing some weeds, but applying them when the soil moisture is low will only do further damage to your grass, and may not even affect the weeds very much at all.

7. Avoid applying herbicides to new sod or newly seeded lawns. If you apply a herbicide or weed remover before grass has a chance to take root and really start to grow, it will often have the opposite effect of what you intended.

8. Make sure you use the right kind of weed killer. There are different kinds of weeds, and correspondingly different kinds of weed killers. So make sure that whatever product you are using to kill weeds, it is the right product for the weeds that are in your lawn. Otherwise, it may have no result at all, and may even damage your grass.

9. Only use weed killer in the right season. Follow the directions on the bottle and apply weed killer at the right time of year. Otherwise, it may be totally ineffective.

10. Some weedkillers will work not only on weeds but also on your lawn and kill it as well. So be sure that you know what weed killer product you are using before you apply it. Some products should only be applied on areas away from your lawn.

Hopefully these reminders will help you be able to better control the weeds in your lawn and help you have a beautiful yard that you can be proud of.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find lawn mower reviews and lawn tractor reviews by visiting our Home Improvement website.

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If you spend a little time regularly to properly care for and maintain your lawnmower, this can be beneficial in a number of ways. The first is that your lawnmower will last on awful lot longer, and the second is that your lawn will look better because the mower will be cutting it more evenly. So let’s review a few lawnmower maintenance steps to help you get the best results for your lawn.

Actually, having the proper mower for your lawn is the first step. If you have a very large yard, a riding lawnmower or lawn tractor will probably make most sense. If your yard is small to medium sized, perhaps a walk behind mower with high wheels will work better, especially if your yard has any steep slopes. If it’s a small yard, you might be able to get away with an electric mulching lawnmower or even a reel type push mower instead. There are pluses and minuses to every mower type mentioned above. But most often the size of the yard will be the largest deciding factor in which kind of mower needs to be used.

So now that you have the mower selected, it’s time to keep it maintained and well cared for. Since the heavier mowing seasons began in the springtime, it’s a good time of year to spend time on your mower to thoroughly clean it and make any necessary repairs to get it ready for the mowing season ahead. Perhaps the first place to start is with the spark plug. By removing it, you can usually tell quickly whether or not it appears to be worn and in need of replacement. Since spark plugs are very inexpensive, you may just wish to change it out once a year anyway.

While you’re at it, look over all the nuts and bolts that hold the mower together. Because of the vibration that is inherent to a lawnmower, it’s very easy for nuts and bolts to loosen up over the course of a mowing season. Sometimes this will even happen without your knowledge, and the bolts may fall off altogether. Having a regularly scheduled time to look over all of the mower bolts will usually help you stay on top of this problem.

At least twice through the mowing season you should try to clean off the deck of the lawnmower to help promote consistent cutting and avoid spreading grass diseases. In order to clean the deck, empty the gas tank first, and then make sure that the spark plug is not connected. Then you can turn the mower over on its side to clean the deck or undercarriage. Using water, you can usually just scrub off all the dirt and grass that gets stuck up under the mower and accumulates over time. After cleaning this area off let it dry thoroughly before turning the mower back over.

The air filter in a lawnmower should be cleaned and replaced on a regular basis too. Usually the air filter will either be made of paper or foam, but whichever it is just be sure to have the replacement handy. If your lawnmower has an oil filter, which many larger riding mowers and tractors do, then follow the manufacturers instructions very carefully regarding how often to replace your oil filter too.

Perhaps the most important maintenance that you can do to your lawnmower that will have a positive effect on the appearance of your lawn is to keep the mowing blades very sharp. Usually it’s necessary to sharpen your blades every one to two months in order to cut the grass cleanly. If you are using a dull blade instead, rather than cutting the grass, you are actually ripping it, which makes for a very poor uneven cut. If you are unable to sharpen the blade yourself, then have a professional do it for you.

When the mowing season is over, and it’s time to put your mower away for the year, remove all of the gas from the gas tank, and drain the oil from the engine.

By consistently and properly caring for your lawnmower, you can help make it last for many years and keep your lawn looking it’s best too.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find lawn mower reviews and lawn tractor reviews by visiting our Home Improvement website.

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One of the biggest differences between beautiful lush lawns and those that look like they need attention is the nutrient level of the soil. Unfortunately, this is an area that many homeowners tend to overlook. But if the nutrient level of your soil drops too low, your grass and plants will definitely suffer. That’s why you need to always know what your nutrient levels are, and then correct any deficiencies as soon as they appear.

There are a lot of factors that go into the nutrient level of your soil including the type of grass that you have, the age of your lawn, and prevailing weather conditions. But regardless of where your nutrient levels are, you can usually adjust them into an acceptable range fairly quickly.

The first thing to do to get a handle on what nutrients your soil will need is to perform a simple PH test on your soil as soon as possible. There are a couple of ways to go about this. The first is to buy a soil test kit that you can use on your own at home. These are usually available at lawn and garden, and home improvement stores. However if you want to get the best and most accurate results, you can have the soil tested for you instead, either at a local lab or even at one of the local lawn and garden stores that specialize in fertilizer and soil nutrient products.

One of the big advantages of having your soil tested is to get a complete picture of exactly what nutrients you are going to need to put into your soil and in what quantities. Usually you can purchase inorganic fertilizers from a local garden store that are made up of three main nutrients which are necessary for a healthy lawn. The first is nitrogen which promotes growth and adds a deep green color to your lawn. Phosphorus is the second nutrient that encourages root growth. The third nutrient is potassium that helps your grass resist stress. In order for your grass to really thrive all three of these nutrients need to be in place in the soil, although they need to be present in different levels with nitrogen usually being the most important. Without enough nitrogen in the soil there will be little root growth and not enough storage of energy for survival through the winter months. Once again though, all three nutrients will be needed for a healthy lawn.

Usually you will find these three numbers listed on the outside of the fertilizer bag itself, and they will tell you what percentage, or mix of the three nutrients is in that particular fertilizer. They’re always represented in the same order too. The first number will be the number for nitrogen, the second for phosphorus and the third for potassium. So just get the correct fertilizer mix that your soil test indicates is best for your particular soil. Usually your garden store staff can help you find exactly what you need.

Before you apply the fertilizer, be sure that you measure out your lawn area very carefully. Also do not include the entire yard in your measurements, only the lawn itself. Then follow the directions on the bag for laying down your fertilizer using the calculations that you have made. After applying fertilizer, most often you’ll need to water your lawn soon, but just be sure to follow whatever directions for watering that are found on the fertilizer bag.

Once you have begun providing proper nutrients for your soil, make sure you keep it up as directed buy your garden center staff. Some soils only require fertilization once or twice a year, and others will need to receive more frequent applications, perhaps even four to six times each year. Just be sure to continue to check your soil nutrient level as you go to keep everything in balance.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find lawn mower reviews and lawn tractor reviews by visiting our Home Improvement website.

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