Nine Smart Moves to a Lush Albuquerque Lawn

There are more than 30 million acres of lawn in America, and that’s space for a plethora of picnics, barbecues and outdoor games. It’s very important to ensure that your lawn looks great even if it’s dealing with a lot of sun and traffic.

Testing your soil

A good thing you need to focus on is testing your soil. This is important because you will know the amount of phosphorous, nitrogen and other nutrients found in your soil. You also want to know the pH levels too. A cooperative extension service costs roughly $20 and it can help you run these tests without a problem.

Fertilizing the soil

You need to know the type of grass and soil you have right now. Based on the soil test, you will learn a lot about what you need to add and how to fertilize your soil properly. A good idea is to choose a slow-release organic fertilizer, then you can apply this to the edges of your lawn. It’s a great option, and one that does work better than you might expect here. If you can, overlap every pass with a couple of inches. You do have to mow more often, since nutrients lead to fast growth. But it’s worth it!

Check the calcium intake as often as possible

You need to keep in mind that the ideal calcium to magnesium ratio is 7 to 1. If you don’t have this ratio, then you do want to spread some high calcium lime over the lawn. This will rob weeds of their food, while also making it easy for the soil to acquire nitrogen and also synthesize protein.

Adding organic matter

We recommend you to add compost early season if you can. A layer half an inch large added over the lawn is a great option, and then you can take it right to the surface. Normally, 27 cubic feet will cover more than 600 square feet, so that’s very helpful and it can do wonders.

Stopping crabgrass

This will germinate at around 56 degrees F, you want to check the soil and then you can apply some pre-emergent herbicide or even corn gluten if you want something natural. Crabgrass won’t do well in the shade, so you won’t have to add chemicals in those areas with plenty of shade. While here, you also want to pull up weeds too. You can remove most of these by hand, so it’s definitely a great idea to check out right away.

Prepare your mower

If the mower blades are dull, then you must prepare them as quickly as possible. Sharpen the blades, using a good sharpener can actually make a huge difference. Stick to the manufacturer guidelines. Sharpen the blade if you used the mower for more than 8 hours, it will help a lot.

Letting the grass grow a bit

It’s a good idea to leave the grass grow up to 3.5 inches. This way you will shade the weed seeds and during the summer it also lowers the evaporation. During the fall season, you can cut it short and then you can weed the seeds that are not very abundant.

Sodding

You need to lay down some sod in April. Ideally, you want to buy grass that suits the yard conditions as much as possible. Also, make sure that you have fresh sod when you apply it, and make sure that you water it after installing properly.