Lawn care
A well-kept lawn not only looks beautiful, it also invites you to play and linger. To make regular lawn care a breeze for you, our editorial team researches the best equipment, provides care tips and helps you decide which to buy.
The best equipment and products for a beautiful lawn
Frequently asked questions about lawn care
Green, healthy lawns thrive on regular maintenance. In addition to mowing and watering, there are other tasks that need to be done to give your garden a hard-wearing, beautiful lawn. We have summarized the most important lawn care measures for you.
Why is regular lawn care important?
Regular lawn care keeps individual grass plants healthy, strengthens the entire lawn, and provides a rich green tone. In a healthy lawn, weeds and mosses have a harder time, because with a regular maintenance routine, you encourage the individual blades of grass to resist.
Mowing the lawn properly
When is the first lawn mowing of the year?
The first mowing of your lawn opens the season of lawn care. Starting in March, or April at the latest, the first lawn cut of the year involves trimming only the tips of the grass. The same applies to a longer break during which you did not mow your lawn. From the second lawn cut, you can shorten ornamental lawns to a height of 2.0 to 2.5 centimeters and utility lawns to 3.5 to 5.0 centimeters.The first mowing of your lawn opens the season of lawn care. Starting in March, or April at the latest, the first lawn cut of the year involves trimming only the tips of the grass. The same applies to a longer break during which you did not mow your lawn. From the second lawn cut, you can shorten ornamental lawns to a height of 2.0 to 2.5 centimeters and utility lawns to 3.5 to 5.0 centimeters.
Why is regular lawn mowing important?
Regular mowing ensures a durable, dense lawn. For utility lawns, seven to ten days apart is recommended. Ornamental lawns may be shaped more frequently with a lawn mower or a robotic mower. If you shorten your lawn every three to five days, the clippings will be shorter and can be left on the lawn. In this way, the mulch serves as fertilizer and protects the grass underneath from drying out.
What should I pay attention to when mowing the lawn?
To get a nice and gentle cut when mowing, you should pay attention to sharp blades on your lawn mower. If these turn out blunt, the grass tips are not cut off, but torn off. As a result, the blades of grass turn yellow and dry out. Lawn edgers and lawn edge trimmers also enable clear edges and beautiful transitions of your lawn into adjacent beds.
Lawn watering
Why is watering your lawn regularly important?
In addition to a regular lawn trimming, watering your grass is one of the most important things you can do to maintain a rich green shade and resistant blades of grass. If you like, use a garden hose with a matching garden nozzle. However, a lawn sprinkler will save you quite a bit of time and nowadays can be conveniently timed or used based on soil moisture.
When and how long should I water the lawn?
Depending on the weather, it is recommended to water your lawn from June to August and during severe drought. The water must penetrate the soil well in this case and needs some time to soak into the soil. In the best case, water your lawn until the soil is soaked to a depth of about 10 centimeters. During dry periods, artificial rain should continue for about 20 minutes before you move the sprinkler to another location.
Why is adequate lawn watering important?
By making sure the garden soil is sufficiently moist, you reduce the regularity of watering to four to seven days and don’t have to fire up the sprinkler every evening. In addition, your lawn’s root development will take place more on the surface if you apply only small amounts of water at short intervals. On the other hand, if the water can soak deep into the soil, the grass blades will root deeper into the soil and be less susceptible to drought.
What time of day should I water?
The ideal time to water your lawn is in the evening, after the sun has left the lawn. If you water too early, you risk burning the grass due to the burning glass effect of the water droplets. At the same time, water will evaporate more quickly if you water in the morning or midday. Depending on the size of your garden, you can choose either mobile or fixed systems that water your lawn manually or automatically using a timer.
Scarify and aerate lawn
Why should I scarify my lawn?
Over time, biological debris settles between the blades of grass. They make it difficult for the small, green plants to absorb nutrients and deprive your lawn of air to breathe. To prevent excessive buildup, we recommend dethatching and aerating your lawn. This lawn care measure removes the felt that has built up in the grass and promotes better aeration.
When and how often should I dethatch?
For healthy lawn plants, dethatch your lawn once a year both lengthwise and crosswise. Heavily used lawns will also thank you for dethatching several times a year, which is especially recommended after the first lawn cut in the spring as well as in the fall. Afterwards, you can complete the lawn care with an even fertilization and directly provide the grass plants with valuable nutrients.
How does lawn care with a scarifier work?
A dethatcher combs through your grass plants with vertical blades that pull out lawn thatch, moss, weeds and mulch. The blades penetrate a few inches into the soil and scarify the turf. Scarifying gives the individual blades of grass more light, oxygen and space. They can better absorb water, fertilizer and nutrients, resulting in improved growth. When choosing your scarifier, you can choose from handheld, electric, cordless and gasoline scarifiers.
Why should I aerify my lawn?
In addition to dethatching, you can also aerate your lawn. So-called aerification represents a gentler intervention in which your lawn is only combed through superficially. The elastic steel springs that the aerator has do not penetrate the soil and therefore leave the turf intact. Unlike dethatching, you can aerate your lawn all year round. For example, you perform this maintenance procedure following mowing. Some lawn mowers have a switchable aerator function for this purpose, so you can combine mowing and aerating in one step.
Properly fertilize lawn plants
Why is fertilizing grass important?
Like all plants, grass needs certain nutrients to help it grow and resist disease. You supply these to your lawn via fertilization, which you can do after the first lawn cut of the year. In any case, follow the manufacturer’s dosage instructions to avoid overfertilization, which is harmful to both your lawn and the environment. A spreader will help you apply the fertilizer evenly.
When do I fertilize my lawn?
It’s best to choose a cloudy day that promises rain. Alternatively, water the lawn after fertilizing so that the nutrients can be absorbed directly into the soil. During dry periods, on the other hand, you should refrain from applying fertilizer so as not to risk burning your lawn plants.
Should I fertilize my lawn with mineral or organic fertilizers?
In addition to mineral fertilizers, which only have a strong short-term effect, you can also use organic lawn fertilizers of animal or plant origin. These provide your grass plants with valuable plant nutrients for up to six months, ensuring robust growth in the long term.
Mulch lawn clippings
How can lawns be mulched?
You can mulch your grass plants by, for example, leaving the clippings on the lawn after mowing so that they are left to biodegrade. In this way, the nutrient cycle closes and the grass plants get back all the necessary nutrients they need for healthy growth directly after mowing. With this lawn care, the soil leaches less quickly and your lawn’s need for additional fertilizer is reduced.
What are the benefits of mulching?
Your lawn will benefit from a fine mulch cover that will keep it from wind and, therefore, from drying out. Because the small, green plants grow more vigorously and robustly, weeds and mosses have a harder time in a mulched lawn. Ultimately, you also recycle the clippings that are produced during mowing and do not have to dispose of them as a waste product.
Reseeding lawn
When is reseeding necessary for lawns?
If gaps and bare patches appear in your otherwise green lawn, the best way to address them is to reseed. Heavy dethatching or moss infestation may also require reseeding, which will compact your lawn and leave it a lush green. In doing so, the new grass plants compact the turf and in this way provide increased resilience to the entire lawn.
How do I reseed new grass?
To reseed new grass plants, first clear the affected area of weeds, old plant material, moss and coarse stones. Loosen the soil and then gently press it back into place. After the preparation, sow the grass seeds and water them afterwards. To facilitate germination and avoid the death of young grass plants, it is recommended to keep the seeds moist at the beginning and water them several times a day during periods of drought. In this way, you will achieve uniform germination and ensure a balanced growth that will make your lawn appear well-groomed and even.
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