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- Aeration: This is an important step in caring for your lawn because it allows new grass to grow by pulling up sections of grass, creating small holes in the lawn which allows water, nutrients, and oxygen to reach the roots. If your lawn is played on regularly by kids or pets, plan to aerate your lawn twice a year, during the fall and spring. If you lawn is more just for show, aerate once a year or even every other year. This process can be done with a hand-aerating tool, which costs around $20, and is meant for small sections of grass. In order to do an entire lawn, you can rent a gas-powered aerating machine for about $20 per hour. If you want the aerating done professionally, it can cost around $150 depending on the size of the lawn.
- Seeding: During the fall when the soil temperature is about 55 degrees is the best time to seed your lawn since turf roots grow rapidly during the fall and winter. Once your lawn is seeded, water it everyday for the first 10-20 days until it germinates.
- Fertilizing: Fertilizing the lawn during late fall, before the first frost, helps the grass to survive the winter and encourages it to grow back green and lush during the spring.
- Mulching: Instead of always raking leaves and removing them from the lawn, try mowing over them with the lawnmower to grind them into mulch. The shredded leaves actually help to protect the lawn from the harsh winter and they also decompose into organic matter to feed grass roots.