Preventing A Yellow Lawn In The First Place

When a homeowner notices their grass is becoming yellow, they often call a landscaping company and ask for services to turn the lawn green again. Usually, the landscaping company is able to oblige, but it can take months or weeks to completely rid the lawn of its yellowness. A better approach would be to prevent the lawn from becoming yellow in the first place. Here are some ways to keep your grass green.

Soil testing and fertilization.

So often, grass turns yellow because it is lacking certain nutrients. But it can also turn yellow because it has too much of a certain nutrient, such as iron. So, rather than just fertilizing and hoping your grass does not turn green, you should have the soil tested for key nutrients. If any of them are found to be low, then you can fertilize with just those missing nutrients. This way, you're giving the grass everything it needs to prevent it from turning yellow, but you're not giving it anything that will make the yellowing worse.

Aeration

You can water a lawn all day, but if there's too much dead grass material on the top of the soil, or if your soil is too compact, the water may not penetrate and actually reach the grass roots. This can contribute to a yellowing lawn, even if you water regularly. A service called aeration can help. Landscaping companies usually offer aeration. They use a special tool to punch a bunch of holes in the top of your soil. These holes then fill with water, allowing the grass easier access to the water it needs.

Grub treatments

Grubs are the larvae of certain species of beetles. They can move into the soil beneath your lawn and feed on grass roots, which causes the lawn in those areas to turn yellow. Getting rid of grubs is tough, but preventing them is not too hard. Your landscaper can sprinkle a grub preventative on the lawn in the fall, or you can buy such a product at a home improvement store. Just make sure you pay close attention to application instructions if you choose the DIY route. Over-applying such products can cause lawn damage, too.

Yellowed lawns are not inevitable. Get ahead of the problem by taking the preventative steps above. The good news is that these steps also prevent other common grass problems, such as dead patches and excessive weed growth.