How to Improve Lawn Grass

A scrubby, uneven, brown and sickly lawn is not something anyone wants to have outside his home. Most would prefer a green, healthy and vibrant-looking lawn that is the envy of the neighborhood. Luckily, certain steps and care practices should lead to the type of healthy lawn that an owner can be proud of.

Aeration tool

Mower

Rake

Nitrogen fertilizer

Aerate your lawn. When a lawn is used regularly, the soil beneath the grass gets compacted. This prevents water and nutrients from reaching the grass in the proper way, and impacts the normal life of healthy organisms in the soil. Buy a hand aeration tool and run it over the lawn once per season.

Mow the lawn regularly. This helps keep it looking attractive, and also makes it very difficult for any weeds to get established that would mar the appearance. Normally, you should mow the lawn once a week. If a hot summer or lots of rain stimulates growth faster than normal, increase the schedule to include twice-weekly mowing.

Rake your lawn well in the fall, using a steel rake. If you fail to do this, the dead grass and roots begin to create a layer over the top of the soil called "thatch." Excessive thatch insulates the grass from the nutrients that it needs for healthy growth. Raking the lawn well will reduce thatch to normal levels, which are expected and actually helpful. More than 1/2 inch of thatch is too much.

Apply nitrogen fertilizer to your lawn at least twice --- and possibly as much as four to five times --- each year. Only apply fertilizer after the lawn has turned green naturally.

Water your lawn at least once a week, unless excessive heat requires additional water or rainfall eliminates the need. Water early in the morning, and provide at least 1 inch of water at each watering. Shallow watering is not helpful and can actually harm your lawn.