Green, green grass is something every property owner wants and it is certainly something that most homebuyers will be on the look out for. Yet often it seems as hard as many of us try our lawns just never looks quite like the one down the street and certainly not like the beautiful grass at a ballpark, which manages to remain bright green and vibrant even with dozens of grown men running around on it!
While the question is a common one the answer is not simple, as there are a number of reasons why your lawn might not be as green as you would like:
The Wrong Grass Seed
The one thing that many property owners do not realize is that there are a number of different types of grass and grass seed and some simply grow greener than others and thrive with a lot less effort on the part of the property owner.
The Climate
The average climate where you live can have a big impact on how green your grass grows. Temperature, average rainfall and humidity levels all play a role in the health of your lawn.
Soil Issues
The type of soil your grass is growing in makes a big difference to lawn health as well. Off balance PH levels, water absorbency properties and even planting depth can all affect every individual lawn in different ways.
Other Factors
Fertilizer application, lawn irrigation, planting schedule and even insect infestation can all impact the condition – and the color of an individual lawn.
What About Those Terrible Brown Patches?
One of the battles that many Waterloo Region homeowners fight every year is the one against brown patches in their lawns. No doubt you have seen it, even if you have been lucky enough to have a lawn that has avoided being affected. Many people think that brown patch is a condition caused by the sun, but that is not quite the case.
Brown patch is actually a ‘fungal infection’ that lawns suffer from. In this case the scientific name for this fungus is Rhizoctonia and it can lie dormant deep in a lawn’s roots for years before certain circumstances cause it to begin to grow and choke the good fungi in the lawn that had been keeping it at bay. The result is brown patch and the health, as well as the look, of the lawn is impacted right away.
Some of the most common causes of brown patch include :
High temperatures and high humidity Inadequate lawn irrigation. Over-watering. Higher than normal levels of nitrogen in the soil.
Treating brown patch effectively is something that has to be done on a case by case basis. Often simple adjustments in the way a lawn is cared for can solve the problem fairly quickly and easily, things like creating a proper watering schedule or adjusting the PH of the soil with the addition of certain fertilizers.
In other, more severe cases the ‘bad fungi’ may have to be treated with pesticides, something we recommend only a professional do as killing off good fungus in your lawn can cause just as much, if not even more, damage to its overall health than the brown patch did.
And speaking of professionals, a landscaper or lawn care expert is just the person to help you renew, refresh and even ‘stage’ a bad lawn. They can help you till soil, treat problems and even plant new grass seed so you will to be able to show off your garden to its best effect to potential home buyers.