Wait a day or two after fertilizing to mow your lawn.
The best defense against weeds and disease is a dense, healthy lawn. Key to a healthy, beautiful lawn is knowing when and mow, water and fertilize. You may only fertilize your yard once a year or pursue a more aggressive schedule. Follow a few tips on fertilizing, watering and mowing.
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Fertilizing
How often you fertilize depends on how well established your lawn is and your own personal preferences. The University of Rhode Island Landscape Horticulture Program recommends three fertilizer applications per year: one in the early spring, one about Labor Day encouraging lawn growth in the fall, and one at Thanksgiving stimulating root growth during the winter and encouraging an early spring green-up. Older lawns may need only one application per year. If this is the case, or if you simply prefer to fertilize less, make the application in the early spring or in the fall.
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Watering
Watering your lawn immediately after fertilizing prevents the grass from "burning" and helps the fertilizer soak. Decide at the beginning of the season whether to let your lawn brown out or regularly water it to keep it green through the summer. Do not fluctuate between these two decisions. Allowing the grass to brown, then bringing it back to life drains food reserves from the plant. If the lawn to go dormant, it greens-up again in the fall. If you decide to water consistently, follow a watering plan providing your lawn at least 1 to 2 inches of water from rain or sprinklers each week. Water your lawn thoroughly, enough to wet the soil to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. This encourages deep root growth. Frequent, short watering does more harm than good, encouraging shallow root growth. Watering in the early morning is best, as nighttime watering leads to disease.
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Mowing
Wait until your lawn is dry before mowing. Mowing a wet or muddy lawn damages grass. Lawn-care experts recommend watering in your fertilizer, so wait a day or two after fertilizing before mowing. Avoid mowing after applying granular fertilizer if you bag your clippings. The mower vacuums up the fertilizer, resulting in a waste of time and money. Keep the lawn at a height of about 2 to 3 inches. The longer the grass blade, the longer the root system is. Grass cut too short has shallower roots that are less able to withstand summer heat and drought. This makes the lawn susceptible to weed and insect infestation. Mow often enough so that you are only removing one-third of the blade of grass at a time. Waiting for the grass to grow several inches before mowing stresses the lawn.
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To Bag or Not to Bag
Leave the grass clippings where they fall. They will decompose and act as natural fertilizer. This works if you mow frequently. If you wait until your grass is several inches long before mowing, remove the clippings. The benefits of not bagging are less time mowing, less money spent on fertilizer and trash bags and less work. Not bagging has environmental benefits as well, as leaving clippings saves space in landfills and allows you to use less fertilizer.
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