1) The first thing you should do is access the situation of your lawn. Is your yard covered with a good strain of grass that you would like to keep, but is dying? Is it being overrun by crabgrass and weeds? Is it completely overrun by crabgrass and weeds? The only way to figure out where to go from here is to determine what you are starting with and what you want your lawn to turn into. Far too often I see neighbors dumping hundreds of dollars in lawn care on their yards only to see them shaking their heads a month later when nothing has changed. These products are good, but not always necessary.

2) Watering goes without saying, but with the summer heat water can be futile if you don’t know how to get the best out of it. If you’re watering your lawn in the middle of the day the odds are its going to evaporate before any of it has soaked into the ground. The proper way to water your lawn would be to wait until dusk thus preventing any evaporation from taking place. This allows all water to be absorbed by the plant. Remember it’s a lot easier for the sun to evaporate water off the surface of a plant or ground than it is to take it from inside the plant and ground. This is especially helpful in counties that restrict the amount of water you can use for your lawn during the summer.

3) If you’re looking to eliminate all the bad grass from your lawn first you must remember that it’s like a cancer; it will spread and it won’t stop spreading. Good thing this is also true for the good grass as well. Your lawn is a democracy. Majority will rule. Plant the grass you want and when it grows it will better defend itself from a bad grass takeover. Some lawns require more work; almost to the point of a complete overhaul. Just remember tilling your whole lawn may get rid of the crab grass so that the good seeds you’ve planted can grow, but it takes a while for grass to take and establish permanent residence. This is plenty of time for bad grass to begin to establish itself again. A bi-monthly sprinkling of grass seeds should do the trick.

Once you’ve established what your lawn needs then you can determine a routine and adjust as necessary. When your lawn gets what it needs you get what you want; A happier and healthier lawn.