Learn how to care and maintain the perfect lawn with Kev's easy guide.

The most important aspect in keeping a nice lush green lawn is regular fertilizing!
this is very important as lawns only have a shallow root system and therefor they deplenish the soil and nutrients very quickly.

You will need a good quality lawn fertilizer, one that contains essential nutrients such as Potassium, Phosphorus and Nitrogen. Today there are plenty of brands to pick and choose from so if your unsure just ask your local nursery which would suit your type of lawn first.

Fertilizers are generally spread at 2-2.5kg per 100 square meter and should be spread approx ever 6 or 8 weeks. Fertilizers come in many different forms such as powder, liquid, granular or solid.  Which one you decide to choose is your personal preference, they will all have the key nutrients your looking for. Always apply in a north/south direction then east/west direction as this will ensure you give the lawn a nice even distrubution of the fertilizer. After this give the lawn a good soaking of water so all the fertilizer is dissolved as you dont want to end up with burnt patches or even worse totally kill the lawn.

Next step is aeration, this is an important factor and simply means punching small holes in the lawn's surface. What this will do is improve water,fertilise and air penetration right down into the roots which will then stimulate growth. There are plenty of  high tec aerators on the market as well to choose from however just a garden fork will also do the job. Once aeration is done it's a good idea to sprinkle light sand over the area to fill up the holes, this will improve water penetration and root growth.

Watering frequency will all depend on the type of lawn, soil type and of course- weather conditions. For heavy soils one heavy soaking a week should do the job however up here in the tropics 2-3 waterings a week would be better suited. Note that sandy, lighter soils will require more frequent watering. Try to aim for more heavy watering as the short light watering times will eventually cause the grass to become soft and more prone to disease. Up here in the tropics you will also find the grass roots become quite stressed with the heat.

You should have in place a good irrigation set up that will not only do the job properly but also save you time and money. Next you need to consider the drainage of the area, you dont want wet water logging areas so be sure to check out if there are any areas that you need to pay attention to. You can purchase Agi pipe or Slotted drain and install this in those problem areas. If the water seems to only be on the surface then you can simply dress the area wilth good quality top soil to even out the area.

When mowing your lawn you only want to remove 1/3 of the height as cutting it too short will lead to shallow roots and will encourange unwanted weeds. It's a good idea to leave your grass clippings on the lawn as this will become good mulch for the lawn and help it retain moisture.

Lastly you need to consider weed and pest control, broad leaf weeds are not to bad and are genurally quite easily controlled with a broad leaf killer. If other weeds pop up such as Paspalum you will need a weed killer like Roundup or Zero but take care as this will kill your lawn so make sure you top dress and over sow the patch. For bugs you can purchase certain lawn beetle killers from your local gardening centre which will do the trick but do read the instructios and take note of all saftey precautions on the label before using.

Follow these steps and you will be on your way to a perfect lush green lawn.

Happy gardening from the Lawn Ranger team!