Keeping your lawn green requires commitment.
A green lawn creates an attractive space for relaxing or for playing sports and other activities. In addition, a green lawn makes a home look neater and more cared-for, thus boosting the value of the property. Maintaining a green lawn requires patience and attention to detail.
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is one of the most important applications for keeping a lawn green. Fertilizers contain important plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and are available in granular, liquid, organic or synthetic forms. Nitrogen is particularly critical for giving grass its green hue. Granular fertilizers are good options because they last a long time. Although liquid fertilizers do not last as long, they are immediately available to the grass. Synthetic fertilizers are chemically manufactured products that penetrate the soil faster and offer an immediate release of nutrients. Meanwhile, organic fertilizers, which are made from once-living organisms and their byproducts, break down slowly and can improve a lawn's color and texture. Follow the fertilizer label instructions when applying a fertilizer to your lawn.
Water/Pesticides
Give your lawn water to keep the grass green. In particular, cool-season grasses become dormant when experiencing stress from drought and heat, and this could make the lawn turn brown. Give the lawn at least 1 inch of water each month through rainfall or irrigation to keep it alive during dormancy. In general, water grass only when it needs it -- when it begins to feature a blue-gray tint -- and water deeply. Also, apply pesticides per product directions, if pests such as white grubs, lawn moths or chinch bugs are causing the grass to die and turn brown.
Clippings
Keeping grass clippings on a lawn will help it to remain greener because they decrease the need for nitrogen fertilizer by as much as one-third. Mulching mowers feature a specialized mulching blade that returns grass to a lawn through a repetitious cut and re-cut motion. Clippings essentially act as a fertilizer, and they also help the lawn retain moisture. Grass clippings can contain up to 80 percent water. If your grass clippings clump up, spread them out across your yard with a rake.
Ferrous Sulfate
Spraying ferrous sulfate, or iron, on a lawn also will help it to green up. The spray makes the blades become darker and hold more heat. In addition, ferrous sulfate helps the chlorophyll -- the green pigment in plants that helps plants make their food -- boost the production and storage of carbohydrates. Follow the manufacturer's instructions when using ferrous sulfate.
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