5 Lawn Tips for Green Grass in Cincinnati and Dayton

The smell of fresh cut grass.  The feel of a thick lawn brushing up against your bare feet.  The eye candy of a well-manicured yard.  All of these experiences would make anyone smile.  Well, maybe not everybody.  We are talking about you Mr. Belichick.  Smile more.  For everybody else, here are some lawn tips so you can have lush green grass in Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio.

5 Lawn Tips for Green Grass in Cincinnati and Dayton

1. Cut the Grass Tall – Your lawn is not a fairway at Augusta National Golf Course.  Don’t mow it short.  In Cincinnati and Dayton, most of the grasses we deal with are considered Cool Season Grasses like bluegrass, fescues, and ryegrass.  We suggest you mow the grass at 3-4 inches tall.  During the Spring and Fall, cut it at 3 inches.  Raise the mowing deck to 3.5″-4″ during the Summer.  For the last two mowings of the season, decrease the cut height down to 2.5″ to reduce the chances of snow mold fungus.
2. Add Organic Matter to the Soil – Most of our competitors DON’T apply organic matter with their fertilizer package.  We put down products with humates and organic matter to stimulate the microbial activity.  Humates can break up clay soils, which are common in Cincinnati and Dayton.  An extra benefit of the humates we apply are they help our fertilizers be absorbed efficiently by the grass.  Organic matter can improve the soil structure, provide a slow release of turf food, and decrease the chances of disease issues.  In our PureGreen Program, we use products like soybean meal, molasses, corn gluten meal, and other vegetable byproduct materials to help feed the grass and improve the soil.
3. Sharpen Mower Blades – You should have your mower blades sharpened every season.  A sharpened mower blade eliminates the chances of it shredding the top of the grass blade as it cuts it.  If the grass blade is shredded at the top, it can give the lawn a tan color.  A mower blade that is sharpened correctly will also reduce the chances of a harmful fungus from entering the grass plant.
4. Aerate the Lawn – I have had customers suggest aeration is a waste of money.  I can’t disagree more.  Think about this.  Would the golf courses all over the country core aerate their greens causing disruption in play and complaints from their customers if aeration didn’t work?  The answer is no!  They don’t want complaints or lost revenue.  Golf course superintendents realize the wonderful benefits of aeration and do it twice per year.  The benefits of aeration are relieving compaction, allowing fertilizers to work better, promoting root growth, reducing thatch, and creating pockets for grass seed if you wanted toss some down in bare spots after the aeration.  That takes us to our final lawn tip for green grass in Cincinnati and Dayton.
5. Plant Grass Seed in the Fall –  The ideal time to plant grass in Cincinnati and Dayton is Early Fall (Late August-Mid-October).  We suggest planting turf type tall fescue grass blends.  These types of fescues are the newer, more drought-tolerant grass blends.  If you have a full kentucky bluegrass lawn though, stick to planting bluegrass in your thin spots.  Most lawns have a mix of perennial ryegrass, kentucky bluegrass, and tall fescue.  For these type of lawns, you are fine to patch up bare/thin areas with turf type tall fescue.  Make sure to aerate, slice seed, or scratch up the surface before putting down the grass seed.  To scratch up the soil when you are planting grass we suggest a garden weasel.  You can get these on Amazon or at your local box store.  In Cincinnati and Dayton, we have high clay soils so the grass seed will not germinate if you just toss it on the soil.  You must mix it into the existing soil mechanically. 

Hope these 5 Tips for Green Grass in Cincinnati and Dayton help you get the beautiful thick emerald-green lawn your neighbors will be jealous of.  Contact us for a free quote so we can make your lawn a PureLawn.

Join the PureLawn Revolution that consists of safer turf foods and eliminating those nasty unnecessary lawn chemicals on your property!