When it comes to making sure that the landscape around your home stays in top condition, one of the key items to take care of is the lawn and garden area. There is just nothing more beautiful than perfectly manicured lawns. However, if they are not in good shape and are not well maintained, then it can reflect badly on the rest of the landscape design and on the homeowner as well.

Watering the lawn and garden is one of the most important parts of good front lawn maintenance. In some parts of the country, there is enough rainfall so that the roots are properly supplied with moisture.

garden lawn
But even in what would be considered soggy areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, there are periods or dry weather and no rain. When this happens, it is vital to the survival of the lawns that they be properly watered.

The early sign of your lawn garden having a drought condition is when the grass starts to show some subtle changes in color. At first, you might notice the color shifting from a deep green to a lighter green. As the problem worsens, the grass can start to even take on a straw color and eventually will turn brown if the moisture problem is not corrected.

The best time of day to water a lawn or garden is during the coolest part of the day. This means that turning on the lawn sprinkler early in the morning or in the evening after the sun has set is best. Garden lawn experts also say that the rotary sprinklers provide the best coverage if you don’t have a built in sprinkler system for your lawn maintenance.

home and garden
In most cases, it is best to water your lawn just once a week, unless the weather is extremely hot or dry. When doing your weekly watering, you can place an empty tuna can on the grass and let the water run until it is filled up.

This will help you know when you have watered enough to give the deep roots enough moisture without over watering. Watering in this way will also help your lawns develop a deep root system which will also help them survive periods of drought.

Another aspect of lawn and garden maintenance is proper fertilization and weed control. Good basic maintenance techniques will go a long way in keeping the lawns of your home and garden healthy, thriving and with few weeds.

Spring is the best time to fertilize lawns as this is when the grass is “waking up” and will need the extra nutrients from the fertilizer to assure healthy growth. The best lawn maintenance fertilizers will have a combination of nitrogen, phosphates and potash.

lawn maintenance
Often, it is very beneficial to do another round of fertilization of your lawn garden in the summer months to give your lawns a better chance of gaining the nutrients that will make them hearty.

This combination of a well-fed lawn and a light herbicide will control most of the weed problems so that you can enjoy your home, gardens and lawns with your friends and family.