A beautiful, well-maintained lawn is the pride of most neighborhoods. The way your grass looks depends on the way that you take care of it. There are some basic things that you can do to help keep your grass healthy and beautiful. The basic tips below will help new homeowners in maintaining their lawns.

Mowing

When mowing your new lawn the most important thing to remember is the height of the grass. You should never cut more than one-third of the height of the grass blades. Make sure to always leave the grass clippings on the yard because this will provide fertilizer for your grass. You should be mowing your lawn at least once a week but an ideal situation would be mowing more than once a week. Keep your mower blade sharp and never mow in the same direction. You should also never mow your lawn when it is wet. Wet mowing will cause clumps of clippings and that can breed bacteria. Choose your type of mower by the size of lawn you have. A small lawn that can be done in half an hour or less is best done with a walking mower. Larger lawns will require a riding lawn mower.

Watering

Watering your grass is important to keep the grass healthy and looking beautiful. When you water your grass it should be done early in the day. Avoid watering your grass too frequently. When the yard is watered be sure that it is done so there is a good soaking so it will not have to be done for a while. Watch the weather and if it is going to rain then you don't need to do any watering.

Feeding

Lawn feed to keep your lawn looking beautiful and make it the envy of the neighborhood. Before feeding your soil you should have it tested to see which nutrients that are missing from the structure of it and what you need to be adding. In the spring you should be adding a spring/summer fertilizer. This is a lawn feed that is high in nitrogen and is low in phosphates. There is also a mixture of fine sand, ammonium and iron sulfate that can be put in your yard to prevent the growth of weeds and moss. The sand is usually applied in the late spring.

Aerating

Aerating is usually done with a piece of equipment known as an aerator. The lawn aerator is run over the grass the same way as a mower but instead of cutting the grass it actually pulls out plugs of dirt and grass. Aerating will help your grass build a better root system and will help with compacted soil and thatch grass. An aerator is a good investment for the care of your yard and to help your grass look healthy. Leave the soil plugs on the grass so that they can provide fertilization as they decompose.

Scarifying

This is removing the dead material from your grass. You can do this by using a rake but a scarifier can reach further than the rake and can remove more waste. The scarifier reaches between the grass blades and removes the decaying matter without damaging the blades of grass. Using the scarifier is as easy as using a rake. Before you start scarifying you need to remove any living weed, fungus or invasive plants. You also need to kill any moss that is growing in the lawn. Autumn is the best time to do the scarifying because the soil is moist and warm. The reason that this needs to be done is the dead and decaying debris that is laying on the grass will eventually smother it and kill it out. Using the scarifier will keep your grass healthy and disease free.