The seven do’s of healthy lawns…

• Mowing
  at least once a week is essential for a beautiful lawn, and if possible twice weekly during summer. Judge the necessary cutting height according to how fast the next mowing is needed, but don’t end up cutting into brown stems due to too short settings. The clippings can be used to sprinkle over the lawn, and so feeding it. (Grass clippings make are also good for mulching elsewhere in your garden).

• Watering
  is of course vital and should be done at least once two-weekly. This will not only keep you grass green, but also repel insects like crickets and ants, for they prefer drier environments.

• Aerating
  for better water drainage and enabling oxygen to reach the roots. Lawn aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs or cores out of the lawn. Although hand aerators are available, most aeration is done mechanically with a machine having hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum. Known as a core aerator, it extracts 1.5 to 2 cm diameter cores of soil and deposits them on your lawn. Aeration holes are typically 3-15 cm deep and 5-15 cm apart. Other types of aerators push solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug (spiking). These are not as effective because they can contribute to compaction. Core aeration is a recommended lawn care practice on compacted, heavily used turf and to control thatch buildup.

• Fertilising
  betters your chance of a weed- and disease free lawn, but note that grass treated with compost is quite prone to fungal diseases. It is therefor important to only use chemical fertilisers, like L:A:N for green leaf growth and 2:3:2 for lawn matting. Tip: to rid your lawn of moles, use Ammonium Sulphate in the place of L:A:N, making it too acidic for the earthworms that moles area after. The worms will move and the moles will follow!

• Thatch removal
  entails the cutting of your lawn so short that no green growth, but only brown areas are visible. After mowing, rake the clippings up rough enough for stolons to loosen and snap. Follow immediately with top dressing.

• Top dressing
  is an effort well worth doing. Start off in spring by sprinkle 60g of both Superphosphate and 2:3:2 p/m² over the entire lawn. Spread clean, weed-free sand over and level by dragging a bar across. Repeat until grass is showing only just through the sand. Sprinkle 60g of 2:3:2 p/m² again over entire lawn, followed by a thorough watering. Water once weekly.

• Edging
  every six weeks with a spade, shears or tool of your choice for a neatly edged lawn.

Source: Gardening Eden