
If you're like so many Utah residents, you may be having difficulty figuring out how to cultivate a lush green lawn and maintain it. The answer starts with choosing the best type of turf for the terrain in your area and your particular property’s specific needs.
Topics covered in this blog:
Every lawn needs special attention. A beautiful, thriving lawn requires suitable turf, based on its unique combination of features, type, use, and other considerations. Turf species are categorized into cool- and warm-season types of grass. Let us first understand these two types of grasses.
Warm-season turfgrasses grow best when temperatures are between 80° to 95°F. Cold temperatures cause these turfgrass types to become dormant for an extended period. Warm-season grass types need abundant sunlight and do not do well in very shaded lawn areas. Some common types of warm-season grasses include:
Cool-season turfgrasses start growing when temperatures are between 60° to 70°F. In the Utah climate, these grass species can struggle to survive the damaging sun and heat. In warmer months, cool-season grass types need larger amounts of water than warm-season grass alternatives. Cool-season grasses can grow well in shaded lawns. Trees provide shade that shields the lawn and protects the grass from long days and months of direct sun exposure. Some of the most common cool-season grass types include:
The best lawn care practices are specific to the turfgrass type you select for your area and the conditions. Use the basic guidelines below to help you create a turf care program that will work best for your particular lawn. We’ll just focus on Fescue and Kentucky Blue Grass because those are the two turf types that people use most here in Utah. A Tall Fescue turf or Kentucky Blue Grass can give you a beautiful lawn in the western U.S. climate region.
Among the broad-leaved Fescue grasses is Tall Fescue. Its familiar wide, flat blades are common among popular lawn turfs. Tall Fescue is a versatile species of grass used across a wide range of climate types. It withstands both hot and cold temperatures. It’s also shade-tolerant and resistant to drought. In good climatic conditions for this grass type, Tall Fescue provides an excellent option for the durability and resilience of a lawn that undergoes changing conditions.
Proper care of Tall Fescue grass should include:
Fine Fescue is the category of all Fescue species with thinner leaves. Fine fescue has narrower blades than Tall Fescue. Some species of Fine Fescue grasses can be so thin that the blades have a needle-like appearance.
A strategy used for many lawns, where appropriate, is mixing Tall Fescue grass with Fine Fescue. This combination works well to produce a plush lawn with fine texturing while also thriving in the shade.
Lawn owners consider Kentucky Blue Grass as the ideal turf for a beautiful yard throughout much of the country. In suitable climatic conditions and appropriate lawn care, Kentucky Blue Grass provides a thick, lush, robust lawn. But, this grass species does not flourish without proper care. It requires comparatively frequent maintenance to make the most of its potential. But, the pay-off can be an exceptionally gorgeous, thick green lawn.
Proper care of Kentucky Blue Grass should include:
A frequent error people make in trying to cultivate a great lawn is assuming all grass is the same and that all turf types have the exact requirements. However, as you can see above, different types of grass can have different needs that must be met to produce a dense, beautiful green lawn. So, for best results, seek expert professional lawn care guidance on your particular lawn’s specific needs.
If you need help rehabilitating depleted or dead grass, contact Big League Lawns. Get full-scope lawn care programs, including fertilization, aeration, winterization, and lawn pest control. We serve our customers throughout Weber and Davis counties in Utah, with over 40 years of combined experience cultivating thriving Utah lawns. We use our own special locally blended fertilizer designed for Utah lawns. Big League lawn care services are 100% guaranteed.
Wow! You’ve just transformed your property from dirt to a suddenly gorgeous, magazine-perfect lush lawn! Of course, now it’s up to you to keep it alive, make it flourish, and protect your investment in it. (But, no pressure.) Fortunately, knowing how to care for new sod will help ensure that your new grass will take root and become a fully established beautiful lawn quickly. Use these instructions for caring for new sod to help you develop a strong, healthy lawn with a lasting, beautiful appearance.
Especially during the first six weeks after laying it, it is essential to pamper your sod. Follow these basic steps to help your new perishable sod develop into a rich, strong, thriving Utah lawn that you can enjoy for a lifetime:
Click to Jump to Section:
Your new sod needs deep watering as soon as it’s installed. Don’t wait until the following day. Heat builds up in stacks or rolls of sod, so the grass becomes very dehydrated when installed at your home. Water your new lawn twice each day for around 20 minutes each time. This should give your grass six full inches per watering cycle.
Arrange your routine for the best time to water new sod — mornings and late afternoons. Those are usually the best hours of the day to water a lawn because temperatures are cooler. Adjust your watering schedule to make sense based on the amount of rainfall the grass is absorbing.
Make sure your sprinklers are reaching all areas of the lawn. Look for any signs that some areas of your new grass may be too dry. Add extra water to those spots as needed to rehydrate them. Your new grass needs the most watering through the first 14 weeks after the sod is installed.
Wait to mow your new lawn until the grass has firmly taken root. Typically, with sufficient watering, you can probably safely move after the first three weeks. If you installed the sod while it was dormant during the winter, wait around 3 to 4 weeks after the start of its growing cycle in the spring before you mow for the first time.
Before you mow, spot-check areas of your lawn to confirm that your sod is growing well and that a reasonably strong root system has developed and is binding it to the soil. Set your mower blades to cut off only the top one-third of the grass blades. After mowing, your grass should be around 3 to 4 inches tall.
Sharpen the lawnmower blades, as needed, to ensure that the mower is cutting the grass and not pulling it out of the ground with a dull blade. Your grass will flourish better, have greater resilience to common Utah lawn diseases and rot, and look more attractive if you cut it with a sharp blade.
After your new sod is fully rooted and established as your lush new lawn, turn your attention to keeping your yard free from weeds that will try to crowd out the grass. After the first four mowings, if your lawn has endured those well and looks strong and healthy, you can start using weed control products.
Choose a weed control solution designed specifically for your lawn’s turf type and for the growing zone where your property is located. Ask for professional guidance on weed control products, if necessary.
Wait another 4 to 5 mowings after you start using weed control before you begin using lawn pest control products on your new lawn. This should give your new grass plenty of time to recover from the process of establishing sod as your new lawn. Follow professional recommendations for your climate, soil condition, and turf species to determine the best lawn pest control agents to use on your new grass.
Ask your lawn pest control expert about bug barriers, protection from lawn grubs (beetle larvae), etc., and other common lawn pests in Utah. Begin to educate yourself on adequate lawn pest control in the region.
Lawn nutrients are a vital component of your new lawn care regimen. Knowing when to fertilize new sod is essential to growing thick, lush grass with a strong root system. New grass needs routine feeding with proper nutrients for it to grow strong during the first several months. It’s important to know when to fertilize new grass.
Apply the first round of fertilizer about four weeks after laying your new sod. That will allow the sod sufficient time to recover from the trauma of the unrolling and installation and will ensure that it contains abundant hydration.
Ask your grass cultivation specialist about granular fertilizer with the best formulaic specifications for new lawns in the Utah climate and for your soil condition. Ask about organic nutrient solutions for grass that are best suited for your particular lawn’s needs.
In addition to watering abundantly, mowing judiciously, and administering weed control and lawn pest control solutions, avoid walking on your new lawn more than necessary to care for the grass. Give your new grass at least the first 2 to 3 weeks, or until after the first mowing before walking on the turf. This will protect the new grass from excessive stress and friction pulling at the tender roots and from potential soil compaction while the roots are striving to gain a hold on the soil.
We are a leading Utah lawn care company. We provide lawn aeration, lawn pest control, and lawn nutrients to rehabilitate struggling grass into thriving, beautiful lawns. We serve our customers throughout Weber and Davis counties in Utah. Our team of lawn care experts has over 40 years of combined experience transforming Utah lawns. All our services are 100% guaranteed.
Last year, you might have worked hard on your lawn and cultivated a beautiful, healthy lawn. But, like so many Utah homeowners, you may have discovered this spring that something has infected your turf. Even a thriving lawn is at risk of various spring lawn diseases that can quickly take over your yard and damage or kill much of your grass. When the weather warms up, and the snow starts melting, that’s a lawn owner’s cue to diligently inspect for early signs of common springtime turf diseases in Utah.
Here are some of the most common lawn diseases that Utah homeowners and businesses struggle to diagnose and eliminate in the springtime and brief discussions about how to cure these:
Utah's cool, damp winter conditions are an ideal environment for fungal turf diseases. Leaf spot disease is one of the most widespread of all. It’s an infection that damages the leaves of grass and causes roots to rot.
Symptoms: At the onset of the infection, light brown or darker brown spots typically appear on grass leaves. The spots may darken and even turn black as the disease spreads across the lawn. If left untreated, leaf spot disease will cause rotting the grassroots to spread and kill large lawn areas.
Treatment: To help prevent leaf spot disease, fertilizing, aerating, and watering according to a tactical plan for combating the disease. Ultimately, however, if your grass does contract the infection, a fungicide must be applied to stop the disease.
Snow mold is a fungal grass infection that flourishes in the very cold Utah winter temperatures. There is gray snow mold, which infects the grass blades but does not significantly damage the roots. There is also pink snow mold, which affects the entire grass plant. That extent of infection makes pink snow mold more difficult to control and more threatening to the life of the grass.
Symptoms: Both gray and pink snow mold infections cause round patches of grass that look more like straw. Gray snow mold generates hardened fungal growths on the grass’s leaves and crowns.
Treatment: Both snow mold types can stay dormant and sustain themselves throughout the heat of summer. For less extensive snow mold problems, simply raking the grass can sometimes eliminate the outbreak. In more extreme cases, a fungicide application is needed.
Red thread disease is yet another fungal infection that proliferates on lawns poor in nutrients, usually during the cool spring and fall periods. The red threadlike structures of the fungus take over areas of the lawn, blanketing patches of grass with this parasitic growth.
Symptoms: The infection is recognizable by its distinct pink or red fibers growing around the leaves and stems of the grass. As the disease advances, the red fibers develop roundish clusters or webs about 4 to 8 inches in diameter lying on top of areas of the lawn and clinging to the grass blades.
Treatment: Less severe cases of this fungal disease can often be successfully treated by aerating and fertilizing the lawn. Red thread lawn disease is unsightly but not actually damaging to the grass. A more extensive spread of the infection may necessitate a fungicide application.
Consult with a turf disease treatment expert for preventive solutions that you may be able to apply as part of your seasonal lawn care or routine winterization. To find out how to ensure that you will be able to enjoy a gorgeous dense lawn of thriving green grass in the spring, speak to a grass rehabilitation expert. Get the best advice on the best strategy for your particular Utah lawn care and grass disease prevention.
We provide lawn rehabilitation services to homeowners and businesses throughout Weber and Davis County, Utah. Our treatment services include lawn fertilization, aeration, pest control, winterization, pre-emergent treatment, etc.
When dead grass or discolored areas appear on your pampered lawn, the problem is usually a disease or lawn fungus. Correct disease or lawn fungus identification is the first step to determining which fungal or lawn disease treatment will eliminate the problem and restore your beautiful lawn to full health. Use this handy quick guide to help you identify, treat, and prevent lawn fungus and disease from recurring.
Topics covered in this blog:
Treating your grass for the wrong thing could only lead to more damage. To avoid this risk, having a lawn professional identify the cause of the symptoms on your lawn is essential. Common symptoms of lawn fungus include:
The grass turns brown, yellow, or tan in some spots. However, hot temperatures, insufficient watering, or insect infestation can also cause this.
Mildew looks like a layer of white substance on the grass, usually in shaded areas.
Spots on blades of grass can indicate infection. The grass may look brown, tan, or gray, while the spots on the grass blades may look purple or red.
Brown or tan spots the size of a silver dollar across the lawn, typically in hot, humid weather, may indicate brown patch lawn disease.
Various forms of blight impact different grass species. One type of blight might kill the grass, whereas another type may cause viscous white or brown patches to appear.
Keep in mind that some lawn diseases can affect virtually all types of grass, while others can only infect some species of grass. For example, Rhizoctonia can impact all kinds of cool-season and warm-season turfgrasses, whereas fusarium blight only affects bluegrass. Be sure you know which grass species you have and the types of lawn diseases that can impact it before you choose a remedial lawn treatment for it.
If your grass has a weather-related problem, such as snow mold that happens after snow melts, apply your lawn fungus treatment whenever seasonal conditions require. Some lawn diseases can spread and kill your entire lawn. So, as soon as you correctly identify the disease or fungus damaging your grass, start treatment as quickly as possible.
Of course, the ideal way to manage lawn disease and grass-damaging fungus is to prevent these problems from occurring. Some seemingly good lawn care habits can invite such issues. So, use these helpful methods of fungus prevention and lawn disease control:
Leaving branches, leaf piles, and other yard debris provides the ideal environment for fungal growth. Clear away landscape debris.
Over-watering can lead to mildew, mold, and lawn fungus. Watering with appropriate amounts and frequency is essential to healthy, disease-free grass.
Grass cut too short is more vulnerable to disease. Mowing routinely is key to good lawn maintenance, but don’t cut the grass too short.
Allowing standing water in low areas that do not drain well promotes fungal growth on grass. So, ensure proper drainage.
Grass issues can arise from poor nutrition in your lawn—test soil to maintain nutrient balance.
Rakes, mower blades, hoes, shovels, clippers, and other lawn tools can carry spores. Clean your lawn tools after use with a gentle mixture of bleach and water to kill fungal spores.
Do-it-yourself lawn cultivation that is working well saves money. But, when a disease or fungus begins killing or discoloring the grass on your lawn, choosing the wrong treatment can worsen the problem. Having a lawn professional examine and treat your grass ensures that you get the proper treatment for the specific problem.
Consulting with a Utah lawn expert for a solution avoids the mistake of putting treatment agents on your lawn that are unnecessary and ineffective. It also means that you will not have to go through a trial and error process and will be able to restore your lawn and enjoy its full beauty again as quickly as possible.
We are a lawn care company in Ogden, Utah. Big League Lawn cultivation experts provide lawn fertilization, lawn aeration, and lawn pest control. Our professional team has more than 40 years of combined experience developing beautiful lawns in Utah. All our lawn care services are 100% guaranteed. We serve Weber and Davis counties in Utah.
Mon - Fri: 9am - 5pm
Sat: 9am - 1pm
Sun: Closed