Five Easy Ways to Make Your New Lawn Look Ugly

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New sod installation is one of the finishing touches that polishes your home's curb appeal. However, many homeowners do not appreciate the beauty of their new grass, and through bad maintenance, neglect, or overmanicuring, the grass loses its luster and begins to die. If you're thinking that your new grass is overrated and you'd like to find ways to make it look worse, here is a guide that will help you.

1. Skip the topsoil.

Proper grass health actually begins with installation. New sod needs a good foundation to foster healthy, even growth as the grass takes root. Generally, a layer of rich topsoil should be spread before laying the new sod. If you decide to save some money on the installation and skip the topsoil layer, roll out the sod onto the bare hard earth. In just a couple weeks, you'll find that the grass health is patchy—green in some areas and yellowing in others as the grass roots wither from not being able to take firm root in the ground. 

2. Save on watering costs.

Watering your new grass can be a pain. New sod needs over an inch of water right after installation, and then it needs to be watered at least once a day or even more frequently in hot, dry, or windy conditions. Watering properly takes care and precision, and uneven watering can lead to uneven grass growth. If you want your lawn to start looking ugly, limit or even skip watering altogether and just rely on the rain you may or may not get. In just a few days, the new sod will begin to shrink as it dries out, and visible lines will appear between the separate sod pieces. Portions of the grass will begin to have a dry, "salt and pepper" look with a mix of green and yellow.

You could also use a sprinkler to water your grass. If you don't have a sprinkler system built in, use a portable one that attaches to the garden hose. For an ugly lawn, make sure you put the sprinkler in the exact same spot every time. This way, you'll have a lovely patch of nice green grass when the surrounding grass starts to die. 

3. Water during the hottest time of the day. 

Watering your grass in the morning ensures that the water will deeply penetrate the soil, ensuring greater root depth and overall healthier grass. Watering during the heat of the day, however, means that some of the water will evaporate before it has the chance to sink in to the soil. Your grass will get less water, and you won't have to wake up as early. 

4. Never turn the water off.

If you don't care about water conservation or your water bill, you can leave your sprinklers on all the time. This way, you grass gets so much water it begins to drown and the roots begin to rot. Your grass will start to look muddy and gray in color. Overwatering will also leave grass feeling spongy. When you walk on grass that is overwatered, it will crumple easily, and footprints and other damage will be much more visible. 

5. Use fertilizer with nitrogen during the winter.

Nitrogen is what helps your grass to grow quickly; you'll see green growth almost right after applying nitrogen rich fertilizer to the soil. Nitrogen supports blade production, but doesn't do much for root support. The best time to use nitrogen-rich fertilizer is during the summer, when grass growth is at its peak. However, cold weather grasses go dormant during the winter months, and the fertilizer will force it to grow anyway. Lawns that are consistently fed a food of nitrogen fertilizers in winter will be more susceptible to disease, frost damage, and yellowing. Eventually, the whole patch of grass will die from insufficient root growth and turn brown.

For more information, consult a lawncare professional such as Sergio's Lawn Service. 

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7 September 2016