Whether you are trying to sell your home or simply want your lawn to look its best, make sure you are doing everything possible. For most of us, lawn care is limited to watering from time to time and cutting it when it gets too long. However, in order to create a healthy and attractive lawn, a bit more care is required. Here are five tips that can help your lawn this year.

What Kind of Grass Do You Have?

When you are taking care of a lawn, the first step is determining what type of grass you have in order to give it the best care. If you didn't lay down the grass yourself, find out what kind of grass you have before you do anything else.

Here are some of the basic grass types:

• Bahia

• Bentgrass

• Bermuda

• Bluegrass

• Buffalo

• Carpet

• Centipede grass

• Fescue

• Rye

• St. Augustine

• Zoysia

Check with Tru Green or do some basic research on the internet to view images of the various types of grass and compare them with your lawn.

Once you know what the type of grass you have, determine if there are any special needs that this particular type will require.

Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!

If you want to maintain your grass's green color, begin to think about fertilization. Because your soil can only hold so many nutrients from season to season (especially when you have your home for a long period of time), you need to reintroduce those nutrients by fertilizing.

Since you now know the type of grass you need, you can go out and purchase the appropriate fertilizer. Apply the fertilizer during a time when it will not be disturbed (i.e. before the colder seasons and at night) and then watering as recommended.

However, before you apply a fertilizer to your entire lawn, you might want to try out the fertilizer on a section of lawn that is unseen by others. This will allow you to preview the effectiveness of the fertilizer without applying it to the entire lawn

Watering Your Lawn

If you live in a drier climate, you will need to water your lawn more frequently than others. Watering can take place via an installed sprinkler system, a sprinkler that you move into the preferred area, or via a hose. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Installed sprinkler system - When you don't have the time to take care of watering your lawn, you can program a system to take care of it for you. This system can be expensive, but is maintained by the installation company and will last for years without needing repairs. This system can also help to control water costs as you can adjust the water pressure and the number of watering times. You will also get a more even coverage of the watering since the sprayers will be professionally installed.

Traditional sprinkler - With a traditional sprinkler, you can focus your attention on certain parts of the lawn, moving the sprinkler as you see fit. A traditional sprinkler is an inexpensive item to buy, but because you have to move the sprinkler around and the water pressure cannot be controlled, it can be expensive in terms of water costs.

Hose - Needless to say, the hose option is often the most wasteful of water. Since it's difficult to control the spray, you can end up spending more time on your lawn without getting the results that you want.

Trim Your Lawn Often

It's important that you trim your lawn regularly in order to allow the right amount of sunshine onto the blades of grass. When the blades are not getting enough sun, they will begin to turn brown and to die.

Depending on the rate of growth, try to trim about once a week, but not too closely to the ground. A few inches of grass are best for proper growth and thickness.