Arizona’s climate can make it challenging to maintain a healthy looking lawn. With dry, hot summers and low precipitation during the rest of the seasons, it can be difficult to keep your lawn green and lush.

Choosing the right type of sod grass is one of the biggest keys to success. What type of sod grass is best for your yard? Here are some tips to determine what grass will grow best on your lot.

Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Lawn

The following questions can help you determine what type of grass would be best for your yard:

Is your yard mostly shaded or in the sun?

Shade or sun makes a difference in terms of what types of grass will grow best in a space. Some of your yard may be in the shade while some is in direct sunlight all the time. You may find that different types of grass will work better in different areas of your lawn. The more direct the sunlight, the more the grass may need to be watered as well.

What kind of mower do you plan to use?

The most common type of mower is a rotary mower, with rotating blades that are electrical or gas powered. However some homeowners use a reel mower that is propelled by pushing. Reel mowers work best for small yards and rotary mowers work better for larger yards. For extremely large lots, a riding mower may be best, which is also a rotary style.

How much time and effort can you devote to yard maintenance?

Some types of grass require more time and effort than other types. Choose your type of grass based on the amount of time you are able and willing to devote to yard work. Or if you plan to hire a lawn service, determine what your budget will allow in terms of the frequency and type of services you can pay for.

Do you have children and/or pets?

The amount of traffic your lawn will receive is largely determined by whether or not you have children or pets. When it comes to pets, the type of animals you have will also be a deciding factor in the type of grass you may want.

Turning Questions Into Answers

Here are some suggestions based on your answers to the questions above:

• Mostly sunny lawn: Midiron, Bermuda. Midiron grass is blue-green in color with a medium coarse leaf texture that holds up well in hot, dry climates. Bermuda has short, flat leaves that make it tolerant of dry climates and grows best in direct sunlight.
• Mostly shaded lawn: Palmetto St. Augustine. It is difficult to get grass to grow in the shade, but Palmetto St. Augustine grass can grow in both direct sunlight and shade.
• Rotary mower: Any type. Rotary mowers are designed for any type of grass, but adjust the blade level according to the type of grass you choose.
• Reel mower: Bermuda. Reel mowers work best on Bermuda grass because it is coarse and short, meaning it won’t get caught up in or flattened by the reel.
• High maintenance: Tifway, Tifgreen. If you have plenty of time to devote to your lawn, Tifway or Tifgreen make great manicured a lawn, but it does require a bit more maintenance than some other types to keep that manicured look.
• Eco-friendly: Midiron, TifTuf Bermuda. Midiron is known for being relatively low maintenance and recovers quickly from damage. TifTuf Bermuda is one of the toughest types of grass that is also the most drought resistant, ultimately using less water.
• Kids and pets: TifTuf Bermuda, Midiron. In addition to being low maintenance, TifTuf Bermuda and Midiron hold up well to plenty of traffic, making them ideal for families with children and pets.
• No kids or pets: Any type. If you don’t have kids or pets, you are free to try any type of grass that meets your other criteria.

Where to Get Quality Sod Grass

Evergreen Turf provides a wide variety of sod grass types that are well-suited for Arizona weather. If you’re not sure how to choose the right type of grass for your yard, try our lawn selector tool.

For questions, call (480) 456-1199 or contact us today. Place an online order for sod grass here.

Fertilizer provides the nutrients that soil and grass need to thrive and be healthy. If you have ever walked barefoot in thick, luscious green grass — fertilizer probably had something to do with it.  After all, grass needs more than some water and sun for perfect growth.

Let’s take a closer look at the role of fertilization and how it pertains to effective lawn care.

Proper Nourishment

The health of your soil plays a very large role in the growth of your grass. Fertilization has the necessary nourishment to care for it all. While different types of fertilizers will have a varying mix of nutrients, there are three that are almost always found in them. They are:

• Nitrogen (N)
• Phosphorous (P)
• Potassium (K)

Each plays a part in getting the grass to grow faster and more dense, with strong roots. It also keeps it healthy enough to fight off diseases. It is important to understand that there are different factors that impact the amounts and types of nutrients needed, such as the soil type, the amount of foot (or car) traffic it will experience, the local climate, and whether or not there are currently any pests or diseases.

Just as you eat to provide your body with daily nourishment, effective lawn care is going to require regular doses of fertilizer, too.

Routine Treatments

A healthy lawn is going to need a good diet of fertilizer regularly in order to provide you with healthy growth. To do this effectively, you need to make sure you are providing it at the right intervals. For instance, giving it too much too frequently can actually kill your lawn. This is referred to as fertilizer burn.

Finding the proper balance between the nutrients in the fertilizer and the frequency at which you fertilize is crucial. Working with lawn professionals is a great way to ensure you are getting just what you need — nothing more, nothing less.

Keep Weeds at Bay

For effective lawn care without weeds, fertilizer is a must.

Weeds can be an eyesore for lawns. Yet, they are pesky enough to show up anywhere. However, in a lawn that undergoes routine fertilization, weeds don’t often stand a chance. The nutrients make the grass thick and dense with strong roots — and all of these things make it difficult for weeds to grow.

Reduce Risk of Illness and Disease

Without including fertilization in lawn care, disease and illness can take over in an instant. It can cause a lawn to buckle with low-stress tolerance and can make the perfect home for insects and pests looking to put the lawn at risk. This is all because it is not getting the nourishment it needs to remain healthy.

You can keep a lawn looking good on the outside by tending to its outer appearance. But effective lawn care involves so much more than that. Fertilization helps to make sure that the soil and the grass are strong enough to fight off any illness, disease, insect, or pest that may try to bring it down.

When done routinely, not only will the lawn look great from the outside, but from the inside, too.

Effective Lawn Care from Evergreen Turf

If you are ready to give your lawn the nourishment it needs in order to be vibrant and healthy, then you can learn more about nutrition and fertilization from Evergreen Turf. Remember, a healthy lawn begins with healthy soil.

Contact us today to learn more.

Evergreen Turf, your Arizona sod producer, is proud to be the premier supplier of MiniVerde Ultradwarf Bermudagrass in Arizona and California. MiniVerde Bermudagrass was designed specifically for high-stress golf course greens and has received praise from golf course superintendents and golfers alike.

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Spring has officially arrived, which means it’s time to start preparing for new landscaping projects and seasonal lawn maintenance. Every year, lawns, no matter how big or small, go through similar seeding and fertilization cycles and spring is the time when grass starts growing again. If you want to ensure a healthy lawn, take note of these tips.

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