You know a good lawn when you see one—the kind of luscious lawn that makes you want to roll around or have a picnic. Well, the good news is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. With some basic lawn care and grass-growing tips, you can have the kind of lawn that people will stop to admire. Here are the only steps you’ll ever need to having the greener grass on your side.

Choosing the Right Grass

If you’ve found yourself in a situation where there’s more dirt than there is grass, you definitely need some grass-growing tips. It may surprise you that there are many different varieties of grass. Growing grass is much more complex than simply planting some seeds. Understanding how grass grows can mean the difference between having no grass or having a stunning, luscious lawn.

There are several things to consider when choosing the right grass for your property, depending on the quality of grass you desire. The best lawn care tip is to choose a grass that is best suited to your climate. Grass is categorized into cool season grass and warm season grass. In cool season grasses, you have grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass. In warm season grasses, you have grasses like Buffalograss. You should pick the right type of grass within the respective category you belong in. You can learn more about choosing the right grass here.

You also have the option of skipping over the seeds and placing sod. This can be a fast way to get beautiful results, but basic lawn care is still needed.

Prepare Your Yard

Preparation is the key to many things in life. This is especially true when it comes to planting new grass. You simply can’t have green grass if you try to seed or sod over poor quality soil, branches, and stones. The first step to new lawn care is to clean up the area. Pull up weeds, remove any existing grass, and get rid of any debris. Then, fertilize and water the area in order for the new grass to feed and grow into a new lawn.

Time to Lay Down the Lawn

Now that you’ve prepped the foundation upon which your new grass will grow, it’s time to lay down the lawn. Whether you’re seeding or sodding, it will take some time to plant and grow. Some people choose to start in smaller areas and work their way through the backyard throughout the course of a couple days to give their body a break. However, getting it done in one shot can feel just as amazing.

If you are planting seeds, consider using a seed spreader to evenly spread seed across your entire lawn. Use this handy calculator to figure out how much grass seed you need to use in order to properly lay down your lawn.

Down to the Basics

It’s time for some basic lawn care. That means watering, waiting, walking, and much more. New grass needs a sufficient amount of water in order to grow, but too much can drown the seeds. Follow the instructions as per the seeding label or sod being used. Once you place it, you should give it a nice little watering just to get it started. Then comes the tricky part: keep all kids, animals, and adults off your newly planted grass for at least a couple weeks. Once you start seeing little sprouts of grass, you can water every day, but do not mow until it is at least 3.5’ tall. This longer your grass grows, the deeper the roots will go. So let your new lawn flourish before giving it a trim.

Just like that, you’ll have a new, luscious lawn sprouting in a couple of weeks! Be sure to stay on top of basic lawn care to ensure your new grass continues to flourish.