Lawn Care For Dummies

"I would recommend this book to anyone starting a new lawn or improving an existing one." — Kevin N. Morris, Director, National Turfgrass Evaluation Program "This is the one book you should have, keep handy, and use often!" — Doug Fender, Executive Director, Turf Resource Center, Rolling Meadows, IL Full Color Section Highlights Ideas for a Beautiful Lawn! Grow a Lush Lawn — a Cut Above the Rest! No matter where you live, what you do, or how many kids you have, you too can grow a great garden of grasses — quickly and easily. Discover tons of time– and water–saving secrets for better planting, fertilizing, weeding, and mowing. With easy–to–follow instructions and lots of illustrations, Lawn Care For Dummies ® brings you everything you need to know to grow a lawn that's the envy of the block! From Sod to Sunday Naps — Your Complete Guide to Lawns Compare the pluses and minuses of planting seed, sod, sprigs, stolons, or plugs Choose a grass type that thrives in your climate Unearth winning techniques for repairing broken lawns Discover ten surefire ways to help drought–weary yards survive Control pests with environmentally friendly methods that are safe and effective Select alternative ground covers that are practical and good looking Install a permanent, in–ground irrigation system Also look for Hungry Minds' Gardening For Dummies ® , the fun and easy way to grow a gorgeous garden!

Introduction. PART I: Planning Your Perfect Lawn. Chapter 1: Designing Your Perfect Lawn. Chapter 2: Cool–Season Grasses: The Grasses of the North. Chapter 3: The Warm–Season Grasses. Chapter 4: Lawn Climates, Big and Small. PART II: Getting Ready to Plant. Chapter 5: Preparing to Plant. Chapter 6: Increasing Your Soil Sense. Chapter 7: Installing an Irrigation System. PART III: Planting a Lawn. Chapter 8: Planting a Lawn from Seed. Chapter 9: Starting a Lawn from Sod. Chapter 10: Planting Sprigs, Stolons, and Plugs. PART IV: Showing Your Lawn That You Care. Chapter 11: Watering Lawns. Chapter 12: Fertilizing Lawns. Chapter 13: Lawn Mowing. Chapter 14: Dethatching, Aerating, and Renovating. PART V: Battling the Lawn Invaders. Chapter 15: Weed Wars. Chapter 16: Insect Invaders. Chapter 17: Disturbing Diseases. Chapter 18: Other Lawn Problems. PART VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 19: Ten Lawn Alternatives. Chapter 20: Ten Top Lawn Trees and How to Care for Them. Chapter 21: (Almost) Ten Things to Do or Not to Do with Lawn Clippings. Chapter 22: Ten Things to Do with Your Lawn During Drought. Chapter 23: Ten Lawn Games. Chapter 24: Ten Weird Things You Can Do with Lawns and Lawn Grasses. Chapter 25: Ten Ways to Deal with Leaves. PART VII: Appendixes. Appendix A: Sources for Lawn Care Products. Appendix B: Lawn Information Sources. Index.

About the Authors Lance Walheim, former staff garden writer for Sunset magazine, is the nationally recognized author of over 30 widely read garden books, including The Natural Rose Gardener and Hungry Minds′ Roses For Dummies??. The National Gardening Association (NGA) is recognized for its bimonthly National Gardening magazine and prolific work in science education for children. NGA is also the coauthor of Gardening For Dummies??, Roses For Dummies??, Perennials For Dummies??, Annuals For Dummies??, and Container Gardening For Dummies??.