Basic tips for non-Arizona homeowners:
a. If you're fertilizing as a mo-jo homeowner, you're probably fertilizing too much. On average, homeowners who get a soil testing of their lawn's soil (plus or minus $25) will save more money in the long run. A soil test will tell you what type of nutrients you actually need instead of just "adding fertilizer" to the soil, I promise you'll probably be adding less fertilizer than you originally were. (But
usually alll your grass needs is Nitrogen)
b. But seriously, November, is the time to fertilize well! If you really make the grass happy before snow and frost hit, it'll actually be more frought resistant in the summer (why? when the cold hits the grass wants to grown longer roots into the warm soil, if you give it more nutrients to do so, the longer roots it will be able to grow, thus making it possible in the hot summer to store/grab more water from all the soil
c. In early to middle spring "stress" your grass a little more than it's used to by not watering it- honestly, to the point where it's getting real ugly. Doing this will also make it more drought tolerant in the hot summer, promise :)
d. The longer between mowings, the faster the grass will grow each day (more blade=more green=more area for photosynthesis to occur =more growing. So really, cutting on a consistent schedule is less maintenance than not
e. If you got the resources available and you want to your lawn to look beautiful 24/7, I suggest using a Kentucky Bluegrass or one like it, mixed in with a little Perennial Rye. Why? Kentucky spreads slowly but is very durable once established. Perennial will quickly grow into the spots that have holes to make it look great temporarily, but Kentucky is the dominant species and will push it out of the way once time passes enough for it to grown and spread
f. Want greener grass? Apply iron :) Not too much or it will turn so dark green it'll look black!
