Nobody really wants to spend hours in their yard only to have a brown or even a light green lawn. I’m pretty sure we all want the darkest greenest lawn on the block. So, how to get deep dark green grass? Well, it’s a combination of a bunch of different things, not just one. So, let’s dive in and see what you can do to turn your lawn a few shades darker.
What Can I Do to Get Deep Dark Green Grass? (The Short Answer)
Several decisions and gardening practices need to be followed to achieve dark green grass. Here’s what you’ll need to address to get super dark green grass.
- Pick the Right Grass Type
- Grow the Right Grass in the Right Location
- Provide Adequate Sunlight
- Water the Lawn Correctly
- Feed the Lawn Correctly
- Sufficient Soil Aeration
- Mow the Lawn to the Right Height
- Always Use Sharp Lawn Mower Blades
- Mow at an Appropriate Time
- Control Weeds
- Pests & Disease
Factors that Can Affect How Dark Green Your Lawn May Get
Well, that’s a bigger list than you were probably expecting on how to get deep dark green grass. Don’t worry. You are probably already taking care of most of these and only need to make some adjustments. So, let’s dig in and see what they all mean.
Pick the Right Grass Type
It’s probably already too late to decide what the best grass type is to achieve a dark green lawn because you already have a lawn growing in your yard. But it’s still important to know what you can actually achieve with the lawn you have.
Different grass types grow to different shades of green, even in perfect conditions. Therefore, if you have one of the lighter shade grasses, you’ll never get it as dark green as a dark shade grass type. That’s just not going to happen.
So, if you are looking over your fence and wondering how to get dark green grass like your neighbor, just remember that they could have a grass type that is darker than yours, and you’re fighting a losing battle.
Here are a few examples of different shades of different grass types.
| Light Green Grass | Medium Green Grass | Dark Green Grass |
|---|---|---|
| St. Augustine | Bermuda | Ryegrass |
| Centipede | Zoysia | Kentucky Bluegrass |
| Bahia | Buffalo | Hard Fescue |
Grow the Right Grass in the Right Location
So let’s say you have the right grass with the dark shade of green you are looking for. You then need to make sure you are growing it in the right locations. For example, you won’t have much success having a warm-season grass type in a cold-season location and vice versa. The main issue you’ll come up against is your lawn will struggle to even stay alive, let alone turn a lovely dark shade of green.
Provide Adequate Sunlight
The next factor to consider is how much sunlight your lawn gets. Again, this comes back to selecting the right grass for the right location. So, a grass type that likes full sun will do poorly in the shade, just as a shade grass will struggle in full sun. So, not having the right amount of sun or shade will cause an issue in achieving that darker shade of green.
Water the Lawn Correctly
Now let’s take a look at watering your lawn. A key element to a thriving lawn is providing the grass with enough water to achieve photosynthesis efficiently. This is the process of combining nutrients from the soil and sunlight to produce energy for the grass to grow. I know that’s a very basic explanation, but I’m sure you get the idea.
So, without enough water, grass can’t produce the energy it needs and won’t be able to gather nutrients. On the other end of the spectrum is overwatering your lawn. Basically, what happens here is the grass’s roots suffocate, and they can’t get enough air. So, too much or too little water will prevent your lawn from turning a dark green color.
Feed the Lawn Correctly
We covered that the grass roots take water to the plant to extract the absorbed nutrients and minerals. Now, this process can only be achieved if there are nutrients and minerals in the soil in the first place. The longer the grass feeds on the soil, the more the soil turns into dirt.
Dirt is soil without any nutritional value and is usually made up of sand, silt, clay, and sometimes rocks. Most yards in the states have one of these materials in their backyards. So, to get dark green grass, you will have to keep an eye on the soil and replenish the food your lawn needs.
Sufficient Soil Aeration
I already touched on this a bit when going over what roots need to achieve photosynthesis. An added element to this equation is air. Now, air can only get to the roots by having aerated soil.
So, compacted soil poses a problem for your lawn by stopping air, water, and nutrients from getting to the roots. In addition, poorly aerated soil can cause drainage problems, which can lead to overwatering. A water-logged lawn definitely doesn’t help your lawn turn dark green.
Mow the Lawn to the Right Height
For two reasons, knowing the right height to mow your lawn is vital when working out how to get deep dark green grass. First, if you scalp your lawn and mow too low, the grass will divert its energy to recovery and away from growth. Second, grass left to grow too long will collapse, smothering the surrounding grass and blocking sunlight.
Plus, long grass tends to stay wet for longer, which promotes issues like pests and fungus. So, mowing at the perfect height is key.
Always Use Sharp Lawn Mower Blades
Dull blades only do one thing well: turning green grass brown. This is because dull lawn mower blades rip grass apart instead of cutting it, which has two main negative effects on your lawn.
First, there is a greater amount of area on each grass blade that will turn brown. Second, the grass shifts much more energy towards healing and away from growing. So, if you’re looking for how to get dark green grass, then dull blades are one thing to avoid.
Mow at an Appropriate Time
Mowing during the growing season is pretty easy to judge because the grass starts to get too long. But there are different times when your lawn doesn’t need or want to be cut. For example, you want to avoid mowing during extremely hot weather, droughts, frost, and snow, and when the grass isn’t healthy because of pests and disease.
Control Weeds
None of us like to see weeds in our lawns, especially if we are typing to figure out why my grass is light green. Unfortunately, weeds can do a few things that stand in the way of having a dark green lawn. For example, weeds can steal vital resources like water, nutrients, and sunlight from the grass. So, if you have weeds crowding your lawn, you’ll need to come up with a solution to get rid of them.
Pests & Disease
Last on the list are pests and diseases. Both of these intruders create big problems for your lawn. The main issue is that pests and diseases feed on the grass. Pests like grubs will eat away at your roots, whereas fungus will attach to your grass, smother it, eat it, and rob it of resources.
Some fungi are actually good for your lawn as they provide microbes to the soil, but generally, a fungus is a problem. So, just like weeds, you’ll need a solution to these problems if you want a nice dark green lawn.
How to Get Dark Green Grass (10 Things You Should Do)
So, how do you address all the potential problems that can prevent you from having a dark green lawn? Well, I have come up with 10 solutions you can do that will definitely help. So, let’s jump in and take a look at how to get deep dark green grass.
Give Your Lawn as Much Sunlight as Possible
The first thing you want to do is make sure that your lawn is getting as much sunlight as it possibly can. All those bushes and trees hanging over your lawn that haven’t been trimmed in some time will need to get trimmed back.
So, grab your hedge trimmers, hand clippers, and pole saw, and start trimming. Maybe give the local tree guy a call if it seems too big of a job. Now you don’t need to go too crazy and remove everything from your yard, but the more sunlight you can give your lawn, the better.
Adjust Your Sprinkler
Knowing how much water your lawn needs can be tricky if you just stick a finger in the soil to check its moisture. I prefer to use a $10 soil moisture tester to do the work for me. Also, adding a rain sensor to the irrigation system stops it from watering the lawn when it’s raining.
Also, your irrigation timer should have a setting called seasonal adjustment. This setting is handy because it lets you increase and decrease the watering times for all the zones at once using a percent setting.
For example, you might want to reduce the entire system by 30% during the rainy season. This means you don’t need to adjust each zone individually. It’s super simple and quick to use.
Add Drainage to Your Lawn
If you think your lawn is getting too much water because of poor drainage, consider adding a lawn drain or a french drain. If your lawn is having a tough time turning dark green because of excess water, then either of these types of drainage will help.
Now, if the water runoff is coming from your neighbor’s property, you could try installing either a swale or a dry well. Both of these will work great to divert water away from your lawn.
Adjust Your Mowing Height
You’ll first want to know how high your lawn prefers to be mowed. For example, Floratam should be cut at 3 to 4 inches, St. Augustine at 2½ to 3 inches, and Tall Ficus at 2 to 3 inches. So, once you know the specific height, you’ll want to adjust your cutting height. Just remember, no lawn really likes to have more than ⅓ of its blade cut off at any one time.
Sharpen Your Blades
I can think of at least 6 reasons to sharpen your lawn mower blades, 7 if you include how to get super dark green grass. So, remove your lawn mower blade and sharpen it using a metal file, grinder, or bench grinder. Just remember to sharpen them to the correct angle, or you’ll end up wasting your time.
Now, if this sounds like too much work or you don’t have the tools, then you could take them to a professional sharpening service and have them sharpened for a reasonable price. But if you can’t get your blade off, then luckily, there are a few ways to sharpen blades without removing them. So there’s no excuse for mowing your lawn with a dull blade.
Aerate Your Lawn
Aeration helps your lawn in several different ways. For example, aeration helps get air into the soil, feeds the roots, and helps improve drainage. So, get yourself an aerator like a gas-powered aerator, a handheld manual aerator, or even a pair of aerating shoes, then start making holes.
When you have finished aerating, don’t forget to water, feed, and seed if you need to, and then let your lawn rest.
Only Mow when it’s Needed
Mowing too often will cause your lawn stress, usually too much stress, which results in the grass turning an unpleasant yellow color and disrupting its growth pattern. So, before you jump on your lawn mower, check that your lawn needs cutting and is healthy. Letting your lawn grow an extra day or two may be all it needs to turn a dark green color.
Control Weeds & Pest
The type of lawn pest or weed problem you have will determine the product you need to use. Usually, the different products are applied in one of two different ways. Dry or wet. For dry products, you can use a drop spreader or a broadcast spreader. For wet products, you can use something like a backpack sprayer or a handheld sprayer.
Fertilize Your Lawn
Unfortunately, you won’t find a bag of dark green grass fertilizer down at the box store’s landscaping section, but you will find products like Ironite and Milorganite. Any of these types of lawn supplements or fertilizers will help you achieve that dark green look you are going for.
In addition, supplements with high iron content, such as Ironite, and fertilizers like Milorganite with high nitrogen will boost the green in your lawn as these two elements are the main ingredients needed for producing the dark green color.
Leave Clippings on Your Lawn & Mulching
Clippings vary from grass type to grass type, but on average, clippings left to decompose on a lawn provide 4% nitrogen, 2% potassium, and 1% phosphorus back to the soil. In my book, that’s free fertilizer and less money I have to spend to get a dark green lawn.
So, there are definite advantages between mulching vs bagging. Now, if this sounds good to you, then you might want to consider swapping your regular blades for mulching blades, as a mulching blade does a much better job of chopping the clipping into tiny pieces. But before you do, just make sure that you can put mulching blades on your lawn mower and that it has enough power to spin them.
Leave a Reply