What can I do to get that great GREEN lawn and healthy grass in Chicago?

Question

My wife and I just bought a house in the western suburbs of Chicago. Our lot is 1/3 of an acre and currently we have a landscaping service come out once a week to cut the grass. My question is, what can I do to make that deep green color, thick, healthy looking grass? I have pretty much given up on this year since we put up a privacy fence and stained it (killing spots of grass we got stain on) but after this year I really want to have a nice lawn. We have a dog so I am nervous to use any chemicals. We are new homeowners, just married so I really have never maintained a lawn before. How long and how often should I water? Fertilizer? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

the most natural way to have a thick weed free lawn is to overseed..don't leave room for the nasties to take root.  this will also go a long way to deweed a lawn without using chemicals...water well till the new grass is established then water heavy but not frequent.  allowing SOME drying will encourage the roots to go deeper into the soil.  water at night to retain better moisture.  watering on a sunny day will evaporate very quickly and burn the  grass.

Answer 2

The easiest way is to have a reputable company install an irrigation system which will get your lawn watered adequately.  Then call tru green and get on the best fertilizer program they offer.  And then you should get the lawn you want as long as your landscape service is mowing the lawn the right way.  

The cheaper but more labor intensive way is to do this manually. You can manually water your yard with sprinklers.  The yard needs and inch of water per week.  When watering water in the early morning and allow a few days in between watering. It is also important to water deeply so the grass will grow deep roots.  This means water between 45-60 minutes depending on the soil type and the amount of water the sprinklers put down.  For fertilizer Scotts has a 4 step program.  You start with step 1 in the early spring which is pre emergent weed control and then you continue thorughout the year with each step.