Have you often wondered about how you can make your lawn at home look like a golf course? Multiple times throughout the year, we are asked “What do you guys do to keep your grass looking so alive and green?” People see the beautiful bluish green colors and are amazed at how well the grass looks. With some proper care and grass knowledge, we are excited to share with you how to make your lawn look like the golf course.

The first step in having a beautiful lawn is to understand your soil and the climate you live in. Here in the Mid-Atlantic region, we have one of the toughest climates as it can get as hot as the south in the summertime, and as cold as the north in the winter. You can always pick different grasses that blend together and bloom when one goes dormant, but it’s important to choose when you want your grass looking the best. 

For most people, summer is when you want your lawn looking the prettiest as it is when you are able to enjoy it the most. Because of this, you should pick a grass that does well in warmer weather. Fescue, Rye, and Bermuda grasses are a few types that we have on the golf course, and they do well in different ways. The Fescue and Rye can sustain the summer months when properly watered and not cut too short, while the Bermuda doesn’t require much water at all, but only keeps it’s green colors in the hot summer months. If we were to suggest which grass to choose, we recommend going with a fescue and cutting it no shorter than 3 inches, and allowing it to grow a little longer in those scorching hot summer months of July and August.

After you understand your soil and climate, and choose the right grass type, it’s also important to have irrigation. When it’s not raining on a consistent basis, your grass needs to be watered to stay alive. The important thing to know when watering is that you don’t want to over water because the sitting water can cook the grass in the middle of the day, and that you should try to avoid watering overnight as that becomes the time when fungus and other diseases thrive. We suggest watering early in the morning for the sun to help dry up the excess water, and occasionally watering throughout the day to help keep the grass cool. When you see us watering on the course in the middle of the day, it’s not to grow the grass, but to keep it cool and prevent it from burning up.

If you want to have a beautiful lawn, not as much work and effort is required as you would think. Understand your soil and get it aerated every now and then to allow oxygen to get to the roots, and choose your desired grass type and water it correctly. If you do this process in the Fall and overseed again in the Spring, you will be very happy with the results.

Knowing this information will help turn your yard around in no time, and you’ll be able to take those practice swings you’ve always wanted. . . at least until you take that first divot and cry a little inside after all your hard work and money gets chopped up. We can tell you that in this moment, you will finally know how it feels to work on the grounds crew at the golf course. Enjoy your grass though, and let your neighbors be jealous of how beautiful it is. 

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club