If you want to know how to get dark green grass, first and foremost you have to pick the right kind of grass for your lawn. Some grasses grow to be a light green in color, so part of getting a dark green lawn is avoiding those.
The Zoysia, for example, is light green in color and might be resilient to almost any weather but can take years to get established and needs plenty of regular fertilizing.
All in all one of the most popular and one of the best grasses for the south is Bermuda grass. Bermuda grass naturally gives a beautiful, vibrant dark-green color and is very tolerant of droughts and dry spells.
Being a warm-season grass, it grows great in the heat and this grass is even showcased on more than a few golf courses which shows what this grass can look like with proper care.
Since the Bermuda grass can turn brown-green if there is a lot of cold weather, to ensure a year-round dark green lawn, it is best to interplant it with a cool-season grass that will give its best color during the cold season.
What Makes Grass Look Dark Green in Color
What makes grass dark green in color is directly linked to a couple of different things. The first thing is the length of the blades of grass.
For example, if you were to put too much fertilizer containing nitrogen on your yard, it would make it look darker green in color as it triggered the grass to grow faster.
However, you would also have to cut it more often, and you could possibly spend up all the nutrients of the roots as they work at breakneck speed to lengthen their leaves. This often results in a yellowing of your grass as the effect of the nitrogen dies down.
The other thing that makes the grass look dark green in color is the fact that not only is it meant to grow dark green, but it is healthy and well cared for. Iron can help achieve a dark green lawn, along with regular fertilizing, but you don’t want to overdo it.
How to Get Dark Green Bermuda Grass
Mowing is one of the things everyone knows that they have to do, but did you know that there is an optimal height to cut your grass to keep it healthy?
No matter what your preference is for how tall or short you like your lawn, try to never cut more than one-third of the height at a time. This means if you wish to keep your grass at 1″ then you need to cut your grass anytime it grows near 1 ½” in height. Doing this helps to ensure that your lawn doesn’t lose so much top that it harms it.
Even though Bermuda grass is fairly drought tolerant, there still might be times where it does need to be watered if it is to stay a beautiful green color. When you water, try to do so early in the morning and, instead of watering daily for a short amount of time, water it thoroughly only once or twice a week so for the best effect.
Another key to getting a dark green lawn is to fertilize using a lawn fertilizer a few times a year. Lawn fertilizers contain slow-release nitrogen that won’t burn out your grass with a quick spurt of growth.
You also will want to rake up the grass clippings after you mow or the cut grass could shade the grass trying to grow underneath resulting in yellow patches.
Once your grass is growing thickly, there is little opportunity for weeds to grow, however, to keep these at a minimum there are pre-emergence weed killers that are safe to spray on lawns, as well as weed killers that can be sprayed on weed without killing your grass. Or if there are only a few weeds, you can choose to pull them up by hand as well.
Planting Seed or Placing Sod for Bermuda Grass
Bermuda grass seeds take only a week or so to germinate but then can take two or three months to really get established. It is best to do this during the hottest part of the year, yet still early enough for the plants to get established before the cold weather sets in.
Usually May or August are the ideal months to plant the seeds, and you want to make sure to keep the ground moist during the first few weeks.
Bermuda grass sod can be placed almost any time of the year except when it is freezing or close to freezing outdoors. After applying the sod and getting it in place, water it immediately to help the dirt settle into place. Continue to water regularly until the roots have grown into the soil and water more often the rest of the year as the deeper roots are growing.
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