How to Fix Your Lawn Fast
Sometimes, life's big events have a way of sneaking up on you. Whether it's your turn to host the big family reunion or just a fast-approaching get-together, a special event might cause you to see your landscape in a new light.
Don't despair! As long as the clock's still ticking down, there's time for a backyard makeover. Have your lawn and garden looking great when guests arrive by following these backyard makeover tips, based on the time remaining before your event:
Weeks Away
With your party still weeks away, there's plenty of time to get your outdoor spaces in order. Make sure the following tasks are on your to-do list:
- Boost your lawn with Pennington Lawn Booster, so grass grows quicker, thick and greener by party time—guaranteed—with less time and effort from you. Lawn Booster combines purebred, lime-enhanced Smart Seed grass seed, premium fertilizer and a soil enhancer all in one easy-to-use, pre-mixed product, so your guests arrive to a thicker, lusher, more beautiful lawn.
- Rid your lawn of bare spots, so your lawn's spot-free and ready for admirers when event day arrives. Pennington One Step Complete combines mulch, seed and fertilizer in one easy-to-use product that repairs bare spots in three weeks or less with proper care and conditions.
- Get your green on, and take grass and ornamentals from pale to deep green fast. Ironite Supplement 1-0-1 from the makers of Pennington greens lawns with a gentle, non-burning dose of nitrogen, iron and other minerals. Give trees, shrubs and flowers an extra lift with Ironite Plus Lawn & Garden Spray 6-2-1 RTS. Just attach a hose to the container, then spray to deliver nutrients to leaves and plant roots.
- Augment existing plantings with new annuals, perennials or flowering shrubs. Shop for plants with plenty of tight flower buds, but look for buds that only hint at color or don't show any color at all. They'll save their show for your party.
- Get new plants in the ground and off to a speedy start with a complete, fast-acting fertilizer, such as Ironite Plus Plant Food 12-10-10 or Pennington UltraGreen All Purpose Plant Food 10-10-10These nutrient-rich fertilizers work quickly to feed plants and stimulate plant growth.
- Help transplants thrive and encourage root development with Pennington Plant Starter, which provides iron, manganese and zinc in forms that keep micronutrients flowing to your new plants.
Days Away
The weeks leading up to your event may have flown by, but there's still time to tend to plants before the guests arrive. Change your approach with the following tasks for the final days:
Forget tight buds when shopping for annuals and perennials, and instead go for color! Look for fully-open flowers and lots of plump, colorful buds ready to spill open.
Give plants a quick, pre-event lift while also keeping the long run in mind. A balanced fertilizer, such as Lilly Miller All Purpose Planting & Growing Food 10-10-10, blends quick-acting and slow-release nutrients for lush, steady growth.
Keep new transplants looking like they've been in your garden for weeks with a plant starter, such as Pennington Plant Starter.
Sevin products, in ready-to-use, ready-to-spray or concentrate forms, will control pests invading your plants. These powerful pesticides kill pests on contact, and then quickly break down in the environment.
Consider hanging baskets, either single-flower types or mixed baskets, for quick, colorful coverage. Hang some from strategically placed shepherd's hooks, and plant others. Weave the trailing blooms in and around other plants for an instant garden tapestry.
Hours Away
Even with little time to spare, makeover magic is still possible. Stay focused and put these tried-and-true tactics into action:
- Forget planting in soil; there's no time for that! Use the same tricks professional event planners use, and go straight for temporary mulch plantings instead. Have your local garden center deliver full flats of flowering annuals at their peak. Arrange the flats wherever you want an instant garden. Water them well, and then surround them with a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch. Take the mulch up over the edges of the flats and in among the blooms, as needed, until every trace of plastic is hidden.
- Buy hanging baskets with open flowers and vibrant color. Remove the hangars and sink the pots in mulch mounded deep enough to hide the basket, or set them in between perennials that add camouflage.
- Follow the lead of interiorscapers, and use decorative indoor or outdoor containers to hide nursery pots and create container gardens on the spot. Sit an upside-down pot or packing material inside the decorative container, then place hanging baskets or large-size perennials and annuals inside. Fill in with mulch.
- Outfit large houseplants, such as indoor palms, in the same way for a spur-of-the-moment botanical hedge or staggered screen.
After the Party
You did it! Now it's time to tie up a few post-party loose ends with these final makeover tasks:
- Give any temporary plantings a more permanent home with the help of Pennington fertilizer products, so plants get settled in and ready for your next event.
- Take time to repair any missed bare or thin lawn spots—or spots that are worse for party wear—with a quality bare spot repair product.
- If you didn't boost your lawn with Lawn Booster pre-party, do it now so you're ready when the next party hits. Easy-to-use Lawn Booster makes a thick, lush, green lawn a reality—fast and guaranteed—without cutting into your post-party rest and relaxation.
If the thought of all that planting after the party seems like too much work, there is another option: Reveal your secrets to a fast backyard makeover, and send guests home with blooming party favors they'll never forget!
Pennington and One Step Complete are trademarks of Pennington Seed, Inc.
Ironite, Lilly Miller, UltraGreen and Worry Free are registered trademarks of Central Garden & Pet Company.
