How to: Get a green lawn

This post is a little strange for me to make.  But I get asked ALL the time "how do you get your lawn to look like that?"  Green and weed free?    I'll cover watering and fertilizer today and touch on the weed thing in another post.  First of all.  Water.  It takes a lot more water than you think.  There are all kinds of systems for watering but I'll tell you what I do and what works for me.  I'm not saying this is the only way to water but it's what I do and it works.
My smart mother suggested that I add that here,that where I live we have very sandy soil and so we need to water less daily and if you have clay based soil you need to water more, less often.
Yes, we have a sprinkling system.  We water each area EVERY day for at least 15 minutes.  Portions that are out in the sun all day, we water 20-25 minutes.  EVERY day.   We also water ONLY in the morning.  The sprinklers come on at 5am.  they finish around 7:30am.  The problem with night watering is that it sits there all night and can cause disease.  Water during the day, and 80% of it will evaporate before being absorbed into the soil.
If you don't have a sprinkling system, you can still have a green lawn.  I've done it before.  Set up sprinklers around your yard and set up a battery operated timer.  Or buy a sprinkler Y connector and hook up all hoses and sprinklers to it.

In case you aren't familiar with the Y connector or this one below that has 4!  Those little knobby things on top shut off the water.  So you hook the big connector to your outside faucet thing. (A bib, I think it's called) and then you would hook up 2 or 4 hoses however many you need and then turn on the water knob (that is connected to the house faucet) then you turn the knob on the hose you want to be on and keep the others off.  Then when it's time to switch, you just turn off the one you had on and turn the other one on.  No sprinkler moving.  Quick and easy.

 These sprinklers work great in place of a sprinkling system.  You can set them in different corners of your yard and leave them in, and water quickly and efficiently.

Next is fertilizing.  I fertilize about every 5 or 6 weeks from March until October.  I like to use IFA's (Intermountain Farmer Association) fertilizer.  I've never had much luck with Scott's brand fertilizer.  It just doesn't produce the "greenness" I want and like.  IFA has an entire line of fertilizers.  Different ones to use for different seasons.  They are a little more expensive than other brands, but they work.  If you are only going to buy one, I suggest the one shown in the picture.  It's the only one I use.

Lastly mowing.  I mow the lawn every 5 days. ( In the summer. Every couple of weeks in the spring and about once a week in the fall, due to leaves.)  With all the water and fertilizer it starts looking too shaggy for me after that 5th day.  This might be more preference than anything else but I enjoy mowing and it keeps the yard looking nice.  Also waiting too long to cut your grass can cause it to burn (in the sun) after it's cut, if you cut it too short after it's been really long.  It's also harder on the mower when the grass is really long.
I also rotate the direction I mow the lawn to prevent ruts in the lawn.
Keep your lawn mower blade sharp.  I was told once to never try and sharpen a blade yourself (unless you are an expert) it can cause a lot of problems to the mower as well as the grass if it isn't sharpened evenly.  New ones aren't that expensive maybe 5 dollars.  We change ours every other year.  A dull blade on the mower will "tear" grass instead of cutting it clean.  Making the grass susceptible to disease and burning.

Happy Lawn Care!!!