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Every lawn needs two things & these are water & fertilizer, both of which are chemicals. You may not view water in this way but its chemical constituency is two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen H2O.

Together water & fertiliser will give your lawn everything it needs to grow & flourish. Then nature does the rest. OK. Sometimes these come from natural sources but you will need to help with regular watering & maybe some lawn food.

One of the major problems in proper lawn care is how much & how often they need food & water. Getting over these problems, though, is not difficult.

If the area where you are has plenty of rainfall during the non-winter months, there is little you can or need to do. You can not really control the amount of rainwater a lawn receives, in most cases. There is more. The only step you can really take is to ensure that there is proper & sufficient drainage. Make sure that there is drainage wherever excessive water can collect on your lawn.

Drains can take one of many forms. You can have a grate-covered pipe that is kept free of leaves & dirt that will allow excess water to flow out to the street or into a pond or other area. Good drainage is help-fuleven if sprinklers are your primary source of water for the lawn.

The above type of drain may not always be possible. If, for example, you have a very large yard & have areas where water collects, then a shallow ditch may be very good enough. You can make this look more attractive & functional by lining it with small pebbles.

The ideal solution is to have a garden that slopes away from the house continuously, but not all properties are constructed in this way. This design stops the water from building up near the house which could cause damage to your foundations & basement.

It also is good for the lawn as the water will flow more evenly over the entire surface & then drain off the lawn into side areas. If some of those areas are partly garden it will make make watering the garden less of a problem. Alternatively it may flow off into rocks or the street.

If you do not get much rainfall then a sprinkler system is an easy solution to watering. In warm climates, run it for about fifteen each time but not necessarily every day.

If you live in a hot area then fifteen minutes daily might be better but in a more moderate climate, this can be every other day & in some areas less often is preferable. Automatic sprinkler systems are best because then you can set the length & days of watering.

Some systems are designed so that you can set different days of watering for up to two weeks. There is more. Then you can water on Monday one week & Tuesday or Wednsesday the next. Absolute regularity may not necessarily be the best thing for your lawn.

When possible do your watering in the morning rather than the evening. Do you follow? Then you avoid having water on the lawn overnight where it contributes to the growth of harmful plant & insect life.

Try not to water in the middle of a hot day. Even if the lawn could use it, it causes the grass leaf pores to open (when it is trying to conserve water) by cooling it down. This means that more water is evaporated than is absorbed, counteracting your intention. In some cases, it can lead to burning when water droplets attract sunlight onto the grass leaf.

Lee Dobbins writes for Backyard Garden & Patio where you can learn more about gardening & landscaping as well as get tips on caring for & watering your lawn.