Home lawns represent 70 percent of Pennsylvania’s 2,000,000 acres of turfgrass. Lawns increase the property value of homes and stabilize soils (thereby preventing soil erosion in the residential environment). This page contains publications on lawn establishment, maintenance, pest management, and other problems.

Aeration of Turfgrass Areas

Mechanical aeration provides an excellent, and probably the only, means of correcting or alleviating soil compaction which may be quite serious on many lawn areas. Compaction occurs primarily in the surface area of the lawn. A compacted layer as thin as ¼ to ½ inch can greatly impede water infiltration, nutrient penetration, and gaseous exchange between the soil and the atmosphere. Compaction of this type in the surface layer of soil can be corrected or reduced by the use of suitable aerating equipment.

Calibrating Your Fertilizer Spreader
Control of Summer Annual Grass Weeds in Turfgrasses

Summer annual grasses continue to be pervasive weed problems in many turfgrass areas throughout Pennsylvania.

Developing an Integrated Turfgrass Pest Management Program
Diagnosing Turfgrass Problems

The cause of turfgrass damage is often difficult to determine if considerable time has elapsed between damage and diagnosis. Damage is often blamed on disease or insects when there is no sound basis for such a diagnosis.

Evaluation of Spent Mushroom Substrate as a Topdressing to Established Turf
Growing Turf Under Shaded Conditions
Irrigation Water Quality Guidelines for Turfgrass Sites
Lawn Management Through the Seasons

Successful management of home lawns depends on proper selection and management of turfgrasses. To obtain optimum performance from your lawn it is important to employ the appropriate management practices at the correct times of year.

Liming Turfgrass Areas
Managing Thatch in Lawns
Managing Turfgrass Diseases
Managing Turfgrass Pests
Moss in the Lawn

Moss is one of the most persistent and annoying weeds that occurs in home lawns.

Mowing Turfgrasses

Grass cutting is the major time-consuming operation in the maintenance of any turfgrass area. Good mowing practices are perhaps the most important single factor contributing to a well-groomed appearance and the longevity of any turfgrass area.

Mushroom Substrate Preparation for White Button Mushrooms
Penn State Spent Mushroom Substrate Fact Sheet

by David Beyer, Mushroom Extension Specialist, Penn State

Principles of Turfgrass Irrigation
Recycling Turfgrass Clippings

Collection and disposal of grass clippings from lawns is laborious, time consuming, and unnecessary. The best way to deal with clippings produced by mowing is to recycle them back to your lawn. If performed correctly, recycled grass clippings should not detract from the appearance of your lawn or accumulate on the soil surface.

Renovation of Lawns

Lawn renovation involves restoring a deteriorated turfgrass area to an improved condition. Depending on the condition of the turf, this process can be accomplished without establishing a new lawn.

The Cool-Season Turfgrasses: Basic Structures, Growth and Development
The Cool-season Turfgrasses: Identification

To develop successful lawn management programs and avoid problems, you must be able to identify turfgrass species. Species react differently to management practices such as mowing, fertilization, and liming; thus, you should know which grasses are present in the lawn so that you can adjust your management program accordingly.

Turfgrass Establishment

This fact sheet describes the general steps in turfgrass establishment.

Turfgrass Fertilization Basics

A regular fertilization program is necessary to maintain good quality turfgrass. Dollar for dollar, fertilization does more to improve poor quality turfgrass or maintain good quality turfgrass than any other single management practice.

Turfgrass Seed and Seed Mixtures

One of the most important steps in turfgrass establishment is the selection of high quality seed or a seed mixture that is adapted to the site conditions and intended use of the turf. Poor quality seed may be low in viability and contain weed seeds as well as undesirable grass species.

Using Composts to Improve Turf Performance
Using Spent Mushroom Substrate (mushroom soil) as a Soil Amendment to Improve Turf