Everyone enjoys the look of a nice healthy lawn. Not only do lawns increase the value of a property, they cool the air, combat glare and noise, and reduce soil erosion. The University of Florida has established a list of best management practice tips created specifically for Florida lawns. For a healthy, Florida-friendly lawn, please refer to these easy-to-follow tips:

1. Never remove more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at any one time. Cutting too much of the leaf blade can stress your lawn and will leave it susceptible to insect or disease invasion.

2. Mow at the highest height for your grass species. For St. Augustine Grass and Bahia Grass, this is 3.5 to 4 inches. If you have St. Augustine grass cultivars 'Delmar' or 'Seville', mow at 2 to 2.5 inches. Mow centipede grass at 1 to 2 inches.

3. Leave grass clippings on the ground. They do not contribute to thatch, and actually return a small amount of fertility and organic matter back to the lawn.

4. Keep your mower blades sharp. Dull mowers tear the leaf blades. This makes the lawn look bad and leaves it susceptible to insect or disease invasion.

5. Do not mow your lawn when it is wet.

More lawns are damaged by improper irrigation practices than any other single practice. Train your grass to be more drought-tolerant using the following methods:

1. Adjust the frequency with which you irrigate, rather than the amount of water you apply.

2. Irrigate less frequently. Each time you water, water for a slightly longer time. This will help train your roots to grow deeper in the soil, which will in turn make your lawn more drought tolerant. Grasses irrigated in this manner will have a better chance of surviving watering restrictions.

3. Irrigate your lawn as-needed. A lawn is ready for watering when the leaf blades start to fold in half lengthwise or when footprints remain visible in the lawn long after being made. Irrigate when about 50% of the lawn shows these signs, unless rain is forecast in the next 24 hours.

4. In most parts of Florida, irrigate to apply ½ - ¾ inch of water.

A healthy lawn that is properly fertilized, mowed, and irrigated will typically out-compete most weeds. However, some degree of weed control is often required to supplement even the best practices. Some weeds can be chemically controlled after they have emerged. Others, particularly grassy weeds, are better controlled "pre-emergence." Note that there are no chemicals currently available to control grassy weeds in St. Augustine Lawns. For all grass types, you need to know where the weed pressure is, what the weeds are, and then select the right product for control and apply it at the right time.

Florida has a large number of turf destroying insects throughout the year. It is important to know what type of grass you have, the pests which commonly invade it and how and when to treat these pests.