Tom Jones loved the green, green grass of home as much as the next person, but there's nothing like muddy grass to wreck your home's landscaping. Hard rainshowers and floods can turn a green, verdant lawn into a brown, putrid pool in a matter of minutes. Here are some ways to get rid of muddy grass and make your lawn look green no matter what the weather.

Mow

Muddy grass is often caused by poor lawn maintenance. If you do not take the time to mow your lawn properly, you'll end up with muddy grass even with the slightest rainshowers. Here are some important tips to remember when mowing your lawn:

• Set up your lawnmower. Like almost all plants, grass prevents erosion by keeping soil particles on the ground. Sometimes you may end up trimming away too much grass, or you may end up just snipping the dead parts off. You should set up the blades of the lawnmower by setting them at the correct height recommended for the grass on your lawn.
• Trim the lawn, not the soil. It's easy to trim away too much grass, but it is also easy to displace the particles of soil that the roots of grass hold in place. If you're using a riding mower or a heavy lawnmower, you may want to adjust the blade height so that you can cut less grass.
• Don't be afraid to go manual. A manual lawnmower may seem ancient, but it is often the best way to mow your lawn. Manual lawnmowers may be difficult to operate, but they can give you better control over the trimmed height of lawn grass. For more information on mowing your lawn, read how to mow the lawn.

Irrigate

Dead grass is muddy grass. Grass roots prevent particles of soil from displacement and erosion. While some grass patches may look green, they may be on their last days as the chlorophyll in the blades start to decompose. If the grass is alive and the roots are healthy, they stand a better chance at keeping the soil in place.

To keep grass from getting muddy during strong rains, it's important to keep them alive before the rains fall. Here are some steps to help irrigate your lawn:

• Sprinklers. Sprinkler systems can be installed on your lawn by a professional lawn care service, or you can follow the instructions on a do-it-yourself kit. Make sure that the sprinkler system is connected to a clean water supply; contaminated water can kill grass. (Or you could make your own sprinkler system, learn how to make a sprinkler system)
• Dig ditches. Too much water can also kill grass, and may take its toll on the draining capacity of the soil in your lawn. f you live in a sloped area, you may need to dig ditches or canals along the sides of the lawn to redirect the flow of excess water. Remember that a ditch can do more harm than good if dug at the wrong location, or if it is dug at the wrong depth.

Make Pathways

Another cause of muddy grass is pressure placed on the soil and the grass. The reason why many parks forbid people from stepping on the grass is that the grass roots may get displaced from the soil, causing erosion and muddy to form on the lawn. If people need to traverse grassy areas to get to your home or parts of your garden, you need to make pathways so that people won't step on the grass

Concrete is a permanent solution to your muddy grass problems. Simply section off the part of the lawn where you'll build a pathway, and build a concrete pathway that cuts across the grass. Make sure that the foundation of the pathway is deep enough to prevent grass and other plant life from creeping into the concrete segments, and wrecking your walkway altogether.

If you don't like the look of concrete, you may also use the following materials and styles:

• Wooden footbridges
• Stepping stones
• Gravel or pebble walkways

Muddy grass can be an annoying problem for landscaping, but it can also cause more serious problems like major soil erosion. With these steps, you can get rid of muddy grass, and keep the grass in your home as green as you picture it in your dreams.