Lawn Care
A Guide to a More Beautiful Yard and Garden
If you put an initial effort into your lawncare and maintenance, keeping a beautiful, healthy lawn becomes easier to do.
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The foundation of a beautiful lawn is the grass you choose to plant. Most people have lawns made of whatever seed is on sale, instead of considering which types of grasses grow best in the climate they’re in. Whether you’re planting a brand-new yard or trying to re-establish your current lawn as part of a home renovation project, buying the right kind of grass seed will help lower the demands of future lawncare maintenance.
You can use an aerator to spread the grass seed and then follow up with a spreader. Using a drag behind your lawn mower will help to push the seeds into the hole, ensuring an even and healthy lawn that can rely without massive maintenance in the future. A starting fertilizer is also good for long-term lawncare. For proper maintenance, fertilize four times a year - but follow the directions because using too much fertilizer can lead to overgrowth and fungus. In fact, during drought conditions, it may be prudent to skip the second (summer) application.
The lawncare and maintenance procedure done incorrectly the most is mowing the lawn. Because of the prevalence of weeds (and their fast growth rates), many people set their lawn mowers too low, essentially killing the grass by creating shallow root systems. Most lawns flourish when the lawnmower is set between 2 and 3 inches.
While interior painting shouldn’t affect your lawncare, any plans that involveexterior painting should be done before any lawncare if possible. Otherwise, painting or touching up around your home may be difficult. Therefore, it’s best to plan your lawn so that there’s room to access the house directly.
Watering your lawn properly can also involve an initial time investment, but the maintenance savings in the future is worth the set-up. An irrigation or automatic sprinkler system will make sure that the entire lawn is covered and that the water is even spread around. Shrubbery, trees and flowers should be watered separately from lawns because they have different water requirements.
