Crushing Lawn Maintenance: Takes Mo’ Than a Mow, Yo!

When you’re a landscaper, sometimes you meet a certain kind of person. And when you tell that person that you’re a landscaper, two assumptions are made:

1. You Mow Lawns
2. They Can Take Care of Their Own Lawn

Everyone has mowed a lawn or two, but that doesn’t mean you know everything you need to know about lawn maintenance. Because guess what, it takes mo’ than a mow! So today, Rish will tell you all you need to have a lovely, lush lawn.

Mowing: Let’s Get That Out of The Way

We led with lawn maintenance is more than mowing, but it’s not less, so you still need to mow it. That said, mowing takes more than you might think.

Different species of grass need to be cut to different lengths. Likewise, you should crop your grass differently depending on the weather. When it’s warmer, lawns need to be left a little longer.

Not only that but your equipment matter. Did you know that you damage your grass if you don’t keep your blade sharp enough? When is the last time you sharpened or replaced your blade if you mow yourself?

Clean-Up is Part of Lawn Maintenance

We are pretty close to the first leaves dropping from the trees. And with leaves falling comes pumpkin spice, Halloween, and Leaf Clean-up. Most people like at least one or two of those things.

Fall foliage is beautiful at first, but leaves (and a lot more) need to be cleaned off your grass. The reason is not just aesthetic. Leaves and other decomposing plant matter are bad for your grass’s health.

Not only can anything on top of the lawn block sunlight, water, and nutrients from reaching it, but it can also trap moisture. That leads to mold, plant disease, and lawn loss.

Lawn Replacement

Even if you do everything right, you likely will still experience some loss of grass. Therefore, part of lawn maintenance is lawn replacement. Depending on the severity of grass loss, you might use one of two methods of lawn replacement: aeration and overseeding or sod installation.

Aeration

Over time, especially over the summer, the soil your lawn grows in gets dense. Because grass needs space to grow, and water has a hard time soaking through dense soil, compacted soil becomes a problem.

The compaction of soil is a natural process. It just means you’re enjoying your yard! But you do need to do something about it.

Aeration is loosening the soil, literally adding air. We do this with an aerator which pokes holes into the ground and takes up small plugs of earth.

What does aeration have to do with grass replacement? For that, we move on to overseeding.

Overseeding

Overseeding is performed directly after aeration. It’s the process of reseeding your lawn. Both are typically done together in the fall.

Overseeding is typically done right after aeration because aerating the soil creates the perfect conditions for new growth. The seeds now have a place to grow and can get the water, air, and nutrients they need.

Sod Installation

Of course, if you have lost large swaths of grass or never had a lawn in the first place, sod installation may be the best course of action.

Sodding a property begins before the grass ever gets there because you must prep the ground for the new sod to take hold. Then, after laying the sod and making it even, you water it every day, and you should not step foot on or lay anything upon it.

Fertilization

You gotta eat, right? So does grass. Soil loses nutrients over time, making it more difficult for grass to stay healthy.

That’s why adding fertilizer as a regular part of your lawn maintenance regimen is vital to your lawn’s overall health.

Weeding

You know what makes it harder for grass to grow – when something else is growing in its place. However, the flip side is that healthy grass also dispels weed growth.

Either way, some weeding is typically necessary as part of your lawn maintenance. This can be done by manually pulling or by spraying pre-emergents to prevent weeds from growing in the first place. But be careful because pre-emergents work on a stage or plant life, not on a particular plant.

We’re Just Getting Started

Honestly, a blog post doesn’t give us enough space to tell you everything your lawn needs to stay healthy. That way, you’re always better off letting the pros take care of it. Got questions or want help? Rish out!