Learning from your own mistakes is always a powerful life lesson. However, a more efficient and more thoughtful route is to learn from someone else’s mistakes. Many home and property owners have been making the same lawn mistakes for years, and we are here to advise you on how to avoid them. While we offer various maintenance services, we understand some people like to get their own hands dirty! As summer approaches, lawn owners are eager to get out and start working and maintaining their green areas. 69% of lawn owners say their lawn could use some improvement, and 31% admit they don’t know where to start. Your lawn will look lush and green this summer by avoiding these six lawn mistakes.
1. Not Testing the Soil
Most homeowners rush in, start planting grass and skip very critical steps. Before deciding to grow grass, you need to test the soil to ensure proper growth. The optimum ph level for thriving grass is a balance between 6 and 6.5. You can also send a soil sample to your local extension service for testing, and they’ll tell you what your soil needs to make your grass healthy.
2. Planting Only One Type of Seed
The key to a beautiful lawn is selecting the right type of turf grass. Planting various seed types establishes your lawn as the seeds’ strengths and weaknesses balance each other. If your turf has more than one kind of seed, the varying qualities will allow it to survive poor growing conditions like heat and drought. Whereas when you decide to stick to one type of seed, it will restrict its strengths and properties.
3. Cutting Too Short
Mowing a lawn is more than what it seems; it’s much trickier. Many homeowners tend to cut the grass too short, leaving very little of the grass blade for the plant’s nutrition. The grass needs to produce food, so if you keep cutting too short, there won’t be any food left for the grass. Experts recommend the one-third rule: never cut off more than one-third of the grass length in any one mow.
4. Overwatering
Grass only needs about one inch of water per week. Overwatering discourages the grass from developing the deep root system required to take water deeper into the soil and grow independent from supplemental watering. Some lawn caretakers install a small rain gauge to measure the inches of water accumulated during irrigation or rainfall. Precisely measuring the water levels in your turf is a sophisticated way to avoid overwatering. It’s also wise to conduct a sprinkler audit during the spring to review the time of day you sprinkle to prevent too much water.
5. Too Much Fertilizer
Over-fertilizing causes excess leaf growth and limits root growth, providing no long-term benefits. If applied too heavily, fertilizer can burn your lawn, which is why it’s better to use a slow-release fertilizer. Slow-release fertilizers don’t need to be applied as often and reduce your chances of burning the lawn. You want to be sure that your fertilizer won’t be easily washed away and doesn’t cause water pollution. A potential natural solution is to mulch your grass clippings back into your lawn. Mulched lawn clippings add mineral-rich organic matter to the soil and encourage your greenery’s growth with nutrients like nitrogen. You can never over-fertilize with lawn clipping mulch, and you’ll vastly improve your soil conditions over time.
6. Watering at the Wrong Time of Day
Try your best not to water during the day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., or your lawn will lose its water to evaporation caused by daylight. Always try to water earlier in the morning between 6 and 10 a.m., if possible. During the morning, the wind typically isn’t too strong, the sun isn’t too hot, and your lawn has all day to soak up its morning drink and nutrients as it dries. So why not water your lawn at night then? Great question. If you water at night, your property would have a higher chance of developing mildew and fungus growth. However, if your schedule doesn’t allow you to water in the morning, your next best time would be between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to reduce the sun’s opportunity to evaporate the water yet still allow it to penetrate the ground.
Maintaining a green, beautiful lawn takes patience, care, and time. With the right tools and knowledge, your property can have the best-looking lawn on the street. The key is to not rush into the process and risk overwatering or overmowing. However, we know that life can get hectic and lawn maintenance becomes the last thing on your agenda. We are more than happy to help you save time and get your lawn looking better than ever by avoiding these lawn mistakes! Visit our website or give us a call for all your lawn maintenance needs.