When you’re ready to take on the huge responsibility of being a homeowner, you’ll gain tons of new everyday responsibilities as well. Taking good care of your lawn, and having a presentable home are two of the most essential tasks you’ll do as a new homeowner. For this reason, it’s crucial to understand the 3 biggest steps in the lawn care process:
Step 1: Learning to Understand Your Lawn
Before anything else, you need to learn about the make-up, grass type, and current health of your lawn. Since the turf is worn down from winter, it is not uncommon to encounter weeds and other diseases on your lawn. Due to the harsh and occasionally lengthy winter, your yard may lack essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium come spring. To better manage your turf and improve the health of your grass, it can be helpful to know what kind of weed, disease, or insect pest you are dealing with. The learning process can be tough, so be sure to find a reputable lawn care company to help get you started, and educate you.
Many different tests and examinations can be done to help in this process. You should also be certain of the soil and plant conditions that exist on your property. You can submit a sample of your soil to your local agricultural extension office, which will analyze it for toxins and check the pH and nutrient levels of your plants, soil, and even your home’s water supply. This is important knowledge that will come in handy when it comes time to maintain your grass regularly. The pH and turf nutrients will reveal which nutrients your grass is deficient in, allowing the appropriate items to be applied before reseeding.
Step 2: Determining Your Lawn’s Needs
To properly take care of your home’s lawn, a thorough evaluation of your yard is necessary for any treatment or control plan. The amount and location of the weed, pest, or disease must be known before using any kind of herbicide, pesticide, or fertilizer. Check for warning indications in the affected region, such as compacted soil, poor drainage of water, stressed grass, and signs of plants being eaten or turf being uprooted by pests. When insects are active, leaves can develop holes, damage, or discoloration.
To prevent needless harm to your turf and other constraints that may come with insects or pests, you need to be cautious of any sensitive regions where weed, disease, and pest presence are present. According to the product label, the treatment materials may have application usage and placement restrictions for specific commercial and residential settings. You can start treatments after reading the instructions for the product solution you’ve chosen and by doing some research on particular weeds, grass diseases, or pest infestations.
Step 3: Perfect Lawn Care Practices
Knowing how to properly take care of your lawn requires you to educate yourself about several essential lawn care practices. Before applying a herbicide, insecticide, or fertilizer, be careful to put on the proper personal protective equipment. Before application, be careful to read all product instructions on the label. When to start your spring lawn care program depends on where you live and the sort of turf you have. In general, you should start in the south in the early to mid-spring, whereas in the north you should start in the fall before the ground freezes.
Raking is Key
To have a clean, presentable lawn, make sure to rake away any leaves and other debris from the top layer of soil as soon as spring arrives. We stress this frequently, but it is crucial to remove anything from your lawn that could obstruct the administration of herbicides and fungicides, water, fertilizer, or direct sunshine. Regardless of how much you raked during the fall, the winter weather will still leave your lawn with an abundance of waste, including acorns, branches, twigs, dead leaves, and thatch.
Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Fertilizer
While you may feel like you’ve already done a ton of lawn care tasks, your work is not done when you spread the fertilizer. Your lawn also needs more water in addition to additional nutrient levels. Watering is necessary to activate your chosen fertilizer and to maintain the soil moist for plant growth and root movement in the ground. You must be careful with the amount of water you use, though. It’s not always best to have too much of a good thing. Depending on the region of the country you are in, watering can be a difficult process.
Always Mow Regularly
Mowing will be the most essential and common part of your lawn care routine. Due to the higher temperatures, more rainfall, and irrigation, you will start to notice that your grass is growing more regularly during the spring. Mowing is necessary for a proper spring lawn care routine, despite being exhausting. The time you mow may change based on your location and the pace of grass growth. As a general guideline, you should mow your lawn every week or so, or if it is three inches or longer. Tall, dense grass blades on a healthy lawn will aid to suppress the germination of weed seeds. By following the information in this guide, you’ll have a healthy, beautiful-looking lawn in 2023.
