Posted on May 17, 2022 by Lawn Doctor
Lawn care for new homeowners doesn’t have to be challenging. Breaking it down into basic and advanced lawn care makes it easier to tackle. Start with the basics and work into the advanced to get the lush lawn you want. Here is a guide to lawn care for first-time homeowners that can help.
Basic lawn care includes the must-do tasks that keep your lawn green and healthy. It keeps your yard attractive so you don’t get complaints from the HOA, and it strengthens your lawn from the roots up. Having healthy grass prevents issues like disease and bare patches. Getting into a regular lawn care routine makes the health of your grass easier to maintain. Think of it as a preventive step so you’re not constantly trying to repair your lawn. Here are the basics of lawn care for new homeowners.
The ideal height for grass can vary based on the variety in your yard. Cool-season grasses should usually be kept a little longer — ideally between 3 and 4 inches high after you mow. Warm-season grasses typically thrive at shorter lengths — between 2 and 2.5 inches.
Because you want to cut about one-third of the blade length when you mow, an ideal height for mowing cool-season grass is when it reaches 4 to 6 inches high. If your lawn has warm-season grass varieties, aim to mow when it reaches 3 to 4 inches high.
If you’re not sure what type of grass you have, do your best to find out. The type of grass can impact many aspects of routine lawn care.
Continue mowing your grass until it stops growing for this season. That usually means you’ll be mowing into late fall, depending on where you live.
Your lawn needs just the right amount of water to stay healthy and grow well. More water isn’t better. If you overwater, you run the risk of compacting the soil. It also creates ideal conditions for disease and fungal growth, which can weaken or kill your grass.
If your lawn features native grass varieties, you may not need any supplemental irrigation except for in times of prolonged dry, hot weather. Lawns with non-native grass or newer grass may require extra watering depending on the rainfall in your area.
Grass typically needs about 1 inch of water each week, including rainfall. If you need to supplement, water deeply and less often, timing the irrigation to fall before 9 a.m. when possible. This allows as much of the water as possible to soak into the roots without evaporating first.
Following other basic lawn care techniques helps your grass grow strong and prevents weeds from growing. This includes maintaining a proper grass height, watering appropriately and fertilizing the lawn. Avoid situations that cause bare spots or damage your grass, such as leaving yard waste sitting on a patch of grass. Excess wear or use of the grass, especially newly established grass, can also weaken it and offer an opportunity for weeds to take over.
Bugs are a part of nature, but certain types of insects cause serious damage to lawns. Some pests, such as grubs, chew on the roots, which eliminates the support system and anchor for your grass. Other pests eat the blades of grass, leaving them with holes and damage that could affect their growth.
Like weed control, lawn pest control is easier when you have strong, healthy grass. Maintaining your care tasks consistently keeps the grass dense and strong, making it more resistant to pests.
Keep an eye out for signs of pest damage, which may include brown patches, bare spots or holes in grass blades. Tackling pest infestations early with pesticide helps prevent the problem from spreading. Follow the instructions on the product label, or call Lawn Doctor to let us handle the infestation for you.
Once you master the basics of lawn care, you can progress to the advanced practices that help it thrive. These tasks are steps that you only need to take occasionally during the growing season. They improve the health of the grass and encourage stronger growth.
Fertilizing your lawn encourages more growth, which can make your grass green and thick. With improved root growth, the grass is stronger and more resistant to pests, weeds and lack of water.
Fertilization is all about timing, and that timing depends on the type of grass you have. As a general guideline, you should fertilize your lawn every 4 to 6 weeks. Depending on where you live, that could add up to four to eight fertilizer applications per year.
If you have cool-season grass, start your fertilizer routine in spring. Because these varieties thrive in cooler temperatures, they often become stressed with the high temperatures of summer. If you start fertilizing early, you establish strong, healthy grass before the higher temperatures set in, which can help your lawn weather the warmer temperatures better. Summer applications should typically be lighter followed by regular fertilization into fall.
Meanwhile, warm-season grasses benefit from an early spring start time for fertilization. This encourages new growth after winter dormancy. Consistent applications through spring and fall keep your warm-season grass strong and healthy. Use a light application in early fall before the end of September. Fertilizing warm-season grass later in fall could cause damage to new growth once the temperatures drop.
Aeration and overseeding improve the health of your lawn. When you aerate, you punch small holes into the lawn. This allows all the nutrients to reach the grass roots better. It also helps reduce compaction of the soil. The aeration process uses a special tool to create the holes in the soil. For cool-season grass, fall is the ideal time to aerate. If you have warm-season grass, schedule aeration for late spring or early summer.
Overseeding means you spread more grass seed over an existing lawn. When you overseed after aeration, you encourage new grass to grow in the gaps. With healthier soil, the new seeds can grow well to improve the thickness of your lawn.
Soil pH describes how acidic the soil is. Slightly acidic soil provides ideal growing conditions for grass. When your soil is in the ideal pH range, the grass can soak up the nutrients well. If soil testing reveals low pH levels, you can add lime, which is an alkaline material to help control the acidity. When the pH is on the high end, adding sulfur can help balance the level. Lawn Doctor can help you choose the right remedies and perform the treatments for you to get optimal results.
Lawn care doesn’t have to be challenging. Call Lawn Doctor for help with weeds, pests and other advanced lawn care needs to keep your grass green, lush and healthy.
Contact Lawn Doctor to help care for your lawn when you can’t.
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