Lawn Care: The Ultimate Guide to Lawn Mowing & Maintenance

Everyone wants a lush, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing lawn. But not everyone knows the specifics that get you there. Frequent lawn mowing is a crucial part of the process, but it’s not the only part; there are other forms of lawn care and maintenance that shouldn’t be overlooked, like special lawn treatments or fertilization.

Use lawn mowing, care, and maintenance as your preliminary tools for creating the yard of your dreams. Discover just how easy it can be to achieve your goals with the breakdown of crucial services below. Let’s dive in.

Mow-sy On Down: Lawn Mowing Basics

The Importance of Lawn Mowing

It’s a common myth that the only benefits of frequent lawn mowing are shorter grass and uniform growth, but that’s not the case. In order to cultivate a healthy lawn, it’s crucial to fight weeds, reduce debris, eliminate pests, and provide nutrients. Spoiler alert: mowing your lawn does all of those things!

It’s common knowledge among lawn care professionals that grass should sit at about three inches in length, and there are reasons for this. Regular mowing encourages stronger grass because the healthiest blades will flourish while the weak ones are left behind. However, in order to get rid of the weak ones, you have to mow the lawn.

Just like caring for your hair, caring for your lawn requires frequent trimming. Your grass is battered constantly by pests, disease, and inclement weather. The longer it goes uncut, the slower it will bounce back from all the daily stressors.

Lawn Mowing Best Practices

Some common mowing best practices are to remove debris like rocks and sticks that can get stuck in your mower or make sure the mower blades are sharp–but there are some others that are often overlooked:

• Don’t mow on wet grass: While this isn’t the worst thing you can do, wet grass clumps and sticks to everything, making it harder to mow. It can also tear up your lawn because the wheels don’t grip as well.
• Plan for clippings: Keeping lawn clippings on your lawn can help spread nutrients, but it’s understandable not to want to leave them every time. Either way, ensure you plan where you’re going to put them.
• Be mindful of damaged grass. Don’t disturb grass that is trying to grow, as that may dissuade its growth.
• Mow regularly.

Lawn Care, Not Yawn Care

Soil Prep, Fertilization, and Watering

In order for grass to grow healthy and strong, you need to set your yard up for success. To do this, you want to make sure there is no debris in your soil that could prohibit growth. This gets your soil ready for fertilization.

Fertilization requires more than just tossing some fertilizer in your yard and hoping for the best, though. There are a lot of nuances that affect successful fertilization, such as the amount you need (you don’t want too much–it will burn your grass). The type of soil on your property and whether you’re actively trying to grow new grass or if you’re fertilizing what you already have are other important points to consider.

It’s also crucial to apply the proper amount of water, especially after fertilizing. Adding too much can make your yard moldy, but not adding enough will fry it all away. Lawn care is a particularly finicky business, which is why most people have more success when consulting a professional.

Aeration & Overseeding

Aeration and overseeding are specialty services that you don’t need all the time, but when you need them, you need them. Aeration is the process of poking holes in your yard to allow for oxygen, water, and nutrient flow to your grass’ roots. Overseeding is the process of planting grass onto existing turf without tearing up the turf or soil.

You’ll know if you need aeration services if your grass looks dry, thin, or has poor drainage. Overseeding services tend to be done more often, and you’ll know you’re a good candidate for it if your lawn looks patchy or worn out. Often, if you’re getting aeration services done, you’ll likely also need overseeding services right after.

Maintain the Grain: Lawn Maintenance

Mulching

One landscaping service that is often overlooked when considering lawn maintenance is mulching. But there are many benefits to mulching, especially if you have gardens that you’re trying to help grow. There are different types of mulch, but here are some of the general benefits:

• Weed prevention
• Soil improvement through moisture retention, temperature regulation, and protection
• Earthworm attraction

Your region, specific garden, and lawn goals will help you decide whether you need organic or inorganic mulch, but in general, mulching is a great way to improve both the aesthetics and the health of your lawn.

Hedging, Edging, and Blowing

Hedging, edging, and blowing are like the final blow dry and style of a haircut: the job is just not complete until it’s done. Hedging and edging ensure that your hedges are trimmed and the lines along your walkways and flowerbeds are clean. Blowing is the final touch: after all, half of the job of lawn care is making sure your space is debris-free.