Are you making lawn care mistakes you don’t even realize you’re making? You work hard to keep your lawn healthy and looking full and green but what if you’re working against yourself? Urban legends and old wives’ tales often lead us down the wrong path. Read about the most common lawn care mistakes and how to avoid them below.
Using a Dull Lawnmower
Even the most avid of lawn care aficionados are guilty of using a dull lawnmower. Your lawnmower’s blade edges may last for one season but not longer. If your lawn is wet when you mow, the blades may not last a month. Dull lawnmowers damage grass blades by fraying the ends. You may believe you’re under-watering your lawn or that you need more fertilizer when in reality, you just need to sharpen the blades on your mower.
Misusing Your Weed-Eater or Trimmer
Trimmers and edgers that use synthetic line are a necessary evil for most lawns, but they cause far more damage than most of us realize. When you get the trimmer’s head too close to the grass, the string will damage the crown of the plant. This practice will stress the grass and may even kill it. Weeds quickly move in and before you know it, you have a lawn disaster on your hands. Hold your Weed-Eater parallel to the ground and never trim lower than the height of the mowed grass.
Improper Pest Control
If your lawn is healthy, it has insect activity. The biodiversity of a healthy lawn is part of the magic and those beneficial bugs are critical for lush, green grass. When nature’s balance becomes upset, damage can occur to the grass. The mistake happens when you assume a brown patch or other obvious damage is the fault of insects and blindly spray it with pesticide. You risk killing off the good insect when the problem may not be pest-related at all.
Sometimes it’s difficult to determine if lawn problems are of our own making or the fault of a condition we don’t recognize. You can do some research on the Internet but lawn conditions and requirements differ significantly across geographic regions.
The best way to avoid costly lawn care errors is to consult a professional lawn care service like All Green Pest Control and Lawn Care. We are familiar with the requirements in your area and can identify specific pests and diseases that may be causing your lawn problems. Sometimes the best way to avoid making lawn care mistakes is to step aside and let a professional do the job!