You do your best to take care of your lawn and give it everything it needs to be healthy and happy. Unfortunately, there are many common misconceptions when it comes to lawn care.
And even more unfortunately, these practices can be extremely damaging, and even lethal, when it comes to the well-being of your lawn. With a few changes in practice, you can get back on track to that thick, green, carpet-like lawn you aspire too. But first, here are three of the biggest lawn care mistakes. Know what they are, and then stop doing them!
Mistake #1: Cutting Your Lawn Too Short
Some people find mowing the lawn a relaxing and enjoyable activity for a Saturday morning. Others find it to be just one more thing they have to get done on an already impossibly long list of “to-do’s”. This probably leads to some homeowners thinking, “If I cut my lawn a little shorter, I can go two weeks instead of one between mowing.”
Or perhaps you just prefer the look of golf course turf. But when you go this route, you’re putting a lot of stress on your lawn. With less leaf on each blade of grass, less photosynthesis is able to occur. And with less sunlight and less food for your lawn, you’re going to get less healthy blades of grass and less healthy roots. You’re just going to get less growth in general. So you may really might have to mow less, but it’s going to come at the cost of the health of your lawn.
Mistake #2: Mowing with a Dull Blade
Keeping your lawn longer is important, but it’s also important to continue to regularly mow your lawn by just taking off a little each time. In addition, it’s extremely important that you’re not using a dull blade when you mow. With so many other things to keep up on, it’s easy to let the sharpness of your blade slip.
This mistake is usually one that’s innocently made, but regardless it will do damage. When your blade is dull, rather than getting a clean cut you will tear, damage, or even bruise your blades of grass. When your lawn is in this condition it leaves it vulnerable for disease to set in, or pests. A good rule of thumb is to sharpen your lawn mower blades each season, and watch for signs that your mower is “pulling” the lawn rather than giving it a nice clean cut.
Mistake #3: Abusing Fertilizer
Sometimes a little bit of a good thing means a lot is even better. While that may be true with a bowl of ice cream on a Friday night, it is certainly not the case when it comes to your lawn and fertilizing. In addition, applying the wrong kind of fertilizer or at the wrong time of year can be just as detrimental.
At best, abusing and misusing fertilizer could lead to too much leaf growth and not enough root growth. At worst, it could mean a burnt up lawn. To avoid this mistake, consider hiring a professional like All Green Pest Control and Lawn Care to take care of all your fertilizing needs.