The Basics Of Great Lawn Maintenance

The Basics Of Great Lawn Maintenance

Every summer weekend, residential neighborhoods across the United States hum to life with the sound of lawnmowers clipping away at unruly grass. For many homeowners, lawn mowing is where their lawn maintenance routine both starts and stops. Don't get us wrong- lawn mowing is important, and a big part of what we do. However, if the only thing you do for your lawn is mow it, your grass could be left lacking.

As lawn care experts, the pros at Burch Lawn Care know the ins and outs of great lawn maintenance. Let us break down the basics of lawn maintenance so you can discover how you can better improve and grow your own lawn!

Mowing Done Right

Again, mowing is foundational for ensuring a neat, attractive, and healthy lawn. However, the frequency of your lawn mowing routine can have a big effect on the health of your grass. It's a big reason why you ideally don't want to leave your yard unattended for 3-4 weeks between cuttings. It's more difficult to cut when it's long, for one, but it can also hurt your grass!

Many lawn care professionals follow a "rule of thirds" when cutting grass: you ideally don't want to cut more than one-third of a blade of grass off at a time. Cutting more than a third off at once can send the grass into a kind of "shock" that stresses the grass and can cause it to grow out the stalk more than its roots. However, cutting off just one-third of the blade's length per mowing reduces stress on the plant and encourages root growth, which in turn helps ensure healthy grass.

That's why we recommend that lawn owners get their grass cut once every week. However, bi-weekly mowings are usually acceptable if a weekly cutting is too much to manage. Of course, you can't neglect to edge your lawn as well- you gotta have those nice, clean lines!

Weed Control

Not everyone likes using chemical herbicides on their lawn, and we can respect that. However, for people who value a clean, uniform look for their lawn, weed treatments can make lawn maintenance a lot easier.

Some weeds in particular are very hard to kill once they've germinated, with crabgrass being a big one. To prevent these weeds from taking root, some lawn care experts will treat lawns with pre-emergent, which stymies the germination of specific kinds of troublesome weeds. While the ideal pre-emergent treatment times vary based on what weed's being targeted, most pre-emergents are applied in the fall.

Seeding, Aeration, and Fertilization

If your lawn is properly irrigated and is free from debris, sunlight, and other health problems, but still lacks color and thickness, it might need more nutrients and growth support. Fertilization enriches your soil with plant food that helps your grass grow greener and thicker!

To really influence strong, lush growth, you may want to consider seeding and aeration your lawn too. Typically done in the fall, seeding your yard allows new grass to develop roots over the winter so your lawn can grow thicker in the spring. Seeding is usually accompanied by aeration, which both helps new roots grow deeper and enriches the ground with soil gases like nitrogen and oxygen, which also supports healthy growth!

Simplifying Lawn Maintenance With The Pros

In-depth lawn maintenance requires a fair bit of hands-on work and lots of practical knowledge of good lawn care. Fortunately, Louisville locals don't have to manage it all themselves. Burch Lawn Care offers all the quintessential lawn maintenance services you need to make your grass grow greener, lusher, and lovelier than ever.

For all aspects of lawn maintenance and proper landscaping care, Burch Lawn Care has you covered! Call us and request a free, no-obligation quote for our services today at 502-797-6358!