Lawn Maintenance Checklist: Top 10 Lawn Care Techniques

Have you ever wondered how the neighbour’s lawn stays so green? When you pay attention to lawn care, your landscaping will reach its full potential and look amazing as well. The difference between having a gorgeous green garden and a lacklustre lawn is determined by how well you maintain it. If you follow certain lawn care techniques, you can be the proud owner of the lushest lawn in your neighbourhood.

Spring is a particularly important time for lawn maintenance. During this season, the sensitivity of your yard increases since the soil becomes spongy and plants get tender than usual. The weather also becomes more unpredictable. With so many environmental factors influencing your lawn, you must be organized and methodical when it comes to lawn maintenance.

Below is a lawn maintenance checklist with ten different techniques to keep your lawn looking lush green:

1. Weed Control

When it comes to lawn care, prevention is better than cure. The best way of eliminating any weed problem in your lawn is by making use of pre-emergent weed control. Herbicide is usually used before any signs of weed emerge on your lawn. This prevents the weeds from showing up in your yard or garden.

You can only apply pre-emergent weed control before germination, or else it loses its intended impact. Some weed control products last longer than others. You can learn about the most effective products by asking a professional landscaper for recommendations. These experts are better placed to know which pre-emergent weed control product is ideal for your lawn.

2. Lawn Care Equipment

One of the biggest lawn care mistakes is starting the season with poorly maintained equipment. The condition of your lawn care equipment directly affects the overall visual appeal of your lawn. Always make sure your lawn mower is in excellent condition before the season starts. Check whether the blades are sharp enough or if they need to be replaced.

3. Lawn Edging

Before your grass starts growing, make sure you do some edging all around the hard surfaces and landscape beds on your lawn. Edging makes lawn maintenance easier and gives it a polished landscaped look. This also prevents the grass from creeping into places that it is not supposed to. Edging is like adding the finishing touches to a house, and it's what gives your lawn that extra ‘edge’ over other lawns in the neighbourhood.

4. General Cleanup

A general cleanup of your lawn is recommended before the growing season kicks off. The debris may prevent the lawn from receiving enough sunlight and oxygen, so get rid of any leaves or other remnants carried over from the previous season. Another added benefit of doing a general cleanup is that you can keep your lawn from being attacked by fungus or disease.

5. Apply Necessary Soil Amendments

If your lawn had unhealthy spots in previous seasons, spring is the best time to diagnose the problem by testing the soil. You can then make the necessary amendments to heal the soil. If the pH of your soil is low, apply some lime to increase it. Lower soil pH is highly acidic. Lime adds calcium and magnesium to your lawn and improves the penetration of water in soils.

6. Manage Insects and Pests

Insects and pests can be a nightmare for your lawn. They literally bore tunnels in woods, strip the bark around trunks, and chew up your leaves and flowers. This results in weak or possibly dead plants. If you use chemicals to fight pests, hire a professional landscaper to do the job for you. Without the right knowledge, you may end up upsetting your lawn’s environmental balance.

7. Water Your Lawn

Simply put, you cannot have a beautiful lush green lawn if you don't supply it with the right amounts of water. In most cases, a lawn will only require an inch of water per week during the growing season.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that supplying your lawn with a lot of water is what makes it green. On the contrary, giving your lawn too much water is just as harmful as not giving it enough water. Too much water will clog your soil and cut off the air supply to the roots, leaving your grass exposed to root rot and other diseases.

8. Set Lawn Mower Blade to Correct Height

Before you start mowing your lawn, always check whether the lawn mower blade is set at the right height to avoid scalping, which is basically cutting the grass too low. In most cases, people lower their mower blades in the late growing season as they prepare for winter. The height at which you set your lawn mower blade depends on many things, such as the season, growing conditions, and the type of grass.

9. Spot Spray Weeds

Spot spraying is done for weeds that defied the pre-emergent weed control method and have managed to germinate. This lawn care technique should be done throughout the grass growing season, which ensures the weeds won't set seed and spread out to the rest of the lawn. You can use a spray bottle to spot-spray the weeds.

10. Dethatching

Thatch is used to define the layer of organic matter found on a lawn, usually at the base of grass plants. When this layer of thatch gets too thick, it can be harmful to the plant. During the rainy season, thatch usually absorbs excess water, which in turn inhibits the roots from getting enough oxygen. Thatch also increases the chances of pest infestation and fungus growth. You can easily dethatch your lawn using a lawn rake.