Three Lawn Care Tips Homeowners Should Follow

The condition of your home's lawn can be among the most important factors for determining the overall attractiveness of the property. However, lawn maintenance can be a topic that is more complicated and intensive than many homeowners may realize at first. To protect your yard from some potentially serious problems, you should make sure you are following some of the more basic lawn care tips.

Protect The Lawn From Pests

Weeds are the primary concern for many homeowners when it comes to their lawns. However, there are many different types of insects that can cause serious damage to your grass. Luckily, there are a number of commercially available lawn pesticides that will neutralize the most harmful of these pests. Ideally, you should start applying these treatments to the grass as soon as it starts to grow in the spring. Also, you may need to reapply these chemicals every few weeks as they will break down.

Monitor Drainage

Proper soil drainage is a key factor in determining the health and growth rate of your lawn. When the soil has poor drainage, rainwater may pool around the roots of the grass. If the roots of these plants are unable to dry out periodically, they may start to rot, which can lead to the grass dying. To determine whether or not your soil has proper drainage to support a lawn, you should have a lawn care professional perform soil testing. These tests will measure the soil's ability to allow excess water to drain away. While you are having these tests conducted, you may also want to have nutrient analysis perform. This will tell you the exact concentration of the more common nutrients and minerals that are needed by plants. This information will enable you to ensure that you avoid over fertilizing the lawn.

Care For Your Lawn Equipment

To maintain your lawn, you will need to use numerous pieces of equipment. This can include lawn mowers, weed eaters and fertilizer dispensers. Sadly, homeowners frequently fail to appreciate the importance of maintaining the tools. Yet, this can be a costly mistake to make as malfunctions can be expensive to repair and they can lead to damage occurring to the lawn. For example, a lawn mower that is not balanced can cut the grass too close to the ground. To establish a maintenance schedule, you will want to carefully review the recommended care instructions for each piece of lawn care equipment that you own. By listing the maintenance tasks and their recommended schedule in a notebook, you will be able to easily mark the dates that this work has been performed.