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The landscaping industry has seen a significant spike in revenue in recent years; in 2019, it generated total revenue of over $99 billion in the U.S. alone.

Fortunately, you don’t always need a professional landscaper to keep your lawns in great shape. Whether your lawn is thriving or merely striving, here are seven top lawn maintenance tips that will keep your lawn looking its best at all times.

1. Develop a Watering Plan

There are plenty of misconceptions floating around with regard to irrigation. Many homeowners overwater their grass, while others don’t give their lawns nearly enough nourishment. Identify the best times to water your grass and choose the right watering pattern for your lawn. This might even require you to invest in a different sprinkler system—one that offers better coverage for your lawn. Do your research, craft a watering schedule, and make sure your grass is getting an ideal amount of water each day!

2. Remember to Fertilize

Ample water and sunlight will go a long way towards enhancing your lawn’s appearance, yet it’s important that you also fertilize your lawn. Naturally, the soil will contain many of the nutrients your grass needs to thrive; but as your lawn grows and is mowed, your soil is unlikely to contain all of the resources that your grass requires. An organic fertilizer—applied once every two or three months—will provide a much-needed boost!

Just be sure to keep all fertilizer products labeled at all times and keep them out of the reach of children and pets. Certain products have been linked to cancer, neurological effects, and birth defects.

3. Keep your Lawn Clean

While definitely essential, proper nourishment isn’t the be-all and end-all of lawn maintenance. The health of your lawn also depends on how tidy you keep it. Particularly if you have young children who like to play with toys outside and kick balls around the yard, make sure you keep an eye out for any objects that could be blocking areas of grass from receiving proper sunlight, water, and fertilizer. Make an effort to clear all objects from your lawn in a timely manner, as neglecting to do so will likely result in sparse grass and patches of visible soil scattered across your property.

4. Always Pick up After Pets

While it might be tempting to leave pet droppings on your lawn to decompose naturally, keep in mind that this process takes a significant amount of time. In colder conditions, it can take up to 12 months! Well before the waste has had a chance to decompose, you’ll start to notice patches of dead grass and bare soil form across your lawn. Instead, be diligent about picking up after your pet. You’ll find that this relatively minor inconvenience will save you plenty of headaches down the road.

5. Cut your Grass at the Right Height

Did you know that shorter isn’t better? If you’re like most people, you’ve probably set your blades close to the ground in order to avoid mowing as frequently. However, setting your mower’s blades any shorter than a few inches from the ground often results in a bad cut—causing the tips of your grass to develop a lifeless, brownish color. The ideal cutting height for most lawns is between 2 ½ and 3 ½ inches. While setting your blades to this height might require you to mow more often, your lawn’s enhanced appearance will be worth the extra work.

6. Maintain your Lawnmower

Like all machines, lawnmowers break down over time. When the blades on your mower become dull, they will no longer deliver a sharp, uniform edge for your grass. Rather, they will leave your lawn with an uneven, jagged cut. Over time, this will cause your grass tips to take on a brownish tint.

Fortunately, maintaining your lawnmower isn’t nearly as difficult as it might sound. Simply servicing the blades once or twice annually will allow them to stay sharp throughout all mowing seasons!

7. Get Help from a Pro!

Remember, taking care of your lawn is hard work. If watering, fertilizing, and maintaining your mower is a little over your head, or if you simply the lack the time or money to invest in your lawn, consider hiring a professional who can handle all of your lawn care needs.

Today’s landscaping and lawn maintenance experts can draft up a maintenance schedule that will keep your lawns looking lush and healthy year-round—and with very little effort needed on your end!

Photo: Lear & Mahoney Landscape Associates

Every homeowner has their fill of home decoration issues. But aside from keeping their interiors spic and span, they also need to look outside and ensure that their homes are kept presentable to the eye of any passerby.

And while you can bet that the choice of paint as well as the design of your roofing are essential in keeping you home attractive, you also have to focus on how to keep your front lawn neat and tidy. For sure, mowing the grass when it has become too tall is not the half of it. A great deal of lawn maintenance is done through these five basic steps.

Know the Type of Soil

Depending on the grass, you will need to determine what type of soil to use in order to keep your grass well-maintained. Soil analysis helps you in this respect. Using a variety of methods, you can identify the pH levels of the soil as well as its acidity to grow a healthy lawn.

Photo: Quinlan Terry Architects

In such cases where you have to improve the soil in your front yard, you should be able to the process itself as well as the best conditions to do the project.

Install Effective Irrigation

The summer season and hot weather in general can leave a very nasty pall on certain grass types. For this reason, having a sprinkler system does the job of keeping your lawn hydrated and providing them with the needed nourishment to survive intense heat waves. There are gardening devices available that can help you maintain your lawn or garden even when you are not around for a couple of days. If you want to know more about this, read on Occupy The Farm gardening advice and tips. Bill Allen, an expert gardener, gives the best information online about the topic.

Effective irrigation systems provide a plethora of benefits and organic lawn care. They can save you time and money and, more importantly, protect your lawn from a host of environmental factors. To make your lawn lush and green all year round, you might need the service of a lawn irrigation contractor.

Cutting at the Right Length

Freshly cut grass does smell great, especially when the rains come right after you snipped the last blade. Then again, cutting grass too short can render your lawn vulnerable to the elements. So, as much as possible, cut the grass at the right length and avoid scalping your lawn.

Photo: Via Houzz

Choose the Right Mower

And speaking of cutting grass, the choice of a lawnmower is a crucial and at the same time difficult task. For this, you will need to have the right technical know-how to be able to select the right machine to do the job of keeping your lawn presentable.

For starters, you might as well consider mowers that are fuel efficient. At the same time, you might need to select a brand or store where spare parts are readily accessible in case your mower breaks down. Finally, equipping your mower with the right blade is also an important consideration. Mower blades should be sharp enough to produce the best results.

Get Help

Not sure about the right way to care for your lawn? Well, it’s better said than done most of the time, but it will come to a point that you need professionals to beautify and give life to your front lawn. Whether its landscaping or installing a sprinkler system, you can get these services from contractors who are skilled in lawn maintenance.