8 Lawn Care Tips for Complete Beginners
Here’s the thing: while it’s okay to let your first pancake (and sometimes your first child) turn out slightly weird, you don’t want to risk that with your first lawn because that patch of grass is going to become your pride and joy — and caring for it will feel sooooo good too. That’s why we have put together a small guide of Lawn Care Tips for Complete Beginners.
Every time you sit by the patio doors with your morning coffee, have friends over for a BBQ-bash, take the dog out for a mini-walk or play tag with the kids, you’re going to feel a pang of pride in your green fingers knowing that you made your garden centrepiece the lush, green carpet it has become. But before you can get to the point where a thick turf fills your life, you need to learn how to care for your lawn, starting with the basics:
Become Buddies With Your Lawn
If you’re to have any hope of growing a lush, green lawn then you need to make sure you’re looking after your soil too, starting with the pH level, which should be sitting pretty between 6 and 7, which is ever so slightly acidic. To understand what your soil’s pH level is, start by using one of these super-easy DIY soil tests, after which you’ll have a better idea of what you need to do to help improve your soil’s relationship with your lawn.
Fix Your Lawn’s Underlying Issues
The earlier you can fix any lawn problems, the better. That’s why we recommend focussing your energy on spotting any underlying issues and then addressing them to improve your lawn’s health and potential. That could mean adding lime to your soil to regulate the pH levels and give your grass a better chance at absorbing the right nutrients, or it might mean overseeding any bare patches you’ve found. That said, it could just be a matter of teaching your dog where to do their business (which isn’t the lawn).
Seed It To Believe It
When it comes to seeding your lawn, your success lies in the timing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re seeding a whole new area, overseeding a bare patch or just trying to thicken-up your existing grass, it’s all in the timing, which is usually early-autumn or late-spring depending on what type of grass you have. By doing this, not only are you encouraging your grass to smile the biggest smile, but you’re improving the sward-density, which will make your lawn more resistant to things like drought, disease, moss, weeds and pests.
Every Lawn Needs Nutrition
It’s not just us humans that need healthy grub to feel our best, it’s your lawn too. Yup, believe it or not, grass needs the proper nutrition in order to survive and thrive, and that nutrition is usually high in nitrogen. That’s because nitrogen is the special sauce that makes your lawn so lush and vibrant and green. And because you’ve already done a soil test, you’ll have a really good idea of how much nitrogen your lawn will need. Just be careful because feeding your lawn too much nitrogen, or feeding it too often, can actually cause more harm than good. As such, try and create a feeding schedule that lines up with your grass’ fertiliser needs, and use that to guide you.
Get Rid Of Your Weeds
The second worst thing about weeds is there is no way to completely prevent them from appearing and reappearing, and the first worst thing about them is the way they compete with your lawn for everything, such as nutrients, water, space and sunlight. That’s why it is so important you stay on top of them — and the best way to do that is to grow the healthiest, strongest grass possible; grass that will crowd out any weeds without you needing to intervene. But while you do that, we also recommend you learn how to properly pull weeds out with your hands and maybe even make your own weed killer using vinegar.
Mow Your Grass Correctly
There are a few common lawn care mishaps out there, but the most common is mowing your lawn on a specific day of the week instead of mowing it based on how much your grass has grown. But that’s how to mow with your lawn’s health in mind. Using a sharp mower blade (to avoid ripping your blades, which will encourage disease), you want to mow your lawn when it has reached around 3-3½ inches and never chop off more than one-third of the blade length at a time or else you risk preventing it from growing healthy above and below ground.
Be A Wise Waterer
There is only one rule when it comes to watering your lawn and the rule is: water deeply and less often. That way you’ll encourage your roots to grow deeper and stronger, whereas a shallow and frequent watering routine will lead to shallow roots that are extremely susceptible to drought, disease and other stress. But it’s not just about your lawn’s health because using the deeper and less often technique, you will actually reduce your water usage, save money on your water bills and grow a lawn that is much healthier and more resilient.
Learn From A Lawn Care Legend
Caring for your lawn can be a little daunting, especially at first. But that’s why we’re here. Whether you want a free lawn analysis or you want to have one of our lawn legends help you grow the healthiest lawn you’ve ever imagined, we can help — and we now have a range of bespoke lawn care treatments specialising in weeds, moss, pests and diseases. Not only that, but we use the very best products and equipment, have a lawn care blog that’s the equivalent of sliced bread and we also have the ability to keep your other outdoor garden surfaces looking groovy all year round, like your decking, driveways, pathways and patios. Oh and, the best bit, our prices start from just £29. Twenty nine quid! That’s all. But ssssh. That’s between you and us.
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