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Lawn Care 101- Are You Up for the Task?

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weedy lawn Pushing a spreader across a lawn is not all that difficult and spraying a few weeds doesn’t take an advanced degree. Here are some things to take into consideration when deciding between taking care of your lawn yourself or hiring a lawn care company to do the work for you. No offense to my friends who own lawn maintenance companies, but it does not take much expertise to mow a lawn or use a weed whacker. Most homeowners hire a maintenance company because they are tired of doing the work themselves. However caring for your lawn requires more technical knowledge and knowledge of which products to apply and when to apply them. When I visit my local hardware store in the spring and I see homeowners looking at all of the different weed control products, wondering which one is the best to use, I feel like I should hold an impromptu training session on which product should be used on which plants and on what turfgrasses. We have all seen the homeowner who picked the wrong product and ended up with lots of dead spots in their lawn because he used a non-selective herbicide, like Round-Up, on his weeds. Here are some key questions to ask yourself before performing your own lawn care: 
  1. Do lawns in your area have a problem with diseases or insects?
  2. What diseases and what insects are causing the problems?
  3. Are annual white grubs a problem in your lawn or is it chinch bugs or army worms?
  4. Does your lawn suffer from Red Thread, Rust, Brown Patch, Large Patch or Leaf Spot?
  5. What are the correct products to use to treat these insects or diseases?
  6. At what time of the year should they be applied?
Besides buying the right products, you also have to purchase the correct application equipment for the products you plan to use. Make sure to consider these things before heading to the store:
  1. Do you want to use a drop spreader or a broadcast spreader?
  2. Should you purchase a 1-gallon or 2-gallon handheld sprayer or use a hose end sprayer?
  3. What amount do you apply? Most products have labels that provide the application rates, but sometimes the rates are listed as a range, like 4 to 8 ounces per 1,000 sq. ft.
  4. What does a 1,000 sq. ft. look like?
  5. Do you know how big your lawn is so that you can purchase and apply the right amount?
Caring for a lawn may seem like an easy task, but there is a lot more to it than most people realize.  If you want a nice looking lawn, hire a lawn care professional.  It will actually save you money in the long run. Interested in having your lawn cared for by professionals this spring? Contact your local Spring-Green for more information.