Your lawn is a statement about yourself to your neighbors. A well manicured and lush lawn shows you’re a person who’s in control of their life. You’re able to bring structure from chaos, and that structure can even be beautiful. Perhaps that’s going too far, but lawn care and maintenance serves more than just an aesthetic purpose. A well manicured lawn allows your children to play comfortably. It allows you to host parties and get togethers. A beautiful lawn helps soothe your mind as you look out at the simple perfection. It can be mesmerizing.
It’s not easy to keep your lawn well maintained. So follow these tips if you are looking for some assistance, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Use the Right Fertilizer:
Why do you use fertilizer? Well, by mowing the lawn, you are stressing your lawn. It needs to be able to regrow itself. Fertilizer provides the nutrients for that. Almost all lawn fertilizer is a combination of three different elements. Those elements are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. On the fertilizer bags you will probably be looking at, they will be denoted by their letter from the periodic table. Nitrogen is “N”, phosphorus is “P” and potassium is “K”. The reason there isn’t a best fertilizer is because soils vary by region. Nitrogen is almost always needed, but the values of the other two can vary. If you have a sandy soil, then you will need more potassium than a regular soil. If you are live in the midwest, you probably have more than enough phosphorus in your lawn. Phosphorus also takes a very long time to disperse. This means that as your lawn matures, it will require less phosphorus or potentially none.
Don’t Skimp on the Tools
You know what they say, “the right tool for the right job”. Well lawn maintenance is no different. You don’t want to be using inferior tools. They can result in a poor job or a lot of extra time. So what do you want to have?
- Lawnmower – This almost goes without saying. But whenever that’s the case, it’s just better to say it. Depending on the size and elevations of your lawn, you might choose a different type. You may want a walk behind mower, a riding mower, or one of those most excellent robot lawn mowers.
- Trimmer – A good trimmer is the Robin to your Lawnmower’s Batman. It takes care of the details that you mower might leave behind. There’s nothing worse than having a great lawn cut well, and then having a ring of tall grass near your buildings and trees.
- Edger – An edger allows you to landscape and cut through the sod of your lawn with ease. It’s important when you choose to do any landscaping alterations. It results in clean cuts and sharp looking landscaping.
- Lawn Rake – Not your standard leaf rake, but a rake specifically for your lawn. This helps remove dead grass and extraneous lawn clippings. It will allow your grass to grow
- Gloves – Sturdy comfortable gloves will help keep your hands looking good. Aside from protection against trimmers and shears, they will help reduce the vibration intensity from a walk behind mower.