If you’re a new homeowner, you might be feeling surprised (overwhelmed, even) by how much is involved in caring for your lawn. There’s so much more to it than just buying a bag of weed and feed and performing the routine mowing.
There are a number of considerations that should be minded if you’re looking to achieve great results. Unfortunately, if you make lawn care mistakes, you can set yourself back. Over-fertilizing or mowing the lawn too short are common mistakes that are easy to make.
We get that it might feel a bit stressful. That’s exactly why we put together these lawn care tips for new homeowners in Memphis, TN. Lawn care is something that we are passionate about and we want to help pass that knowledge onto you. We love that you are trying to educate yourself about new homeowner lawn care—and we are here to help.
These lawn care tips for new homeowners in Memphis, TN should help you to get off on the right foot when it comes to caring for your lawn.
It is really easy to overlook watering. Frankly, this is a mistake made by new homeowners and long-time homeowners alike.
Oftentimes, homeowners underestimate how important watering is and also assume there’s really no “wrong way” to do it. But that’s not exactly true. You can make watering mistakes that impact the health of your lawn.
First and foremost, the timing of when you water is important. Though a lot of homeowners come home and water after work, this can be problematic in terms of creating fungal growth. When the sun isn’t out to evaporate excess water, it can sit on the lawn and breed fungal growth.
The ideal time to water the lawn is in the early morning, just at sunrise (or immediately before). Your lawn roots will get a nice soaking before the sun evaporates the excessive moisture. Keep in mind if you water in the middle of the day, your lawn might not have the chance to absorb the water at the root zone where it’s needed prior to evaporation taking too much of it away.
How often you water your lawn is also an important factor to consider. Instead of watering your lawn daily, we recommend watering 1 to 2 times per week if Mother Nature isn’t already providing steady, soaking rains.
If you aren’t sure how much water your lawn is receiving, moisture levels can be tested with a soil probe, which will either take a sample out of the ground or use electronic sensors to test the moisture. A DIY alternative with an object you already own would be to see how easy it is to stick a stake or a screwdriver into the ground. If you cannot easily push it in, your soil is too dry.
As far as new homeowner lawn care goes, mowing is an important consideration. We understand that mowing seems like such a basic task that not much can go wrong. In reality, homeowners often mow their lawn too short which might be why it’s turning yellow or struggling.
The optimal cut height for your lawn will depend upon your primary grass type. For instance, Tall Fescue is typically cut to 3 to 3.5 inches, Zoysia is 2 to 3 inches, and Bermudagrass is 1 to 2 inches.
Cut height matters because of the fact that mowing puts a lot of stress on your lawn. The more you cut off, the more stressed your lawn will be. When you cut too short, it’s more challenging for your lawn to recover. That’s one reason why you may see a dull, green or yellow color or an overall loss of vigor.
How often you mow is also important. We know that life gets busy and a mowing might get skipped. But if you let your lawn grow too long, you have to make a much more dramatic cut (which puts a lot of stress on the turf).
We recommend cutting no more than one-third of the grass blades at a time if you want to maintain your lawn’s health.
Other mowing errors come back to the equipment. It’s important to mow with sharp blades, a level mowing deck, and well-inflated tires. You want to make a nice, crisp cut in order to reduce stress. When you make a jagged cut, this is difficult for the grass to heal from.
Lawn aeration is the process of making small holes by pulling out small soil plugs (or cores) throughout your lawn in order to allow more oxygen, water, and nutrients to penetrate deep into the soil, down to the root zone. Allowing that to happen helps ensure a favorable environment for the root system to develop and grow. Healthier roots mean a healthier lawn.
Aeration and overseeding has been called the “secret to the best lawn” for a reason—because a lot of people simply don’t realize just how important it is. That goes not only for new homeowners but for long-time ones, too.
As a new homeowner, if you’re serious about promoting your lawn’s best health, you’ll want to invest in a lawn aeration and overseeding service.
As far as lawn care tips for new homeowners, one would be to choose a professional service rather than try to perform DIY aeration. There are a lot of reasons why this is a service that just doesn’t make sense to tackle on your own (which we’ve outlined in that article). It can be arduous, an investment of time and money, and not get you the results you desire when you perform it on your own.
All year long, there are lawn care issues to address. These include year-round weeds, various lawn pests, lawn diseases, fertilization, and even the changing impact of weather.
If you’re a new homeowner, you might be excited about tackling lawn care during that first spring season. This is the active growing period. But as the summer rolls around, and the lawn is now dealing with drought-stress and possible other issues (like a grub problem or summer weeds), you may start to find yourself frustrated.
Perhaps, new homeowner lawn care wasn’t what you thought it would be!
As the seasons change, it will be important that you are switching up what you’re doing for your lawn so that it’s continually cared for. But if you are feeling overwhelmed or like you don’t know what your lawn needs, don’t worry. We’ll cover that point next!
We understand that new homeowner lawn care can be overwhelming. If this is your first time owning a home, you likely have plenty of other homeowner-related duties to take care of.
Fortunately, you don’t have to handle lawn care on your own. While you might tackle watering and mowing, other services can be handed over to a professional. This will help ensure that your lawn is getting exactly what it’s needed (when it’s needed) and that can make a huge difference.
With the implementation of a professional lawn care program with the right products, well-trained people, and a proactive regimen, you’ll soon have a healthy and thriving lawn without all the work.
We believe that you ought to be able to have the lush green lawn that you desire. As a new homeowner, you want everything just right, and we understand!
At Master Lawn, we are prepared to help you produce the lushest and greenest lawn possible. Besides getting you the results you want, allowing us to guide you will also grant you peace of mind. Instead of having to figure out everything that your lawn may need by yourself, you can simply leave it in the hands of an expert. It’s a win all around.
Ready to have a lawn that you love at your Tennessee or Northern Mississippi home? Talk to a lawn care expert, choose from 3 program options, and become the master of your lawn.
