The 8 Don’ts of Lawn Care

Horticulture is a hobby that takes a significantly long time to get right. Therefore, it should not be a surprise that the responsibility of lawn care is also often challenging to uphold. Don’t feel too bad that your efforts do not always yield the best results because even avid gardeners experience a lot of struggles.

But, there’s no denying that a lot of people commit lawn care errors because they are not aware that such are bad practices. For instance, not everybody knows that mowing the lawn should go in different directions to maintain the turf’s fluffy appearance. A lot of property owners reveal that they thought it was more productive to have an established route in ensuring that the whole yard was mowed every time.

So, to improve the results of your efforts for lawn care, Conway, AR professional gardeners have listed down the eight most common mistakes to stop doing.

1. Watering during the hottest time of the day

People are advised to drink a lot of water when it’s incredibly hot; it should be the same for plants, right? Not necessarily.

Plants absorb water differently from humans. Therefore, watering your turf during the hottest time of the day is not bound to be quite beneficial. When you water your plants when it’s blazing hot outside, evaporation happens quickly. Water dries up before it reaches the roots.

So, it’s better to water plants before it gets too hot – before 10 am is ideal. This will allow water to seep through the soil and get absorbed by the roots, which then will keep grass and plants adequately hydrated throughout the day.

2. Watering frequently

Watering frequently is another common mistake. It’s not an effective way to keep turf and plants hydrated. On top of that, it can increase your water bill.

Instead of watering often, it’s better to water more deeply. This will encourage roots to grow deeper and reach for water better during the summer.

3. Watering late at night

To prevent the sun from absorbing the water intended for plants and turf, a lot of property owners choose to water late at night. This is counterintuitive, for it leaves grass and other plants too moist, which encourages the growth of molds.

In addition to that, watering late at night can attract pests to your yard. Most rodents are nocturnal and look for water at night. So, if you’re in the habit of watering your lawn or garden using an automatic sprinkler, you make your outdoor space an ideal place to go for pests.

4. Applying pulverized limestone or chalk

When did fertilizing become bad for lawns? Fertilizing is not bad at all – overfertilizing is. The thing about using pulverized limestone as fertilizer is it’s often not necessary for creating the right soil pH level. There’s no need for lime if your soil’s pH level is naturally at around 5.5.

What you should do instead is to get your soil tested for its pH level. And, instead of lime, opt for natural compost, which is richer in nutrients, but more cost-effective.

5. Keeping a large lawn

If you are more about function than style, you don’t need to maintain a large lawn, which is more time-consuming and costly. Garden experts say that you only need a spacious lawn if you have children and pets to entertain.

However, if you wish to save on lawn maintenance costs, it’s naturally better to decrease the size of your lawn. Instead of a large space of green, why not create flowerbeds and fill them with plants that are endemic to your area? Or plant more hardy shrubs and flowers. They are not as costly or challenging to maintain.

Another option to consider for decreasing the size of your lawn is by filling an area with sand or pebbles to create a Japanese-inspired Zen garden. Sand or pebbles do not need much maintenance. Daily sweeping is all a Zen garden needs to look lovely.

6. Using chemicals to control pests

Chemical pesticides may be effective in annihilating pests, but they are quite toxic. After using chemical pesticides, you would have to keep the children indoors and use a dog leash for your pet to prevent them from venturing outdoors.

Such toxic pesticides are not your only options; there are organic solutions to consider. For instance, if you deal with a lot of flies and other crawling insects in your garden, you can use diatomaceous earth for them. This fine white powder is made of dried sea creatures that can kill insects and even slugs by piercing their soft skin. This leads to dehydration and eventual death.

Another non-toxic option is leftover beer that you leave in shallow dishes around your lawn. This will attract grass-loving snails and slugs, and drown them.

7. Planting just one type of grass

One type of grass is easier to maintain is the typical belief of most people. Actually, it can be so much easier to maintain a combination of different varieties of grass, particularly if they are all suitable for the local climate.

Opting for multi-cultures of grass will make your lawn less prone to damage from pests and diseases. The idea here is even if some pests attack your yard, they will likely only focus on the species of grass that they like. There will still be a lot of leftover from the other grass varieties to keep your landscape looking lush.

To know about the best grass varieties to pair with each other, visit your local nursery. It will be able to provide you with the best combinations of grass varieties.

8. Not raking or sweeping away grass clippings and fallen leaves

While it is true that grass clippings and fallen leaves can serve as natural fertilizer, they should still be swept off your lawn. Leaving these alone will eventually cause to mattify, which can suffocate the grass and soil beneath them.

If you want to use them as natural boosters for your garden, add them to your compost heap so they will disintegrate more and be easier to spread.

There you go, the eight typical practices for lawn care that should stop. Use the alternative practices or options provided as shared by specialists in lawn care in Maumelle, AR, and you may finally see the results that you have always wanted.