Landscape Maintenance Tips to Keep an Attractive Lawn

Lush green grass, beautiful fixtures, and blooming flower beds are some components of a beautiful and well-kept lawn. Just like your home’s interior, these external areas need proper care and regular maintenance. Otherwise, you’ll need to hire a landscape restoration contractor to bring back its former glory.

Taking care of the landscape outside your home can go a long way. A well-maintained yard not only improves your house’s overall aesthetic but also adds market value, ensures proper drainage, and prevents soil erosion. Follow these easy landscape maintenance tips to keep an attractive and beautiful property.

Mow Your Lawn Regularly

Regular mowing provides a clean and well-manicured appearance to your lawn. When trimmed on the right length, grass will not become a hiding place for pests like mosquitoes and ticks. The best way is to remove one-third of the grass length, which helps them root properly and prevents weed buildup.

Weekly mowing should do the job, but it depends on the weather conditions. During the summer, you will have to do it more frequently because the grass grows faster. On the other hand, the amount of mowing significantly decreases during the winter.

Here are some mowing reminders you need to know:

• Make sure your mower is working properly, and the blades are sharpened to ensure maximum performance.
• Do not mow when the grass or soil is wet to avoid causing damage to your lawn. Doing so can also compromise the growth of the grass in the future.
• The best time to mow is during the late afternoon or early evening after the heat of the day has passed.

Perform Regular and Seasonal Cleanups

Weeds, thatches, and mosses can accumulate in your landscape if left ignored. These things prevent plant and grass growth by blocking air, essential moisture, and nutrients from seeping through the soil and roots. Here’s how to get rid of these lawn problems:

• To remove weeds, pull out the whole plant, including the roots using your hand or garden tools. For a large weed buildup, you can spray herbicide with low toxicity to kill them.
• Thatch is an organic matter made of dead leaves, grass, and root stems. To get rid of it, you will need a lawn scarifier that rakes and removes the mulch from your lawn.
• Mosses are found in areas with excess moisture and shade. To eliminate moss, you can simply rake them out or apply herbicide as initial solutions. For a more permanent fix, determine the root cause and execute the remedy: open the area to more sunlight, repair poor drainage, or fertilize the soil.

You should also conduct seasonal spring and fall cleanup. This includes pruning, removing debris, mulching, trimming perennial plants, and leaf removal (especially during the fall). These procedures will help plants grow better and get rid of pests.

Improve Drainage

A properly maintained landscape prevents waterlogging, which can damage your lawn. If not resolved, poor drainage can even compromise the structural integrity of your house’s basement and foundation. Water buildup on the yard can be caused by the following:

• The inability of the soil to absorb water. Clay composition, thatch buildup, root layers, and compaction are possible reasons why the soil is unable to soak up moisture. This can be fixed with aeration or adjusting the soil with organic materials. 

• The shape of your garden. Your lawn must be designed to drive water away from your home. Additionally, craters and dips on the soil that creates pools of water must be removed immediately. Building gutters, digging slopes, or re-shaping surface angles can significantly help in drain improvement.

Aeration, Overseeding, and Topdressing

As mentioned above, aeration helps in improving the draining ability of the soil. By digging small holes on the ground, the process allows more air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the surface and reach the roots of your plants. As grass and plants get ahold of better nutrients, you can expect thicker and more beautiful growth.

Conveniently, the best time to perform overseeding is after aeration. Overseeding means covering your entire lawn with large quantities of seed mixed with fertilizer. This landscape restoration process improves thinning areas, fills in bare spots, and prevents moss and weed buildup.

After overseeding, topdressing must be performed. It improves the structure and composition of the soil by adding organic matter to the topsoil. The process also provides additional nourishment and protection to the planted seeds. 

Consult a Landscaping Professional

Performing these maintenance procedures regularly is an effective way to keep your home’s exterior neat and attractive. But along the process, you may encounter unfamiliar issues or problems you cannot solve on your own. This is the best time to reach out to a landscaping professional. They can provide tips and tricks to help you maintain a lush and healthy lawn!