Your perfect lawn is only a few checkmarks away
If your lawn pales in comparison to your neighbor’s lawn, and you don’t know why, getting to the root of the problem can be tricky. Luckily, you can use this lawn lawn treatment analysis checklist to develop a treatment plan that will return your yard to its former glory. Get your pencil ready and prepare to do some detective work on your lawn.
Unless you have a xeriscape landscape or artificial turf, the best yard has vibrant, healthy grass that is the envy of every passerby. Maintaining your grass can be challenging, but with some elbow grease and this checklist, you’ll be well on your way to that perfect green oasis.
Remove weeds
Mow and edge the lawn
Aerate
Overseed
Dethatch
Soil test
Fertilize
Water
Weeds can steal nutrients and water from grass and other desired plants, leading to a lackluster yard. While some grass species like centipedegrass, Zoysia grass, ryegrass, and Bermuda grass are good at choking out weeds, other grass species like buffalo grass and tall fescue may require a little more TLC.
Manually remove weeds
Use vinegar to kill weeds
Use species-specific herbicide to kill weeds
Whether you mow your lawn yourself or hire a professional lawn service near you, mowing your lawn is essential for keeping your turf patch-free and healthy. Like getting a trim at the hair salon, removing the tips of each blade of grass keeps your lawn thicker and stronger.
Maintain a regular lawn-mowing schedule
Mow your lawn during the morning or evening
Edge your lawn
Consider grasscycling with your grass clippings
Aerating your lawn lets water and nutrients penetrate deeper into the soil to get to the roots of the grass. Use a manual lawn aerator or rent a gas aerator from your local home improvement store to aerate your lawn.
Aerate your lawn once per year
Water your lawn the day before aerating or wait for light rain
Use a manual lawn aerator or a gas aerator
Conduct aeration more often if you have dying grass, lawn pests, or diseased grass
Thatch is a buildup of dead plants that can clog the spaces between your grass, halting water, air, and sunlight from reaching beneath it. Raking is a great way to dethatch a yard.
Check for thatch and rake it if you notice it’s 1 inch thick or greater
Wait until high-growth season to dethatch your yard
Water your lawn the day before dethatching
A patchy lawn can have your yard looking like it was hit by a meteor shower. That’s where overseeding comes in. Overseeding is the process of adding new seeds to your lawn to help with thinning spots.
Overseed after you’ve removed the thatch from your lawn, during early spring, late summer, or early fall
Overseed if you spot brown patches or thinning grass
Test your soil for disease before overseeding
Testing your soil can help you choose the right fertilizer and soil composition amendments for your yard. A local soil testing service can help you figure out your soil type so that you can make changes to your soil that best benefit the plants in your yard. Most soil should have a pH of somewhere between 6.0 to 7.5. Once you know your soil’s pH level, you can add amendments that make it more acidic or alkaline as needed.
Know your grass type and follow the instructions on the fertilizer bag to ensure your lawn receives the right amount of fertilizer.
Most grass species need fertilizing at least once annually
Depending on the species and how established it is, you may need to fertilize your lawn two or even three times
While all grass needs water, knowing how often you should water your lawn can make all the difference in your lawn.
Avoid frequently watering your yard, which can lead to shallow root systems.
Aim for watering at least once a week and as much as two to three times a week depending on the grass variation, climate, and amount of rainfall
Trees and shrub maintenance requires a different approach than your grass, but they’re just as essential to a healthy yard—if not more. With this in mind, here’s your tree and shrub checklist for getting the most out of your plants.
Prune
Trim
Mulch
Weed removal
Fertilize
Water
Tree pruning is a tree care method that keeps your home safe and your trees looking happy and healthy. Pruning promotes new buds, flowers, and fruits on your plants.
Remove sick or dead branches to allow more sunlight to reach your lawn
The best time to prune a tree is in the late winter or early spring
Use the proper pruning tools for your tree or plant type
Whereas pruning trees is about safety, trimming trees is about looks. Trim your trees if you want to have a more beautiful yard. If you’re not sure how to do this, it’s a good idea to work with a local tree trimming pro who has the experience to choose the right branches to trim.
Mulching around your trees gives your trees the best chance of staying healthy—if you do it correctly.
Avoid making mulch volcanoes by ensuring you leave enough space around the base of your trees’ trunks and the start of your mulch.
Trees need plenty of air and sunlight, so avoid putting too much mulch around your trees.
If your trees already have mulch, make sure the mulch hasn’t shifted towards the base of your tree.
Ensure that the mulch is no more than 4 inches tall
For shrubs and young trees especially, weeds can steal food and water from your plants and hinder their growth. While you’re out there pulling weeds in your grass, it’s a good idea to tackle weed removal for your trees and shrubs, too.
Though most tree species are less fussy than grass and garden plants, you’ll find that fertilization is still beneficial to the health of your trees.
Fertilize trees and shrubs in the early spring
Research and use the best type of fertilizer for your plants
Keep your trees and shrubs hydrated while avoiding overwatering them. A good rule of thumb is as follows:
Young trees need watering once every two weeks or more often if there’s little rainfall.
Mature trees need approximately 10 gallons of water for every inch in diameter.
Shrubs need watering once or twice weekly or at least one inch of water a week.
When you think of pests in your yard, many critters may come to mind. From termites to roaches to mice, insects, spiders, small rodents, and larger animals can wreak havoc on even the best yards. Below is a list of areas to inspect to get to the bottom of any pest control issues you may have that jeopardize your lawn.
Exterior home
Marshy turf
Gutters and downspouts
Decking
Fencing
Garden plants
Soil
Your home’s exterior can serve as an inviting home for many lawn-ruining pests. Birds, rodents, insects, and more may use exposed sections of your home as their own home.
Inspect under porches, inside attics, and chimneys for signs of pests.
Repair any gaps, openings, or wide cracks in your home’s exterior.
Treat the exterior parts of your home with pesticides to keep offenders away.
Puddles of water or swampy spots in your yard are the perfect recipes for disaster. Stagnant water can lead to bacteria growth, mosquitoes, roaches, termites, and other humidity-loving pests. It also looks unsightly and can kill plants in your yard that don’t require constant watering. Stop water from pooling in your yard by:
Troubleshooting leaks
Avoiding overwatering
Aerating the lawn
Changing your soil composition
If a gutter and its downspout aren’t properly installed on your lawn, it can lead to flooding or stagnant water, which causes similar pest control problems as marshy turfs. A flooded yard in particular can lead to mold and fungal growth in the yard, which puts your plants at risk of diseases and rot.
Ensure your gutters are properly installed facing away from your home
Hire a local gutter repair pro to repair faulty gutters
Clean your gutters regularly to prevent debris build-up
Decking can provide shelter or food for certain pests—namely, squirrels, rats, opossums, chipmunks, and termites.
Keep rodents out from your deck by using the trap and release method, barricading the space underneath with a trenched-in screen.
Keep out termites with a termite treatment plan and by regularly treating wood decking.
If you’ve noticed deer or rabbits keep coming into your yard and tearing up your prized vegetable garden or grass, it may be time to invest in better fencing materials to keep them from eating away at your lawn.
Inspect your fencing for gaps, openings, or damage.
Repair your fence if necessary
Consider replacing your fence with a more durable material, like brick or stone
Your lawn can be a host for all sorts of pests. Your treatment plan for removing pests in the garden depends on the type of plants and the type of pests. For example, aphids are a common pest that can eat away at the leaves of your garden if you don’t take action. Using insecticides is usually the best way to get rid of invasive insects.
The biggest pest for soil is grubs. These beetle larvae hatch underneath the surface of your soil, feasting away unknowingly at the roots of your grass and garden plants.
Search your soil for grubs by digging up a square foot of grass and taking a peek at the number of grubs.
If you have more than 10 grubs, you have an infestation and need to get rid of grubs by using milky spore powder, neem oil, or pesticides.
Mowing is one of the most important ways to maintain your lawn because it encourages grass to grow horizontally, creating a fuller, more uniform yard. On top of mowing your lawn, you’ll want to routinely fertilize your lawn, water it regularly, and take care of pests the moment they arise.
A few common lawn maintenance mistakes include failure to use fertilizer, not committing to a yearly maintenance plan, and under- and over-watering your lawn. Other issues that might arise include poor timing of lawn treatments. It’s important to dethatch, aerate, and reseed your yard at the right time of year—preferably in early spring.
