Top 10 Common Lawn Care Mistakes Canopy Lawn Care (2024)

FAQs

What is the most common mistake seen when treating lawns? ›

We recommend performing bi-weekly lawn maintenance in March. We have found that this schedule encourages growth in most yards. Furthermore, we recommend that your first mow be a “mow low and bag.” You can mulch your grass at almost every mowing service for the season, but the first one really should be bagged.

Diseases, such as lawn fungus, often start as yellow, tan or brown areas of varying sizes in the lawn. But before you assume you have a lawn disease, make sure it isn't something else. Injury, stress or deficiencies can produce similar symptoms and also set the stage for infection.

The following pests can cause significant damage to your lawn: Grubs (Beetle Larvae) Chinch Bugs. Sod Webworms. Armyworms.

When you apply too much fertilizer or spill some by accident, the salt buildup can cause fertilizer burn. So, you'll see brown, yellow or streaked grass. This happens more often with quick-release fertilizers, which flood lawns with nutrients all at once.

As a general rule, grass clippings of an inch or less in length can be left on your lawn where they will filter down to the soil surface and decompose quickly. Remove longer clippings because they can shade or smother grass beneath causing lawn damage. Don't throw out bagged grass clippings as yard waste.

Maintain a slower than normal ground speed. This will allow the grass clippings more time to be effectively mulched. Don't mow or mulch a wet lawn.

In general, mid- to late-spring is mulching season; this is when the soil is warming up from the freezing temperatures it experienced all winter. Mulching too early will slow down the warming process, which the soil needs to do its job.

What does a stressed lawn look like? ›

Signs of Heat and Drought Stress On Your Lawn

With heat and drought stress, however, the grass will stay flat instead of bouncing back, leaving what looks like ghost footprints behind you. Discoloration: When your lawn is suffering from heat and drought stress, the tips or entire blades of grass will become discolored.

Lack of Water

If you notice your grass turning a bluish grey color, and it does not bounce back when you walk on it, then most likely you have a very thirsty turf. You may want to check your irrigation to make sure it is working properly and covering the whole grass area.

In order to minimize time turning your mower at the end of each pass, it makes sense to try to stage this process so each row/pass you make is as long as possible. The length and path of these rows should be executed so each row slightly overlaps the previous one, cutting the grass row by row in degrees.

In winter: mowing is usually not necessary, unless the weather is mild and the grass is still growing. In this case, mow occasionally on a high cut setting. Never mow if the ground conditions are very soft, wet or frozen, or during spells of cold, drying winds.

Before you start feeding your lawn in the spring with a nutrient-packed fertilizer treatment, you'll first want to mow it. Mowing your lawn first will trim down overgrown grass blades and remove any debris that may potentially block the fertilizer from getting to the soil.

There is the idea of “too much of a good thing,” and that definitely applies when it comes to fertilizing your lawn! Applying too much fertilizer to your lawn will cause the nitrogen and salt levels in the soil to increase rapidly, which can damage or even kill the grass.

Warm-season grasses should be fertilized from April to May, then again from September to October, while less common cool-season grasses should be fertilized in March, May, and then again from October to November.

Generally speaking, most homeowners should give their lawn a treatment at least once a year. For cool-season grasses like bluegrass and fescue that are common in northern climates, two treatments per year is recommended – one in early spring and another in late fall.