How to Maintain Your Lawn on a Budget

April 22, 2008 By Debbie Dragon

Everyone has a neighbor with a perfect yard.  You know the one- their grass looks like a thick, green carpet that covers their entire property and they have landscaping you see in magazines.  Most of these people probably spend a good portion of their monthly home maintenance budget on their yard care, but there are a variety of things you can do to maintain your lawn without spending a fortune.

Lawn Mowing

Avoid mowing your lawn at the lower blade settings.  Low-mowed lawns cost more money because they require frequent watering, more herbicide to control the weeds, and require mowing more often to keep it that short.  If you set your mower blades at a higher level, the lawn ends up thicker and has a natural ability of blocking water evaporation from the soil below.  Weeds do not grow as well in a higher lawn, so aim for a lawn length of between 2.5 and 3.5 inches during the summer.

Leave your grass clippings on the lawn as they return nitrogen into the soil.  You can use a mulching mower to break them up smaller for a nicer appearance and for better lawn health.  If you don’t have a mulching mower, you can simply leave the clippings on the lawn and mow over them again next time to break them up.

As the weather begins to cool towards the autumn months, you can lower your blade a little and cut the grass shorter.  When you do your final cut before winter, cut it at it’s shortest length as it will prevent mold from growing due to the snow, as well as prevent the grass from clumping together.

Aerate Your Lawn

The soil under your grass becomes compacted after years of use.  The compacted soil reduces oxygen in the soil, which is required by the roots of grass to absorb water and nutrients properly.  You can easily tell if your lawn is compacted by cutting out a small one square foot section that is about six inches deep.  If the roots of grass are growing less than two inches deep, you should aerate the lawn.

Aerating works best when it’s done in the fall.  You can rent a core aerator from a hardware store or rental center.  If you’d like to reduce the costs of the rental, ask around to your neighbors to see if they’d like to share the use of the machine and divide the cost of renting it.

When you first aerate the lawn, you’ll have little plugs  of soil and grass left all over the yard and it’s not very attractive.  But by spring, your grass will be healthier, and have better access to oxygen, fertilizer and water.

Lawn Watering

You don’t have to water your lawn every day, contrary to popular belief!  If your lawn is receiving an inch of rain once per week, it’s getting enough water.  If the rainmaker isn’t cooperating, you can give your lawn a drink of about one inch of water in a single watering session - best if done early morning or early evening to prevent evaporation and waste.

Posted in environment, family, getting green, home improvement, lifestyle, miscellaneous, real estate, recreation

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