Killer Mistakes When Self-Treating Your Lawn

If you’re one of those bold homeowners who do your own lawn care, you know how challenging it can be to manage the treatment. Most of us have had plenty of trial-and-error, whether from frying a lawn by spreading fertilizer too thick, too soon, or too often or by mowing too low and turning a lush lawn into a crew cut.

Whatever level you’re at with your lawn treatment abilities, there are some killer mistakes worth avoiding.

Over-Mowing

As a general rule, you should never mow more than 1/3 of your lawn’s length at one time. The majority of the life of your lawn is in its length. Even a disciplined fertilizing schedule can be powerless to over-eager mowing. So keep your mower blades high!

Over-Cleaning

Did you know that grass clippings have a mulching effect on your lawn? Many of us are tempted to clean up the clippings after mowing, but that actually makes it more difficult for our lawns to retain moisture and resist the intensity of the hot summer sun. We encourage people to leave clippings in place, as long as they are clumped together in piles (which can suffocate the lawn).

Ignoring the Weather

It’s important that fertilizer not be applied before heavy rains (as that washes it away) or during extreme heat (as that limits absorption of the chemicals). Instead, set your fertilizing calendar and then let it adapt to the weather. If you don’t, you may find yourself working against your lawn instead of with its natural growing cycles.

Lack of Education

Any time you’re applying your own chemicals on your lawn, make sure you’re educating yourself on the products and the processes for using them. Make sure you have the proper equipment both for spreading the treatments as well as for protecting yourself. Make sure you’re aware of hazards to pets and people, as some chemicals have been known to be toxic for some animals, particularly smaller breeds of dogs when exposed to unmeasured (or unrestrained) fertilizing.

So there they are…well…at least a few of them. The summary is simple: Don’t overdue it. Be patient for your good lawn. And know that the Upside Down Movement is always here to help you on your lawn care journey.