Whether you’re an aspiring professional looking to get started in the landscaping industry or just a homeowner looking to make your lawn look as good as possible, you are going to need to know the basics, and know them well! Every good practice is built on a solid foundation, and lawn care is no different. To succeed in your lawn care goals, you need to know the basics!
The basics of lawn care can vary from region to region, or even from yard to yard in the same neighborhood, but the fundamentals rely on knowing the type of soil that you’re working with in any scenario, and the types of plants in your area. By learning these, you already have the absolute basis to provide a fantastic lawn for yourself or your customers- or both!
While it is always tempting to jump straight into the level of advanced stuff, it’s always a good idea to start at the basics. When you learn the basics of lawn care, you’re already on your way to a beautiful, lush, green lawn, even in the driest or coldest of places. If you take your time and do your lawn care one step at a time, you’ll be able to provide the best lawns in no time! Here’s the best information on how to get started.
Know What Type of Soil You’re Dealing With
Soil and its types can vary wildly- your yard could be completely different from your next-door neighbors, and even more different from your neighbor’s yard across the street, and certainly different from the neighbor’s yard at the end of the road! It is of the utmost importance that you know what’s going on in your soil, whether you’re a professional lawn care technician or an amateur just aiming for the best lawn on the block. The first step in knowing your soil is to take a soil test- this will allow you to learn important information about your lawn’s soil, such as the soil’s pH level and the exact type of soil.
For a soil sample, the first thing you’re going to want to do is find a local laboratory- or at least, one you trust. Unfortunately, there’s very little, if any, information on national soil testing laboratories- at least, not public ones! If you have a connection with the United States Department of Agriculture, of course, they could get you into their exclusive national lab. But for the rest of us, you’re going to have to try to find a local laboratory within your state. Or, if you find one outside of the state you particularly like, they’d do great too; you’ll just need to be wary of shipping costs. If you’re part of a larger landscaping business that has or works with a laboratory, perfect! If not, you’re going to want to exercise your Google skills- but it shouldn’t be hard to find one.
To take a soil sample, you’re going to want to take several smaller samples (called ‘cores’) from different spots in your yard, especially problematic areas. You will need a ‘normal’ sample, of course, but it’s a good idea to take cores from places like patches where grass won’t grow, or places with unwanted, ugly lawn moss. You’ll also need to take the sample when the soil is in a regular state, not particularly frozen or soaking wet- depending on your location, this could mean certain seasons are better for taking samples than others. It’s important to know your surroundings, as the only person who can tell you the best time to take a soil sample is yourself! Or a local lawn care professional, of course, but if you’re reading this the odds are you either are one or don’t want to hire one.
The best way to accurately take a soil sample core is remarkably easy! Certain products, such as soil probes or core samplers, are designed to make taking samples extremely easy; all it takes is inserting the sampler into the soil, and it takes your core out for you! If you don’t want to shell out the money for a sampler, your regular run-of-the-mill trowel will work just as well. If using a trowel, all you will need to do is take a carrot-shaped section of dirt- roughly an inch wide, 4-8 inches deep, and half an inch thick. You should remove any organic matter from the core, add it into whatever container you’re using to hold your sample, and repeat this until you’ve taken ten cores from around your yard.
After you’ve sent it to your lab of choice, you have to deal with the hardest part- the waiting! You may want the test results to come back as soon as possible, but sometimes, good work takes time, and you want your soil test to be as accurate as can be.
When the soil sample test results DO return, you’ll know plenty of great information about your lawn! Your test results will include information such as your pH and soil textures, and will frequently recommend any adjustments you may need to fix any problems you may have, or enhance your soil’s hospitality for plants. This is good, because it cuts out some work for you, too- no more guesswork or frantic Googling for you! These results will even give you such things as fertilizer ratios, or what chemicals, nutrients, and organic matter to add.
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Trust the Experts!
With your new test results handy, it’s almost certainly in your best interest to follow their recommendations. Make some projects out of the instructions, and spend a few days fixing your lawn’s issues- but don’t wait too long! Your lawn’s state is not permanent, and if you leave it be for too long, it can change to the point that whatever fixes the test results recommended could become essentially useless.
Your best bet would be to take care of the rough spots first, including those nasty patches where grass simply won’t grow. You’re going to want to use a good fertilizer along with a good grass seed for your area- keep reading to learn how to find that! – and, if you want to go the extra mile, some protective wood mulch. Many stores that stock outdoor equipment will have a mixture of the three, making things easier on you if you want to shell out the cash for it!
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Know Your Grasses, and When to Seed Them and Feed Them!
We’ve been talking a lot about knowing what types of grass to use, and so far, you may have been thinking “Are you going to tell me about the grass or what?” Well, wonder no further, as we’ve finally reached that much-anticipated section- grass! That great plant that can single-handedly make your lawn look lush, fertile, and green.
Like any other plant, grasses vary in their tolerance for heat, drought, shade, and especially climate preferences. Your local lawn care store may have grass by the yard, or sod, which is likely suited to your specific environment. If you’d like to go that route, more power to you! It’s a widely-used method for a reason, namely ease and price, along with typically being pretty hardy. However, growing grass from seed allows for more variability in the grass itself, and gives you more options so you can choose the grass that you prefer most- whether you’re specifically looking for how hardy the grass is or how nice it feels beneath your family’s or your customer’s feet, growing grass from seed gives you a plethora of options!
It’s best to pick grasses native to your region, though if none of them quite live up to what you want, you can just pick something that’s from a similar climate to yours.
If you live in a northeastern region, you are going to want to pick something more cold-tolerant than other people. Bluegrasses are a popular choice for this, and for good reason! Bluegrass is a thick, dark green grass, though it does require plenty of maintenance. Midwestern grasses require more hardiness as the midwestern region can vary in humidity and temperature, and cool winters require a cold tolerance; bluegrasses are a great option here, too, though ryegrasses flourish just as well.
Southeastern, Gulf Coast, and deep south regions are known for high heat and high humidity, and as such, bermudagrass dominates the regions. It is known for its tolerance to salt, along with being able to withstand heat and drought, making it perfect for the hot, coastal regions.
To best seed your grass, look up what season has the most grass growth in your region. While not necessary, it will help you get a nicer lawn, faster. Thankfully, most grass seeds will come with instructions, making the planting process even easier for you!
You will need to feed your grasses just as well. Like all living things, grass needs nutrients; in this case, nitrogen is a particularly useful nutrient, as it will help keep your lawn looking the best it can. Remember the soil test you took earlier? That will show you all the nutrients you will need! Just follow those instructions and you’ll be set, but don’t use too much! Overfeeding can hurt your grass just like it hurts anything else!
Keep Up the Maintenance!
You must have seen this coming- your lawn needs to be maintained! Simply cutting your lawn is one thing, but it’s important to keep it healthy and weed-free, and feeding and mowing are just a small part of that. Like all plants, grass needs water, so a sprinkler system or manual watering is in your best interest- even if you live in a location with a lot of rain, it’s not going to rain every day!
For weeds, a good ‘Weed and Feed’ is recommended. These chemicals will feed your grass while also killing off any unwanted broadleaf weeds that grow in your lawn, helping to keep that nice, green lawn looking nice and green.
To Wrap It All Up
In conclusion, there are a lot of variables when it comes to lawn basics- it all depends on where you live and what kind of soil you have, but if you’re willing to put in the work and do some waiting, you can get a beautiful lawn easily! All it requires, at a base level, is knowing your soil and what type of grass to use!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is crabgrass bad?
While crabgrass is a grass, it’s often considered a weed. It won’t cause irreparable damage to your lawn, but for the sake of appearances, you may want to get rid of it.
What if my yard is sandy?
A sandy yard is not conducive to growing grass and can be difficult to grow anything aside from weeds, especially burrs. Thankfully, sand can be turned into proper soil with the right care- this is why soil tests are important!
To learn more on how you can start your own landscaping business, check out my startup documents here.
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Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Landscape Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a landscape business owner at a job site, driving down the road or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Landscaping Business Boss: I want to help landscape business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.