How to Take Care of the Lawn Like a Lawntok Pro

Homeowner who spend any time on TikTok often come across #LawnTok posts. They’re quick guides to all things lawn care, but how can you achieve the landscaping of your dreams if you don’t know how to give your current lawn an upgrade? Use this guide to learn how to take care of the lawn and start living on the most gorgeous property in your neighborhood.

What Are the Most Common Lawn Care Challenges?

First, it’s crucial to understand what you’re up against. The lawn care problems you’re facing are likely those that other homeowners frequently battle, so give yourself a pat on the back. You’re taking the first step toward improving your property — learning about the problems at hand.

Take a good look at your yard and note any problem spots. People often encounter common lawn care challenges that have simple solutions, like:

• Compaction
• Lack of soil nutrients
• Unbalanced soil pH
• Dead grass patches
• Bug infestations

Although these might seem impossible to beat, you can take care of them without professional assistance. Check out these DIY lawn care tips to give your yard what it needs.

Ways to Solve Existing Lawn Care Problems

These are the best ways to solve common lawn problems, no matter where you live. Reflect on your lawn’s current condition to best determine which challenges its facing.

Aerate the Compacted Soil

Compacted soil often resembles patches of bare dirt. When you kick at it or scratch the surface, it might feel like you’re scratching at a rock. If these spots are on your property, rent an aerator from your local hardware store. It punches deep holes into the soil to loosen the area and help grass form roots again.

After aerating, you can also spread organic material over the area. Composted materials inject life into soil with nutrients and gas bubbles, maintaining the loose condition soil needs for anything to put down roots.

Add Extra Nutrients

If your grass stays relatively alive but doesn’t reach the vibrant green of a glossy landscaping magazine cover, it could need more nutrients. Try churning the soil with organic mulch or fertilizer. Replacing your grass with seed or sod might guarantee better growth.

Homeowners also spread soil fertilizer treatments over their property with grass seed spreaders or liquid products. It can be equally effective if you don’t have compacted soil that’s too tight to absorb the fertilizer.

Get a pH Test

It’s always a good idea to find out if your soil is too acidic or not acidic enough. You’ll find test kits at hardware stores, landscaping shops and garden centers. Local universities or government agricultural branches could offer them for free as well. Once you get the results, you’ll know which chemicals your grass needs via fertilizers to balance its acidic profile.

Plant New Grass Seed

After testing the soil pH in dead grass spots or aerating compacted soil, plant new grass seed to restore your lawn. You’ll need to loosen the soil or scratch it to create rivets. The seed falls into the rivets, gets slightly covered by old soil and remains there when watered.

It might seem counterproductive to allow your old grass to remain, but it acts as a key protector. When rain washes through your yard or strong winds blow, the old grass will keep the seed in place. Use a metal rake or aerator to loosen the soil and follow it with a grass seed spreader to ensure even coverage.

Identify and Stop Bug Infestations

Apps are available to help you identify any bugs in your yard. You’ll need to know which species you’re dealing with before you can find a solution, so try options like:

• Picture Insect: Bug Identifier: It can identify bugs with pictures or by their bites. It also suggests insect management techniques after identifying each pest.
• Smart Identifier: Plant+Insect: This app identifies both pests and plants in any yard.
• Seek by iNaturalist: This app recognizes plants, insects and fungi so you always know what’s on your property.

Some bugs are easy to take care of, like fire ants. Get fire ant mound granules, put them in your grass seed spreader and walk it over your lawn. After treating the specific ant hills too, you’ll have a pest-free yard overnight.

If you’re unsure about how to get rid of the bug in your lawn, you can always contact the professionals. They know the most effective treatments to banish pests and which bugs post a poison risk.

How to Take Care of the Lawn Better 

Learning how to take care of the lawn requires removing present challenges and making a plan to maintain it better long-term. You’ll quickly own the green grass and blooming plants you’ve always wanted by following these steps.

Identify Your Grass

A plant identifier app could help you learn which type of grass already calls your lawn home. It might not be the best choice for your property, depending on things like regional temperature and weather.

You should also consider factors like maintenance requirements for your grass choice. If the grass needs tons of watering but you live in a desert-like area, removing your grass and planting another type could guarantee greater landscaping success.

Knowing which type of grass is on your property makes upkeep easy. Each type needs specific amounts of water, sunlight and nutrients. Take care to provide those things and your yard will thrive.

Test Your Soil Regularly

Experts recommend testing your soil every three years to ensure its pH and nutrient balance. You can also test it more frequently if you’d like. The results could indicate issues like the pH levels becoming unbalanced before it’s too late to save your grass.

Change How You Mow

Mowing height matters for various types of grasses. Thicker grasses need more height to maintain their health and root systems. Others grow quickly and need a short height to essentially prune them regularly.

Check the best mowing height for your yard’s specific grass species. It could indicate you need to upgrade your mower, but it’s worth the investment. Certain features like zero-turn radiuses and self-propelled wheels remove the stress of lawn mowing even if you have an expansive property

Spray for Weeds and Pests

Pesticides and herbicides can remove and prevent lawn care problems. You could spray your entire property with them seasonally or as often as your preferred product’s packaging indicates. Lawn care professionals can also assist with higher-quality treatment options they’ve seen work on properties in your local area.

Watch the Water Absorption

Note how wet your yard gets during and after rainstorms. If your grass doesn’t return to normal dry conditions within 24 hours of a long day of rain, you might need to aerate it. You’ll add more drainage abilities to your property, preventing issues like foundational damage that happen when water pools and remains too close to a house.

Improve Your Lawn Care Skills

Now that you know how to take care of the lawn, you’re ready to transform your property. Research your lawn’s existing problems, get budget-friendly solutions and start working on your grass. You’ll have an eye-catching property within weeks due to your hard work.