Annual Lawn Care Planning Schedule

Having a great looking lawn requires a lot of work and understanding of landscaping best practices. This article will give you a good idea of what an annual lawncare plan would include.

The best looking lawns and yards are the result of careful planning and hard work. Lawn care and landscaping tasks require knowing about many aspects including:

Types of turf grass including fertilizing, watering, mowing heights
Ornamental trees and bushes including pruning schedules
Flowers and blooming plants including preferred soil types, fertilizing, and blooming season
Erosion and moisture control using mulches, pine straw, rock, and ground cover plants

A professional lawn service company can provide year-round maintenance, seasonal maintenance, and storm debris cleanup. If you need major improvements they can provide design services, installation and construction services for renovations.

NOTE: If you’re on a tight budget you can find a cheap mow and blow service which is usuually 1-2 people with a truck and trailer. Most of these operations lack the knowledge and training for full-service landscape services. Before hiring any landscapin company you should ask for references, check online reviews, and ask about their level of experience.

Spring Lawn Maintenance

For lawn care needs, the spring months are generally considered to be March, April, and May. At this time of year, your lawn is waking up from being largely dormant all winter. In the Atlanta area, fescue lawns should be green while warm weather grasses should be brown.

The first step for a new growing season is to tidy up your yard. Remove leaves, limbs, or other lawn debris. For an average yard that is not professionally maintained this may take half a day to a full weekend.

If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, it’s time to get your mower serviced including an oil change, blade sharpening, air filter, and tune up. Repair shops fill up fast in the spring so you may have to wait a month or more to get your mower back. The cost for mower maintenance is probably $150-200 for the average walk-behind mower.

Mow your lawn extremely low to remove dead grass and somewhat dethatch your lawn. This will make it easier to get good results from the following steps.

Aerate your lawn which makes holes in your lawn to facilitate water and fertilizer getting to the roots of turf grass. If you have a fescue lawn you may be able to do a light overseeding. If you need to rent an aerator the cost will be around $200 for the time you’ll need to do the work. It’s relatively strenuous work so make sure that you’re physically up for the job.

Fertilize your lawn with a good brand of fetilizer. The turf fertilizer experts at Scotts offer this advice, “Scotts® Turf Builder® Southern Triple Action can tackle all of those challenges in one fell swoop for St. Augustine, centipede, zoysia, and carpetgrass lawns. It not only kills the stubborn broadleaf weeds listed on the label, but also controls and prevents fire ants for up to 6 months so that you can enjoy your lawn instead of avoiding it.”.

Apply pre-emergent herbicides to get an early start fighting common lawn weeds. DO NOT apply pre-emergents if you have done a fescue overseeding.

If you have any questions on fertilizers or weed control products, find a knowlegeable person at a nearby home improvement store.

NOTE: Spring is a great time to install sod over bare muddy areas, or totally revamp a rough, undeveloped yard.

Summer Lawn Maintenance

For lawn care needs, the summer months are generally considered to be June, July, and August. Yes, as the days get hotter this is not fun work but it’s necessary work.

Hotter temperatures mean evaporation of moisture from your soil. A best practice is long soaking deep watering once or twice a week. A heavy watering better assures that there is enough water to get down to the roots of turf grass. It also crries fertilize deeper into the soil and encourages root development.

Mowing your lawn in hotter months requires raising your mowing height. Taller grass provides a sun shield for the soil which helps to retain moisture and keep your grass greener. The type of grass you have will determine what is the best height to mow your lawn. Fescue should be around 3″ while bermude and zoysia can be around 2″ tall.

Crawford Landscaping has great Lawn Maintenance plans

Certain annual and perennial weeds, and undesirable grasses, will appear throughout the growing season. You can apply a post-emergent herbicide to control these problems. When applying any type of weed control or weed killer you should find environmentally friendly products. Some products are harmful to humans, pets, and wildlife.

Fall Lawn Maintenance

For lawn care needs, the fall months are generally considered to be September, October, and November. This time of year is when you want to fertilize your lawn to prepare the grass for the cooler months ahead.

For fescue, the cooler weather means growth, specifically root development. For warm weather grasses it means providing nourishment during winter months.

Fall is the ideal time for fescue overseeding to have a beautiful fescue lawn.

Winter Lawn Maintenance

For lawn care needs, the winter months are generally considered to be December, January, and February. During these months, lawn care needs is at a minimum. This provides a perfect time to do hardscape projects, address drainage problems, and add irrigation systems and accent lighting.