I’m going to be honest: I’m a lazy lawn owner.
You won’t find me out there trying to get a Wimbledon-quality lawn or aggressively watering day and night. And yet, I do think it’s important to take one weekend a year and really put in the work to make sure that the lawn is as healthy as possible, so it’ll look great all the next year.
Call it my Full Weekend Lawn Care Plan. (Though, honestly, it only takes about a day). The plan involves mowing the lawn, aerating the lawn when it’s necessary, then seeding and fertilizing.
Of course, I mow far more than once a year, and but fertilizing only needs to be done once or twice a year, and aerating and seeding only need to be done once a year a most—depending on how healthy your lawn is, it can be done every other year, even.
The best time for this full-care plan is in the late summer or early fall, right after peak growing season, when your lawn hasn’t completely stopped growing but the stress of starting up in spring or growing full-blast in summer have largely passed.
Here’s what to do, and the best order to do it in.
Akchamczuk//Getty Images
Step One: Mow
If you normally leave your grass a little long, good for you! Mowing grass high puts less stress on it, lets it grow slower, and gives it a lusher look. For this heavier weekend, you might want to mow a little lower, but not too much: leave at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches of grass. That will be enough to let the aerator penetrate as deep as it needs without over-stressing your grass. Ideally you’re still only removing the top 1/3 of your grass when you do this.
We recommend, of course, leaving the grass clippings on your lawn, even for this. Grass clippings offer a lot of benefit for the lawn, which you can read about here.
Keep Reading
Sherry Barr Photography//Getty Images
Step Two: Aerate
If your lawn gets heavy traffic, has compacted soil that prevents the grass’s roots from spreading out, or is heavily thatched with dead grass, then you definitely want to aerate. Aerating should be done no more than once per year at most.
While you can find small hand-aerators and even spike-aerating shoes on line, the most effective aerators are plug aerators, that actually remove small plugs of soil from the ground. These can be rented or purchased at most home improvement stores, or you can hire someone to do it for you.
Keep Reading
Henfaes//Getty Images
Step Three: Seed and Fertilize
While you can seed and fertilize your lawn multiple times per year, the very best time to do it is just after aerating your lawn. The seeds you spread have a better chance of contacting soil, thanks to the removed plugs, and the roots of the new plants now have room to grow.
Since aerating is a short-term stress on the grass, the fertilizer gives it a boost and helps it to grow back thicker and more lush. One note: you don’t want to over-fertilize your lawn! More is not better in this case. So even after aerating, use the smallest amount you need to help the grass grow. The best way to determine what your grass needs? Do a soil test! Read more about fertilizing, below.
Keep ReadingFollow Up: Fertilizing and Mowing Schedule
While aerating and seeding shouldn’t be done more than once a year at most, some like to fertilize between 2 and 4 times a year. The schedule is up to you and your budget. Of course, you should mow whenever your grass gets a little tall—typically weekly or every other week during the growing season, depending on how often it gets water, how often you fertilize, and what kind of grass you have.
Comments are closed.