Almost everyone starts from the wrong place. They jump straight into patio furniture, flower beds, and outdoor lighting before the single-most important aspect of any outdoor space has been addressed.
The lawn.
Neglect residential lawn maintenance long enough and it creates problems for every other aspect of your landscaping game. Bring it back to life however, and suddenly your curb appeal, and the feel of the entire space, improves across the board.
Here’s What We’ll Cover:
- What Is Residential Lawn Maintenance?
- Start With the Lawn — The Foundation of Every Outdoor Space
- The Core Elements of Residential Lawn Maintenance
- How Residential Lawn Maintenance Impacts Your Home’s Value
- Building Your Outdoor Space Around a Healthy Lawn
Let’s get into it…
What Is Residential Lawn Maintenance?
Residential lawn maintenance can be defined as the work done to maintain the grass, edging, and borders surrounding a home.
It includes everything from weekly mowing and edging jobs to fertilization, weed control, aeration, and seasonal landscaping. When performed regularly, it ensures an outdoor space looks tidy and well-managed 12 months of the year.
To simplify…
Ignoring residential lawn maintenance will cause your entire outdoor space to look weak and unkempt. Maintaining a healthy lawn and doing the small things right creates a foundation other landscaping projects can build upon.
Start With the Lawn — The Foundation of Every Outdoor Space
Don’t add decorations until your lawn is looking its absolute best.
If the grass looks thin, patchy, or discolored your outdoor space is going to look the same. But when you get it right everything else suddenly pops.
One of the easiest ways to ensure your lawn stays looking healthy is to bring in a professional lawn mowing service to mow, edge, and maintain the grass on a consistent schedule. Regular trims ensure your grass never becomes too long or stressed — while keeping your yard looking fresh between more intensive maintenance sessions.
This one simple step can make more of a difference than most homeowners realize.
Standard lawn care:
- Boosts Return On Investment by 217%
- Is considered the most important curb appeal feature by 97% of realtors
Not only will your outdoor space look better but standard lawn care services can also impact the overall value of your home.
Keep Up With the Basics
Seasonal lawn care tasks:
- Mowing/Edging
- Fertilization
- Weed Control
- Aeration
controls if everything else you put into the outdoor space design actually works. Make sure you’re trimming the grass, keeping the edges neat, and filling in any obvious gaps before moving forward with everything else.
Residential Lawn Maintenance Checklist
Here are the fundamentals every lawn care checklist should include.
Mowing and Edging
Your mower is set to the wrong height.
Cutting your grass too short makes it susceptible to weeds and diseases. Leaving it too long creates a hiding spot for pests, rodents, and insects. Keep grass trimmed consistently for the best results, and ensure you’re edging along sidewalks, driveway cracks, garden beds, and other main features for a professional finish.
Feed and Maintain the Soil
Healthy grass grows from healthy soil.
Nothing will destroy your lawn faster than compacted, nutrient-depleted soil. Keep it strong with regular fertilization and supplements like lime if you notice your grass turning yellow. Aerating once per season helps with water retention, and reduces common issues like pooling and weed growth.
Know Your Weeds and Pests
Summer and winter lawn weeds.
Weeds leach moisture and nutrients from grass — causing brown spots to form where they grow. Identify common weeds that appear in your lawn and tackle them with control spray before they spread. Regular pest control prevents excess damage from insects like grubs and can protect your turf from bare spots.
Treat Lawn Seasonally
Cold season lawn weeds.
Your lawn doesn’t look the same all year long. There are different weeds to manage depending on the season, and grass typically requires less water during the winter months. Take the time to identify seasonal lawn care tasks and perform them regularly for a healthier outdoor space.
Go Beyond Cutting Grass
Your outdoor space starts with the lawn.
When most homeowners think of residential lawn maintenance they only focus on cutting the grass. Edging, soil care, weeding, and periodic treatments are every bit as important for keeping your lawn tidy and healthy.
The Core Elements of Residential Lawn Maintenance
Building the Perfect Outdoor Space Starts With These Basics
How Residential Lawn Maintenance Impacts Your Home’s Value
If you’ve made it this far, you’re already well ahead of the crowd.
Most homeowners don’t think about lawn care as something that can improve their home’s value. They think about installing a backyard deck, upgrading the garden, or adding a water feature. Oh sure — those things help too. But nothing you can build will ever stand out if your lawn isn’t looking its best.
Believe it or not…
Upkeep on your lawn and the care you show by cutting your grass consistently can directly increase your home’s value. Curb appeal matters and landscaping alone can account for up to a 20% increase in your home’s resale value.
That’s enough of a reason to get outside and whip your lawn into shape.
Designing Around a Healthy Lawn
At this point we’ve established that no landscaping project should begin until your lawn looks great.
But how do you design around it? How do you ensure the decorations you’re putting down actually make your landscape appear more inviting?
Follow these tips and watch your space come together:
- Keep grass edges trimmed and well-defined before installing garden beds or borders
- Ensure grass is thick and healthy before adding ornamental plantings around it
- Define all exterior pathways to prevent guests from stepping on the grass
- Install fencing to match the style of your home
- Match outdoor furniture with your home’s decor
Prepare your lawn for what’s to come by ensuring it forms a solid foundation you can build upon. Don’t neglect maintenance in hopes that it won’t matter — because it does.
Add decorations to compliment your home — not hide it.
Get the lawn in shape, clean up the borders, and make sure your decorative elements enhance the property rather than blending in.
The Bottom Line: Design Your Outdoor Space From the Ground Up
You wouldn’t build a house without making sure the foundations were strong first. Don’t ruin your landscaping with an unkempt lawn.
It’s surprising how many people neglect their lawns for months — only to invest hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars in things that don’t solve the root of their problems. Cut your grass! Maintain your lawn, and build your outdoor space from the ground up.
More Lawn Care Tips
Interested in even more ways to improve your lawn? Jump to the most popular guides on seeds, weeds, pest control, and common lawn care problems:
What’s Your Favorite Season for Lawn Care?
Summer
Summer loves the sun and so does your lawn.
Spring
Your lawn is happiest when it can grow freely between spring and fall. Could there be a more perfect season?
Fall
Who says lawns only grow in the spring? Fall is the perfect time to prep your turf and make sure everything is ready for winter.
Winter
Lawn maintenance continues through the colder months. Winter is the best season for catching pesky lawn weeds.
Whether you live in a hot or cold climate, find your best resource for matching your grass to your region, and keep one step ahead of your lawn care game!