If you’re a gardener like we all are, you know that taking care of a lawn is one of the most back-breaking and least thrilling jobs there is. A lush green lawn is a lovely thing to behold, but it’s a lot of work to keep up. Season after season throughout the year, there are chores to do, and even the most devoted gardener can wrestle with stubborn weeds, pests, and turf diseases to the point where he or she fantasizes of paving the whole thing over.

Nonetheless, a thriving lawn does more than add beauty and value to your home. Turf grass actually helps the environment. It acts as a water filter, and cleans the air by trapping pollutants and greenhouse gases. A lawn also cools surrounding areas, eliminating up to 50 percent of heat through transpiration, and the average front lawn has the cooling effect of 8.5 tons of air conditioning. A 2,500 square foot lawn also produces enough oxygen for a family of four for one year.

But instead of spending your precious time working on your lawn instead of your flowers, it’s time to consider hiring someone to take care of it all for you. We don’t mean a weekly “mow and blow” gardener, but complete lawn treatment services provided by people trained in the complex science involved in keeping your yard healthy as well as beautiful. Think about how much your own time and effort are worth. Aren’t there dozens of creative garden activities you’d rather attend to than spend your weekends battling crabgrass?

Here’s what you should expect a good professional lawn care service to do:

Perform an Analysis of Your Lawn

Lawn care is more than watering and mowing. It’s a science. Like any other living organism, grass grows and thrives in conditions that favor it.

Soil analysis. Depending upon where you live and what’s been growing in the soil, there may be imbalances in pH and the vital nutrients phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium that grass needs to put out healthy roots and grow strong. Analyzing and correcting the environment is an important first step in establishing your lawn.

Lawn usage. Not every kind of turf is suited to the kind of use you’re going to put it to. You can sow a more delicate grass for a front lawn that’s merely decorative, but need a hardier variety for a backyard lawn that’s going to host touch football games or be a play area for kids and pets.

Climate and microclimate. Within the main categories of cool season, warm season, and transitional zone types, there are many varieties of turf grass. Analyzing the conditions where you live, the purpose of your lawn, and the look you’d like to achieve, a professional can select the kind of grass that will best suit your needs and thrive with the least amount of care.

Disease diagnosis. Because there are so many potential causes and so many different lawn diseases, you really need an expert to diagnose and treat them. It’s important to know not just what you’re dealing with and what kind of treatment to use, but also when to use it to maximum advantage. Using the wrong product at the wrong time can cause more harm than good.

Create a Treatment Plan

The soil’s been prepared, the seeds have been sown, and everything’s coming up green. But that’s just the start. At various times through the year, your lawn needs to be fertilized, aerated, over-seeded, and treated with pre-emergent and targeted weed control as well as preventative pest control. A service should stay current on all your lawn’s needs and save you from thinking about them.

Customize for Every Season

Just as the needs of your flowers and trees vary through the year, your lawn needs different kinds of care in every season. Watering and mowing requirements need periodic revision based on the weather, and a good service will teach you tips and tricks that will keep your lawn looking its best all the time.

Guarantee Services and Satisfaction

As long as weed seeds waft on the wind, no one can guarantee that your lawn will remain problem-free. A service should be available to visit as often as necessary to take care of any continuing issues and to deal with new ones as they occur. Meanwhile, you can turn your attention to growing the plants and flowers that give you the most joy.
For some interesting things you may not have known, visit The Lawn Institute.