7 common lawn maintenance mistakes and what to do instead

As lawn care providers, we’ve seen our share of lawn maintenance mistakes that homeowners often make. In this post, we’ll list several common lawn maintenance mistakes before discussing what to do instead. Enjoy!

Mistake 1: Cutting the grass too low during warmer months

Do this instead: Adjust your mower height accordingly

Typically, when the weather’s hot, you don’t want to use your mower’s lowest setting to cut your grass. Doing so will kill it. 

But how high or low you leave your grass once it’s cut is situation dependent. Some parts of your lawn are going to get more sun, so you need to cut it lower than other spots that don’t get as much sun. To navigate this, you can adjust the height of your lawn mower to be lower for places that get plenty of sunlight and higher for shadier places. 

Or you can just set your lawn mower height to be somewhere in the middle for the entire mow. It won’t be great for either the shadier or more lit areas of your yard, but you’ll likely avoid killing the grass by cutting it too low.

Mistake 2: Using a weed eater to edge

Do this instead: Use a proper edging tool to edge

Using a weed eater to edge often creates a really noticeable gap between your driveway and the grass. In a properly edged lawn, the grass should go right up to the concrete without overtaking it. There can be a line separating your turf from your driveway, but it shouldn’t be very noticeable.

Using a weed eater each time you edge often makes the gap between your driveway and lawn bigger and bigger each time you do it. This doesn’t look great and can be avoidable.

So, use a proper edging tool instead. Put the edger’s blade right next to your driveway as you mow. The blade should follow the edge of the concrete while you make a slight, barely perceptible line between the concrete and grass. 

If done properly, you won’t see dirt after you edge. You’ll just see a tiny hairline of a separation. The only way to do that consistently is with an edger. 

Mistake 3: Mulching leaves when they’re in bulk

Do this instead: Rake and bag your leaves

If your yard is covered in leaves in the fall or winter, don’t mow over them. Turning a lot of leaves into mulch is going to leave too much material on your lawn. This, in turn, will prevent your turf from getting water and sunlight. Plus, it just won’t look good. 

Instead, rake and bag your leaves. And if you have a few leaves left over in your yard, mow over them. It’s okay to mulch some leaves–just don’t mulch them in bulk.

Mistake 4: Not putting out mulch often enough

Do this instead: Put mulch out at least twice a year

It’s important to put mulch in your plant beds. Unless you’re using synthetic mulch, which tends to last longer than organic mulch, you should reapply your mulch in March or April, and again in September or October.

Mistake 5: Pruning shrubs before they flower

Do this instead: Prune your shrubs only after they have lost their flowers

You may need to wait longer than you prefer before pruning your shrubs. If you prune them before they flower, they won’t bloom properly. 

Mistake 6: Trimming trees during the summer

Do this instead: Wait until winter before you trim your trees

During the hot summer months, trees are often stressed. The increased heat means trees are using a lot of water to survive. So, trimming them during this time could create even more stress, negatively impacting the health of your trees.

During the cooler winter months, your trees aren’t really using the parts that you trim. So, trimming them has no impact on their health. And when spring comes, the trees will grow just as if they never had the parts that you trimmed.

Mistake 7: Putting a bag on the end of your lawnmower

Do this instead: Don’t use a bag while you mow

Since the mulch your lawn mower produces acts as a fertilizer while you cut your grass, don’t put a bag on the end of it. While there may be exceptions to this, it’s typically easier to maintain your yard by not including a bag while you mow. Plus, we don’t know of any professional lawn care providers who keep bags on the end of their mowers.

A quick note on this: If you mow while the grass is wet (which we don’t recommend), keep in mind that leaving the bag off your mower will leave ugly clumps of wet grass in your yard. This is just another reason to wait until your grass is dry before mowing.

Wrapping Up

Maintaining your lawn can be a difficult task. But we hope these tips will help you avoid making common lawn maintenance mistakes, so you can have a beautiful yard year-round.

If you’d rather not maintain your own lawn, consider using this site to easily request free quotes from lawn care pros near you. Our free-to-use service platform helps you get the best lawn care services for the best price (plus it lets you change the frequency of your services, pay your invoices, and more). You can also use our platform by downloading our app on your Apple or Android device.