The goal of many American families and households is to grow the perfect lawn. But getting to that hallowed place is fraught with difficulty. It’s never something that happens overnight.
Strangely, though, it is something that many people in your neighborhood have likely achieved already. There’s the old lady across the road who always seems to have a perfectly cut lawn whenever you look outside. How is it possible when yours is so full of moss and weeds?
Fortunately, this post is here to help you join the top 1% of lawn owners. It looks at what you can do to improve your lawn and get the most out of it, regardless.
So, what do you need to know? Let’s take a look at why 99% of Americans don’t have a perfect lawn.
Problems With The Soil
The first thing you should look at is the soil quality. Is it acceptable?
Answering this question is actually quite hard. Soil types vary, and so too do the grasses that grow in them.
The best place to start is with a variety of grass that’s known to grow in your area. If it thrives in your soil, then chances are you don’t have any pH or nutrient deficiency issues. But if it is sporadic and other species are muscling their way in, then you likely have a problem.
These days, you can get soil testing kits to tell you what your soil is lacking. These delve into the chemistry and provide outputs, telling you what you need to add. Then, it’s just a matter of going to the garden center and picking up the treatments you need.
Watering Woes
Another problem you might discover is a lack of watering if you live in a dry part of the country. Those perfect lawns you see online or across the road are often powered by lawn irrigation services.
The idea is simple: find a way to provide the lawn with the optimal amount of watering so that it grows perfectly every time.
In practice, of course, things are a little more complicated, but you get the gist of it. Watering lawns in an area without watering restrictions is an excellent way to keep it looking green and verdant for much longer.
Seasonal Changes
Some grasses also go through seasonal changes, denying homeowners the perfect lawn. That’s why front lawns always look more verdant at the end of spring compared to any other time of the year. That’s just how biology works.
Usually, lawns will turn darker or browner in the winter and enter a dormancy period. This shutting down helps the plant survive harsh conditions, reducing the risk of frost.
Snow will also have a browning effect on your lawn because it blocks out the sun. Snow-clad regions often look quite tired by the end of winter and require the spring to bounce back to life.
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to protect your lawn from these weather events. But the good news is that most grasses are hardy and will recover within days (if not hours) as soon as weather conditions return to the regular range.
Extreme Heat
You can also see a similar effect occurring during extreme heat. Grasses will enter a form of hibernation to protect their tissues and prevent the high temperatures from harming their structures.
Extreme heat is most likely during the summer when the sun is directly overhead. Grass can actually become too warm to continue to carry out its biological processes and has an in-built protective mechanism to stop the damage. If you notice it going brown in the summer even after watering, it is likely that it is trying to protect itself and will recover as soon as the heatwave subsides.
Pests
Another reason most Americans don’t have the perfect lawn is pests. Critters can get into various layers of the subsoil or trot over the lawn itself, causing damage.
For example, some homeowners get into trouble with slugs and snails. These critters can cause damage to lawns if there are enough of them. Moles are even more destructive, and even deer walking over the lawn can lead to indentations that affect how it grows, making it clumpier.
The best way to reduce pest risk is to put up a fence around your lawn. That’ll keep most of them off the grass. If you have more challenging infestations, call pest control. Often, they can remove critters humanely and relocate them somewhere else where they won’t cause as much damage.
Weeds
Weeds are another reason people don’t have perfect lawns. In fact, they are often the main stumbling block getting in the way.
Weeds like crabgrass and dandelion can compete effectively with grass and grow quickly. Many lawns can find themselves inundated in a single season, leading to an unkempt appearance.
That’s why it is so essential to remove them when they pop up. Getting rid of them quickly stops them from spreading their seeds and creating even more damage.
For this reason, spend some time during the spring and summer targeting weeds on your lawn, removing them fully, and then recovering the area with grass seed. This approach prevents new plants (except grass) from growing, and stops new colonies of unwanted plants from forming.
Maintenance Costs
You also see many people finding it hard to manage the maintenance costs of lawns. The time commitment can be extensive.
Creating a perfect lawn usually involves the following elements:
- Aeration
- Fertilization
- Pest control
- Watering
- Mowing
- Seeding
- Irrigation
Of course, investing in all these aspects is difficult and requires serious commitment. It isn’t something that the majority of the population is okay with something being “just good enough” investing in extensively.
So there you have it: some of the factors getting in the way of the majority of people owning a perfect lawn. Do any of these issues apply to you? Does your lawn look amazing, or is it slightly less well kept than these high flyers?
