Lawn Care Mistakes Home lawn care mistakes add to the annual $45 billion consumers spend to improve and maintain their lawns. Lawn Doctor, the nation's leading expert in lawn care since 1967, compiled a Top 10 List of common mistakes homeowners make when it comes to home landscaping. 1. Cutting lawn too short to save time between mows: Removing more than one third of a grass blade results in a weakened root system and leads to future lawn issues. 2. Unprepared planting strategy and methods: Plants thrive when planted with appropriate depth, spacing and rootball preparation. Research plant's species and conditions it best thrives in to accommodate root system and growth needs. 3. Ignoring differences between mature and young plants: Water needs of young and mature plants differ. Young trees and shrubs require extensive water and different sun conditions than mature plants with established root systems. 4. Watering at the wrong time of day: Homeowners should maintain a deep and infrequent watering schedule throughout the year, watering no more tha 1 inch a week. 5. Skimp on mulching: Mulch promotes lawn growth with nitrogen in soil and reduces fertilizer needs by one third. 6. Misunderstanding differences between seed and sod: Sod reduces soil erosion and requires less watering and is most effective for "building" a new lawn. Seeds fill in grass gaps and build a defense against pests. 7. Fertilizing out of season: Timing is critical to maximize fertilizer effectiveness. Northern homeowners should only fertilize lawns three times a year: once in late spring, once in late summer, and following the last mow of the year. Southern homeowners should fertilize lawns in the spring after grass maintains a green color and then again in July or August. 8. Using powder products to treat a lawn: Powder products are often cheaper, but less effective in treating lawns since powder blows away in the wind before it can saturate soil. 9. Using "green" products to fix problems immediately: Organic and "green" products take longer to work since more applications are required to produce results. 10. Ignoring soil tests: Soil tests are essential to healthy lawns since pH balance determines the best type of grass to grow successfully. Back to the "Top 10 Lists" Main Page