Perhaps you’ve just purchased your first home and your first lawn. Making the jump from apartment living to a house with a lawn can seem intimidating at first.
However, caring for your lawn and garden can be a very rewarding experience. We all need to spend more time outside, get more exercise, and yard work is a natural way to do it.
Unless you hire a lawn care service to deal with your weekly yard work, every homeowner needs a few essential tools to take care of the yard.
Lawn Mower
Every homeowner with a lawn needs to own a lawnmower. Lawnmowers generally are of two types: reel mowers and rotary mowers. Reel mowers are the old fashioned push-mower type; these would be an affordable option for a small yard.
Also, you’ll get a full work out cutting the grass with one! A rotary mower cuts the grass with a high-speed blade that spins underneath.
Some lawn mowers have a bag to collect the grass clippings, and others chop the grass clippings into mulch and spread it on the lawn.
Mulching the grass clippings helps to feed the lawn, while partially eliminating the need for fertilizers. A mulching mower can also mulch fallen leaves in the fall, eliminating the need for leaf removal in Charlottesville.
String Trimmers
A string trimmer is a lawn tool that whips a nylon string around at high speed, cutting the grass in areas where the lawnmower can’t reach. You can get a string trimmer as either gas-powered, electric with a cord, or battery powered.
This lawn tool is an easy way to trim the grass along walls, fences, or flower beds. A string trimmer can also be used as an edger.
Leaf Blower
A leaf blower, like a string trimmer, can be either gas-powered, electric cord or battery operated. It’s used to blow leaves and other yard debris off the lawn.
However, these yard tools are very noisy, and a simple hand rake can achieve the same goal. Leaf removal in Charlottesville can also be performed by a lawn service.
Lawn Care is Not Just About Equipment
To maintain your yard and your lawn, you must understand your soil. Is your soil alkaline or acidic? Is it sandy, peat, clay, silt, loam or chalky?
Understanding your soil composition will allow you to choose the right amendments and fertilizers to optimize the health of your lawn.
Likewise, you’ll need to know the best types of grass, and other plants, for your region. Different types of grass have different tolerances for drought, wet conditions, shade and soil types. The same goes for flowers, vegetables, and trees.
Before you plant anything, take a look around your neighborhood, and take note of what is growing there. Likewise, pay attention to the plantings around shopping centers and municipal buildings to get an idea of what grows well in your region.
Proper watering is also essential for a healthy lawn.
Grass grows best when watered deeply and less frequently. A good, deep watering once a week is better than frequent, shallow watering. Shallow watering creates shallow roots that are sensitive to drought and other stressors.
Watering and other lawn chores will naturally vary from season to season; it’s essential to know the lawn care schedule typical to your area. While a lawn is a bit of work, it can also be gratifying.
