The most beautiful landscape design will be a waste if your yard is still a mess. Brown grass, bare spots, and a yard full of weeds can feel impossible to avoid. We’ve put together some tips and tricks to help you keep your lawn looking great all year.

Use a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent the appearance of weeds. Then make sure to eliminate (quickly) any that do manage to make it into your lawn. You can remove them by hand if there aren’t many, but you’ll likely need granular weed control products.

Mowing more than a third of the grass blade is considered too much. You’ll damage the remaining grass and make it easier for weeds to take hold.

Your blades should be sharp, oil and spark plugs should be regularly changed, and the undercarriage of the mower should be periodically cleaned out.

It’s possible to start making lawn care mistakes before you even have a lawn to maintain! When designing your landscape, there are a lot of choices that will eventually make lawn care more difficult. When designing, keep these things in mind:

• Be sure to leave room for mowers
• Use long gradual curves vs. short/tight curves that will be difficult for equipment to navigate
• Leave space between your home and lawn (with mulch or stone) to help protect the home from mower damage
• Add yard ornaments to plant bed vs. lawn to prevent mower damage

Always water your lawn in the morning and make sure you water for a while. The soil needs quite a bit of moisture, so you’ll need to water long enough for the water to be soaked in. Watering less often and for longer periods of time is the way to go.

In the Carolinas, spring and summer is the best time to fertilize. Find a mix of fast and slow release fertilizers that will treat your lawn immediately and keep feeding it over time. But make sure to follow the instructions on the package – more is not always better.

As much as we love our four-legged friends, they can really do some damage on our lawns. Consider making a gravel or mulch area for your dog and training him to use only that one spot. I know that’s easier said than done, but think about it in the same way you house-trained him.

If your lawn is a little thin in areas, you can seed over the area to help thicken it up. Fall is the ideal time to reseed cool-season grasses. Plant warm-season grasses in late spring. Make sure not to plant grass at the same time you use a pre-emergent preventer, as it will keep your grass from taking hold.

Are you ready to get started on your own outdoor living space? Check out our Landscapes Portfolio or contact one of the professionals at Pipeline to get started designing your outdoor living space today!