There are things you get excited to spend your hard-earned cash on, and things you begrudgingly hand over the dough for. Lawn care? Let’s just say it doesn’t get most people out of bed in the morning, and that’s OK.
Having a great lawn doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Your first step is thinking about what you can DIY instead of paying someone else to do. And no, we don’t mean you need to spend your weekend on lawn care. By being smarter about what you do and when you do it, you can save your money for that custom cornhole game and your time for drinks on the deck.
DIY your fertilizer and soil conditioners
A lot of people shy away from doing their own lawn care, particularly when it comes to fertilizers and soil conditioners, because they’re not sure how to get it right. It’s a legitimate concern, because your lawn care depends on your soil, weather and climate–there’s no one size fits all solution.
But, spoiler alert: those lawn care services you’re hiring aren’t exactly customizing your plan, either. For a lot less, you can DIY your fertilizer and soil conditioners, whether with a granular product or a spray on product like our line of all-natural lawn care. Key here is understanding what product to apply and when to apply it. That’s where our technology comes in: we combine soil test, weather and climate data to send you what your lawn needs and to instruct you on when to apply it.
By taking the guesswork out of lawn care, you can do it yourself while still being effective.
Mow it yourself
If you’re shelling out a couple hundred dollars a month to have your lawn mowed, it might be worth the up front investment for a mower and the hour or so a week to do it yourself, depending on how large your yard is.
Good mowing habits are important for a healthy lawn, so the other benefit of mowing yourself is having more control over when you mow and how short you cut the grass. (Cutting too short in the middle of summer, for example, can exacerbate heat stress and leave your grass dead or diseased.) In the long run, it can save you thousands of dollars.
Pro tip: if you’re mowing yourself, make sure to maintain your mower. You can get it serviced once every other year for short money at a local shop. Get the blades sharpened and give it a tune up to make sure it works for years in the future.
Don’t waste product
If you’ve got garage or shed shelves lined with lawn care products, there’s probably a lot of waste going on. Your lawn doesn’t need much–it just needs the right stuff. It’s similar to the conventional wisdom about how we eat: 2,000 calories of cotton candy and 2,000 calories of lean protein will give you totally different results.
Get educated on what your lawn really needs through soil testing, and learn how to apply the right amount of product at the right time so you’re not dumping on more than you need to. This move can save you hundreds of dollars in wasted product per year. If you don’t have the time to dig into it (hey-o!), it’s probably worth checking out a plan on Lawnbright to better understand what you need.
DIY your mosquito and tick control
Depending on the size of your lawn, mosquito and tick control services can charge you over a thousand dollars a season for a contract, especially if they are natural solutions. It’s actually really easy to apply natural mosquito and tick control products to your lawn and the areas around your yard, so this is another place that you could save hundreds just by getting out there with the sprayer every few weeks.
The other benefit of DIYing your insect control is the ability to customize it. The day or two before you have a barbecue, head out for a quick spray to provide some extra protection. Natural mosquito and tick control comes in a variety of formats, but we’ve found the most easy and effective way to do it is spraying it on through your hose.
Recycle your lawn clippings (grasscycling)
Boost the effectiveness of your fertilizer (for free) by grasscycling. If you want to be as lazy about lawn care as possible but pass it off as your grass genius at work, this is the technique for you. Don’t bag your clippings as you mow. Instead, let them fall back into the grass, creating a moisture barrier, greening up your lawn with some (free) nitrogen, and preventing the growth of thatch.
Don’t skimp on product quality
The one place you don’t want to compromise on is product quality. When you think about what you’re putting down on your lawn, consider how you use it. If you’ve got kids or pets rolling around in that grass, take a hard look at what’s in the bag or bottle before you start. You want to make choices that are safer for the environment and your family. Sometimes the price tag on those can be a little higher, but by using the right products in the right amounts and DIYing, your savings will easily allow you to use better, greener products on your lawn.