12 Ways You're Secretly Ruining Your Lawn

Everyone wants a healthy lawn. It is one of the hallmarks of suburban living, something every homeowner can take pride in. However, hidden within even the most common lawn care practices are little things that, if gone unchecked, could secretly be ruining your lawn. While there are some secrets only professional landscapers know, simple homeowner tasks like how you mow your lawn, how often you water it, and how often you pull weeds have an effect on the health of your yard. If you're not doing those things correctly, you can cause unintended damage to your grass.

To help us better understand how we could be harming our lawns, Outdoor Guide enlisted lawn care expert Ryan Walts, the Franchise Training Coordinator and Business Coach for Lawn Squad. "Although I would never truly consider a lawn ruined unless it is completely dead or mostly dead, there are a few different ways in which homeowners can be inadvertently causing damage to their lawn without even realizing it," explains Walts.

Together, we'll go over the cultural practices Walts believes can cause long term damage, and provide tips for remedying these mistakes. So, if you're wondering why your lawn is looking less than stellar, here are 12 ways you could secretly be ruining it.

Here's the biggest way you're secretly ruining your lawn: you're not watering it properly. According to Walts, "In terms of watering, most homeowners do not have the time to water regularly. In many cases, not all homeowners have built-in irrigation systems, meaning that watering the lawn can take considerable time and energy keeping up with temporary lawn sprinklers. With busy schedules, this often means that irrigation gets missed or skipped. This can cause heat and drought stress on the lawn, opening it up to lawn pests like insects, weeds, and disease that can take advantage of the weakened turf."

Water is the key to a healthy lawn, and homeowners need to do their part in making sure that it is watered consistently. While you don't need to water your lawn every day, watering two to three times per week, aiming for a total of one and half inches of water throughout that time period, is recommended. The best time to water your lawn is in the morning, before the sun has a chance to evaporate the water before it can get to the roots.

However, Walts also says homeowners need to be mindful of overwatering, especially if they have an automatic irrigation system. "Too much water can lead to shallow and weaker root systems, increased thatch buildup, increased disease potential, and lower oxygen levels in the soil," he says. So, try to find a balance that fits your schedule, while also keeping your lawn fed.

There are many signs that will tell you when it's time to sharpen your lawn mower blades. However, most homeowners tend to ignore these signs to the detriment of their own lawns. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but when it comes to mowing your lawn, the sharper your blades, the healthier your grass will be.

"Mowing is an aggressive act, causing a wound to the grass plants. Doing so with a sharp blade can minimize turf damage and recovery time following a cut. However, dull mower blades tend to rip, tear, and pummel the grass instead of creating a clean cut. Mowing with dull blades increases turf stress, recovery time, and susceptibility to environmental and pest stressors," says Walts. If your lawn looks patchy, brown, and overall uneven, there is a good chance you're mowing with dull blades. 

Depending upon how frequently you're mowing, and how tough your grass is, you ought to be sharpening or replacing your lawn mower blades at least once a year. WD-40 can also help keep the grass off of your new or freshly sharpened blades. Spraying the solvent will create a protective barrier that helps prevent moisture from rusting out the blades and causing them to dull. 

Fertilizing your lawn is just as important as fertilizing a garden. If you want your grass to thrive the same way your tomatoes do, then you need to be making sure that you are feeding your soil. Neglecting to do this will starve your lawn of nutrition. "Not applying enough nutrient can leave the lawn 'hungry' and lean. Lean grass is not only an ideal target for pests but will also eventually begin to suffer from stressors such as heat, cold, or traffic wear that can cause it to thin out," Walts tells us.

However, there is also the potential to over-fertilizing your lawn. Walts explains: "Applying too much nutrient can also be detrimental. Introducing too much fertilizer can at worst, damage or kill the lawn. At best, too much nutrient can cause excessive spikes in growth, ultimately leading to increased thatch production." We'll explain more about thatch momentarily, but the overall point is, like with watering, you need to strike a balance when it comes to fertilizing.

The best time of year to fertilize your lawn depends largely on the type of grass you have. However, generally speaking, you'll want to fertilize your lawn only twice a year: in the spring when it wakes up, and in the fall before it goes to bed. That way, it is getting just the right amount of nutrients, without starving or over-feeding itself.

As with everything we've talked about so far, maintaining a healthy amount of thatch is all about balance. Thatch is a layer of debris, decomposing roots, and clippings that form at the top soil over time. A healthy amount of thatch helps keep the soil protected by holding onto water, reducing weeds, and acting as a natural mulch. However, if you've been overwatering or over-fertilizing your lawn, chances are you are laying on the thatch too thick.

"If allowed to accumulate without control, [thatch] can provide a home for pests such as disease and insects. Overly thick thatch layers can also prevent water and nutrients from reaching the root zone of the lawn, starving the grass from these vital elements," says Walts. If you allow the thatch to build up to ¾ of an inch or more, you risk causing great damage to your lawn.

Ways you can manage the thatch in your lawn include proper fertilizing, mowing your grass to the right height, and providing proper aeration to the soil.We'll go over these in more depth a little later on, but once you get the hang of maintaining a healthy thatch layer, your lawn should respond in kind. Raking is another excellent way of controlling thatch, though be sure to keep your grass clippings as they could come in handy for mulch or composting purposes

It can be easy for homeowners to think that all lawns, and all grasses, are the same. The truth of the matter is that every lawn is different. While they may share some similarities in terms of the types of vegetation they house, the soil underneath the lawn changes with each property. This is why it is so important to test your soil before you do any kind of planting or lawn maintenance.

Soil tests give you a readout of what is going on underneath the surface. They provide a chemical layout of your soil, showing you the pH levels and what nutrients are found within. This gives you a leg up when it comes to determining what course of action to take with your lawn. Soil tests will tell you what kind of grasses will grow best in your yard, and also what kind of amendments you need to make in order to strengthen the yard's foundation.

Neglecting to do this is like flying blind. If you've never bothered to check your soil, you've probably spent a lot more time and money trying to fix your yard without having all the information. You can test soil yourself by ordering a kit, or you can hire a professional to do it for you. Either way, the information you gain will be valuable down the road.

If there is one yard chore homeowners hate above all others, it is weeding. Pulling weeds is not only backbreaking, but it can seem never-ending. While there are certainly some weeds that you don't want to be pulling from your yard or garden, out of control weeds can very easily take over your yard and starve the native grasses of sunlight, nutrients, and space.

"Controlling weeds is vital for the overall health of the lawn, as weeds feed on the same nutrients and compete for the same water and space that your grass needs to thrive. In addition to using herbicides to control weeds, increasing the overall health and thickness of the grass in your lawn can go a long way in choking out weeds naturally," explains Walts. You can do this through proper mowing practices and applying overseed to help choke out the weeds.

There is also a chemical solution, though Walts advises caution. "Various grasses respond differently to chemical control methods, and it is important to know what lawn products are safe on your particular grass to avoid turf injury," he says. If you are chemical averse, there are plenty of all-natural weed-killers you can make using ingredients from your own kitchen, like apple cider vinegar, which is great for controlling crabgrass. 

There is a certain amount of controversy when it comes to aerating your soil. One of those frequently cited lawn care myths people need to stop believing is the fact that you can aerate your lawn by wearing spiked shoes. This does not provide your lawn with nearly enough aeration, and you will actually be compacting your soil instead of loosening it. Depending on the size of your lawn, broadforks will do the job of getting air in. For larger areas, it is best to call in professionals with machines. According to Walts, "Aerating the lawn also helps to open the soil, providing pathways for oxygen, water, and nutrients to reach your grass's root zone, promoting good overall health."

When those nutrients get deep into the roots, it promotes the health of the grass above. The stronger and thicker your sod is, the less likely you will be dealing with pesky weeds or dried out, unhealthy grasses. When you aerate depends entirely on the type of grass in your lawn. Warm-weather grasses like bermuda and zoysia are best aerated in the summer, while cooler weather grasses like fescue are best aerated in early fall. 

Timing is everything when it comes to mowing your lawn. Choosing the right time of day to take blade to grass is incredibly important for your lawn's overall health. You don't want to be mowing your grass when it is too wet, as it can very easily clump together, clog up your blades, and create uneven patches. For these reasons, mowing in the early morning or late in the evening when the grass is at its most moist is a no-go. However, you also don't want to mow your grass at high noon, as the intense heat could cause undue turf stress.

In order to get the healthiest mow, Walts tells us, "Mowing your lawn should be done in the morning or late afternoon to evening hours when the lawn is under minimal amounts of stress due to high temperatures." Mowing at these times also allows for all of the morning dew or other wetness to dry off of the grass.

Mowing your lawn in the mid-morning or late afternoon also serves to benefit you. Lawn mowing can be strenuous. The cooler temperatures and less harsh sunlight are far better mowing conditions than during the height of day. Both your grass and your body will thank you for your good timing.

Mowing your lawn too short is another one of those all too common mistakes many homeowners make. The thinking is that, by cutting the grass incredibly short, there will be more time between mowings. The irony here is that the homeowner may get their wish of mowing their lawn less – by having caused the grass to dry out and die.

On the other side of the coin, you also don't want to be going too long without mowing. "Allowing the lawn to grow too high before cutting can result in injury to the grass once it is mowed," Walts states. Tall grass can lead to difficulties in mowing, stress on the grass, and an increased likelihood of pests and diseases.

In order to keep your grass at a healthy height, Walts recommends following the one-third lawn mowing rule for luscious grass. "Always try to adhere to the '1/3 rule' by removing no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade per cut. This helps to avoid unnecessary stress or injury to the grass plants." Again, the perfect length of your grass depends entirely on what kind you have. However, the general rule is to keep it around 2 to 2.5 inches high. 

We all love our pets, but letting them roam free and use our lawns however they want to can wreak havoc on the grass – and our boots if we're not careful. Obviously, most dogs need time outside in order to let out energy and thrive. For cats, less so, but there are many owners who still allow their felines to come and go as they please. While this may seem like the easiest way to manage your pets, allowing too much unsupervised time can certainly cause a good amount of damage.

One of the big ways pets, particularly dogs, do damage to lawns is by digging and urinating. The holes make for unsightly bare patches, and can cause standing water, which can lead to increased insect and pest presence. The urine can also create brown patches in the grass. The increased nitrogen from the urine will burn the grass, causing it to discolor and die.

Unfortunately, fixing these things takes a lot of time and effort. You can rinse your grass with some water to decrease the nitrogen after your dog is done doing its business. There are also enzyme products that can be added to the grass to help it bounce back. The only way to fix holes, however, is to add more soil and grass seed.

There are several environmental factors to take into consideration when it comes to caring for your lawn. According to Walts, "Weather extremes such as high heat, extended drought, extreme cold, and prolonged rainfall or cloud cover can all lead to turf stress." He later adds, "Generally, once favorable weather conditions return, the grass will begin to grow out of dormancy and return to a healthier color and growth pattern."

This does not mean, however, that you should not be prepared to deal with bad weather. While you cannot control weather patterns, Walts recommends providing your lawn with the natural tools it needs to fight back. "Proper nutrition, pest control, and cultural practices can help strengthen your lawn and prepare it to handle whatever nature decides to throw its way." In other words, practicing all of the things we have just listed will also help keep your lawn protected from extended periods of harsh weather. It's also critical that, if you know a storm is on its way, that you mow your lawn and remove any debris that could clog up storm drains or create even more clean up afterwards. 

Neglecting any one of the things mentioned above will create the perfect environment for pests to take control of your lawn. Pests can be both animals and diseases. The types of diseases that can invade your lawn include powdery mildew, rust, ring spot, slime mold, summer patch, and snow mold (which you can remedy by simply raking debris away).

Animals are another huge concern in your yard. Moles can cause severe destruction underground, decimating gardens and weakening the soil foundations of your yard. The hills made by ants can be an eyesore, but they can also lead to root damage. While these are just a couple of examples, there are plenty of signs that pests have invaded your yard. Being able to identify them is key if you want to know how to prevent them in the future.

As Walts said at the beginning, unless your lawn is truly dead, there are ways it can be saved. With improved mowing, better watering, keeping your pets in check, and improving the health of your soil, you can go from ruining your lawn to helping it thrive.