5 Common Lawn Care Myths You Should Know About

As a Northeast Ohio homeowner, you probably have at least one person in your neighborhood or on your street who claims to be a lawn expert. 

He’s always outside on his riding lawn mower, surveying his grass. He’s always talking about the best mower and fertilizer brand. He knows everything about grass – at least that’s what he thinks. 

We all have these neighbors who speak rather authoritatively on a subject matter, claiming expertise. But does he really know what he’s talking about? 

The truth is there are many lawn care myths out there. The practice has been around for quite a while, so it’s natural that you’d find some inaccuracies. 

And as you sift through all of the information, it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction. We’re here to help you sort it all out … and help you teach that neighbor of yours a thing or two.

5 Top Lawn Care Myths

There are a lot of so-called lawn care facts floating around out there. Some of it is true, but some of it is quite suspicious. 

We’d like to set the record straight and highlight 5 of the top lawn care myths we hear to help you weed out the good data from the bad information. 

#1. Water Your Lawn Every Day

Many people think they should water for about 15 minutes in the morning and evening every day for optimum irrigation on their lawns. 

This lawn care myth is actually counterproductive to lawn health. First of all, the water doesn’t penetrate deep into the soil, meaning you’re not encouraging deep lawn roots. Second, it’s just unnecessary to water that often. Third, at 15 minutes, you might barely be getting the soil wet, and once that sun hits, the moisture evaporates fast. 

The optimum watering frequency is actually a couple of times a week for a longer duration. Ideally, this means one hour per zone, two-to-three times per week. This ensures water gets down into the root zone, encouraging a stronger growing plant. And watering grass at night is not a great idea because it encourages lawn disease. Watering in those early morning hours before the sun is fully out and above is ideal.

Your lawn really only needs 1.5 inches of water per week, which includes rainfall. 

#2. Mow Your Lawn Short

Whether you mow your grass short or long, it’s still going to grow at the same rate. This means mowing it short is not going to save you time mowing your grass. We’re sorry to have to break this lawn care fact to you, but it’s true 

In addition to thinking it saves them time, people also mow short because they think it looks better or thicker. This is also untrue. Mowing short has a number of problems. First of all, it puts stress on your lawn. You should never remove more than one-third of the grass blade at any one time. It also exposes the soil and potential weed seeds to sunlight, giving them a chance to germinate. 

If you’re trying to obtain a weed-free, thick, green lawn, mowing short actually goes against what you want. 

For cool-season grasses like those we grow in Northeast Ohio, always mow to a height of 3 to 4 inches tall, particularly during the hotter months. Your lawn will thank you. 

#3. Seed Your Lawn in Spring

If you listened to the marketing on the television commercials, you’d think spring was the only time anyone seeded their lawns.

But spring is actually not the best time to seed a lawn. It is far better to seed in the fall in Northeast Ohio. That way you are giving that seed a chance to get rooted in fall and then again in spring before it has to contend with the heat and drought of summer – not to mention weed and disease pressure. 

While spring seeding can be done, you’ll get better germination and better results in fall, as well as saving time and money. It’s a lawn care fact. 

#4. Fertilize Only in the Spring

Fertilization in the spring is great, but that’s not the only time it’s important. And only fertilizing once a year can be detrimental to your lawn’s health as it goes into the growing season. 

You want to fertilize at an even rate throughout the season to maintain nutrient levels without promoting excess top growth and encouraging diseases. You want just enough fertilization to give your lawn color and growth, and you want to adjust it throughout the year based on the weather conditions and the period of the lawn’s growth. 

This is a lawn care fact that can prevent you from overfertilizing and give you a great lawn with just the inputs it needs throughout the year to maximize growth and vigor. 

#5. DIY Lawn Care Saves Money

As you walk through a home improvement store, you’ll see many lawn care products. You might even be able to get comparable products to those that professionals use. 

Then, you’ll need a good granular spreader and a proper sprayer. Remember to calibrate it before each use based on the products you’re using. 

Now, you’ll need to dive into the knowledge of lawn care basics, read your product label instructions, learn efficient application techniques, and put it all together to keep your lawn thriving through any challenges along the way. 

If you’re willing to accept the challenge, we applaud you. But you should know that DIY lawn care usually doesn’t save you money once you add everything together -- the most important element being your time. How much is one hour of your time worth? 

Learning a new skill can make you feel accomplished but you should know it’s a lawn care myth that you’ll save money doing DIY lawn care. 

Lawn Care Facts You Can Trust

It’s pretty typical for you to encounter people in your neighborhood who have heard some common – though bad – advice about lawn care. 

Sometimes, these supposed lawn care facts are based on assumptions and other times they’ve just been shared and repeated over and over that they’ve become pretty believable.

We all want healthy lawns, but doing it the best way possible without wasting your time and money is preferable. Turf Pride would love to help you with that goal in Northeast Ohio, and we’re always happy to share our knowledge with you about proper lawn care. 

We’d love to be a part of helping you achieve the lawn of your dreams in Northeast Ohio. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we’ll prepare a customized plan so you can have the best lawn on the block.