We couldn’t help noticing you standing out in the middle of your lawn looking confused.
New at this lawn care stuff? We’ve all been there.
It’s kind of overwhelming, right?
How low should you mow? How often to water? How do you get rid of weeds? When to fertilize?
How about some lawn care basics to start with?
Don’t worry — you’ll catch on fast. Here are 8 lawn care tips for beginners.
1. Proper Lawn Mowing
Mowing short is tempting, right? Then you won’t have to mow again as soon. We see your reasoning here.
But mowing short actually hurts your grass.
When you mow, you’re removing a portion of the leaf surface that creates food through photosynthesis.
Take off too much, and you’re starving your grass.
When you’re really hungry, are you working your best? Hungry grass won’t be its best, either.
A top lawn care tip to remember: no more than a third of the grass blade should be removed during a single mowing. 
As summer progresses, you should keep raising your mower blade. Shoot for 3 inches in June, 3.5 to 4 inches in July and August.
Lawn Care Basics Bonus Tip: Keep your mower blade sharp
Why does this matter?
A dull blade “rips” the top off a blade of grass, leaving a jagged edge that invites pests and disease.
A sharp blade makes a nice, clean cut, which helps the grass to heal faster and promotes photosynthesis — which makes it green.
2. Wise Watering for Lawn Care Beginners
It’s easy to get carried away with watering your lawn, and actually water it too often.
Water deeper, longer, and not as often. That encourages deeper, stronger roots, which means greener, healthier grass. 
If you water too often, it encourages roots to hang out near the surface. Why should they head deeper in the soil to search for water when you’re serving it up so readily every day?
Another lawn care tip for beginners: wrap up your watering as close to sunrise as possible. If sunrise is at 6 a.m., you should be done watering at 6.
Why?
Wind typically picks up as the day goes on. You don’t want your precious water droplets to blow away.
Also, the sun will cause your water to evaporate before it can soak into your soil.
3. Leave Those Grass Clippings
Save yourself some work and skip the bags. Those grass clippings can head right back to the soil as mulch.
The bits of grass fall down to the soil level where they’ll begin decomposing, acting as a natural fertilizer.
4. Crabgrass Prevention is Crucial
One lawn care basic everybody can relate to is swearing about crabgrass.
So, welcome to the club!
A lawn care beginner may be wondering, how do you know you have crabgrass? The leaves of crabgrass are broader than grass blades and it grows in clumps close to the ground. The stems grow outward rather than up, and look like the legs of a crab.
How to get rid of it? Timing is everything.
You have to apply crabgrass pre-emergent in early spring. Target those weed seeds as they germinate and take root in the soil so they don’t become more seed-producing plants.
Here at RainMaster in Minneapolis and Eau Claire, we really double down on crabgrass, offering two crabgrass treatments — one in early spring and another in late spring, so you get extra protection against this pesky weed.
5. Pre-Emergent vs. Post-Emergent Weed Control
This is all about when to apply lawn weed killer. Pre-emergent weed control is designed to target the weed seeds before they sprout, like the crabgrass control we just described.
Post-emergent products will kill weeds once they already exist. 
It’s important to know the difference, and to follow the product instructions when it comes to timing and application. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and money.
Lawn Care Basics Tip: Applying weed killer isn’t a one-time thing. It needs to happen multiple times a year. Different weeds grow at different times throughout the seasons.
That’s why you get five visits throughout the year in our comprehensive lawn care programs.
6. Feeding Your Hungry Lawn
Any lawn care advice for beginners has to include fertilizer. It’s the food for your hungry lawn.
When should you fertilize your lawn? The first round of fertilizer and weed control should be done by Memorial Day. Three more applications should happen throughout the summer. 
It’s easy to forget about your lawn in the fall, when it kind of seems like lawn care season is over.
But those turf roots are still hungry. Fertilize in the fall and you give those roots nutrients to grow nice and deep now, with some left over for a healthy start — and greener grass — next spring.
Another basic lawn care tip: Always opt for granular lawn fertilizer, which is more expensive than the liquid stuff, but it breaks down slowly, giving you consistent benefits from fertilization.
Look for blends that also contain organic nutrients, which give your lawn that beautiful, deep green color and help your soil.
7. All About Lawn Aeration
Once you have your basic mowing, watering, fertilizing, and weed control down, you might notice your lawn still doesn’t look that great.
It might need aeration.
When your soil becomes compacted, your lawn can't breathe. Its roots can't take in water or nutrients. Your poor lawn is starving and super thirsty.
Lawn aeration uses a machine to pull out plugs of soil, creating spaces so that air and water can penetrate, which leads to healthier roots. Healthier roots make for a healthier, thicker lawn, better able to resist pests and diseases and tolerate summer’s heat and drought.
8. Be Proactive to Avoid Lawn Problems
So, by now you’ve figured out there are a lot of things going on out there in your yard that can keep your grass from being its best beautiful green.
Feeling overwhelmed? That’s what lawn care pros are for.
Pros know how to diagnose lawn care problems before you even notice anything’s wrong.
When our lawn care technicians are out there spreading seed, or applying fertilizer, or treating weeds, they’re looking at your lawn’s total health. They might notice signs of Japanese beetles, grubs, or lawn diseases.
Our technicians are trained professionals, so they catch things early — before they turn into worrisome and expensive problems that can keep your grass from being as healthy as possible.
Are You a Lawn Care Beginner in Eau Claire or Minneapolis? Leave it to RainMaster
So, that’s a lot of lawn care basics to stay on top of for a green and healthy lawn.
Are you picturing spending your hard-earned weekends fertilizing, killing weeds, aerating, and staring at your lawn trying to figure out why it’s still an embarrassment?
Ugh.
Wait, here’s an idea. Let us do the work.
At RainMaster, you choose from three different levels of lawn care programs, based on the results you’d like, how fast you want to see results, and your budget.
- Luscious Lawn is a high-end, proactive program that will promote amazing lawn care results. This is the program to choose for the quickest and best results, particularly if your lawn needs a lot of help.
- Terrific Turf, a mid-level option, is our most popular program to grow a thick, green lawn and deal with most challenges.
- Healthy Habitat is a basic plan that includes the elements you need for a better lawn.
When you’re ready to put your trust in us, we can’t wait to meet you — and help you make the best choices for your lawn.
Ready to turn the lawn care basics over to the pros? Request a quote today! We’ll review your lawn care options together so you can make a great choice. Then, you can finally enjoy watching your lawn transform and stop worrying about it.
