Don’t Believe These Lawn Care Myths!

There are two kinds of myths. There are the kinds that are centuries old and tell these amazing stories about heroes and villains from long ago. People study them to learn about ancient cultures, history, and what people believed in. The other kinds of myths are the ones you hear from a coworker who is destroying their lawn and doesn’t know it. At Pioneer Landscape Centers, we study the latter to help people avoid lawn care myths that may destroy their yards.

There are a ton of myths that try to help you out with taking care of your lawn, but usually, they don’t work. The most harmless ones just tell you to do something that wastes time and money, but some can seriously damage the long-term health of your lawn. If you hear about a new idea for how to take care of your plants, don’t forget to do a little research first. You never know how some people hear about their latest crazy idea, but our experts know what they’re doing.

Lawn Care Myth #1: It’s Best to Pull Weeds Out With Your Hands

Now, this is one of the more harmless myths. Pulling out weeds with your hands isn’t the worst thing. It’s an age-old tactic that has persisted for as long as it has because it works. Weeds are strong and dexterous plants. If you grab them by the stem and pull them out, you’ll get most of the plant. It’s just not the best way to do it anymore.

Have you ever pulled out a weed and found that its roots were thicker and/or longer than you thought they would be? When this happens, you likely pulled up a lot of the dirt and soil in the ground in the process. You can actually ruin the soil this way by displanting and spreading it around. 

Most importantly, pulling up weeds with your hands only gets most of the plant. A tool can get it all, and you want to get it all to ensure no more weeds grow.

Lawn Care Myth #2: Cutting Your Gross Low Means You Don’t Have to Mow as Often

This is one of the most common lawn care myths around. There is some logic behind this lawn care myth. If you cut it low, it’ll take time for it to grow back, and you will have to mow it less often. In a way, this lawn care myth is true because you do have to mow less, but it's bad because it doesn’t actually help your lawn.

Grass survives using photosynthesis like other plants, but since each blade of grass is so small, it needs surface area to capture sunlight and grow. When you cut it so short, you risk making it too difficult for your grass to survive. It can dry up in patches, leaving your lawn barren and devoid of life.

A rule of thumb is to never cut more than a third of your grass’s average height. If you do, you’ll have less mowing to do, but you might not even have anything left to mow at all.

Lawn Care Myth #3: It Doesn’t Matter When You Water Your Plants

There is a reason for everything when it comes to lawn care. If you think there’s no difference between watering your lawn in the morning, the afternoon, or in the evening, consider what your neighbors are doing. You’ve probably noticed that many of them set their sprinklers to go off early in the morning. 

This is because it's best to water your plants just before the sun comes up. This works to give your plants the water they need to complete their photosynthesis process right from the start. If you do it in the afternoon, they won’t get as much water, because the sun is at its height, and its rays are at their most intense. This will evaporate the water, leaving little for your lawn to absorb.

Watering your plants at night is even worse. While the water won’t evaporate as fast as it would in the afternoon, your plant is only just getting the water it needs as the sunlight it needs is going away. This lawn care myth is how you destroy your grass.

Lawn Care Myth #4: You Only Fertilize Once or Twice a Year

A lot of lawn care myths are about trying to make it easier on the lawn owner, but the truth is that a healthy lawn isn’t something that’s always easy. Sometimes you may get lucky and nature sorts itself out, but not always. Sometimes you need to give your plants extra care or even a boost.

Fertilizer gives your grass and other plants the boost they need to survive through the year. When your plants don’t naturally receive the nutrients they need from their environment, fertilizer gives it to them. If your land is particularly healthy, maybe you only need to fertilize your lawn a few times a year, but rarely can a lawn be healthy with only two instances of fertilization.

Contact Pioneer Landscape Centers For Help Avoiding Lawn Care Myths

Our experts have heard a lot of different lawn care myths that you shouldn’t listen to. When your business isn’t lawn care, it makes sense that you wouldn’t know everything that would let you spot a bad idea. Instead of taking a risk with your lawn care, talk to our experts. We can help you plan, get the supplies you need, and answer any questions you may have to the best of our ability.

You can trust Pioneer Landscape Centers to tell you how to care for your lawn. Contact us today.