I'm a big believer in practicing what I preach. For two seasons now, I've been contributing to this blog with stories about the best lawn care practices, solutions, and how-to's for achieving a great looking lawn. However, through those seasons I've neglected my own lawn, by not giving it the attention that it needed, and allowing a lawn care company with the resources to care for it. So in today's blog, I'll share my own mistakes and how any professional lawn care company can help (even me) get your lawn back on track.

Mistake #1: Inconsistent Fertilizing - We take for granted the fact that our grass will grow and often forget that it is a living thing that depends on consistent care. Similar to our bodies, proper nutrition, preventative maintenance, and other care is required to keep us at our best. This is a fact that I preached, but personally ignored by fertilizing my lawn inconsistently throughout the season myself.

What I Should Have Done - Consistent feeding and preventative maintenance is the best way to prevent lawn care issues from arising throughout the season. Similar to the body, a healthy diet coupled with preventative maintenance (such as vitamins) can help prevent problems before they happen. A comprehensive lawn care program with fertilizer and preventatives (such as crabgrass, grub, and broad leaf) can help keep your lawn looking great all season long.

Mistake #2: Not Recognizing Warning Signs - The warning signs were there. I just ignored them. My lawn was telling me that there may be a problem, however I was only concerned with feeding it, and not looking for warning signs. 

What I Should Have Done: Hindsight is always 20/20, and in this case I should have had a licensed and fully-trained lawn care technician on my lawn the entire season. The fact is that a trained and licensed lawn care professional looks for these subtle warning signs throughout the year, and can diagnose problems before it's too late.

Mistake #3: Waiting Too Late - It was May when I saw my grass cry out for help and begin to die in patches. However, I thought that it was stress due to heat and lack of moisture. Even though I called a Weed Pro Technician to come out to my lawn, it was at that point already too late. I had grubs, and they had already done the damage.

What I Should Have Done: Like the body, preventative measures stop problems from occurring in lawns. Often when your lawn shows it's first signs of damage, it's already too late. I should have had a licensed technician on my lawn first thing in the Spring, preparing my lawn for the season.

It's Never Too Late To Start Over - The Rebirth

As you can probably tell from my mistakes (and the photo above), my lawn was pretty much toast. That's when our Owner Rob Palmer and one of our technicians came my home to put together an action plan in the Fall. A plan was put into place to kill the grubs and repair the damaged areas through slit-seeding. Not an overnight process to fix, Rob and our Technician gave me instructions for the next 6-8 months on caring for my lawn as it healed and the new seed began to take hold. Sticking to that plan, I'm happy to say that the picture to the right is my lawn one year later.

Moral of the Story

Today's blog took on a different feel, with me sharing a personal fail that I'm not too proud of. But I hope that you can take away at least one thing from this article. Personally, I learned the value of a trained and experienced lawn care company's comprehensive program and that even the most seasoned DIY'er needs some professional help from time to time.

Don't Fail Like I Did! Recognize The 5 Most Common Lawn Care Problems & Their Fixes!

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  Shaun Kanary has been a part of the Green Industry for the past 15 years. As the Director of Marketing for Weed Pro Lawn Care, a Cleveland and Columbus Lawn Care Service Provider, Shaun is a regular contributor to the Weed Pro Blog, and other industry magazine and blogs. 

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