Your outdoor space is framed and full when your lawn is in great shape. It’s green and thick and adds so much vibrancy that it just draws you outside with its welcoming tones.
No lawn that looks this perfect or makes your neighbors this envious happens overnight. In fact, there are quite a few services that are necessary to keep your lawn – a living plant – healthy and happy.
You may not know all the services involved in this endeavor. You just know you want a great lawn that stands up in your high-end neighborhood and elevates your curb appeal.
You might think obtaining a thick, green lawn can happen with just a quick stop at the home improvement store where you can purchase some fertilizer and a lawn spreader, and then you’ll be good to go.
Stop right there. Lawn fertilization is an important part of a great lawn, and the process of doing it correctly takes more than just choosing some random products and throwing them on your lawn. There's precision involved, which includes using the right mix of nutrients, accurate timing, and correct application techniques that ensure your lawn gets what it needs when it needs it. You’d hate to be wasting your precious time and money doing something that isn’t helping your lawn at all, after all.
Let’s face facts: Lawn care is a science. So when it comes to DIY lawn fertilization vs. hiring lawn care services, you have some research to do to make the right choice for your home landscape in Northern Virginia.
Let's look at these options to help you make the best choice for you.
DIY Lawn Fertilization Or Hire Lawn Care Services: Which Choice Is Best For You?
Why does your lawn need fertilizer? This is a great question to ask initially while we’re on the topic.
You might think lawns should be getting enough nutrients in your soil or that they should be able to grow without supplementation. But there are a lot of factors at play here. Let’s look at them to help you better understand your lawn’s needs.
Like all plants, your lawn needs water, sunlight, oxygen, and nutrients to grow. But your soil goes through a lot. Just the act of building your home strips your soil of nutrients. These built environments churn up so much soil during the building process, that there isn’t much left for your lawn.
Soils don’t always provide an endless supply of nutrients, unfortunately. That’s where fertilizer comes in – to help provide your lawn with what your soil might be lacking so it can grow healthy and strong and become resistant to weed and disease infestations, as well as hold up to regular traffic.
This is why whether you’re doing DIY lawn fertilization or hire lawn care services, you need to make sure it’s done right.
Let’s look at these pros and cons of the two options, so you can better understand what’s involved.
DIY Lawn Fertilization Vs. Hiring Lawn Care Services: Pros & Cons
Now that you can see how important lawn fertilization services in Loudoun County, VA, are, you might think any old bag of fertilizer from Home Depot will do.
But you’re missing a key piece of information, which could lead you down the wrong aisle or make you buy the wrong product: What does your specific lawn need? Your lawn could need different nutrients than your neighbor’s lawn. Or your lawn’s pH could be worse than the pH of the lawn across the street.
Conducting a soil test will help give you this data. Your lawn’s pH can tell you quite a bit, in fact. The perfect pH range for Northern Virginia lawns is between 6 and 7. High pH levels above 7 indicate your soil is alkaline, and low pH levels below 6 indicate that your lawn is leaning toward more acidic. Northern Virginia soils tend to be on the acidic side, which means they require lime to keep your pH in check.
But if your lawn’s pH is extremely low, such as in the 4s, then you’ll need a lime application that is more corrective in nature. You want to get your pH to the optimum level range so your lawn is capable of taking in nutrients.
This is step one in figuring out what your lawn needs when it comes to fertilization. If you do DIY lawn fertilization, you can take a soil test and send it to the local university extension yourself to get the data, but if you hire a pro, your lawn care service provider will do this for you. Either way, a soil test is a key component in doing the job correctly.
DIY Fertilization Advantage: Learn Something New
As you can see, DIY lawn fertilization vs. hiring lawn care services can help you learn a new skill. To do the job right takes some education, so you can learn the proper steps for the process.
To begin, you must buy the right products. Conduct a soil test and then you’ll know what your lawn needs. This will give you the information to help you buy the right fertilizer mix. Fertilizers typically include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Each of these nutrients and their amounts are listed on the fertilizer bag’s label. You’ll want to select one with the right balance for your lawn.
For granular fertilizer applications you’ll need a lawn care spreader. Then, you want to calibrate that spreader before every fertilizer application. While applying the product, you need to use proper techniques, such as a smooth and steady walking speed while making even passes across your lawn. This way you don’t overapply products or miss areas of your lawn. More is not better, concerning fertilizer applications.
Learning all of the keys to fertilization takes some time. In fact, lawn care technicians spend years mastering the skills and getting the proper licensing and certifications to advance their expertise. They also embrace keeping up-to-date on Virginia’s state lawns, so they can provide lawn fertilization services in Loudoun County, VA correctly and without breaking laws. Remaining trained on best practices ensures they continue providing the best service.
It’s true that learning a new skill can make you feel accomplished, particularly after you’ve done the work and your lawn looks nice. But doing this takes some time and attention, so you want to make sure you have the hours to dedicate to the task and all it requires.
DIY Fertilization Advantage: You Get Outside
Taking care of your lawn with fertilization can definitely get you outside where the sun is shining and the air is fresh.
Your outdoor workout begins as you walk around your lawn, and then continues as you calibrate your spreader and get your product ready. Then you get some great exercise as you apply the product.
Since you’ll be performing DIY lawn fertilization during summer, it’ll be pretty hot. You might want to wear a t-shirt and shorts to do the work, but it’s more appropriate to wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves, as well as proper personal protective equipment, when you are doing your own lawn fertilization.
DIY Fertilization Disadvantage: A Shortage of Savings
You might think lawn fertilization costs are less expensive when you do them yourself. But the truth is, the costs add up quite a bit when you perform lawn care fertilization on your own.
Let’s look at what you have to buy. Initially, you have to buy the right equipment and products to do the work. Then you have to be able to store everything correctly, so you don’t lose products that you just paid good money for. Next, if you happen to need to reapply products if you didn’t do the job correctly the first time, then you have to buy more fertilizer. You also have to dedicate some of your budget to equipment maintenance so your machine operates well every time you use it.
Another cost you can’t forget to include is your time. How much would you pay yourself per hour to do this work? Your time dedicated to DIY fertilization might be better spent doing your full-time job, enjoying a hobby, or chilling with your family.
Are Lawn Fertilization Services in Loudoun County, VA, Worth the Expense?
You might be wondering whether you should move forward with DIY lawn fertilization or hire lawn care services professionals to do the work.
Now that we talked about some of the pros of DIY fertilization, let’s review the value of opting to hire a pro.
Science is the field in which lawn care resides. This means it takes the use of scientific principles to get the job done. There are no guesses or random product applications you can make to get great results. You need the soil test results, and the right products applied in the right way and at the right times to ensure fertilization is successful.
Timing is a big one when you’re seeking great results. Throughout the year, you might receive quite a few fertilizer applications – and they all require proper timing. You need to learn this to do it right. And you can’t miss a timing window just because you don’t feel like it or because you’re busy.
Lawn care technicians are experts because they do this work all day every day. While you have to squeeze the work into a weekend, lawn care pros can do this during the day so they never miss a prime application window.
Lawn care experts also utilize better products – commercial-grade products you can’t find in home improvement stores. Then they are trained to use them properly and tested to receive a license. Better products combined with someone with better training will naturally give you better lawn fertilization results.
Professional Care Can Boost Your Lawn Fertilization Results
Now that you are familiar with the pros and cons of DIY lawn fertilization vs. hiring lawn care services, you are ready to make a great choice for your lawn – the one that suits your needs and time best.
Being proactive is the best approach to keeping your lawn green and thick and adding a huge boost to your curb appeal, and hiring a pro is the best way to do that. You avoid problems and stress and don’t have to make your lawn the guinea pig as you learn how to fertilize correctly.
If you still aren’t sure which decision to make, give Turf’s Up a call. We want to help you make the most informed and best decision that fits your lifestyle and budget best. We are happy to take the time to help you compare your options so you know everything included in a professional fertilization program.
Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for professional lawn care services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn in the neighborhood. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn.
