Lawn Care
Keeping a lawn healthy through the year: mowing, watering, feeding, weeds and when to aerate, overseed or repair bare patches.
Lawn basics
Keeping your lawn healthy
A thick, healthy lawn is the best defense against weeds, pests and drought. Most lawn problems come from mowing too short, watering too often and lightly, or feeding at the wrong time for your type of grass.
Our lawn care guide takes you through the year, with what to do in spring, summer, fall and winter for both cool-season and warm-season grasses: mowing height, watering, fertilizing, weed control, aeration and overseeding.
A good mower, edger and rake make lawn care much easier; see essential garden tools for what to buy. If you are rethinking your yard, a smaller lawn with more beds can cut mowing and watering. How to plan a garden layout helps you decide what to keep.
Seeing brown patches, grubs or chewed grass? Start with our guide to garden pests. In fall, rake up leaves before they smother the grass, as covered in how to prepare your garden for winter.
Common questions
Most lawns do best mowed fairly high, often 2.5 to 4 inches for cool-season grasses and lower for some warm-season types. A good rule is never to cut off more than one-third of the grass blade at once. Taller grass shades out weeds and holds moisture better.
Most lawns need about 1 to 1.5 inches of water a week, including rain, during the growing season. Water deeply once or twice a week in the early morning rather than a little every day, which encourages deeper roots.
It depends on your grass. Cool-season grasses common in the North benefit most from feeding in fall and again in spring. Warm-season grasses common in the South are fed in late spring and summer while they are actively growing.