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Lawn Care Landscape Design

First time home owner, where do I begin????

6 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

We moved into our house in January in Mn and didn't really get a good look at the lawn prior to moving in. Now that spring has finally sprung we realize we have a lot of work ahead of us. The house we moved into was empty for a while so it doesn't appear as if any lawn work was done last fall. After talking to the neighbor is sounds like there was an overrun area of the lawn that they just cut down because they thought people would not want to deal with it if they saw how over run it was. There also used to be an above ground pool that did some left an area in pretty bad shape. Where do I begin? Should I rake all the leaves up then mow? Should I mow with a bag to pick up the leaves? How do I go about repairing the bad areas? Use a thatcher? Aerate? Fertilize? Seed? I've attached some photos to give you some perspective. The photos with the lattice is where the pool used to be. The other ones are where it was over grown. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have zero lawn care experience and I really want my first yard to be one that I can be proud of.

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Comments (2)

l pinkmountain
5 years ago
You begin with the soil. Try to figure out what kind it is. Cooperative extensions will do soil tests for you and make recommendations, contact yours. You have to get a box to put the soil sample in and instructions on how to take a sample to put in the box. Then take to Cooperative extension and they will send to a lab and in a couple of days you will have comprehensive results. Invaluable.

Also look at the light conditions, where the sun hits (or doesn't) and when. I think your lawn needs to be totally reseeded. Now is the time to do it. Figure out if and where you want any garden or shrub beds, also trees. Plant trees first, get small ones, they grow fast. Plant for the mature size of the tree so don't plant your plants close to the fence or house. Enjoy!

P.S. My dad swears by "Lawncare for Dummies." You might want to get a copy of that book.
PRO
Capital Landscaping
5 years ago
Since your in MN and spring weather is just hitting with the snow finally leaving, there are a few things you can do as the sun starts to be out longer and temps warm up. First priority would be getting on the leaves and sticks out of the yard so it's not smothering the turf. Depending how many leaves/sticks this could be done a few ways. You might need to stick to rakes and blowers instead of a mow and bag. Either way, once the yard is cleaner take a look at the ground, it might be so compact and shady that just throwing seed down won't help much.

If you're really serious about getting fuller and thicker turf, you might be be best having a local company that takes care of turfs recommend a course of action for you which could include spring aeration and seeding, and maybe fertilizer. If the soil isn't to bad though it might just need some seed and maybe some fertilizer.

It's still relatively early landscaping season in MN, the grass just turned green here in central Iowa within the last two weeks. So you should be able to do some work to get things looking better before grasses really start to kick in.
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I feel for you. This guy sounds pretty shady, and, unfortunately, you are new to this experience and too trusting. Most of the contractors I've worked with, even those whose work itself was good, have disappointed me in one way or another. I don't know any homeowner who doesn't feel this way. They start out like first dates, all eager to please, but then they gradually reveal their real, usually unpleasant, selves. I can't tell you how many times I've heard variations on the "tiler had a baby" excuse. People have babies. People get sick. Floods, snow, and hurricanes happen. Most people at most jobs would get fired if they kept using such excuses for missing work or not finishing on time. And though I've had quality work done by a contractor who didn't pull permits, I don't recommend it. Permit requirements vary state to state, and maybe even more locally. If he does have a license, complaints to the issuing authority may provide some recourse, but I'm not knowledgeable about this. I wouldn't worry about trying to win him over. If he's not trying to win you over, he's probably taking advantage of you and your niceness. Expecting him to change is like an abused wife who believes her husband when he says he'll change, or even worse, that the beating is her fault. This is an expensive lesson, but many of us have paid a lot more to learn to be more cautious. And just ignore the other contractors here who just want to blame you and brag about themselves.
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