Responsible homeowners are always looking for new ways to save money. Owners often even consider undertaking the massive responsibility of their own lawn care to reduce costs. The thought of doing it yourself might be enticing, but is it really worth it? Lawn care in Maine isn’t easy, so read on before committing to DIY-ing it. We’re breaking down the advantages and disadvantages of DIY lawn care versus pro lawn care to uncover the best option.
THE PROS OF DIY LAWN CARE
Some people opt for a DIY lawn care plan for a couple of reasons. While it’s a massive commitment, DIY lawn care has two main benefits:
- It can save you money (if you don’t mess up). The biggest factor that makes DIY lawn care tempting to homeowners is its seeming affordability. DIY lawn care skips the fees of hiring a professional lawn care service. However, it’s important to mention that you will pay for other resources, such as fertilizer, equipment, and soil tests.
- You can learn valuable lawn care skills. If there’s one way to learn how to best care for your lawn, it’s by doing it yourself. DIY lawn care requires plenty of research and lots of trial and error. If you’re committed to learning more about your lawn’s needs, DIY lawn care is the way to learn what your lawn responds to (and what it doesn’t) in the process.
THE CONS OF DIY LAWN CARE
DIY lawn care plans have the potential to save you money and teach you key home improvement lessons. However, it’s essential also to consider the downsides of this massive responsibility. There are four cons of self-service lawn care:
- It’s time-consuming. By taking on the responsibilities of a lawn care company, you’re devoting much of your free time to thorough product and environmental research. After all, that’s the only way to ensure your lawn receives the nutrients and maintenance needed. Plus, you’ll have to shop for products and tools. Finally, you’ll be in charge of the actual labor of maintaining your lawn through dethatching, fertilizing, and aerating.
- You’ll probably get average results. Unfortunately, no one can learn how to produce stellar lawn care results in a day. For the first couple of years, it’s best to expect that your lawn care won’t be comparable to professional results. Over time, you might see improvements in your maintenance skills, but don’t anticipate a vibrant, lush lawn this spring.
- There’s a big potential for damaging your lawn. One of the key dangers of taking on lawn care all by yourself is the obvious mistakes that might occur. Different lawns require different things according to their grass type, growing region, and current condition. Accidentally giving your lawn too many (or too little) of a specific nutrient, water, or even a process like dethatching can make your lawn sicker.
- It’s costly to fix minor mistakes. While it’s easy to think of DIY lawn care as a money-saving decision, small mistakes can become a costly problem. For example, simply overfertilizing can kill patches of grass, which will require reseeding and additional watering.
THE PROS OF PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE
Now that we’ve covered the good and bad of doing it yourself, let’s look at how professional lawn care can benefit your family. Here are the four top benefits of hiring a local lawn professional to maintain your turf’s vitality:
- It saves you time. Why spend hours staring at the store shelves and dragging around a fertilizer spreader when a lawn care pro can do it all? Lawn care saves you time, so you can be with your family instead of spending the weekend tending to your yard.
- Turf experts manage it. Being able to lean on qualified experts for turf management can ease your anxiety because they’re the best at the job. Not only do they know the ins and outs of the products they use, but they also understand the crucial environmental science that backs up their services. Plus, you can pass along any questions regarding your grass’s health to your local lawn pro.
- It reduces the chances of turf damage. Lawn care specialists have a keen eye for red flags in their customers’ yards. If they see a potential pest infestation or nutrient deficiency, they’ll alert you before the matter worsens. In addition, experts address customers’ lawn care attentively and understand the common hazards in lawn care.
- You’ll get incredible results. The experts have done the job a hundred times, and they know how to provide their customers with the best results possible. With a mix of regional knowledge and lawn maintenance proficiency, your local business is far more likely to produce outstanding results than DIY lawn care. If you ask your local lawn care company for photos of their customer’s results, chances are they can deliver visible proof of their high-quality services.
ARE THERE DOWNSIDES TO PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE?
We’ve listed a plethora of advantages to professional lawn care, but are there any disadvantages you should be aware of? The only disadvantage may be its higher upfront cost. However, while lawn maintenance might be costly at first, it’ll save you the costs of fixing DIY lawn damage.
DITCH THE DIY LAWN CARE PLAN – PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE WINS EVERY TIME.
Without a doubt, we’re going to side with lawn care by the experts. Hiring a professional lawn care service guarantees your yard will receive upkeep by trained specialists. Not only will this eliminate the costs of supplying yourself with tools, equipment, and products, but it will also reduce the costs of covering up lawn care mistakes. Sometimes, things are better left to the experts (and we believe lawn care is one of those times!)
LET YOUR LAWN FLOURISH WITH TOP-NOTCH MAINE LAWN CARE.
Does the thought of doing it yourself make you feel green? Our Maine lawn care team at Northern Turf Management has the expertise to blow DIY lawn care out of the water. Reach us at (207) 544-9420 or contact us here to learn more about our custom blended fertilizer and broadleaf weed control services today.