When we asked random people on the street, “Would you rather have an awesome-looking yard or a trashy yard full of weeds?” we had a unanimous vote. So, if the opinion is so one-sided, then why do we see so many yards around town that we would not describe as “awesome looking”? The psychology of the issue is a topic for another day. What we want to provide here is a list of some yard hacks or tips that if you care will be some of the best bangs for your buck with your time and money spent in the yard. If you want to hire it out Everything Exterior is Cedar City’s highest-rated lawn care service provider. If you want to do it yourself, keep reading.

Make Sure the WHOLE Yard is Landscaped

Nothing grows weeds better than exposed dirt. If your yard isn’t finished yet, that should be your first priority. If you want maintenance-free, concrete is the way to go. Call up KW Concrete and they can take care of that for you. That can be expensive though so if you need a cheaper option bricks or pavers could do. A mediocre installation job could lead to lots of cracks and crevices that will soon be growing weeds though so do it right if you are going to do it. Another alternative is xeriscape(rock). It’s maintenance free, right? Wrong! But it is landscaping and will be much better than exposed dirt. Then there’s grass. You’ll have to mow it, but if done right you’ll be helping to convert the world’s carbon dioxide to oxygen, and provide a “cool” space for your yard and reduce global warming.

Use A Pre-Emergent

Being 2022, there are quite a few technological advances that we have seen in the past 30 years and not only smartphones and Hot-N-Ready pizzas. There are now chemicals that not only work, but are cheap enough they are worth it to help limit weed growth. These are not killers and can be sprayed/spread on existing plants and grass. These work at the seed level and attack seeds right after they germinate so that they don’t grow. Don’t apply pre-emergents in areas where you do want seeds to grow such as flower beds, vegetable gardens, or thin areas of lawn.

Don’t Buy Cheap Equipment

If you are reading this you must not love every second out in the hot yard pulling weeds and mowing. If that’s the case, and you still haven’t decided to hire it out, (Remember, Everything Exterior is the highest rated yard service in Cedar City according to Google.) then at least invest in the best equipment. It will save your knees, back, and whatever else hurts and make the job easier, faster, and even look better. Mowers with more powerful engines don’t get bogged down in tall thick grass as easily so you’ll be able to keep mowing without killing the engine. They also have more power to mulch so instead of bagging and having a ripe smelling garbage can, you can mulch the grass and not have to dump that heavy bag. This will also save you time and money as you won’t need to fertilize as often. Mulching clippings can reduce nitrogen needs by as much as 30%!

Insecticide

Bugs are annoying. They are itchy. They are gross. They can damage your lawn and make it look bad and they can ruin your summer BBQ. Insecticide is another cheap and easy chemical. A bag big enough to cover 10,000 square feet can be bought for less than $20. (And that’s after the crazy inflation that we’ve seen.) An application will last about 90-120 days and is worth every penny. Don’t let grubs or army warms play on your playground. We often see cinch bugs that eat grass and make it look dry and then homeowners think it is a water issue so they turn up the water. This helps the bug population to grow, further drying out the lawn, and then invites fungus. Sounds like a fun party, right?

Mow More Frequently

The goal is to be in the yard less, right? Although this may seem counterintuitive, if you mow before you have a jungle, and you have a decent lawn mower as mentioned above, you can often mow full swathes, at walking speed, and not have to bag. Compare your time doing that with having to mow slow, only take half swaths, walk your heavy bag over and empty it in the trash, and start your mower again. You could spend less time mowing and have it easier if you mowed twice as often. Think about it!

Use Herbicides

If you do get behind on weeds or just hate pulling them, get some weed killer. Any box store offers multiple brands ranging for concentrates that you mix with water, to hose end sprayers, to bottles that come with a sprayer ready to spray. The sooner you hit the weeds the better the killer works as they are younger and more vulnerable. The sooner you spray weeds the less seeds they spread meaning less weeds next week and next month. Buy two bottles the next time you’re at the store!

Hire it Out

We may be biased here, but if you want the best-looking yard in Cedar City without having to worry about it then click HERE! We’ll send you a quote and when you accept we just need two signatures and a credit card and you’ll never have to pull another weed or start that mower again, or harass your spouse about it!

Hopefully, you learned something new from this post. Even doing one or two small things differently could make a big difference. Let us know what worked best for you!