How Much Does Lawn Care Cost?
Achieving and maintaining a healthy lawn in Colorado requires significant time, effort, and money. While many homeowners aspire to have a lush, green lawn, it can be a challenging goal to accomplish. Choosing whether to consult a professional lawn care service or try a do-it-yourself approach is a common dilemma. The main focus for many homeowners is lawn care cost, but there are many other factors to consider.
DIY Lawn Care vs. Professional Lawn Care
DIY Lawn Care: The DIY route is commonly viewed as the cheaper choice, but that isn’t always the case. When tackling lawn care yourself, you need to consider products, equipment, labor, time, knowledge, and safety. It’s also very complicated to budget your yearly cost of lawn care.
- Equipment & Storage: Whether you rent or buy lawn care equipment, it can get expensive. You also need a place to store equipment and take care of scheduled maintenance.
- Products: Store-bought lawn care products can add up quickly when you consider everything you need throughout the year. Lawns need different fertilizers at certain times of year, and the amount you’ll need varies based on the size of your lawn.
- Safety & Expertise: Applying your own weed control can be risky without the right knowledge. If you aren’t familiar with lawn care products, you may end up doing more harm than good, costing you more money in the long run.
- Time: DIY lawn care is time-consuming. On top of regular mowing and watering, you need to apply fertilizer and weed control on the right schedule and you may have to give up your weekends to get it all done.
Professional Lawn Care: The biggest pro to hiring the pros is that you don’t have to worry about the small details. Hiring a lawn care company leaves your lawn in the hands of the professionals, with everything bundled into a set annual cost.
- Lawn Care Treatments: Everything your lawn needs is included in your lawn care program at a set rate. Trained technicians will handle all weed control, prevention, and fertilization at ideal times throughout the year.
- Quality & Safety: Professional lawn care companies use commercial-grade products to get you the best results and know how to apply them safely.
- Specialty Services: Lawn care providers also offer additional services like aeration or seeding so you don’t have to worry about renting heavy machinery and finding the best grass seed.
- Scheduling: You’ll have a lot more free time leaving your lawn to the pros. They handle the treatments and scheduling, giving you the time to actually enjoy your summer on the lawn.
What Does Good Lawn Care Include
There’s a lot that goes into maintaining a healthy lawn. It’s much more than just bi-weekly mowing and watering. If you’re considering DIY lawn care, here’s everything a healthy lawn needs to thrive.
Mowing and Watering
Regular mowing and proper watering are key factors in maintaining a healthy lawn. These tasks are the easiest for most homeowners to handle themselves. You’ll have to invest money into a lawn mower and irrigation but that leaves you with control over your mowing schedule, grass height, and water bill. Lawns typically need about 1-1.5 inches of water per week, paired with a weekly mowing schedule.
Weed Control and Lawn Fertilization
Controlling weeds and applying fertilizers to your lawn are just as important as mowing and watering. But this is where things get a little more complicated. Weeds compete with grass for nutrients, water, and sunlight. Store-bought weed control and fertilization can get expensive depending on the size of your lawn and what it needs throughout the year.
Aeration and Overseeding
Aeration and fall overseeding are essential to boost your lawn’s overall health and appearance. In most cases, they’re necessary each year to repair weak, thin grass conditions. The right timing and equipment are crucial to seeing the best results. Aerator machines can be rented at an hourly rate, but you’ll have to consider pick up or delivery for the heavy-duty machinery.
Insect and Disease Control
All grass types can be vulnerable to common lawn diseases or pests. Knowing what to look for and applying the right lawn treatments quickly is crucial to saving your lawn from long-term, expensive damage.
The True Cost of Lawn Care
The actual cost of DIY vs professional lawn care all depends on the size of your lawn. But the biggest expense that comes with DIY is your own time and labor. Additionally, store-bought products aren’t the same quality as commercial-grade products that can’t be found on the shelves. Having a set rate, great results, and peace of mind may be more valuable than minor savings.
Why Choose Integrated Lawn Care for Your Colorado Lawn
Homeowners in Colorado looking for trusted, professional lawn care can rely on Integrated Lawn Care. We know what Colorado lawns need to thrive in the local climate and we have a skilled team of lawn care technicians who know how to spot problems before they start. Having a set of eyes on your lawn regularly to assess the health and condition of your lawn is a value on it’s own. In addition to comprehensive lawn care at an affordable cost, we offer rock bed weed control, organic lawn care, tree and shrub care, bark beetle control, and more. Leave your lawn to us and contact us today for a free quote!