A well-manicured lawn is an attractive addition to any home. What is a dream home without the best environment? There are plenty of beautiful trees, shrubs, flowers, and grass styles that can add to the aesthetics of your home and yard.
A beautiful lawn needs care and maintenance, though; you cannot just plant a bush and never think about it again. Maintaining a lawn and keeping it looking its best takes work. Many homeowners with large lawns or yards employ a lawn service to come weekly or biweekly to maintain their lawn.
Such facilities include mowing, fertilizing, cleaning the garden, and much more. Every lawn is different and needs maintenance services according to location, season, and size.
The lawn’s estimated cost of maintenance varies depending on the lawn size and when it was last mowed. Many homeowners pay about $45 on weekly lawn care visits.
Mowing Cost
Mowing the grass is the first step towards lawn care, and it needs to be done regularly. Mowing cost of a lawn varies from area to area; let’s say that you live in a small town or a suburban area, then you have to pay a little more than the price paid in the city. How many times you mow your lawn is also a factor that plays its role in the price determination.
Considering all these factors, if you mow your 500-square meter ( 5382-sq. foot) lawn once a month, it can cost you a minimum of $30 to a maximum of $60 per month, and for extra services, you’ll have to pay more.
Tree Trimming and Removal Cost
a. Tree Trimming
Some lawns may have trees in them which need trimming as they grow fast and get out of shape quickly. A single tree may require trimming twice a year and talking about the cost; it’s not cheap. Simple trimming can go from a minimum of $250 to $500, and if it requires heavy machinery, it can go as high as $1000 for one tree. Heavy machines are only needed for those trees which humans cannot reach easily. If you have more than one tree, the cost can go higher with the same ratio.
b. Tree Removal
Although trees are an essential part of nature, yet you may consider removing a tree for several reasons, it may be a damaged or dead tree or a tree with its roots growing close to your house foundation or sewer lines. The tree removal cost varies from $450 to $900, with the average homeowner spending around $650to remove an accessible, simple medium-sized tree.
Type of a tree and it’s age factor also counts because the depth of the root and the diameter of a tree can vary with age. If the tree is too big, over 80 feet in height, it would require special machinery like a crane, etc. which can cost you around $2000 on an average.
c. Leaf Removal
Fallen leaves on the ground are a story of every lawn. When the weather changes, you have to rake them up. Luckily, it’s not as expensive as tree trimming and removal. Some people charge leaf picking at an hourly rate of $12 to $16 per hour, and some people charge for per bag. The per bag cost can vary from $5 to $15.
If you live in an area where waste management can pick up those bags, it’s not a problem. But if your waste management does not do so, then you have to pay extra to dispose of these leaves. Burning them is not a solution as many environmental safety departments do not allow that.
Fertilizers Cost
A lawn requires proper nutrients for the healthy growth of grass, and all soils cannot provide that. Various fertilizers can be added to the soil for the adequate availability of nutrients to the plants and grass. The price of fertilizers varies depending upon its quality and quantity needed by the soil.
The major factor that increases the cost of fertilizing is the amount you pay to hire someone to fertilize the lawn. You can hire someone from a company or a local contractor for about $12 to $16 per hour. In case you need a professional, it can cost you as high as $60 to $70 per hour.
Weeding Cost
When you grow different plants and grass on your lawn, some unwanted plants in the form of weeds also emerge in your garden. These unwanted plants can make your garden look unpleasant. Removal of such plants is known as weeding, which is a necessary cultural practice.
It is best to ask your regular worker who mows your lawn to weed as well because that will cost you much less than hiring someone, especially for weeding. You can also do it yourself and save some money. But, if you hire someone for weeding , then it will cost you around $15 to $45 depending on different factors.
There are also some chemicals available on the market which can kill the weeds, but they are a more expensive.
Overseeding Cost
Over-seeding is necessary to keep the lawn healthy. Over-seeding must be done every once in a while, depending upon your lawn’s age. Newly developed lawns need more seeding than the old one. You can do this process just after weeding because when you weed the lawn, you will be left with some empty patches that require seeds to grow grass.
Over-seeding of an average size lawn can cost you from a minimum of $700 to $2000 depending upon its condition and how much seeding it needs.
Seasonal Cost
If you live in the area which receives snow in the winter, then you have to save your lawn from such harsh weather. There is no point in taking care of your lawn for a whole year and then leaving it at the mercy of the weather. There is a whole process for this purpose, and it requires a series of actions to be taken. These processes can cost you a minimum of $400 to $600 for a 500-square meter (5382-sq. foot) lawn.
Preparing your lawn for the next season may also require some processes including:
- Aeration
- Over-seeding
- Mowing
- Watering
- Fertilizing
Which step to take depends upon the weather you are preparing your lawn for.
Conclusion
Having a well-maintained lawn is expensive, but if you have a green thumb and can do most of the steps by yourself, then you can save yourself a lot of money in labor costs. To have a well-manicured and healthy lawn, you need to look after its need and follow the seasonal care routine. Spending your money on lawn care is an investment that pays off by displaying a healthy lawn.
