Lifestyle

5 Lawn Care Mistakes That Are Costing You Money Every Summer

By Mike Harper · June 28, 2026

The average American household spends approximately $500 per year on lawn care — and a significant portion of that money is wasted on practices that actively work against a healthy lawn. Here are five of the most common and most expensive mistakes.

1. Mowing too short

Cutting grass below 3 inches stresses the plant, exposes soil to sunlight (which encourages weed growth), and forces the lawn to use more water to recover. Taller grass shades its own roots, retains moisture, and crowds out weeds naturally. Most lawn care professionals recommend a mowing height of 3 to 4 inches for common grass types. Raising your mower blade by one notch costs nothing and produces a healthier lawn within weeks.

2. Watering every day instead of deeply and infrequently

Daily light watering encourages shallow root growth — the opposite of what you want. Shallow roots make grass dependent on daily water and vulnerable to drought. Deep, infrequent watering — approximately one inch of water two to three times per week — trains roots to grow deeper into the soil, where moisture is more consistent. Most lawns need far less water than they receive, and the excess drives up water bills without improving the grass.

3. Fertilizing at the wrong time

Applying fertilizer in the heat of summer can burn grass rather than feed it. For cool-season grasses (fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass), the best fertilizing windows are early fall and late spring. For warm-season grasses (Bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine), fertilize in late spring when the grass is actively growing. Fertilizing during peak heat wastes money and can damage the lawn you’re trying to improve.

4. Bagging grass clippings instead of mulching them

Grass clippings left on the lawn after mowing decompose quickly and return nitrogen and organic matter to the soil — reducing the amount of fertilizer you need to buy. Bagging clippings removes that free nutrient source and fills landfills with organic material that could have fed your lawn. Most modern mowers have a mulching setting. Use it.

5. Ignoring soil health entirely

Most homeowners treat the grass without ever testing the soil beneath it. A $15 soil test from your county extension office tells you the pH, nutrient levels, and organic matter content of your soil — and eliminates the guesswork from fertilizing. Applying lime to soil that doesn’t need it, or fertilizer to soil that’s already nutrient-rich, wastes money and can actually harm the lawn. Test first, treat second.

The best-looking lawns in your neighborhood are not the ones receiving the most products. They’re the ones receiving the right practices at the right time.