Are you someone who takes great pride in your lawn? Or maybe you’re a new homeowner trying to find that sense of pride? Front lawns have been used as a status symbol since the 17th century. While the expansive gardens that the English and French aristocrats used to flout their wealth are not as common in modern landscape architecture, many homeowners still strive to achieve the design of a green, well-manicured lawn popularized by famous historical estates like Versailles. Though this look was popularized by wealthy European aristocrats, it’s still fairly affordable for the average American to recreate in their own way.
Getting Greener Grass
Of all the elements that make for an appealing lawn, healthy green grass is probably the most important. You can achieve this by implementing a detailed care plan for your lawn. You might think that you can handle the care of your lawn on your own just by watering it regularly and using whatever fertilizer comes most highly recommended, but lawn care is like skincare–just because your friends might swear by one product doesn’t mean it won’t cause your skin to dry up or break out. Every property is different, so it’s best to hire professional lawn care services to help you identify what problems need to be addressed in your lawn and help you decide what needs to be done to correct them.
Seeding
If the grass on your lawn is thin or has a lot of bare patches of dirt, then it might be a good idea to consider using a seed mixture to fill in the dead space and help your grass look and feel lusher. Picking the right seed mix and planting it correctly can ensure that you get a thicker lawn with stronger roots, making your grass hardier and more resistant to scorching heat or heavy frosts.
Fertilizer
The best way to set your lawn up for success is to fertilize it properly. A lawncare expert will be able to determine what essential nutrients your soil lacks and will recommend a fertilizer that meets its needs. Once they’ve decided on the right fertilizer, they can handle the entire fertilization process, ensuring that it’s evenly spread and saving you from a weekend of working in the hot sun.
Incorporating Stylistic Elements
Besides the green grass of 17th-century European gardens, many people today try to emulate other aspects like the design created by using natural elements. You might not even realize that the existing features of your lawn could be inspired by these gardens.
Trees and Shrubs
Many 17th-century European gardens used the practice of topiary–clipping trees and shrubs to train them to grow a specific way–to achieve perfectly-manicured designs. Now, most people still choose to decorate their front lawns with flowering trees or well-shaped hedges. Even privacy hedges are usually trimmed to keep them from looking too messy–just another subconscious bias passed down from the neat and orderly botanical practices of the 1600s. Just like with your lawn, the most important thing you can do to maintain the appearance of your trees and shrubs is to make sure they’re well cared for–which is another thing that lawn care services can help you with.
Flower Beds
Flowers have always been used to decorate properties, but the practice of using flower beds to organize them into their little spots on your lawn was a practice used in the well-kept gardens of the 17th century. Whether your beds surround your trees or shrubs or line the face of your home, they add a charming touch to the design of your front lawn.
Battling Bugs
While the entire focus of the design of 17th-century lawns–and thus, the focus on modern lawns–was perfectionism and order, there are plenty of elements that are much more difficult to control than the shape of your hedges, like the critters that call your lawn home.
Harmful Pests
You might already have an aversion to bugs, but some can be incredibly harmful either to you or to the plant life around your home. While bugs like caterpillars and beetles typically pose no threat to humans, they can be incredibly harmful to plants. Meanwhile, pests like ticks and mosquitoes have the potential to be deadly to humans since they can cause illnesses like Lyme Disease or Malaria.
Friendly Insects
You may not like bugs, but you can’t deny that some of them are good for your plants, especially bees and ladybugs. You might have already known the importance of bees since they can help pollinate your plants, but you might be shocked to hear that ladybugs are considered predators of many common garden pests, so they can help safeguard your plants. Because of bugs like these, you must discuss pest control with a lawn care professional so you don’t accidentally harm these helpful critters and jeopardize the health of your plants.
