Lawn Maintenance

Our lawn maintenance tips can help you keep your home cost efficient, safe & cozy.

GreenSweep Pickup Pro Garden Sweeper, CRAFTSMAN Leaf Blower, Vacuum and Mulcher, and Greenworks 40V Cordless Leaf Blower /Vacuum isolated on a grid paper background

Filed under:

Our 6 Best Leaf Vacuum Picks (2024 Guide)

We reviewed the most popular leaf vacuums on the market to bring your our top picks. Our choices include cordless, electric, and motorless leaf vacuums.
S23 E7: Lee Gilliam teaches Kevin O'Connor about different sprinkler heads
Play

Understanding Common Types of Sprinkler Heads

Landscape contractor Lee Gilliam teaches host Kevin O’Connor all about sprinkler heads, including the types, how they work, and how he likes to set them up around plants, trees, and yards.
Fertilizer_iStock_184300332

Fall Fertilizing: Essential Tips to Make Your Yard Grow

Read this guide to learn why autumn is the best time of year to fertilize your yard.
Lee Gilliam using a string trimmer to clean up a walkway

All About Attachment Capable String Trimmers

While it may look like an ordinary string trimmer, the unique shaft design allows DIYers to swap in different attachments, turning one machine into a lawn and garden maintenance multitool. Here’s what you need to know about the Swiss Army knife you should stock in your shed.
EGO POWER+ZT4204L Zero Turn Riding Mower and Husqvarna Z254 Hydrostatic Zero Turn Riding Mower isolated on a green grid paper background

Our 4 Best Riding Lawn Mower Picks (2024)

Riding lawn mowers provide a more efficient, less strenuous way to mow your lawn than push mowers. Here are our top riding lawn mowers picks.
Poulan Pro PR48B Backpack Leaf Blower,Greenworks Cordless Brushless Backpack Leaf Blower, and BLACK+DECKER Electric Leaf Blower isolated on a green grid paper backgroun

Our 5 Best Backpack Leaf Blower Picks (2024 Guide)

A backpack leaf blower provides a less arduous way to clear leaves from your yard than a traditional one. Here are the best backpack leaf blowers available.
House with yellowing grass

How to Care for Your Lawn During a Drought

Periods of excessive temperatures with very little rain can cause extreme stress on your lawn, transforming what was once lush and green into a sparse mat of tired-looking browns and yellows. There’s good news though: There are ways to help your yard through these tough times, and we’ll show you how to care for your lawn during a drought.
Drainage Solutions for Your Yard, Water Barrel, Garden

10 Drainage Solutions for Your Yard

Dealing with a nasty, returning puddle in a yard can be a real problem for some homeowners. And, no matter what they do, they can’t seem to get ahead of the problem. This guide will highlight some of the most common challenges that arise when dealing with a wet lawn, as well as some potential solutions they can try to dry up their lawn.
Deck in backyard of house

Spring Home and Lawn Maintenance: Tips for a Beautiful Property

These home and lawn maintenance tasks will take spring cleaning to a new level and keep your property looking as good as new.
Lead image for the best fertilizer spreader guide

6 Best Fertilizer Spreaders (2024 Guide)

Spreaders distribute seeds, mulch, weed killer, and more. In this review, we look at the best fertilizer spreader for every application.
best_fertilizer_panel

The 5 Best Fertilizers (2024 Review)

Using fertilizer is an important step to maintaining a lush, healthy lawn. In this review, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the five best fertilizers on Amazon to help you find the one that’s right for you. The products included in this article are available at various retail stores, local home centers, and online retailers like Amazon.
ornamental grass in a backyard

How To Care for Ornamental Grass

Wondering how to care for ornamental grasses? This guide covers expert care tips, how to find the right type for your climate, and more.
rsz_adobestock_204287225

The Ultimate Guide to Winter Fertilizer

Applying a winter fertilizer is an important lawn care measure that ensures your grass survives freezing temperatures and is ready to flourish in the early spring. Read on to learn about winter fertilizers, their benefits, and tips for application.
rsz_adobestock_210046297

What Is Grass Rust and How to Remove It

Your lawn isn’t actually rusting, but it may have a fungal disease that weakens the grass blades and sheds orange powder. Fortunately, although this infection weakens turfgrass, it rarely kills it. We’ll show you how to get rid of it.
Image of an herbicide being sprayed onto a weed in a sidewalk crevice. Cover image for This Old House's Best Weed Killer Guide and Product Review.

6 Best Weed Killers (2024 Guide)

An effective herbicide can get rid of a variety of weeds that have invaded your lawn. In this guide, our Reviews Team takes a looks at the best weed killers and prevention formulas to support a variety of gardening, landscaping, and lawn care needs.
Lead lifestyle image for the best oscillating sprinklers guide.

Best Oscillating Sprinklers of 2024

Oscillating sprinklers rotate, allowing more of your lawn to be watered at once. In this review, we examine the best oscillating sprinklers.
Landscaping_Colleen_McQuaid_P1060790_crop

End-of-Summer Yard and Garden Cleanup Tips

Give your lawn and garden the care they need by removing debris, dividing crowded perennials, and adding mulch—so plants can come back stronger.
In a workshop, a person grips a ToughBuilt folding pull saw with a 12-inch blade, which is one of the best smart tools for DIY projects.

10 Smart Tools for Your Next DIY Project

A new crop of warm-weather problem-solvers for your home.
Checklist_iStock_1135327368_crop

Pro Tips to Get Your House Ready for Warmer Weather

Spring is here, so it’s time to prime the house and garden for the warm-weather months ahead. Read on for tips on how to get everything ready for the summer.
AdobeStock_393709058

Best Tick Killers (2024 Guide)

Keep disease-carrying ticks and other insects away with a pellet or spray repellent from our guide to the best tick killers.
Snow_Mold

What Is Snow Mold & How to Remove It

If the snow melts in your yard but the grass is still covered in patches of white, you may have snow mold. We’ll explain what snow mold is and how to prevent it from affecting your lawn.
BX2380_FL19_KUB_783_mw1_srgb

Sub-Compact Tractors: Full-Size Power in a Sub-Compact Package

When your ride-on mower isn’t quite "cutting" it, but a full-size tractor isn’t necessary or practical, a sub-compact tractor can make light work of even your toughest lawn and landscaping challenges. Here’s what you should know about these small but mighty machines.
AdobeStock_83927308.0

How to Repair and Improve Your Lawn

Looking to repair or improve your lawn? It can be as simple as patching, aerating, dethatching, and practicing proper mowing and irrigation methods.
AdobeStock_286921198.0

How to Remove Mole Crickets

Mole crickets are a major nuisance in any lawn, tunneling through soil and tearing up turfgrass. Read on to find out how to identify them, flush them out, and get rid of them.
Lawn_Care_iStock_564597438

The Best Year-Round Lawn Care Schedule

Creating a plan of attack for your lawn care is critical. Here’s your best lawn care schedule, broken down season by season.
blade-of-grass-depth-of-field-environment-garden-580900.0

The Best Weed Killers for Your Lawn

Wondering how to choose the best weed killer for your lawn? Read on to learn how weed killers work, how to apply these products, and our recommendations for the top weed killers.
Lawn_damaged_iStock_1023855278

How to Get Rid of Lawn Grubs

If grubs have invaded your lawn, you have both all-natural options and chemical treatments to get rid of them. We’ll show you how.
Clover_Lawn_iStock_159200688

How to Get Rid of Clover in Your Lawn Naturally

If you don’t want clover taking over your lawn, there are several natural and organic ways to get rid of it—no harsh chemicals needed.
Bad_Grass_iStock_182175267

Brown Spots in Grass: Identification and Prevention

Your lawn could have brown spots for a variety of reasons—fungus, excessive thatch, and poor soil quality, to name a few. We’ll show you how to identify, repair, and prevent brown spots.
Grow_grass_iStock_899234322

How to Grow Grass Fast

There’s no secret trick to get grass to grow overnight, but here are the top tips to get your grass to grow in thick and lush as fast as it can.
Lawn_Aeration_iStock_1011974874

What Is Lawn Aeration and How Is It Done?

Lawn aeration is key to lawn maintenance, but you might not always know when you need it. Read this aeration to guide to learn how, when, and why to aerate your lawn.
iStock_1211663452

The Complete Guide to Lawn Fertilizer Services

Fertilization is key for a healthy, thriving lawn, but it can take a lot of work and expertise. Consider hiring a professional lawn fertilizer service to get a gorgeous, healthy lawn.
Lawn_iStock_1160441685

Summer Lawn Care Tips

Wondering how to care for your lawn in the summer? We have all the top tips to keep your lawn lush in the hot summer months.