Ahh, summer. Summer is the season of lemonade and cookouts, baseball and fireworks, and mosquitos. It’s also the season of mowing the lawn. Not that mowing can’t be done all year round in some parts of the country, but who associates lawn care with January? No, summer is totally the time of year for lawn maintenance. Whether your lawn is the size of a postage stamp or a football field, keeping your grass green and luscious takes time and effort. This is especially true if you live in a community with a Home Owner’s Association or HOA.
For the unfamiliar, an HOA is a group of community members who are tasked with upholding the community standards, which includes how the community looks from the street. When you move into an area with an HOA, you’ll more than likely be given a handbook that details the community standards for each season, such as when it’s acceptable to put up and take down Christmas lights, how many jack-o-lanterns can be placed on your porch, and what colors you are allowed to paint your house. Those guidelines will also probably outline how neat and tidy you are expected to keep your lawn; how long is too long to allow the grass to grow, weed management, etc.
Here’s a sneaky little tip for those of us who are too lazy to personally maintain their lawns: Get the info for the lawn service your neighbors use and hire them. Not only will they know the HOA requirements for your lawn, but you’ll also probably be supporting a small, local business, and that’s a win all the way around. Sure, you could hire your younger cousin to do the work, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be up to the standards set by the HOA, which could result in fines and other costs. That is, unless your cousin happens to work for a lawn company.
If you don’t have a Home Owner’s Association to deal with, you can either disregard everything about community standards and whatnot. Keep in mind, however, that if you live in a city or town, that you’re at least keeping the grass trimmed to a reasonable height; the city has the means to cut it for you and send you a bill. In the long run, it’s better to just hire a good, local lawn service.