The Ultimate Guide to Lawn Maintenance for Commercial Properties

Your lawn is working harder than you think it is. Are you giving it everything it needs? 

Hopefully, it’s out there impressing people, making your commercial property look appealing and well maintained. 

Your lawn is the first thing people see when they drive up to your property.

If it doesn’t look great, it gets them asking the wrong questions: Do I really want to live here? Do I really want to work here? Why don’t they care about the lawn?

But healthy turf does a lot more than make your commercial property look impressive. 

It reduces run-off, cleans the air, minimizes erosion, and neutralizes pollutants. 

It also feels great on bare feet, on those summer days when you really want to kick off your shoes. 

That’s a lot of work for one lawn. Is yours up to the challenge? 

The right lawn care for commercial properties makes all the difference. What does your lawn need to impress? 
Kick off your shoes and let’s take a look: 

• It Starts with the Soil
• Fertilizing: Food for Your Hungry Lawn
• Waging a War on Weeds
• The Importance of Irrigation Maintenance
• The Art and Science of Proper Mowing
• Commercial Lawn Care: Keeping It Clean
• Choosing Commercial Lawn Maintenance Services

It Starts with the Soil

It might just look like ordinary dirt, but the soil underneath your grass is the super stuff your lawn needs to thrive. If your soil isn’t healthy, your lawn won’t be healthy. 

What’s going on down there beneath those blades of grass? Is your pH off? Is your soil compacted? 

It matters. Here’s why:

First Up, Soil pH — Why You Should Care

Cool science lesson coming up: Soil pH is a way to measure the amount of acidity or alkalinity in your property’s soil. 

The tall fescue grass on most mid-Atlantic commercial properties needs a pH of 5.5 to 7, which is slightly acidic.

Why does it matter? Important nutrients for grass are available in soil when the pH is at those levels. If your pH is off, your grass won’t get the nutrients it needs, even if you fertilize regularly.

How are you supposed to know this science-y stuff? A soil sample. 

Here at Level Green, commercial lawn care services includes testing your soil yearly. Technicians will visit your property with a soil probe tool to extract soil samples from 10-12 spots on your property.

Then they mix them all together and send the soil to a lab that reports the results.

Here in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, soil pH is often too low. That means it’s time for lime, a soil amendment made from ground limestone rock, which contains calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.

Add lime to your soil, and these compounds increase the soil's pH, making soil less acidic and more alkaline. Then your grass can actually use the nutrients in your fertilizer, and flourish.

Next Up: Is Your Soil Compacted? 

You’re probably thinking, “How the heck should I know?” 

Your lawn might be telling you. Is it thin? Patchy?
 
When your soil is compacted, the particles of soil are pressed tightly together. Instead of loose and fluffy, your soil is hard and dense. 

That’s not good. It means the water, air, and nutrients your lawn needs can’t easily penetrate it. So, grass struggles, getting weak, thin, patchy, and brown.

Basically, compacted soil makes your lawn look terrible.

Beyond that, it causes drainage issues on your property. When your soil is dense and compacted, water can’t absorb properly, which means it sits on top forming puddles.

Or it runs off the surface instead of sinking in, causing flooding or erosion. That means the pesticides and fertilizer that should be sinking in to help your lawn thrive are running off instead, flowing into nearby waterways, endangering water quality and threatening the creatures that live there. 

And guess what loves compacted soil? Weeds. They move in, crowding out your poor grass and shading it from the sunlight it needs.

Compacted soil is bad news, all around. 

How to Avoid Soil Compaction?

Aeration to the rescue.

This staple of commercial property lawn maintenance works wonders on compacted soil. 

Aeration uses a machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from your lawn, loosening that compacted soil and allowing water and oxygen to get to the roots. Suddenly, your struggling lawn can breathe again. 

Think about the high-traffic areas of your lawn. Most commercial properties have a few. These spots are often especially compacted from foot traffic and can really benefit from aeration. 

After aeration, Level Green crews will add compost to the soil, called topdressing.  This rich mixture will boost the soil, adding nutrients and improving its structure. 

Now, your lawn’s roots can grow nice and deep, producing a lush, healthy carpet of green.

While we’re on the subject, all those little holes created by aeration are the perfect environment for growing grass seed — the seed can snuggle down into the holes for the seed to soil contact it needs for quick germination.

Overseeding is the perfect partner for aeration. If done annually as part of your commercial property lawn maintenance, overseeding will create healthier, thicker turf that looks better and helps crowd out weeds.

Now you’re on your way to a thicker, greener, healthier lawn. 

Fertilizing: Food for Your Hungry Lawn

We’ve all had those days when it’s suddenly 3 p.m. and all we’ve eaten is a granola bar from the vending machine. 

Nobody’s at their best when they’re hungry — including your lawn. 

That’s why regular fertilizing is a key part of lawn care for commercial properties. 

Just like you eat multiple times a day, your lawn needs to eat a few times a year, from spring, at the beginning of the growing season, right through fall.

Isn’t lawn maintenance pretty much over by fall? Nope. That final commercial lawn fertilization in fall is really important — it boosts your turf’s root system before winter sets in. Strong roots are crucial for healthy turf. This final feeding helps your lawn green up quicker in the spring and become more resistant to disease and drought.

Isn’t All That Fertilizer Harmful to the Environment? 

Good question. You should care what commercial lawn care services are putting on your lawn and asking questions to make sure they’re fertilizing responsibly. 

Maryland passed strict regulations several years ago governing when commercial lawn care companies can apply fertilizer and how much they can apply, in efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay. 

Lawn fertilizer’s two key nutrients — nitrogen and phosphorus — can seep into the groundwater or join the runoff from rainstorms and wind up in the Bay, harming the fish, oysters, crabs and other creatures who live there. 

Level Green crews follow a whole list of regulations in place to protect the environment: 

• Fertilizer application isn’t allowed until March 1.
• Companies have to be licensed to apply fertilizer, and the person applying the fertilizer has to be licensed, too.
• Nitrogen can be applied only between March 1 and November 1. Slow-release nitrogen is allowed through Nov. 15. Maryland laws allow two pounds of nitrogen per year per 1,000 square feet.
• Companies aren’t allowed to apply phosphorus to established turf without a test to show that it needs it. Phosphorus makes grass turn green quickly, but it isn’t absorbed well by the soil — most of it runs off and ends up in the water table.
• Any granular fertilizer that ends up on hard surfaces has to be blown back into the grass so it doesn’t end up in the water.

All these rules matter a lot to us at Level Green, and we follow them to the letter. We also use slow-release fertilizer, coated with a polyurethane shell so it breaks down more slowly and doesn’t get washed right out of the soil.

We know our customers want the environment to be as healthy as possible. That’s what we want, too.

Waging a War on Weeds

Weeds really know how to ruin your day. 

There you are, ready to give the out-of-town owner a tour, or preparing for your big public anniversary celebration, when an unsightly patch of weeds sticks out like it’s trying to win some sort of weed competition.

How do they appear so fast? 

Weeds aren’t just an ugly eyesore. They’re real bullies to your lawn, hogging the sunlight, water and nutrients it should be getting. Ignore them, and they love that, happily taking over your whole lawn. 

Not on our watch. Make sure you partner with a commercial weed control service with the right tools, knowledge and timing to wrestle ugly, greedy weeds under control.

How do you get rid of weeds? 

Timing is everything.

Level Green crews apply pre-emergent weed killer between March 15 and early April. It’s a crucial first line of defense for commercial property weed control. 

This early application targets weed seeds before they germinate, so pesky weeds don’t even have a chance to sprout. It’s key to controlling crabgrass — one of the big problem weeds here in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. 

But that’s just the beginning of commercial property weed control. 

Pre-emergent herbicides are great at their job, but they don’t catch everything. That’s why right after we apply the pre-emergent weed control, we apply a liquid post-emergent weed killer, too. 

This type of herbicide also targets broadleaf weeds that make your lawn look a mess, like dandelions, chickweed and henbit. 

Seems like that would be enough weed control, right? But weeds are notoriously stubborn. Once May 1 rolls around, we repeat the same commercial weed spraying we did in early spring. The annoying thing about crabgrass, besides how it ruins the look of your lawn? It keeps germinating, month after month.

It also has the annoying habit of growing faster and taller than your lawn, so things look really ratty out there if crabgrass isn't controlled.

Remember, weeds are tenacious, so Level Green crews visit again in July or August to spot spray only for any broadleaf weeds that have popped up. No need for widespread commercial weed spraying just for the sake of spraying. Spot spray is better for the environment, but still targets those stubborn weeds.

How to Limit Chemicals and Still Prevent Weeds?

Part of Level Green’s responsible approach to weed control is limiting our use of chemicals, using as few applications as we can and still get the results our commercial lawn care customers expect. 

One of the best ways to prevent weeds is to encourage a healthy lawn, in a number of ways:  

• Aeration and overseeding in the spring and fall to help create a thick, healthy lawn that can naturally crowd out weeds.
• Proper irrigation that promotes healthy roots. If you water longer, but less frequently, your lawn’s roots will grow deeper. Deeper roots lead to healthier grass that can crowd out those bully weeds.
• Mowing higher. Taller grass helps shade weed seeds and keeps them from sprouting. (More about the importance of this in a bit.)
• Adding organic materials to boost turf health. Level Green crews mulch leaves whenever possible, using a mulching mower that breaks the leaves down into nutritious bits your lawn loves. The tiny particles of leaves decompose, becoming natural fertilizer.

What If Standard Weed Control Products Aren’t Allowed?

Increasingly, municipalities are banning certain weed control products that commercial lawn care companies have long used to effectively combat weeds.

In 2020 the Montgomery County Council in Maryland passed a measure that bans the use of certain pesticides on private lawns, at childcare facilities, and playgrounds. The banned pesticides include widely-used products that control weeds, insects, and diseases, including popular “weed and feed” products. 

It means lawn expectations have had to change. With the chemicals we used before, you could expect a perfect lawn — emerald green, with no weeds. 

Now, you’ll see some weeds.

Organic lawn products are allowed under the legislation, but the best ones are expensive, and not as effective as non-organic options used in commercial weed control service. 

Level Green crews use Fiesta Lawn Weed Killer, a selective, broadleaf weed killer that uses a specially formulated iron chelate solution. It’s ideal for lawn care where pesticide bans exist.

Meanwhile, the goal is to keep turf as thick and healthy as possible, so weeds can’t compete. Regular aeration and overseeding, as we described above, are crucial in areas where pesticide bans are in place. 

It’s recommended in both spring and fall if standard weed killer isn’t allowed. 

When you can’t spray weed killer, you want grass filling in any empty spots to keep weeds from moving in. You want new grass growing all the time.

The Importance of Irrigation Maintenance

Your lawn can’t survive without water. Keeping your irrigation system reliably chugging away is a key part of your commercial property lawn maintenance. 

That means everything from routine service checks to spring start up to pre-winter maintenance to making sure you’re not wasting water. 

In other words, there’s a lot going on out there. 

Here’s a look at commercial irrigation maintenance, quick enough so you don’t get hit by the sprinklers:

First Up, Spring Start-up

A Mid-Atlantic winter can be tough on your irrigation system. Snowplows clobber the sprinkler heads. They get clogged with debris. The ground freezes and thaws around them. It’s rough out there.

Spring irrigation startup happens just in time. 

This spring kickoff is a key part of your commercial irrigation services. 

Irrigation maintenance technicians will turn on your water supply and check each zone of your system to make sure it’s working perfectly. They’ll check water pressure, inspect sprinkler heads, controls and sensors. If anything needs adjusting, fixing or replacing, they’re on top of it. 

Keep a Pro Eye on Things 

Throughout the year, our irrigation management team will check back in. Monthly commercial irrigation maintenance inspections send crews to check the water pressure, adjust spray heads, and make any needed repairs.

Are you wasting water? Let’s put a stop to that. 

If your commercial property has a very basic or older irrigation system, innovative new products have arrived on the market that can make your system much more efficient.

Irrigation pros can upgrade your irrigation system with advanced nozzles, heads and smart controllers that weren’t available before. 

Update to a Smart Irrigation Controller to Save Money, Water and Hassle 

If you still have a traditional irrigation controller that runs on a time-based schedule, you’re wasting water and money. And your valuable time. 

A smart irrigation controller makes commercial irrigation easy, taking charge of efficient, weather-based watering that leaves you worry free. 

Smart irrigation controllers don’t start up your system just based on time of day. They’re smarter than that. They use local weather forecasts and your unique and changing  landscape conditions to tailor watering schedules perfect for your property. 

Don’t worry about your watering schedule — smart controllers  take care of it. They automatically adjust for weather changes, using as little water as possible while keeping your landscape healthy and happy. You can even make adjustments remotely from your smartphone.

You can save a considerable amount of water — as much as 30 percent — because your smart controller is monitoring weather conditions all the time. If it’s raining, it won’t turn on. If it’s too cold, and the water might freeze, it won’t turn on.

Meanwhile, you don’t have to continually monitor your properties’ irrigation schedules. It’s handled.

Don’t Forget Fall Shutdown

Your irrigation system needs some attention before the snow flies. 

Preparing it for winter is critical here in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, where freezing temperatures can quickly destroy an irrigation system that wasn’t properly winterized. You don’t need an exploding irrigation system on your watch, right? 

Fall irrigation shutdown is a crucial part of your commercial irrigation services. 

The top priority is to get all the water out of the pipes, valves and sprinkler heads. If water freezes and expands, your pipes break, and that means a costly repair.

The Art and Science of Proper Mowing

Obviously, regular lawn mowing is a must — grass grows fast around here in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. 

That means 24 lawn mowing visits every 7-10 days as part of commercial lawn maintenance. The 24 mowings begin in mid-April and continue through the first week of November. 

During the spring, when grass grows so fast you could probably watch it grow if you had time to sit down long enough, Level Green mowing crews show up weekly. 

In July and August, when grass growth slows, they mow three times a month.

But there’s more to proper mowing than just making your grass shorter. 

The height your lawn is mowed is actually key to your turf health.

That's right. The simple act of how tall or short your grass is mowed makes a huge difference. 

Commercial lawn maintenance pros know never to cut more than a third of the grass blades’ length in a single mowing. If you mow with the blade too low and shear off too much of the grass, you’re actually starving your poor grass, taking away important nutrients stored there.

Remember how much we all hate weeds? Taller grass helps prevent those villains, too, shading the ground so weed seeds don’t get the sunlight they need to sprout. 

While some commercial lawn care companies mow at a lower height so they don’t need to mow as often, Level Green crews stick to the 3.5 to 4-inch height for the healthiest grass. 

Commercial Lawn Care: Keeping It Clean

A messy lawn makes a terrible first impression. Your whole property looks unsightly and neglected. 

It’s bad for the health of your lawn, too. How can it thrive and impress everybody if it’s clogged with soggy leaves and a blanket of fallen twigs? 

Comprehensive cleanups in spring and fall keep everything tidy, healthy, and ready to impress. 

The typical commercial lawn care services contract includes a visit in February or March for spring clean-up.

Crews remove all those gunky leaves and debris, pull weeds, and get your property ready for the growing season.

There are typically two or three cleanup visits in the fall, too, to clear leaves and debris — one visit before Thanksgiving and one before Christmas.

Portering Keeps It Pretty

Portering is a nice way to describe removing unsightly trash from your commercial property, including your lawn.  
Even the greenest, healthiest lawn is spoiled by old candy wrappers and ratty plastic shopping bags.

While Level Green crews will remove any trash on your lawn before they mow during their regular maintenance visits, portering service adds extra vigilance. Crews will visit your property once or twice a week year-round between your regular maintenance visits to clear ugly trash that often accumulates.

Choosing Commercial Lawn Maintenance Services in DC, Maryland or Virginia

That’s a lot of important tasks to tend to in the quest for a healthy, thriving lawn. 

Choosing the right commercial lawn care company to skillfully, dependably tackle it all is an important decision. There’s a lot at stake — your lawn is one of the first things prospective customers, renters and tenants notice.

You want to get this right the first time. And you don‘t have time to keep a watchful eye on your commercial landscaping company, hoping they show up and do everything they promised. You need a dependable partner with a focus on proactivity.

Check out a few tips here to help you choose the commercial landscaping company that will be the right fit for you. 

Ask plenty of questions before you sign that commercial lawn care contract. They should be happy to answer them.

You Want a Solid Relationship

You want an honest, open relationship with your commercial landscaping company with a focus on great communication. 

Sure, this is business, but you want a trusted, valued relationship with your commercial lawn care service, too. 

Why Should You Choose Them? 

Give the landscaping company you’re considering a chance to prove they’re your best choice.

Why should you choose them over the other guys? They should have plenty of good answers.

Trust Your Commercial Landscaping to Level Green in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia

At Level Green Landscaping, our core service is commercial landscape maintenance, and our customers have high expectations, including for their lawns. It’s our mission to meet those expectations, and exceed them. 

Meanwhile, our core value is Do the Right Thing, a seemingly simple motto that makes a big difference, driving everything we do as we work, live, and serve our clients.

It means we measure success not primarily in terms of economic profit, but in terms of the social good, treating our clients, employees, and stakeholders with the respect, fairness, dignity and kindness that we would hope to receive ourselves.

You’ll notice the difference.

We go beyond commercial lawn care services to offer construction and landscape design, landscape enhancements, snow and ice management and irrigation management.

If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers. Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.

Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.

We’d love to hear from you.