Lawn care is the routine upkeep of your grass – keeping it healthy and green with regular tasks like mowing, fertilizing, aeration, and weed or pest contro. Full landscaping services take those lawn care basics and go further: they plan and build new elements in your yard, like flower beds, trees, patios, walkways, lighting, and other hardscape features, effectively transforming the whole outdoor space.
What is Lawn Care?
A well-manicured lawn is usually the result of regular lawn care. It keeps the grass thick, green, and healthy by maintaining the soil and turf. Common lawn care services include mowing and edging the grass to the right height, fertilizing to give the lawn nutrients, and weed/pest control to keep unwanted plants or bugs at bay. Many lawn care programs also include aeration (poking small holes in the soil) and overseeding (adding new grass seed) to fill in thin spots and thicken the lawn. Lawn care pros might also handle seasonal chores like removing leaves or applying lime. The goal of lawn care is simple maintenance – keeping the lawn lush – without redesigning the yard.
What Are Full Landscaping Services?
Landscaping is more like an outdoor renovation or design project. It usually includes all the lawn care tasks above, but adds new features and design elements to the yard. For example, a landscaper might design and install a new garden bed or patio, plant trees and shrubs in thoughtful patterns, or create hardscape features like stone walkways, retaining walls, or a fire pit. Full landscaping often begins with a plan or blueprint so the crew considers the overall layout and curb appeal of your property. In short, landscaping changes the yard itself by adding or rearranging elements, whereas lawn care stays focused on the grass and routine upkeep.
Key Differences
The simplest way to remember the difference is: lawn care maintains the lawn, landscaping transforms the whole yard. Here are some key contrasts:
Scope: Lawn care deals mainly with the turf (grass) and ground cover. Landscaping covers every part of the yard – grass, flower beds, shrubs, trees, patios, walkways, lighting, fences, and more.
Tasks: Lawn care tasks include mowing, fertilizing, weed/pest control, aeration, overseeding, etc. Landscaping adds design and installation tasks: planting new beds, trees or flowers, laying sod, building hardscape features (patios, paths, walls), installing irrigation or lighting, and other construction work.
Frequency: Lawn care is ongoing maintenance – often weekly or monthly during the growing season. Landscaping is usually project-based: for example, installing a patio or planting a garden bed (with occasional follow-up upkeep).
Goal: The goal of lawn care is to keep an existing lawn healthy, green, and well-manicured. Landscaping’s goal is to enhance the beauty and function of the entire yard (adding value or creating new outdoor living spaces).
In short, lawn care is about keeping an existing lawn healthy and tidy, while full landscaping services are about creating or modifying the outdoor space. As one expert notes, landscaping involves design and construction of outdoor features, whereas lawn care focuses on maintenance and the health of the grass.
Many homeowners use both services together. For example, you might hire a landscaper to install new flower beds, trees, or a patio (a one-time project), and then sign up for regular lawn care to keep the grass and plants looking good each season. Ultimately, if you just want a nice green lawn, lawn care is the service you need; if you want a big change or a new garden layout, full landscaping services (plus ongoing lawn care afterward) are the answer.
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