The Best Lawn Care Books for Growing Great Grass
Whether you have a small patch of grass or an expansive lawn, you want to grow gorgeous green grass.
But how do you do it?
- Buy bags of fertilizer?
- Spray weed killer?
- What about mowing and irrigation?
There’s so much to learn!
And homeowners need trustworthy, helpful information about lawns.
So, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite books that’ll help you grow a healthy, green, and lush lawn.
The kind that feels springy when you walk on it.
I’ve only included the best books on this list.
Ones that’ll teach you everything you need to know about your caring for your lawn, including planting, mowing, feeding, and troubleshooting.
Get ready to grow a beautiful lawn your neighbors will admire, and your kids will love playing on – one you’ll sneak proud glances at while no one’s looking.
Heads up: If you buy something after clicking a link in this post, I’ll earn a small commission. I only link to products I’d recommend to my best friend.
The best lawn care books
The Lawn Bible: How to Keep It Green, Groomed, and Growing Every Season of the Year by David R. Mellor (Amazon link)
You know you want a lush lawn, but how do you grow one?
In The Lawn Bible (Amazon link), Fenway Park’s master groundskeeper David Mellor shares his secrets for creating a beautiful lawn.
You’ll learn everything you need to know about creating healthy soil, planting, mowing, fertilizing, and troubleshooting your lawn, no matter where you live.
Inside you’ll find lots of tips and tricks for all types of grass and growing situations, including tricky ones like shady lawns.
- The book starts by explaining the basics of grass – how it grows and what makes it thrive.
- Then it covers practical steps to help you grow the healthiest and happiest lawn on the block.
- You’ll learn what to do and when to do it.
- It covers everything from starting a new lawn to rehabbing an old one and all the steps between.
- The last third of the book helps you win the weed war, deal with pests, and control diseases.
As a cool bonus, he also includes a short chapter on the artistry of mowing patterns.
If you dream of growing the perfect lawn, this is the book for you!
The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn by Paul Tukey (Amazon link)
The Organic Lawn Care Manual (Amazon link) is one of the best organic lawn care books available. The author owns his own landscaping business and became an expert on organic lawn care after developing medical conditions from repeated exposure to lawn chemicals.
If you want to grow a gorgeous lawn without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides, this is the book for you.
- Inside you’ll get solid advice on turfgrass
- Once you understand the science of how grass grows and what nutrients it needs to thrive, you’ll find growing a healthy lawn a lot easier.
- You’ll learn how to improve your soil health and structure; the best grass varieties to plant; how to start a lawn from scratch; natural lawn food; irrigation dos and don’ts; and how to deal with problems like moles, voles, grubs, and bugs organically.
A helpful feature is an organic lawn maintenance calendar divided by region.
This practical, easy-to-follow, and comprehensive guide will help you grow a thriving organic lawn!
Related: Corn gluten for lawns: is it the best choice for organic weed control?
Scotts Lawns: Your Guide to a Beautiful Yard by Nick Christians (Amazon link)
Turfgrass professionals share their best lawn care tips in this helpful guide.
Scotts Lawns (Amazon link) gives straightforward instructions that are easy to implement. So, you won’t need to hire a landscaper to take care of your lawn!
The book has a ton of useful information about lawns.
- The early chapters cover the basics: types of grass, sowing seed, irrigation, and mowing
- There are sections on lawn insects and weeds and how to deal with them.
- They also tackle maintenance issues like thatch and aeration.
One of the best features is how the book helps you create a proper lawn care program for YOUR lawn that works for you.
It covers it all – from low maintenance to those who crave highly manicured lawns.
You’ll also get plenty of tips on mowing and taking care of your lawnmower. For example, if you cut your lawn too short, you’ll stunt the root system.
This is the kind of helpful information you’ll find in this book and what makes it one of the top lawn care books.
If you want a beautiful landscape, this book deserves a place on your shelf!
Discover the fascinating history of lawn care:
Lawn Problem Solver by Ortho (Waterproof Lawn Guide) (Amazon link)
This is an excellent book for DIYers and gardeners who have less than perfect lawns.
It’s a hands-on book that’ll help you quickly diagnose what’s wrong with your lawn. Whether you need to fix discolored grass or repair bare spots in your lawn after winter, this book will help you find the solution.
The first step in finding a solution to a turf problem is to identify the cause accurately.
- The Lawn Problem Solver (Amazon link) is the perfect diagnostic tool because its clear, close-up photos help you identify the possible issues and quickly find the right fix.
- It’ll tell you how to deal with weeds, pests, and diseases.
- The lay-flat binding makes it easy to diagnose problems while you’re out in your yard.
- And the pages are waterproof, so they easily wipe clean, which makes this book perfect for working outside on wet grass and lawns.
It’s the best problem-solving book to help you identify, treat and prevent common problems.
And it’s the perfect gift for new homeowners who need to understand their lawn and how to maintain it!
Scotts Sprinklers & Watering Systems by Meredith Books (Amazon link)
A great lawn needs a sound irrigation system to stay healthy.
Scotts Sprinklers & Watering Systems (Amazon link) will help you understand basic irrigation concepts like water conservation, zones, and automated cycles to keep your grass adequately watered during the warmer months.
- If you’re a first-time homeowner or just getting started with landscaping and irrigation systems, this short guide will help you understand how your irrigation works: the valves, the zones, the heads, and the control unit.
- It covers how to correctly lay out your spray heads, set irrigation controller settings, and how to do minor repairs to parts like valves, solenoids, and rotors.
- It has illustrations and step-by-step instructions that anyone can follow.
This isn’t a comprehensive guide to irrigation systems.
It’s not an advanced irrigation system manual, which makes it perfect for inexperienced gardeners.
But if you’re a new homeowner with a system already installed and new to automatic irrigation systems, it’s good to have on hand if your system breaks and you need a quick fix.
Related post: control your hose-connected sprinklers with this RainPoint smart irrigation system.
Toro Lawns by Toro (Amazon link)
If you’re concerned about the problems we all face when trying to growing a healthy lawn like water use, cost, and pesticides, Toro Lawns (Amazon link) has solutions you’ll love.
You’ll get expert advice on choosing the right species of sod or grass seed, rejuvenating a problem lawn, lawn maintenance that won’t break the bank or your back, and pest and disease management without all the chemicals.
Whether you need to spot-fix problem areas or you’re starting from scratch, you’ll learn what to do based on the latest science-backed research.
Inside you’ll get solid tips that’ll help you:
- improve your soil structure and aeration
- save time and money
- conquer the weeds without damaging the environment
- diagnose lawn problems
- and reduce your water use while still having a green lawn
If you want a yard that looks good and makes you feel good, this is an excellent book to add to your collection.
Good Weed Bad Weed: Who's Who, What to Do, and Why Some Deserve a Second Chance by Nancy Gift (Amazon link)
No one wants a weedy lawn.
But are all weeds bad? In Good Weed Bad Weed (Amazon link) , Nancy Gift details 50 of the most common weeds, with full-color photos, thorough descriptions, and advice about which to keep and which to ditch.
Understanding weeds is a must for every homeowner and gardener. And the author might change your mind about some weeds – beneficial ones.
Some weed identification guides can be more frustrating than helpful.
This guide is geared toward novice gardeners. And it profiles weeds commonly found in lawns and garden beds.
She divides them into three categories: bad, not-so-bad, and good.
- The “bad” weeds list is clear-cut.
- These are all invasive species that no one in their right mind would want in their landscape or garden.
- But the other two lists will raise the eyebrows of some readers who may not see the same “admirable qualities” that the author does.
It’s an excellent introduction to weeds and presents a different viewpoint that many beginning gardeners need to hear – not all weeds are inherently evil.
While this book is geared more toward novice gardeners, the next book on this list will appeal to more experienced gardeners.
Related: 24 Books for Beginning Gardeners
Weeds of North America by L.B. McCarty (Amazon link)
Weeds of North America (Amazon link) is by far my favorite book on weeds. Why?
For one, it’s the only book that shows weeds in different stages of growth.
Second, it covers over 600 species from 69 plant families.
That’s a lot of weeds!
- My favorite thing about this book is the close-up photos, which makes identification easy.
- It’ll save you from pulling up seedlings you want to keep because you mistake them for a weed.
- Every garden will have some weeds. But to defeat your weeds, you must be able to identify them first. That’s where this book has your back.
The descriptions are easy for gardeners to understand.
The photos show the characteristics of each weed and help tremendously with identification.
And photos are much better than the line drawings you’ll find in other “advanced” weed ID books.
Related: How to weed your garden.
Lawnscapes: Mowing Patterns to Make Your Yard a Work of Art by David Parfitt (Amazon link)
This last pick is unique when it comes to turf books…
Different mowing styles leave patterns as you mow.
And those patterns affect the look & feel of your yard. And you can transform yours into the envy of the neighborhood by changing the way you mow.
Lawnscapes (Amazon link) teaches you how to mow artistic designs into your lawn. It covers everything from checkerboard squares to hearts, and bull’s-eyes, and much more.
It would make an excellent gift for anyone who loves zooming around on a riding mower and wants to learn the basics of mowing lawn patterns.
It only includes a few dozen designs, but that should be more than enough to get you started!
Your turn: what do you think are the best lawn care books?
Have I missed any awesome books on turf and landscaping? Let me know in a comment below!
