Best Lawn Care Services in Houston, TX (2022)

Houston homeowners live in a particularly humid part of the sunny South—that means April showers, May flowers, and unfortunately, scorching-hot summers and warm falls. Caring for Houston lawns can be a challenge. Homeowners who want lush lawns that are the envy of the neighborhood should consider hiring a professional lawn care company to get the job done right.

Located near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is one of the largest cities in Texas. Also known as “Space City,” Houston is known for its contributions to space exploration and is also known for its sports teams such as the Houston Astros, Houston Texans, and Houston Rockets. Other major cities around Houston include Austin, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio—all areas that experience extreme heat and may require professional lawn care services.

The This Old House Reviews Team believes TruGreen offers the best lawn care services, with decades of experience, comprehensive lawn care plans, and a la carte services in the Houston area. Other providers include Weed Man, Lawn Doctor, and SavATree.

Top Recommended Lawn Care Provider: TruGreen

TruGreen is a well-known name in lawn care, with 2.3 million residential and commercial customers across the country, servicing all states except for Alaska. TruGreen surpasses its top competitors in the number of annual programs it offers. The company offers five different annual programs, along with a range of a la carte services, including pest control.

All of TruGreen’s services are scientifically backed and performed by TruExpert℠ Certified Specialists. Every TruGreen specialist must pass an intensive 10-day course that covers topics like horticulture, agronomics, and safety, called the TruExpert Lawn Certification Program. For full-program customers, services are backed by TruGreen’s Healthy Lawn Guarantee®—a promise that a TruGreen lawn care specialist will return to your lawn as many times as needed between scheduled treatments to re-treat at no extra cost. TruGreen also offers an online chat function and mobile app. We give TruGreen a 97 out of 100.

Why You Should Hire Professional Lawn Care in Houston

Creating and executing a high quality lawn care plan for your specific area can be a lot of work, especially on top of all the other duties homeowners have to take on. Houston is a humid area that attracts many mosquitoes, which can make toiling outside very unpleasant—on the plus side, some lawn care companies also offer mosquito control.

Taking proper care of a Houston lawn requires extensive knowledge of the unique lawn and its individual needs, from fertilization and aeration to weed and grub control. Professional lawn care companies are equipped with the proper expertise, equipment, and products to keep your lawn in the best condition.

The Most Common Grasses in Houston

When establishing and caring for a lawn in Houston, it’s important to know what type of grass is best-suited to your area. There are many types of warm-season grasses, but some are less heat-tolerant than others. Here are some of the most common grasses homeowners will find in Houston lawns.

• St. Augustine: This thick, popular grass has wide, coarse blades and high shade tolerance. However, it requires more moisture to thrive than some warm-season alternatives.
• Bermuda: This type of grass is known to be hardy and resilient, able to withstand heavy foot traffic and hot conditions. But it isn’t tolerant of shade, and its speedy growth may require more maintenance.
• Zoysia: This vibrant grass is weed- and drought-resistant and grows dense lawns, but it is generally slower to grow.
• Bahia: This grass performs well in poor soil and is drought- and disease-resistant. However, it does not do well in the shade.

How to Choose Lawn Care in Houston

There are a variety of factors to consider when choosing a lawn care provider in Houston. You don’t want to commit to a company whose plans don’t cover the services you need or whose cost is out of your budget.

• Plans and services offered: Different lawn care companies offer different annual programs and varying a la carte services. If you only want a few services, it may be better to choose a streamlined program. But if you’re concerned about weed control, pest control, and a variety of other concerns, it may be best to go with a comprehensive plan.
• Cost: In order to find out if a lawn care company is within your budget, you can request a free, personalized quote online by submitting your name, address, and contact information. Many of the top lawn care companies use an online tool that allows them to map out the exact dimensions of your lawn, enabling a precise quote.
• Reputation: You may consider reading expert reviews and doing research to find out more about how competent, reliable, and trustworthy a company is. Often, you can find more information about long-standing businesses than newcomers to the industry.
• Guarantee: TruGreen, Weed Man, and Lawn Doctor all offer customer satisfaction guarantees—promising to come back as needed between scheduled lawn visits to re-treat at no extra cost. This can increase customers’ confidence in the service.
• Organic options: The top lawn care companies offer environmentally friendly solutions to lawn care, like Sunday, Weed Man, and Lawn Doctor.

Houston Lawn Care Tips

Battle crabgrass

Crabgrass is a common weed Houston homeowners face. This pervasive annual weed can choke your lawn, leaving dead and thinning patches. You can purchase selective, post-emergent herbicides that will kill existing crabgrass but leave your grass unharmed. But prevention is key. You should apply a pre-emergent selective herbicide in early spring.

Improve drainage

Thunderstorms are frequent in Houston, and it’s not uncommon for soil to have poor drainage. This can have serious consequences for your lawn, like compacted soil, which prevents your grassroots from getting the air and nutrients they need. Adding mulch is a good solution—this organic matter acts as a sponge and provides nutrients to your grass.

Houston Lawn Care FAQs

How do you kill weeds without killing grass?

To get rid of weeds while leaving your grass unharmed, you’ll need to use a natural herbicide like corn gluten meal, or a selective herbicide from a store, like A.D.I.O.S. Always read the package carefully.

How do you fix a terrible lawn?

It depends on the particular problem your lawn is facing, but a common way to fix a lawn is by filling in bare or patchy spots with seed or sod. You can also improve your lawn by using organic fertilizer, performing a soil test to ensure your soil has all the right nutrients and the optimal pH level, aerating, dethatching, mowing your grass at the correct height, and watering deeply and infrequently.

Should I leave grass clippings on my lawn?

Leaving grass clippings on your lawn, or “grass cycling,” can be beneficial because it allows the organic matter to decompose back into the soil, reintroducing nutrients.

How much is lawn care monthly?

The exact price you pay for lawn care will depend on a number of factors, including where you live, the size of your lawn, the treatments you need, and more. You can request a free, custom quote online.

Our Rating Methodology

To provide readers with the most objective, accurate, and detailed recommendations, the This Old House Reviews Team continually researches lawn care service companies on the market. We take the following steps to obtain up-to-date information about the industry and each company we review:

• Analyze more than 100 customer reviews from third-party review sites, such as Yelp, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and Google Reviews, for each company
• Secret-shop for lawn care plans and packages to get a sense of cost, offered services, and the overall shopping experience for prospective customers
• Speak with representatives on the phone to simulate the customer service experience from each provider
• Update information on a regular basis to ensure the most accurate information when plans or services change with each company

We use the data from our research to build an in-depth rating system that allows us to score lawn care providers on a 100-point scale. Here are the factors in our evaluation and their designated scores:

• Plan options (30): As one of the most important factors for homeowners shopping for a lawn care service, this one is weighted heavily based on each company’s lawn coverage. Companies that offer more options, such as irrigation, weed control, seeding, and aeration services in addition to a general plan, score higher than others.
• Trustworthiness (30): Each company’s reputation is another significant factor for homeowners to consider before signing up for a plan. We scored providers based on their BBB score, accreditation, and offered guarantees available with each purchase.
• Additional Benefits (20): We gave extra points to companies that provide a few additional services and benefits with their offered plans, such as organic treatments, pest control services, and a mobile app for digital communication and plan management.
• Customer Service (10): In this rating category, we awarded points to customer-focused lawn care service providers who offer weekend availability and easy communication through phones, online chats, and online resources.
• Availability (10): We also scored companies based on their overall availability, rewarding those that are nationally available over local companies only operating in select cities or ZIP codes.

To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.