How we recommend products
Lawn HQ is independent. No brand owns us and no brand can buy its way into a recommendation. We pick products by active ingredient, fertilizer analysis and rate, taken from land-grant university extension research — then we show you what to look for on the bag. Where money is involved, it is labeled and it sits outside the advice.
Recommendations are never for sale.
No brand can pay to appear in Larry's answers, in your plan, in task recommendations, or in our guides.
We recommend by spec.
Active ingredient, fertilizer analysis (N-P-K), and rate, from extension research. Where products are shown, we show at least two brands that meet the spec.
Sponsors are labeled and kept separate.
We may show sponsors in clearly marked spots, such as a rotating “Sponsored this week” slot. Sponsored content never appears inside Larry's answers, plans, task recommendations, or guide content, and never changes what we recommend.
Affiliate links are disclosed.
Some retailer links may earn us a commission. They're labeled, use rel=“sponsored”, and never affect which product meets the spec.
Every claim is sourced.
Guides show their extension sources and a last-reviewed date.
Corrections are welcome.
If our advice is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it and update the review date.
The research behind our numbers
Every rate, height, depth and temperature in our guides, calendars and plans traces to a land-grant extension publication, and the source has to match both the grass and the climate zone it is cited for — a tall fescue calendar written for Raleigh cannot answer for Kentucky bluegrass in Minneapolis. A task with no source fails our build. These are the 32 publications the knowledge base cites today.
Clemson Cooperative Extension
NC State Extension
Oregon State University
Penn State Extension
Purdue University Extension
Purdue University Extension (joint with University of Illinois Extension)
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
- EHT-144 — St. Augustinegrass
- L-5340 — Lawn Care
UF/IFAS
- ENH10/LH028 — Mowing Your Florida Lawn
- ENH5/LH010 — St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns
- ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
- ENH860/EP110 — Fertilization and Irrigation Needs for Florida Lawns and Landscapes
- ENH979/EP236 — Homeowner Best Management Practices for the Home Lawn
- SL21/LH014 — General Recommendations for Fertilization of Turfgrasses on Florida Soils
- SS-PLP-5/LH044 — Large Patch
University of Minnesota Extension
University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
No commercial sources. A sod retailer, a product manufacturer and a lawn-care franchise are not authorities on agronomy, however confident the blog is. Where we have not found a publication for a particular grass and climate, we say so rather than borrowing one that does not fit — and we never attach a rate or an active ingredient to a value we cannot cite.
How Lawn HQ makes money
Lawn HQ is free, Larry included. As we grow, revenue comes from retailer links chosen by spec and disclosed, and from clearly labeled sponsor slots. Neither one changes a recommendation, and we never sell individual user data.
Found something wrong?
Tell us and we will fix it and update the review date on the page. support@mylawnhq.com
By Lawn HQ · Last reviewed