Maintaining a lawn can be a difficult and ongoing project, but one worth the efforts. A healthy lawn improves the look of a property and can even increase the value of the home. While it can be difficult to avoid some problems, there are a number of simple hacks that can make growing a healthy lawn that much easier. Here are ten handy yardwork hacks to save you valuable time and effort:

1. Leave your grass clippings
Fertilizer is not cheap, so any way you can cut down on the cost is a good thing. As such, when you mow, let the grass clippings fall where they may and your lawn will appreciate the little bit of extra food.

2. Consider hiring a professional lawn service
No one takes perfect care of their lawn and can always use a little help. As such a professional lawn service may be just the person to bring in every so often just to make sure that the lawn is doing its best.

3. Plant more trees
Trees not only provide necessary shade for your grass but help against erosion. Fruit trees can even provide additional fertilizer for the lawn, albeit accidentally.

4. Water your grass early
If water does not dry quickly enough, it can act as a lens and burn the grass it is on. By watering the lawn early in the day, it can receive the water it needs to thrive as well as ensure that the water has dried before it can harm the grass.

5. Install a rain barrel
In some areas, there is enough rain that setting some way to capture it (and use it to hydrate your yard) is a good idea, especially if that barrel is tied into the watering system. Before installing a rain barrel, make sure that you check the gutter guard for proper leaf filter, to ensure the water flow through your gutter system in clear and unobstructed. 

6. Utilize ground cover
As with trees, a good amount of ground cover can provide shade for the grass. It can also improve the look of the lawn. However, plant carefully; you want the plants out of the way when you mow. Ground will reduce the amount of time required for weeding. These plants make excellent options for ground cover—heather, creeping thyme, American wintergreen, bergenia, and clover. 

7. Aerate your lawn
Some soil below the grass is too hard or has too much clay, and needs to be broken up. Grassroots also need access to air to thrive. By aerating the lawn you can break up the soil and ensure that the roots have what they need. It will also be much more efficient to water an aerated lawn. 

8. Fertilize and mulch frequently
Not every lawn gets the nutrients it needs from the soil itself and some lawns can draw too much from the soil. As such it needs to get those nutrients from somewhere; fertilizing and mulching will ensure that the lawn will get those nutrients and look great.

9. Use baking soda to fix soil pH
Lawns do best when the pH of the soil is around 6.0 to 6.5, or just shy of neutral, but some soils are a bit too acidic. By mixing in a little baking soda with the water, you can increase the pH factor of the soil. Just be wary of using too much or you may damage the grass itself.

10. Mow high and regularly
If you leave too little of the grass stem after you mow the grass may die and thus result in huge brown areas. If you mow a little higher but regularly, you can keep the lawn looking great without risking it.

These tips should allow you to easily maintain a beautiful lawn and keep it going for years.