A lush lawn offers a beautiful foil for herbaceous borders, attracts pollinators and wildlife and provides a comfortable setting for summer picnics. Regularly mowing, aerating and fertilizing are essential to achieving and maintaining a healthy lawn.
A soil test helps you tailor your lawn care program to the unique characteristics of your property. Aeration improves drainage and allows water, oxygen and nutrients to reach the grass roots; liming restores balance to soil pH; and weed control services eliminate problem weeds. Visit Website to learn more.
Lawns require proper care to thrive. That includes regular mowing, aeration, seeding, soil testing, pest control and weed management. It also requires adjusting your care routine based on season and climate.
A lush lawn isn’t possible without a healthy, deep root system. That means regularly aerating your yard and adding organic matter such as compost or grass clippings. Healthy soil is the foundation of a resilient lawn that resists drought, pests and weeds.
In the main growing season, mowing is a must if you want a beautiful, well-manicured lawn. A professional lawn service will know how often and at what height to cut your grass to keep it healthy. They’ll have the right equipment to get the job done fast and efficiently, including a quality lawn mower.
Keeping your lawn healthy can prevent the need for chemical treatments. Regular mowing, dethatching and grass recycling help reduce the build-up of thatch (a thick mat of dead grass and debris), which blocks sunlight and water from reaching grass roots.
Bare patches can be repaired by overseeding with a variety of grass species that match your existing lawn. This process can be a hassle, but it’s necessary for a uniform appearance and to avoid diseases that affect specific types of grass.
A well-maintained lawn is a great way to add curb appeal and value to your home or business. Proper care of your landscape can even save you money by reducing the need for irrigation and fertilizers. Use a rain barrel or cistern to collect and conserve rainfall for irrigation, and opt for an automatic sprinkler system that adjusts watering based on weather conditions.
Grass clippings are an excellent source of nutrients for your lawn and gardens, so leave them on the lawn to reduce the need for fertilizers. It’s also a good idea to mulch flower beds with organic materials like wood chips or straw, which help moderate soil temperature and moisture, suppress weeds and improve visual appeal.
Lastly, raking leaves and picking up stray grass clippings is an important part of lawn maintenance. If left unattended, these waste materials can wash into storm drains and clog them, then make their way into lakes and rivers where they cause phosphorus pollution.
Watering
A healthy lawn needs a lot of water to survive. However, too much water can cause disease in the soil or grasses. The amount of water a lawn needs depends on its location, climate, and soil type.
A well-designed sprinkler system ensures that all areas of the lawn are properly watered. It also helps avoid overwatering, which can cause problems like fungus development. Watering in the morning prevents water loss due to evaporation. It is best to water the lawn deeply a few times a week. This allows the roots to soak up the moisture and encourages deep root growth.
When the weather is hot and dry, it is important to follow any water restrictions that are in place. A common mistake homeowners make during this time is to increase the frequency of their watering, which is actually counter-productive. Instead, they should increase the duration of the watering session. This will allow the soil to absorb more water and help a lawn resist droughts.
The best time of day to water is early in the morning, from 3am-8am. This prevents the sun from scorching the lawn and reduces weed growth. It is also better for the soil, because it has a chance to soak in the dew that naturally occurs at the surface.
Using the right tool to check for soil moisture is key to knowing when it’s time to water. A soil probe or screwdriver is ideal, as it can penetrate the ground without damaging the turf. If the probe or screwdriver slides in easily, the soil is moist. If it is hard to push in, the soil is dry.
A thriving lawn adds value to your home and increases curb appeal. A professional lawn care service takes into account all aspects of lawn health, from mowing and aeration to weed control and overseeding. It can also address nutrient deficiencies and pest infestations. Year-round lawn care services include mowing, aeration and overseeding, fertilization, mulching, weed control, pest management, and tree and shrub care. They offer science-based solutions to the most challenging lawn issues, backed by a plant pathologist.
Fertilizing
In order to grow and thrive, lawns need three primary nutrients – nitrogen (N), phosphorous, and potassium. These are found in fertilizers and help to promote healthy growth in grass. Nitrogen is used by grass plants for almost all internal processes including building proteins and creating the chlorophyll necessary for photosynthesis. Untreated soil rarely provides as much nitrogen as your turf needs and often becomes depleted over time. This is why regular fertilization is a critical component of good lawn care.
When applied properly, fertilizers help to keep grass dense and thriving, which in turn helps to choke out weeds and limit erosion. The best time to apply fertilizer is in the early spring or fall. In the spring, fertilizer should be high in nitrogen to kickstart grass growth and color. In the summer, lawns need a different type of fertilizer to retain green color and tackle heat stress and drought. Fall fertilizer should be high in potassium and phosphorous to prepare the turf for winter.
There are two types of fertilizers – organic and inorganic. Organic lawn fertilizers are derived from plant or animal sources and are more likely to improve the health of the soil. Inorganic lawn fertilizers are man-made and usually contain a higher concentration of nutrients but may be more harmful to the environment.
To get the most out of your fertilizer, it is important to choose a product that matches your soil test results. Also, be careful not to over-apply. Excess fertilizer is washed away by rainwater and can pollute streams, rivers, and ponds. If you have a spreader, be sure to make overlapping rows so that no area gets missed. It’s also a good idea to leave the grass clippings on the lawn to recycle nutrients and reduce evaporation.
While some commercial lawn care services use toxic chemicals that provide instant gratification, these are not a sustainable solution for the long-term health of your lawn and soil. Instead, try to use natural products that offer a more gradual and lasting improvement. In the meantime, be patient and remember that a beautiful lawn isn’t just nature’s gift; it’s the result of diligent nurturing and maintenance.
Weed Control
Weeds compete with desirable grasses for water, nutrients and sunlight. When weeds are removed, more of these resources go to the desired plants and less to unwanted ones. A combination of preventive practices and weed control methods is the most effective approach to a beautiful, healthy lawn.
Weed identification is the first step in successful weed control. This is important because weeds come in many shapes, sizes and colors, and can be different species from the lawn grass you want. Some weeds are annuals, others biennials or perennials. Perennial weeds can live for years, producing large numbers of seeds that are ready to sprout when the conditions are right. Annual weeds produce seed one season, but may also reproduce vegetatively through rhizomes and stolons. Preventive weed controls include mowing at the proper height and avoiding watering when it will encourage weeds to grow.
If preventive measures are ineffective, chemical weed control is necessary. Several herbicide products are available that control specific weeds and do not harm lawn grasses. The key is to use these chemicals only when weed populations are high and when the product is specifically formulated for the weeds present in the lawn. Many fertilizer products contain preemergence herbicides to help with weed control; be sure that you are using the right product for your situation and that it is being used as recommended on the label.
The best way to keep most weeds out of the yard is to make sure that the grass is growing at the appropriate rate for your location and climate. This means a regular, consistent fertilization schedule that begins in spring and continues through mid-autumn.
In addition to the above preventive measures, there are a number of effective ways to kill unwanted plants without using herbicides. Some companies offer weeding services using machines that emit heat, or hot water or steam to kill weeds without damaging the lawn grass. Foamstream is a popular chemical-free option that uses heated air to kill weeds by disrupting their cell structure.
Another non-herbicide alternative is a manual weeding method. This is labor intensive and requires patience, but it can be very effective. If you choose to weed manually, it is best to remove the entire weed including root system rather than just pulling up the surface of the plant. Hand weeding is especially helpful for annual weeds that tend to reproduce from seed. Perennial weeds, however, are more difficult to control through this method.