Is your lawn ready for the Winter?

Is your lawn ready for the Winter?

When fall is just around the corner, you need to start thinking about winterizing your lawn for the coming season.

So, what does this involve, you might ask? Well, the good news is that winterizing your grass is rather a simple process that doesn’t involve a lot of money or time. However, winterization is essential if you would like to enjoy a healthy and lush lawn when spring rolls around.

The first step is to fertilize your lawn during the fall. This does your lawn a world of good because when the weather begins to cool, a lawn will respond by growing slower and moving its reserves of food and nutrients from the leaves to the roots. The roots will continue to remain active in the soil and are very receptive to winter fertilizer (which has a high potassium content). This provides additional support and strength to the roots and helps the lawn to survive the cold, winter months.

As long as you give your lawn a good fertilizing treatment in the fall, it will remain healthy as long as possible and will result in beautiful turf in the spring.

Another way in which to winterize your lawn is to aerate it during the fall. This involves using aerating shoes or a manual push aerator. Aeration will allow water and nutrients to penetrate through to the roots effectively and will precent your soil from getting too hard.

If you notice any bare or patchy spots on your lawn, now is an excellent time to reseed these areas! You will be grateful for this when spring arrives.

Finally, as the leaves begin falling, be sure to rake them away as much as possible. Grass that is covered with leaves can become smothered and can become a breeding ground for unwanted insects, fungi and other diseases that could damage the grass. Mowing over the leaves with a mulching attachment is a great idea as this minces them into tiny fragments and provides the lawn with nutrition.

Fall Lawn & Landscaping Tips

Fall Lawn & Landscaping Tips

pinestraw-installation-on-dormant-lawn-in-the-winter

Fall lawn care and maintenance are all about preparation.

Do it right, and it will go a long way toward a nicer lawn in the spring!

 

Even though fall weather is cooler, you should still be mowing and watering the lawn, as needed. As fall comes to an end and you prepare for the last 2 mowings of the season, set your mower blade to the lowest setting as this allows more sunlight to reach to the top of the grass.

Additionally, another important aspect of fall lawn maintenance is aeration. Aerating your lawn allows water, fertilizer, and oxygen to reach the roots and prepares it nicely for the cooler months. This can be done by renting an aerator at your local hardware store.

While leaf raking may seem like an obvious fall activity, it is actually vital to remove as many leaves as possible from your lawn during the fall. Try your best to rake regularly so that the leaves don’t have time to trap moisture and stick together (which forms a sticky mat that is not only difficult to remove but also suffocates the underlying grass and makes it prone to fungal diseases).

Lawnmowers are great tools for removing leaves! Attach a leaf collection bag to your mower and activate the vacuum system (if you have one). Your leaves will be removed in no time and you will have completed one of the most important fall maintenance tasks for your turf!

 

Of course, if you need any help on your lawn, we’re always here to help you out!

Leaf Removal Tips

Leaf Removal Tips

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It’s Holiday Season, and also time to rake and remove leaves! 

 
Here are our top tips for removing leaves:

Before you even think of tackling your leaves, do you have a good rake and is it the right size for you? As a rule of thumb, the bigger the rake, the smaller the job. You may also want to consider purchasing a no-clog rake that doesn’t skewer leaves and prevents you from having to constantly unclog your rake.

Another incredibly handy tool for leaf removal is a leaf blower or vacuum. This is especially useful for hard-to-reach places such as flower beds and under shrubs. Many yard vacuum devices have in-built mincers which work to compact the minced leaves so that you only have to change the bag once or twice the whole season.

If your garden has a lot of trees and is on the big size, instead of placing all your leaves into bags, a better idea is to sweep them all into a large tarp and then dispose of them all at once.

Mulching mowers can also help to make leaf removal much easier in the fall. If you don’t have a mulching mower, you could raise the blade of your mower to its highest setting so that when you mow, the leaves will be broken down and will be filtered into the grass blades. This works well for medium to large-sized yards and the leftover bits of leaves will act as a beneficial mulch for your lawn.

Finally, remember that when leaves begin falling, they can trap water on your roof and in your gutters, causing it to deteriorate if left for a long period. To prevent this from happening, try and remove as many leaves as possible from your roof with a broom that has been attached to an extension pole.

 

 
If you need help with leaves or any other lawn or landscape maintenance, give us a call!

Prevent invasive Winter and Spring weeds by acting now!

lawn covered with weeds that needs treatment

Prevent invasive Winter and Spring weeds by acting now!

lawn covered with weeds that needs treatment

Anyone who is proud of their lawn will not be a fan of weeds. So, how can you prevent those unsightly winter and spring weeds from emerging?

Well, the first step to a weed-free yard is to have an effective and tailor-made weed prevention program by using a good pre-emergent herbicide. This will prevent the problem of unwanted weeds, especially winter weeds.

Winter weeds normally germinate in early fall and during the winter months. They also grow abundantly in the spring, will flower and then die during the summer months. The cycle begins again in the fall when germination takes place.

If you do not manage them, your garden’s winter weeds can pose a huge problem when spring arrives. During the spring, you want to concentrate on yard maintenance and having an overwhelming amount of weeds will be very annoying.

A good quality pre-emergent herbicide will prevent the seeds of these weeds from germinating and this should be applied in late summer or in early fall. This product will form a barrier in the uppermost layers of your soil and will stop any weeds from growing above the soil. This results in fewer weeds when the warmer months arrive and a better looking lawn!

It is important to remember that although pre-emergent herbicides are highly effective when it comes to preventing weeds from germinating, the product needs to be used properly to have the desired effect. Always make sure that you mix it correctly so that the right strength is achieved and ensure that your sprayer is calibrated correctly.

When spraying your pre-emergent herbicide, try your best to cover the lawn evenly, leaving no spots untreated. It is also of no use to spray only a few spots as open spaces allow weeds to emerge.

Remember that a preventative weed program is essential for a beautiful yard!