Lawn care can seem simple enough – just mow, water and weed. But lawns require many other maintenance considerations to stay healthy and green.
Preventative fungicide treatments help contain and control common lawn diseases. Fertilization provides lawns with a boost and encourages growth. Seeding and overseeding add grass seed to fill in thin or bare areas. Aeration helps lawns grow by making it easier for water and nutrients to reach roots. Visit https://www.primecutlawnky.com/ to learn more.
A properly mowed lawn is the foundation of healthy turf and soil. The best mowing frequency depends on the rate of growth and type of grass. A professional can develop a schedule that will keep your lawn in peak condition with frequent mowing throughout the growing season.
Many mowing services include trimming, mulching and debris removal. Adding a layer of mulch moderates the soil temperature, retains moisture and suppresses weeds. Mulching also helps to improve the look of your landscaping and provides nutrients as it breaks down.
Lawn care service providers often include core lawn treatments such as aeration, fertilization, weed control and tree and shrub trimming in their plans. It is important to select a full-service provider that offers organic treatment options as well as conventional chemicals. Organic care programs are safer for children, pets and the environment and provide long-lasting results.
A regularly mowed, healthy lawn is more resistant to pests, inclement weather and disease. An unhealthy lawn can be quickly overwhelmed by these factors, and it may take a while for it to recover.
Insects like to hide in tall grass and wild growth, making it easy for them to spread over a landscape and destroy the lawn. A consistent mowing schedule and a healthy lawn prevent insect infestations from forming, which prevents the bugs from having a safe place to lay their eggs. Likewise, a lawn that is frequently mowed at a healthy height will discourage harmful fungi and diseases from attacking the soil. These fungi and diseases are more prevalent under certain climatic conditions, such as hot or dry weather.
Irrigation
Lawns need consistent watering to maintain a healthy appearance. Surface irrigation methods include basins, furrows, and sprinklers. Basins are commonly used in dry climates like ours in the western United States and irrigation canals are more common in field crops. These methods use pumps to raise a water table in the soil, flooding it to the root zone and then releasing it at prearranged intervals. This is a more precise method than traditional flooding which releases water at one time. It allows for an even distribution of water and reduces evaporation loss.
Grass species with deep roots, such as tall fescues and fine fescues, are more drought-tolerant than bluegrass varieties, which need to be watered more frequently. Irrigation is especially important during the summer when lawns experience the greatest amount of stress from high temperatures and humidity. Proper watering prevents a host of problems including brown patches, thatch, and weeds.
An irrigation system is a complex network of pipes and control valves that deliver water to individual zones in the landscape. Irrigation specialists assess a property’s unique needs and recommend an efficient, cost-effective irrigation option that works within your budget. This includes assessing the compatibility of your home’s layout with irrigation system infrastructure, piping, and landscaping features.
An efficient irrigation system can save you money by reducing water waste, optimizing water use, and maintaining even water distribution. It can also improve the curb appeal of your property by ensuring photograph-ready grass. A professional lawn care service can help you develop a watering schedule that fits your lawn’s specific needs and ensures that it is properly maintained. This helps you avoid overwatering or underwatering, which can damage the grass.
Fertilization
In order for grass to be lush and healthy it must receive adequate amounts of nutrients. Fertilizers are materials or mixtures that improve one or more of the primary plant nutrients – Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K).
In general, a lawn requires nitrogen for rapid growth. Lawn service companies use slow-release synthetic fertilizers to give the lawn a steady, low dose of nitrogen. This allows grass to grow roots and absorb nutrients without having to divert energy to foliar growth.
Nitrogen is often the first number listed on a bag of fertilizer, followed by phosphorus and potassium. A lawn needs these nutrients in varying ratios depending on the type of grass and the specific soil. Soil tests determine what nutrients are needed and lawn services adjust the amount of each nutrient for the best results.
The type of fertilizer and time of application also affect the health and appearance of a lawn. Lawn service technicians may recommend the use of organic fertilizers that provide a natural source of nutrients for the lawn or inorganic chemical products that contain synthetic substances.
Local lawn services offer a variety of treatment programs that include fertilization, weed control, aeration and disease management. They can even help with landscape design and construction to enhance your home’s curb appeal. While many garden centers sell lawn care products, professional services have the expertise to test your soil and create the proper mix of nutrients for your lawn. They also know how to apply the products correctly for optimal results and are trained in problem correction if they occur. This ensures that you’ll have a beautiful, healthy lawn and that your property value will increase over time.
Weed Control
There are a variety of preventive (weed mulches, cultivation, hand weeding), mechanical (weeders), biological (grazing) and chemical (herbicides) weed control methods. However, total eradication of the weed population is usually not an achievable goal for many lawn and park turfgrass sites. The best approach is to promote healthy grasses that out compete the weeds for water, nutrients and light.
When necessary, a well-timed application of herbicides will quickly reduce weed populations to acceptable levels. Preemergence herbicides kill weed seedlings as they emerge, while postemergence herbicides control growing weeds. There are also some systemic herbicides that move through the weed and into its roots to kill it from within. It is important to use these products in accordance with the label directions and only when needed. Improper use can injure or even kill desirable turfgrass and ornamental plants.
A good lawn care program begins with a soil test to determine the type and amount of organic matter and nutrients needed to make the turfgrass stand healthy and competitive against weeds. Then, adding the correct amounts of organic matter to compacted soils increases drainage and improves water-holding capacity. Similarly, amending sandy soils with organic matter allows for better root penetration and improves the ability of the soil to retain water and nutrients.
Professional lawn care companies are often better equipped to manage weeds than the average homeowner because they have commercial licensing to buy and use the very best weed control products, which are not available for purchase in stores. They are also experienced in the timing of applications, which is a science with temperature and wind factors to consider. In addition, they have the know-how to identify the types of weeds present and how to best treat them.
Pest Control
Lawn pests can damage your lawn and cause health risks to you and your family. Whether it’s chinch bugs extracting sap from grass stems, sod webworms leaving unsightly brown patches in the yard or mosquitoes carrying diseases like West Nile and Lyme disease, our local lawn care professionals can help you eliminate these insects with targeted insect control services.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to pest control that minimizes the use of synthetic pesticides to protect people, pets, wildlife, and the environment. It is also more effective than simply spraying pesticides on problematic weed, insect or disease areas because it focuses on solving the root cause of the problem.
For example, instead of using a grub killer on your whole lawn, a trained lawn care professional will look for the underlying reason you have grubs, which might be that you are watering too much or that the soil has a lot of clay in it. If the underlying cause is solved, the grubs will not return, and you will save money and time.
A good IPM lawn care strategy will focus on removing desirable living conditions for insects, such as avoiding excessive moisture, removing tall grass and thatch, removing leaf piles, installing fences to keep out deer, and placing bird feeders on the property to attract natural predators of lawn pests. It will also involve implementing biological controls, such as releasing beneficial insects and earthworms into the lawn to naturally manage pest populations. In the final step, if pesticides are needed to prevent a serious infestation, they will be used in the most responsible manner possible, such as only treating affected areas of the lawn rather than blanket applications.