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Tips for Spring Lawn Care 2016

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NO crabgrass in our LawnsIt may be winter and you aren’t thinking about your lawn just yet but you should be. Spring is just around the corner, even the groundhog was right! Just because the grass is not yet growing doesn’t mean that you can’t have a healthy lawn come spring.

If you didn’t winterize your lawn before winter came it’s not too late to call us, check it out, and get it ready for mowing season. We can offer tips and solutions on how to prepare for a new season. We offer free consultations and want your lawn to be the best one on the street!

Did you know that snow mold can threaten your yard? You can prevent the snow mold by making sure it is winterized, cleaned up, and cut correctly in the fall. Though it might be too late now, plan for next year’s winter and focus on the spring months ahead.

Here are some tips to prepare for as spring heads our way and don’t start working on your yard until the soil dries out enough to not do damage.

  • Prevent walking on frost as it will leave temporary brown footprints. Although mud tracks from footprints or lawn equipment may look bad, they usually do no damage unless there are deep ruts as well.
  • Lawn Mowers have been sitting for too long so make sure that you sharpen your lawn mower and change the oil.
  • If you didn’t aerate your lawn in the fall months, you can do so before crabgrass pre emergent is applied. Although it can get very muddy and messy–even do damage of not done correctly–so we wait until fall.
  • Add lime and a fertilization program now to get your lawn kicked into gear and growing and recovering from winter.
  • Don’t water your lawn until it is growing and the soil is drying. Your lawn needs 1″ of water per week. This should be done in as FEW watering a as possible. Ideally one or two morning. Watering every day creates a shallow root system and can cause many problems.

It may be soggy and wet, but once beautiful spring hits prepare yourself–and your mower! Want more advice or a consultation on your lawn? Just call or email us today! Get setup with our lawn program now to ensure timely applications. If you wait for the dandelions, you have missed the crabgrass!

Crabgrass in a new lawn

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Installing a New Lawn in the Springtime

Installing a new lawn is never easy, and spring installations can make it even tougher.  Luckily, this year has had a lot of rain to help new seed.  However, a typical year will have the yards in the Akron area dried out and new seed and grass struggling to take hold.

new lawn crabgrass

In addition to the weather conditions, a crabgrass pre-emergent cannot be applied.  Without a pre-emergent, there will be crabgrass as you see in the picture above.  This is not a problem, other than the appearance in the first year, for the lawn.Notice that there are little or no broadleaf weeds (this yard is on a treatment program).  When temperatures drop below freezing and the crabgrass dies off the new healthy grass will be left.

Although it may appear that the “crabgrass has taken over”, this is not quite the case.  The crabgrass will not cause problems with the new lawn.  The second year, a lawn like this should look beautiful.  Below you can see a picture of a lawn installed in the same manner 2 years later.

new lawn year 2Seeding in the spring has advantage and disadvantages.  It is up to the homeowner to decide if a year of crabgrass is worth a spring seeding, or if the optimal conditions of fall better suits their wants.

How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes

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Mosquitos suck! Sorry, that was a bad pun, but mosquitoes are definitely no fun to have around. With the hot and humid weather comes seemingly endless swarms of these little pests that can do more than just ruin outdoor fun, they can make it unbearable and they may even carry diseases.

There are a few things homeowners can do to help reduce mosquito breeding grounds and reduce their population:

-Reduce or eliminate standing water in old tires, tarps, buckets, kids’ toys, and any other areas where water can be thrown out.

-Maintain any pools. This includes large in-ground down to a small kids’ pool. Any standing water left untreated will create a habitat for mosquito breeding.

-Use insect repellant and wear long sleeves. Protect yourself with insect repellent and long sleeves.

-Have a mosquito control company spray your property, especially any wooded areas, every 3-5 weeks for mosquitoes.

-Lastly, the use of citronella candles and other products may be helpful. There are studies showing that citronella has no effect on mosquitoes to repel them. Maybe it’s just a placebo, but they seem to make me feel better!

If you have any questions on mosquito control you can contact a professional to consult and evaluate your property.

Which Type of Round-Up Should I Use?

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This is a question that I wish we received more often. While Round-Up (Glyphosate) is a great product and simple to use for a variety of vegetation management projects, we have seen many homeowners use these products incorrectly and cause damage ranging from mild to very extensive.

It should be stated that you should ALWAYS READ THE LABEL of any pesticide. It not only explains how, where, and when to use, but THE LABEL IS THE LAW. Allow me to repeat that since it is so important–The label on a pesticide has the full force of the law behind it. These labels are carefully written and approved by the EPA for safe use when used according to the label.

When choosing a vegetation control product, the active ingredients are easy to read on the front of the product and essential to correctly completing the task at hand. Here are some ingredients you will see:

Glyphosate: This is “original” or “regular” round up. This will kill (almost) all vegetation but will not prevent future growth of weeds and/or grasses. DO NOT SPRAY IN DESIRED GRASS AREAS. We see this all too often. You do not want your yard to have a brown polka dot pattern!

Diquat dibromide: This is an acidic ingredient used to make the treated areas “burn down” more quickly. This is mostly for marketing purposes. It makes the roundup work quickly and satisfies an impatient applicator.

Pelargonic acid: Similar to diquat, only faster. This can work within hours. Nifty, but not necessary.

Imazapic: Found in Round-Up Extended Control, this prevents new growth for up to 3-4 months. Generally safe, but this product can move (leach) within the soil and cause damage to grass and some shrubs and even mature trees. Because the product can move, it can cause damage in areas not intended to be treated. Use this with caution and not uphill from desired grass, tender plants or under certain trees such as linden, cherry, ash.

Imazapyr: CAUTION!!!! This is the ingredient we see cause terrible damage. This is found in products such as “Groundclear”. While a great product that can prevent growth for up to 1 year, it can also kill full grown trees with very little volume. This pesticide is considered a “soil sterilant” and will cause terrible damage in beds and can even kill mature trees.
On the other hand, when used correctly, it is wonderful in maintaining a bare-ground area for up to an entire season with just one application.

Remember: READ THE LABEL. And when in doubt, contact a professional to help with even the simplest projects. A short phone call can save you from a terrible mistake.

Why does my lawn have brown spots?

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Why does my yard have brown spots? Why does my grass look dead? Why do my neighbors’ yards look better than mine?

These are questions that we receive all too often. Many times the answer is simple, yet not what a homeowner would like to hear. In Northeast Ohio we have soil that has a lot of clay. This will cause the yard to retain less water and will dry out very quickly, especially along driveway and curb edges and around trees. The soil will become hard as well. The solution to this is water. 1″ of water per week is what a typical yard needs between rainfall and irrigation.

Brown Spots in the yard can be caused by a variety of influences. Most commonly it is lack of water or a different type of grass than the rest of the yard.

Brown Spots can also be a disease or fungus. Most of the time an  application of fertilizer will give the yard what it needs to get back to being green. Sometimes a fungicide treatment will be required to remedy the problem areas of your turf.

Why does my neighbor’s yard look better than mine? They don’t even do anything!

Most of the time, neither of these statements are correct, but it is very true that the grass is usually greener on the other side. When standing on top of grass it is easier to see the flaws whereas looking from afar a yard seems much healthier. But, the most common reason for when this statement happens to be true lies in the soil and water. Having good soil or a yard that is watered or retains more water will endure drought and heat much better than a typical clay soil yard common around the Akron-Canton area.

There can be other answers to these questions, but these cover about 90% of what we see in yards.

If you need an answer to one of these questions, contact your lawn fertilization professional instead of a mowing service to evaluate your property. And keep on watering!