Mowing Tips Thatch Sparse Grass Dew Worms Fairy Ring |
Watering Tips Dog Spots Fertilizer / Weed Control Moles / Mice |
Mowing Tips
It is recommended to cut your lawn at 2 - 3 inches in length. You want to make sure that no more than 1/3 of the grass blade length is cut during a single cutting. Mulching offers your lawn the best nutrition it can get, but only if a proper mulching blade is used and you keep the trims regular, for small grass remnants that break down quickly and continuously feed your lawn. Each time you cut, alternate the direction of your cuttings meaning that one week you may decide to cut your lawn horizontally and the next week you should cut your lawn vertically. Always mow when your lawn is dry so that you can save some wear and tear on your lawn mower and also keep the grass from clumping on the lawn. It will also help minimize the spread of lawn diseases. Last but not least, make sure that your blade on your lawn mower is kept sharp. There's nothing worse than using a dull blade to cut your grass. It will hack and chop your grass leaving unattractive ragged brown edges and can pose a risk for damaging your lawn.
Watering Tips
Water your lawn deeply once or twice a week. Apply one to one and a half inches of water each time. Deep watering allows moisture to reach the deepest roots. Daily, light watering will cause the roots of your grass to become dependent upon you to provide the water that it needs. So, train your lawn before it trains you! To help conserve water use, mow higher, avoid excess nitrogen as warm weather approaches, limit traffic over the lawn, improve turf rooting, control thatch and soil compaction, and avoid pesticide use on drought stressed lawns. Therefore watering schedules should be carefully planned and, when necessary, adjusted.
Thatch
Thatch is a buildup of decomposing blades of grass. This is mainly caused by improperly mulching your grass when it is mowed. In order to remove thatch from your lawn, we recommend getting a power rake done in the spring or fall or just simply raking your lawn by hand. De-thatching does not need to be a regular lawn chore and should be done at least once a year in the spring time.
Dog Spots
Your dog can sometimes be unfriendly to your lawn. When your dog urinates on your lawn, the nitrogen in the urine can be so strong that it can and will burn a brown spot in your lawn. If you see your dog urinate on your lawn, immediately flush the area with water. If you do not see it happen, you will soon see a brown spot in a few days. You will want to flush the area with water and immediately re-seed the area. As a last resort, if your whole yard is full of dog spots, removal and replacement of the sod can be performed; however, you should be forewarned that if you still have a dog, the dog spots can continue to appear unless you take proper care of your lawn.
Sparse grass
Sparse grass is usually a result of poor location or neglect. Regular care including core aeration and watering will usually bring a lawn back to life. It is not recommended to power rake a sparse lawn. With a poor location around pine trees or between houses where shade and dryness are common are the most probable areas for a sparse lawn. Heavy traffic can be difficult to remedy although aeration will help tremendously.
Fertilizing & Weed Control
Fertilizer is an important lawn care practice, as it influences grass color, ability to recover from stress and helps prevent weed invasions and diseases. There are a variety of fertilizer applications. With the exception of "Weed and Feed", it is best to apply them just before a rainfall, as they need to be watered in. Fertilizers with weed killers need to sit on the lawn for a day or two, to allow the weed killer to do its task, and then it should be watered. How often you apply fertilizer also depends upon the area and climate you live in. The most common is the three or four applications. For lawns, fertilizers containing controlled-release nitrogen sources are suggested for most applications, because they help assure uniform growth and do not readily burn grass.
Please note: Elite Yards does not offer a chemical or particulate weed killer. A weed free lawn can be achieved with a balanced lawn care routine that does not include pesticides, and we do offer a hand weeding service if required.
Dew Worms
These are large worms that live several feet below the surface of the soil in our gardens and yards. They ingest the soil extracting nutrients from it and then excrete the rest of it. You can see them on the surface of your lawn for oxygen when it rains or when the lawn area has been watered well. Some of the soil that they eat is clay, and therefore, they excrete the clay on the surface of the soil leaving hard lumpy areas in your lawn which does not harm it as they naturally aerate your soil for you. Trying to kill them is not only unnecessary, it is impossible. They can live anywhere on your property including your lawn area, flower beds, gardens, patio areas, etc. With this in mind, we don't want to use poisons to kill them as it would affect your whole property and not just the areas where you suspect them to be. Don't fret. Even if you can't get rid of them completely, you can control what they do to your lawn. Use gypsum, which is a calcium sulphate and is completely harmless to humans and animals, sprinkle it on the lumpy areas, water and allow it to dry. This procedure will make the clay crumbly and then easier to rake up the lumps and spread the clay over the lawn. Even though this solutions isn't permanent or perfect, it is worth a try on a regular basis to reduce the lumpiness of the lawn.
Moles / Mice
Moles can tunnel under your lawn looking for insects and other good things to eat. Your lawn may have started as healthy, but once moles move in, they are very hard to get rid of. Some ways of fighting a mole infestation can include Mole Poisons, high pitched sounds, mole traps and toxic gases. Some of these solutions can be harmful to the environment and may not guarantee the extermination of these pests. A very effective tool for getting rid of moles is using an old fashioned mole trap with a little peanut butter on it. Place the trap next to an active hole, cover it with a small container to shelter it from pets and the weather and just wait. Another tip is to use a piece of chewing gum. Chew the gum, set it next to an active hole. As moles are unable to digest the gum, they will eat it and die.
Fairy Ring
Be advised that this fungus spreads easily and is very difficult to control. They are arcs or continuous circles formed by bands of turfgrasses that are darker green and faster growing than grasses on either side. These bands can be between four and twelve inches wide with a diameter of the circle varying from three to fifty feet or more. A telltale sign of fairy ring is the presence of toadstools or mushrooms in the effected area especially during times of abundant moisture. To control fairy ring, use a garden fork or an aerating tool to poke holes deep into the fairy ring. To prevent spread of this fungus to other areas of your lawn, make sure that you disinfect your gardening tools with a solution of household bleach or Lysol containing chlorine after treating your fairy ring affected areas. Make sure you water the affected area thoroughly then apply a high nitrogen fertilizer (for example a 20-3-4) to the affected area. Water this area deeply throughout the summer. One final alternative is to dig the fairy ring out. Keep in mind that the grass and soil must be removed from a distance of 12 inches away from the outside and edge of the ring and 12 - 18 inches deep. Take care not to spill any of this affected soil as you do not wish to infect another area of your lawn. Make sure you clean your tools thoroughly after this procedure has been completed.