Lawn Care Guide

rapha76 asked:


I would like some advice as to what to do about my lawn so that it looks good in the spring. Right now the lawn has a lot of weeds and some bare spots. Basically, I need to grow new grass, feed what’s already there and prevent weeds in the spring but I don’t know when and what I should apply to do this. Please don’t recommend a lawn care company. I am not looking for the perfect lawn but I know there are things I could be doing to improve it. I have a spreader and I’m all ready to get to work. Thanks for your help!

Elsie

Ling Tong asked:


Having a beautiful lawn during the spring summer and fall shouldn’t have to cost you money. By taking advantage of the lawn care tips you find in books and magazines, online and by asking questions of experts at your local lawn and garden store, you can easily take care of many of these jobs on your own. Once you are aware of some basic factors associated with lawn care, you can become a professional in your own right and your neighbors will start asking you for advice. The only requirement is that you spend some time researching how to take care of your lawn during every season of the year and devote some time to the tasks.

 

Mowing is one of the basic essentials of having a great looking lawn. However, there is a trick to this. In the spring, when you mow for the first time, mow the grass at the lowest level on the mower. This will remove all the dead grass and allow the roots to start producing new shoots. Make sure you rake up the lawn even if there are not many clippings because raking helps to revitalize the grass and the soil. Then when you mow the grass again, you should move the blades up a level. The lawn needs to be mowed on a regular basis. During how weather in summer, you can even have the blades higher so that you don’t mow too close to the ground and cause the grass to burn and turn brown. When you mow the lawn for the final time in the fall, place the blades at the lowest level again.

 

Watering plays a major part in lawn care. Without water the grass will not grow and will die causing brown patches to appear in the lawn. You have to know the type of grass you have and the type of soil so that you give it the appropriate amounts of water. You should never water the lawn after a rainfall because this could saturate the soil and cause the grass to die. When there is very little rainfall, the best time to water the lawn is in the early morning or just at sunset. This is because there is less chance of the water evaporating before it gets a chance to soak into the soil.

 

Fertilizing the soil is also important. For this you do need to know what type of soil you have. If you are not sure, you can bring in some of the soil to a garden center and the experts there will be able to provide you with the right fertilizer for your needs. You can also decide whether you want to use organic or chemical fertilizers, but whichever one you choose, you do have to follow the directions on the packaging. Using too much fertilizer can be harmful to the grass.

 

One thing that people do not realize is that the soil and the roots of the grass need air in order to grow, especially if the soil is compacted. To check to see if this is so, pour a small amount of water on the soil and wait a few minutes to see if it starts to soak down through. If it doesn’t this means you will have to aerate the lawn. What this means is to perform a simple procedure or poking small holes in the lawn a t regular intervals so that the oxygen can reach the roots and the water can get to them. The holes are small and will not be noticeable in the lawn.



Florence

habaceeba asked:


I would like to start a lawn care business from the bottom. What equipment will I need? What will startup costs be? What are some unique options for advertising? Any advice is welcome.

Allan

Paul Zayer asked:


Home lawn care could be as complex or simple as you make it. Before you decide to put in different colors and varieties of exotic plants it is important to figure out just how much weekend time you have to spend taking care of these unusual plants, or in lieu of your own loving care, if you can afford to hire a professional landscape team come around to take regular care of your plants.

Lawn Tip 1

Some of the most valuable nutrients can be added to your lawn by letting it reclaim these same nutrients from the clipped grass pieces. While many people worry that adding grass clippings or mulched leaves and branches will add or promote thatch to the lawn, but this is not true. The more nutrients the better; for the most part, and lawn clippings are best suited to nourish the living lawn.

Lawn Tip 2

When mowing your grass, try not to mow the entire yard, but rather 1/3 of the overall yard. Also, each time you mow, cover a different 1/3 of the yard. For example, if you begin at a 3 o’clock position in your yard and go to a 7 o’clock position one time, start at 5 or 6 and go to 11. Keep the mowing pattern varied and you’ll have a healthier lawn.

Lawn Tip 3

It’s much easier to get a handle on new weeds than when they’re older, more established and just plain harder to remove.

Lawn Tip 4

Most lawns need about 1-2 inches of water each week. By watering the lawn early in the morning (4-9AM) it doesn’t have a chance to encourage mold or fungus like like it does when you water it at nightfall. This also keeps the sun from burning up all the dampness, thus robbing your lawn and your pocketbook.

Lawn Tip 5

While more natural nutrients like those from compost or grass clippings really can’t be overdone, the use of commercial fertilizer certainly can be overdone. You run the risk of poisoning your lawn in the long term if you overdo the recommended doses of fertilizer for your lawn.

Lawn Tip 6

Not only do powerful and efficient lawn mowers cut grass better and more consistently, but they have lower emissions which is better for the environment. Of course a manual or electric mower is even better for the environment, but there are other performance issues that come along with these other mower types that you must consider yourself before making those decisions.

An herbal lawn is only what it sounds like, a lawn that is composed of an herb instead of a sort of grass. You can produce an herbal lawn out of many different kinds of herbs. The challenge really is to find an herb that tolerates heavy foot traffic at the same time that it is still comfortable if you like to play or sit on the lawn. There are many varieties of chamomile and creeping thyme that fall into this perfect middles ground.



Marcia

MIKE SELVON asked:


A simple way to be sure that your lawn is hearty and healthy every spring is to give it the right lawn care during the cold months of late fall and winter. Even though most lawns seem completely dormant during these months, how the grass is cared for during this time can make a difference to the overall health and beauty of it in the summer. Below are some ideas that will ensure that the lawn is as healthy as it can be when warm weather returns.

If you do live in an area where you have regular snowfalls, then you will want to be sure that your strategy includes making sure that all areas of the grass are free of debris and clutter before the first big snowfall of the year comes along. Proper lawn maintenance in preparation for winter snow would include raking the leaves, removing sticks, and disposing of any other type of debris that just doesn’t belong on your lawns.

Even if you are not expecting much in the way of snowfall, it is still important to be sure that the grass isn’t left under piles of leaves or other rubbish that can interfere with the grass receiving proper moisture, nutrients and air. While the growth of grass often comes to a halt in the late fall, it can still die if it is buried under any kind of yard debris.

Many people have the mistaken idea that summer is the most important season for controlling weed growth. But the opposite is actually true and it is important to understand this in order to plan good lawn care for the lawns that surround your home and garden.

Weeds actually grow much faster than your grass does during the winter, as compared to the summer. If the weeds are allowed to simply grow out of control during the “off season,” then there may not be much lawn left to enjoy when spring arrives.

Fortunately, because your grass will be growing so slowly during the fall and winter months, it is rather easy to spot the progress of the weeds during this time. Just make sure that you give a bit of attention to your grass during these months and get those weeds pulled, or apply weed killer, so that they don’t overrun the lawns and ruin the look of your landscape design.

If you like the look of a think, full lawn even through the wintertime, then it is a good idea to plant rye grass, bluegrass or other types of northern grasses which all tend to be heartier and will endure through the colder months of winter. One of the lawn care advantages of using rye grass in your lawns is that it grows well mixed with your current grass and will make your grass look fuller and lusher. However, the rye grass will actually die off and your regular grass will take over as it comes to life in the spring.

If you plan to plant any winter grasses, like rye, then they will stand the best chance of taking root and growing well if you plant in October. And, even with chilly weather you need to be sure the newly planted grass seeds get enough water.

Between natural rain and your own watering efforts, you should be sure that the rye-type grass receives one to two inches of moisture every week. Utilizing these simple lawn care tips will give you the best looking grass in the neighborhood, come summer.



Tommy

a asked:


I am trying to take care of lawns for my neighbor hood so I am making an advertisement on Microsoft word. The lawn service would include cutting and weed whacking. What type of things should I put in this ad? What type of things do people want to see?

Christopher

Martin Haworth asked:


It’s easy to kid yourself into believing that you know more about your lawn and garden than you really do. To move your efforts to the next level, you will need to get some help from someone who really knows what they are doing.

It requires hard work and skill to get a great lawn. It’s more than just keeping your grass cut regularly. Sometimes you will need a little lawn care help to get over the tricky problems.

Maybe you have weeds you can’t shift or advice on the right treatment at the right time of year. And there are always professionals around you can call on with the level of knowledge you need.

To maintain a great looking lawn that is lush and green, takes effort and making an annual plan can minimize effort and maximize results.

By doing this you will have a deliverable schedule that will ged rid of weeds and other problems early on, reducing the need for a lot more effort later in the year. Being pro-active earlier in the season, you will nip problems in the bud and infestations and infections affection your lawn will be a lot less likely or severe.

If you have had problems in the past, you can always call in professionals who you will find advertizing their services in yellow pages or at a local garden center.

There are also some great services, often local franchises, who visit on a monthly basis for a regular fee. They will take care of all your needs on a sliding scale for the level of services you want.

It’s a great solution if you feel out of your depth and are looking for serious lawn care help that is not too expensive and easy to budget for.

If you get a disease that affects your grass, bringing in lawn care help from someone who really knows what they are doing, will probably cost less than trying to beat the problem by yourself.

It’s easy to get stuck into trying to fix something that takes times and money by yourself - and still find it’s too big a deal for you.

So maybe it’s better to consider professional support sooner rather than later. Then you can settle back, do what you can do, like the mowing and watering (remember the plan?), get an expert in from time to time, and enjoy the lawn you have.

That’s a much better idea than worry yourself trying to make good a problem easy to solve by someone who knows what they are doing. This is a great time to leave your lawn care help to someone who really understands lawns professionally.



Lester

Michael F asked:


I live in Katy, TX and was wondering if someone could recommend an inexpensive lawn care company (or individual.) The bigger companies that advertise are highly priced; I would prefer a word-of-mouth sort of operation. I cut my own grass but the yard needs trimming, some weeding, mulch and maybe even some sod. I also speak pretty good Spanish if your referral is not a native English speaker. Thanks.

Herman

Pat Jackson asked:


With the tightening of environmental restrictions becoming a reality over more and more of the United States that tell you what you can and can’t put on and into your lawn, it is no wonder that organic lawn care is becoming a natural alternative. For those that aren’t familiar with the concept, organic lawn care is the use of 100% natural and organic chemicals and solutions on your lawn to help your grass and flowers grow naturally. Just like organic farming doesn’t use any harmful, man-made pesticides, organic lawn care is dedicated to using only natural ingredients to keep your lawn green!

Maybe the best argument of all to switch to organic lawn care is the fact that everything you put on your lawn gets absorbed into the ground below. Do you really want to be spreading possibly dangerous chemicals right below your water pipes so that these chemicals get absorbed into the water table? Of course not, and it is this realization, more than anything else, that makes people switch over to natural grass-growing and fertilization.

The first step that most people take when they decide to go green is to change the fertilizer they use on their lawn and on their flower beds. A trip to the lawn care store can be quite the experience if you’ve never been before. There are literally hundreds of different types of fertilizer made for home and lawn use, some of them are natural but many of them are not. The most obvious fertilizer to use for your lawn would be manure. When most people think of this, the instant reaction is NO WAY! They imagine fresh out of the cow manure that would make you have to hold your nose every time you leave your house, and we don’t even want to think of the reaction from the neighbors! But most manure that can be commercially bought has no scent whatsoever. That’s right, it’s been treated so that there is very little to no smell at all. And your flowers will just love having natural fertilizer to help them grow instead of a sprayed on chemical that doesn’t even work as well.

Another simple adjustment you can make to help your lawn be green and healthy is the use of natural cedar chips in your flower beds to help prevent weed growth. Some people choose to use other substances that have a layer of chemical weed killer covering it and while it may do wonders for your flower beds, that chemical has a tendency to run off every time it rains and down into the water table it goes. Natural cedar will not only smell and look great, it will do a number on the weeds, too!



Pauline

Jim P asked:


Me and a friend are starting a Lawn care business and wish we knew a bit more of the business end.

Michele