A lush, well-manicured lawn adds beauty and value to your home. It is also a great setting for summer picnics and an important food source for wildlife.
Water deeply and frequently to prevent lawn drought stress. Use a fertilizer schedule that matches your grass’s needs. For professional help, contact Lawn Care Kentucky.
Fungicides help control disease pressures that plague many lawns. Diseases like dollar spot, brown patch and rust thrive under certain weather conditions.
Lawn care focuses on enhancing and improving the beauty of existing lawns. It includes services like mowing, fertilization and weed control. It also involves aeration, soil testing and seeding. Landscaping is more complex than mowing, focusing on the transformation of outdoor spaces through design and construction projects like walkways, patios, fire pits, decks, gardens and more.
Mowing is one of the most basic elements of lawn care, but it’s crucial to keep your grass looking its best. Regular mowing ensures that the grass gets all the nutrients it needs, so it stays healthy and vibrant. It also helps prevent weeds from growing in your lawn because the healthiest grass shoots will outgrow the weaker ones.
Tall grass and wild growth can provide hiding places for rodents and bugs that can ruin the look of your yard and spread diseases. Keeping your grass cut at the right height via regularly scheduled trimmings will prevent these pests from invading.
A professional mowing service will have specialized equipment to get the job done right, including a lawn mower, a trimmer for trimming edges and a soil rake to remove debris. They will also have access to a spreader for adding fertilizer and a hose with a spray nozzle for watering lawns.
Fertilizing is another important part of lawn care, as it promotes the growth of strong and healthy grass. It’s important to find a company that uses organic fertilizers, which are slow-release and won’t harm earthworms or microbes in the soil. Organic weed controls are also available, which are plant-, mineral- or microbial-based and can be applied to prevent weeds from growing in your lawn.
A lawn care company will also conduct regular clean ups to remove leaves, accumulated debris and garbage from the yard. They will do this during the spring and fall seasons to improve your property’s curb appeal. They may also offer other services, such as liming, which is the process of adding an agent to reduce the acidity of the soil and make it more conducive to turfgrass growth. They may also offer tree and shrub care, which includes identifying any blotches on the leaves or damage to the trunks and then providing treatment options (either through a soil injected liquid for larger trees or a granular material for shallow-rooted shrubs). They will also treat for insects, mites and disease.
Fertilizing
The grasses in your yard need a variety of nutrients to thrive. Proper watering and cutting will take care of most of this, but some lawns will need a boost from fertilizers to keep them healthy and looking their best. Creating a proper fertilizing schedule is the key to vibrant grass color and dense, thick growth. This also helps to reduce the amount of weeds that grow in your lawn.
Fertilizers come in many forms and are available either organically or synthetically (chemical). Synthetic fertilizers offer fast-acting nutrients that are easily absorbed by the plants. They are often used to kick-start the lawn early in the year or as a spot treatment for problem areas. The nutrients are delivered in a form that the plant can use immediately and typically include the macronutrients of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). Some also include Micronutrients such as Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn).
Both types of fertilizers can be found in granular or liquid form. The granular can be spread with a fertilizer spreader and is great for larger lawns, while the liquid is applied with a hose-end sprayer and works well on smaller areas. There are slow-release varieties of both as well, which offer a steady supply of nutrients over a longer period of time and are good for overall lawn health.
In addition to the main nutrient content, some fertilizers have additional features such as insect control or even aeration. These are often offered in a combination with the main fertilizer to make application easy. Aeration is great for loosening up compacted soils, which allows the roots to better access the nutrient and help with overall lawn health.
If you are going to be using a chemical fertilizer on your lawn it is important to know that excessive applications can lead to nutrient runoff which impacts the water quality in lakes, streams and reservoirs. This is especially true if you are applying a fertilizer that contains phosphorus, which can result in algae blooms and can damage the watershed. The best way to avoid this is to limit the use of these types of fertilizers or use a fertilizer that includes a weed control.
Weed Control
Weeds are unwanted plants that compete with desirable grasses for resources such as water, sunlight and nutrients. They can be annuals, biennials or perennials and grow in a wide range of environments and climates. Regular weed control is important to a healthy lawn. It prevents weeds from competing with your turfgrass for these resources and can also reduce the spread of invasive weed species.
Weed control includes a combination of cultural practices and chemical treatments. A key cultural practice is regularly mowing your lawn at the recommended heights. A well mowed, thick stand of turfgrass shades the soil, keeping weed seeds from germinating and denying them access to sunlight and moisture. Weeds that do develop are best controlled with a pre-emergent herbicide applied before the weeds germinate or emerge. Post-emergent herbicides are used to kill existing weeds, and can be selective or non-selective.
A professional lawn care company has the experience and expertise to know what kind of weed killer is needed for your particular type of weed. The timing of the application is also very important and can be affected by weather conditions, temperature and wind. Professionals have a commercial license to purchase the highest-quality products that are not available for retail sale, and will have the timing down to an exact science.
Biological control is an option for broadleaf weeds in the landscape that are not easily controlled by herbicides. Biological controls involve the introduction of a natural enemy of the weed (such as an insect or a pathogen) to disrupt their growth or seed production.
Soil amendments are also an important part of a successful lawn care program. Amending the soil with organic matter or nutrients improves the ability of the soil to drain and hold water. This is particularly critical in clay soils, where weeds are more prevalent, and in sandy soils that tend to lose water quickly.
No lawn is completely free of weeds, but a properly managed lawn will significantly reduce the number and severity of weeds. A weed-free lawn requires less maintenance, and will be more resilient against disease, pest infestations and environmental stresses.
Pest Control
When pests invade a lawn, they not only cause damage to the grass but can spread to other plants and landscape features. Regular pest control helps protect flowers, shrubs and vegetable gardens as well as your turf.
In addition, a lawn free of insects and other unwanted guests is more resilient to stressors like drought and disease. It can also improve the overall look of the property. Many professional services follow integrated pest management (IPM) protocols, aiming to manage pests without harming beneficial insects and other wildlife. This balanced approach to lawn care supports a healthier environment and promotes natural ecosystems that help the grass thrive.
Trying to tackle pests on your own can be time-consuming and frustrating. Over-the-counter treatments often are less effective than professionally applied products and can leave the lawn damaged. A lawn care specialist has the training and tools to diagnose and treat problems quickly and efficiently.
IPM methods focus on preventative care to reduce the need for chemical treatment. They include cultural and mechanical/physical controls that weaken the pest’s ability to feed and reproduce, as well as soil health practices that make turfgrass more resistant. When chemical treatments are necessary, the IPM protocol recommends using low-impact options first. These include natural pheromones that disrupt pest mating, biostimulants that encourage beneficial organisms to thrive and interfere with pest metabolism, and organic or ‘green’ chemical products such as nematodes, milky spore, bacillus thuringiensis, and horticultural oils.
If these methods fail to provide adequate control, the IPM plan may call for a selective pesticide that targets the specific pest and is less harmful to the environment. Broad-spectrum chemicals are not recommended as they can lead to resistance, so lawn care specialists only use these products as a last resort. Integrated IPM programs are more effective when they are used in conjunction with lawn maintenance programs, such as core aeration, proper mowing and watering, and regular inspections to spot potential pest problems early. Then the lawn can be treated before the problem becomes widespread and expensive to fix.