A lush lawn provides a great backdrop for flowers and shrubs and is a foraging ground for birds. A good lawn care routine includes aerating, fertilizing, and overseeding.
The best time to water the lawn is early in the morning, as this avoids diseases that can occur overnight and prevents evaporation in hot weather. Contact Lawn Care Harrisburg PA now!
Soil testing is an important part of a lawn care program because it provides a snapshot of your soil’s nutrient status. Periodic testing will help to correct nutrient deficiencies, avoid excess fertilizer applications and maintain a healthy soil structure. Ideally, soil testing should be done before establishing a new lawn from seed, sod or sprigs. It should also be done every three years on established lawns (late summer) and annually when trying to correct a nutrient deficiency or change the soil pH.
Soil tests can be sent to a professional lab or conducted with a home test kit. The results from either type of test provide a comprehensive analysis of your soil’s health, including its nutrient levels, texture and pH. The test results will allow you to make informed decisions about what soil amendments or fertilizers are needed to ensure optimum plant growth.
Generally, you want to maintain a balanced soil with high organic matter content and low salinity and clay content. These are factors that influence water and nutrient uptake and storage in the root zone of the plant, as well as the ability of the soil to hold moisture.
A soil test will also tell you the proportion of sand, silt and clay in your soil, which is important information because different types of soil have unique properties that affect how they respond to lawn care. For example, clay soils are fine-textured and have a higher water holding capacity than sandy soils, which means that you’ll need to water them less frequently.
The test will also let you know the pH level of your soil, as this dramatically impacts nutrient availability. Having an optimally balanced soil pH of 5.6-7.0 will promote good microbial activity and a hospitable environment for plant roots. Soil pH adjustments can be made through the addition of lime or sulfur, however these products are not advisable because they will leach important nutrients from the soil and can have negative effects on microorganisms.
If the test shows that your soil is low in nitrogen, it’s a good idea to add a little organic nitrogen from a natural source. A few ways to do this is by incorporating worm castings, compost, moldy hay or straw, bokashi compost tea or non-GMO corn gluten meal. The best source of nitrogen, however, is through the application of endomycorrhizal fungi purchased from a company that specializes in this product.
Grass Type
When planting a new lawn, make sure you use the right grass for your climate and soil type. Cool-season grasses like bluegrass and fine fescues thrive in northern regions, while warm-season grasses like bermuda and centipede do best in southern climates. Watering your lawn based on the weather and grass type will ensure healthy, weed-free growth.
A good soil test will tell you the relative proportions of sand, silt and clay in your soil. Sandy soils dry out quickly, while clay soils hold water and nutrients longer. Knowing your soil will help you water and fertilize efficiently, so that you don’t waste money or over-fertilize your lawn.
Grass needs nitrogen to grow and thrive, but it also needs other elements to remain healthy. Conducting a soil test will give you the information you need to choose the right fertilizer for your lawn. A soil test will also tell you the pH level, which can be adjusted by adding limestone to raise the pH and sulfur to lower it.
Overseeding a lawn is an easy and effective way to repair thin or patchy areas. However, if you are overseeding an existing healthy lawn, it is best to fertilize it first. If the lawn is in poor condition, it’s important to dethatch before overseeding. Thatch is an organic layer of dead grass and debris that can build up between the ground surface and roots. It can be removed by hand or using a dethatching tool. A thick layer of thatch can interfere with water and oxygen flow, causing the grass to become weak and unhealthy.
Clearing your yard of sticks, furniture, fire pits and kids toys will allow the grass to get the sun, air and nutrients it needs to thrive. A good rake, leaf blower or vacuum will help you save time and energy when removing debris from your yard.
Keeping on top of lawn problems and treating them promptly will prevent them from becoming bigger issues. For example, grubs are a common sub-surface pest that can be controlled by a preventative product applied in mid-summer before they hatch in the ground.
Irrigation
Irrigation is a key part of lawn care, as it stimulates root growth and improves drought tolerance. It also keeps the grass hydrated, which can help prevent fungus and other problems. Grass that is properly watered looks lush and healthy, and it can withstand harsh environmental conditions without wilting or browning out.
Different grass species have distinct water demands, so creating an irrigation schedule depends largely on your grass type. Additionally, your soil type influences how quickly the turf absorbs and holds water. Heavy clay soils retain moisture longer, while sandy soils dry out faster. Taking into account your region’s climate, seasonal shifts, and rainfall patterns can help you develop a targeted and effective irrigation schedule for your lawn.
It’s important to know how much water your lawn needs, as overwatering can cause compacted soils and shallow roots while under watering can kill beneficial microbes. For this reason, it’s a good idea to invest in a soil moisture sensor to help you gauge how well your lawn is hydrated. A sensor can also help you adjust your irrigation schedule based on actual moisture levels rather than a predetermined calendar.
Using an efficient sprinkler system is also crucial to your lawn’s health. A professional can design a system that distributes water evenly, preventing overwatering or underwatering. They can also install a rain sensor to ensure that natural rainfall is adequately compensating for supplemental irrigation.
Another part of lawn maintenance is regular aeration and dethatching. This involves removing small cores from the lawn for loosening it and allowing water and nutrients to get deeper into the soil. It also helps to reduce thatch, which is a layer of dead grass stems and roots that sits between the soil and the living grass. If left unattended, thatch can become thick and impede proper lawn watering drainage.
Aerating your lawn can help improve the look and feel of your garden, while dethatching eliminates thatch buildup to promote grass growth and reduce disease and pest problems. Other lawn care services include mulching, which involves covering the ground with a layer of organic or inorganic material to retain soil moisture, prevent weed growth, regulate soil temperature, and add visual appeal.
Pest Control
As a part of lawn care, pest control is critical for your landscape. This includes everything from insects to fungus that can destroy your turf and affect the overall health of your yard. A professional lawn care service will address any pest issues that are present by preventing them with proper landscape maintenance and stopping them immediately when they are identified.
In addition to preventative weed treatments, a good lawn care program will include fungicides that treat and control the many disease-causing organisms that infiltrate Florida’s turfgrasses. These diseases typically develop under certain environmental conditions and are more likely to occur if the soil remains wet for extended periods of time, such as when you water in the evening or overnight.
Several insect species infiltrate Florida lawns, including chinch bugs, sod webworm moths and June beetles. These pests damage grass by feeding on its roots and creating unsightly brown patches of bare lawn.
The best way to stop these pests is to keep your lawn thick and well-maintained. A thick lawn discourages bug infestations, and proper mowing and nutrient management will stop weeds from taking over.
Lawn care services will manage these and other common pests by using targeted insecticide treatments and avoiding overuse of these products. They also look for ways to help prevent the pests, such as by reducing the conditions that lead to their presence and behavior, like irrigating lawns at times when they aren’t needed (like during the day), or by changing mowing practices.
If you see bare patches of lawn with moths hovering over them, especially during the wet season, this is a sign of a problem caused by tropical sod webworm moths. These moths lay eggs in the clumps of grass that make up a healthy lawn. The eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars that feed on the grass at night and create the bare patches of lawn that are a sign of sod webworm damage. Our professional lawn care experts know how to identify this and other pests and treat them quickly to protect your property.