A lush, well-tended lawn adds beauty to your home and boosts property value. It also helps filter water, absorb carbon dioxide, and provide habitat for beneficial insects.
Lawn specialists can help you develop a soil test and calibrate your lawn’s fertilization schedule based on the results. They can also aerate and overseed sparse or bare areas to promote healthy growth. Reach out to Lawn Care Kentucky for expert assistance.
A lush, green lawn is a beautiful thing, but if yours is missing its healthy glow or has weeds speckling the turf, it may need more than just regular mowing and watering. It might need a spa day with dethatching and aeration.
Thatch is a layer of interwoven accumulated dead grass shoots, stems, crowns, and roots that form between the soil and the living grass in your yard. A thin layer of thatch is a good thing, about a half-inch, as it helps maintain steady soil moisture and temperature and prevents fungal diseases. A thick layer of thatch, however, interferes with the grass’ ability to grow properly.
Over time, thatch can build up to a point where it blocks vital nutrients and oxygen from reaching the roots of the grass in your lawn. Aeration breaks up the compaction and thatch, allowing air, water, and fertilizers to reach the roots of the grass.
If you’re unsure whether your lawn needs dethatching or aeration, try this simple test: Push a finger, stick, or a lawnmower blade into the thatch. If you can’t penetrate the spongy layer of thatch, it’s time to dethatch.
Getting your lawn dethatched and aerated is just as important as regularly mowing it, but it can be a difficult task. That’s where a professional comes in! A professional can use a machine to forcefully rake away thatch, leaving behind healthier and more vibrant grass.
Dethatching is usually done before aeration, as it makes the process quicker and easier. Aerating a lawn with thatch still present in the soil can cause damage, as the holes created in the soil can fill with dirt and other debris.
It’s recommended that you dethatch your lawn in the fall before the first frost, if possible. Cool-season grasses benefit most from dethatching in March or April or September or October. Warm-season grasses do best when they’re dethatched in May or June. However, if your grass is very thick, you can still have it aerated in the spring or summer. Then, when you aerate your yard again in the fall, the thatch will have had a chance to break down, making it easier for both aeration and dethatching to be successful.
Irrigation
Lawn care encompasses a wider range of services than basic lawn maintenance, including pest control, soil testing, aeration and dethatching, seeding and overseeding, fertilization and fungicide. Combined, these treatments keep your landscape healthy and beautiful throughout the seasons.
Irrigation is an important component of overall lawn care, and a sprinkler system is the best way to provide adequate hydration for your grass, trees, flowers and shrubs. A good irrigation company will take the time to assess your landscape and create a watering schedule that promotes growth while reducing wasted water from surface evaporation, wind-blown spray and other factors.
A well-maintained sprinkler system can also save you money on your monthly water bill by delivering water precisely where and when it is needed. It’s the best way to eliminate overwatering, which can lead to weeds and other unwanted plants, and overwatering-induced diseases.
Fertilization is another crucial lawn care service that strengthens the health of turf, encourages faster growth and helps resist disease. A lawn care specialist can recommend the right fertilizer for your landscaping needs.
Fungicide is a preventative treatment that protects turf from damaging fungal outbreaks, which can ruin your landscape. Some fungicide treatments are even available in natural form, so that you can enjoy the benefits of pest control while avoiding the harmful side effects associated with traditional insecticides.
As with aeration and dethatching, a lawn must be irrigated regularly to maintain its health and beauty. Overtime, soil can become compacted and thatch builds up, preventing air and nutrients from reaching the roots of your plants. A professional can aerate and dethatch your landscape to alleviate this issue and restore proper absorption of moisture.
A well-maintained lawn and garden adds value to your property, increases curb appeal and makes a great first impression on visitors. A professional can transform your landscape into an inviting outdoor space that’s a joy to behold. Landscaping is much more complex than lawn care, and it involves transforming an outdoor space by installing new architectural elements like trees, plants, structures and man-made features. Landscapers can also add value to your home by creating outdoor living spaces with seating areas, decks, lighting and more.
Fertilization
Lawn Fertilization
The right lawn fertilizer feeds your grass to promote health and lushness while reducing the chance of disease, drought, and weeds. A well-fertilized lawn is greener and more resilient against the rigors of kids’ soccer games, dog running, bad weather, and other daily wear and tear.
However, fertilizing is not just a regular part of lawn care; it also requires time and effort to get the job done properly. Whether you spread your lawn fertilizer by hand or with a granular fertilizer spreader, it takes practice to do it evenly. It’s best to use a spreader for even application, but if you don’t have one, it’s still possible to get good results with a regular broom or a garden sprayer.
If you’re planning to fertilize your lawn, be sure to mow it the day before or at least several days after – and make sure your mower blades are sharp! Cutting grass directly after fertilizing damages the turf and makes it hard for the nutrients to reach the soil. Also, be sure to water the lawn the night before or just after fertilizing – a damp lawn helps the soil absorb the nutrients and prevents the grass from scorching under the sun.
There are a lot of different lawn fertilizers available, so you’ll need to choose the right one for your type of grass and soil conditions. A soil test can help you determine what your lawn needs and which types of fertilizers are most effective. For example, a lawn with cool-season grass would benefit from a fertilizer high in nitrogen while warm-season grass prefers a higher level of phosphorous and potassium.
You should never fertilize your yard without a weed control service as the weeds will take advantage of all the nutrients being replenished in the grass, leaving it weak and vulnerable. In addition, a full-service lawn care company will offer both fertilization and weed control services to ensure the best health of your yard. So, if you’re ready for a healthy, beautiful lawn that stands up to the demands of everyday life, contact us here at Lawn Love to learn how we can connect you with professional lawn care experts in your area.
Pest Control
Lawn care services that address pests that damage turf are essential. Besides keeping the lawn healthy, these specialists can also help keep your family, pets, and guests safe. They are trained to identify and treat problems such as grubs, moles, ticks, and mosquitoes. In addition, they can offer guidance on how to protect the lawn from these pests in the future.
Mosquitoes and ticks infiltrate our Florida lawns, spreading dangerous diseases like Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, Babesiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Fortunately, they can be prevented by regularly receiving professional tick yard treatments and putting up effective barriers around the property.
Many lawn care services include perimeter pest control as a part of their packages. This service involves spraying pest control material a few feet up and away from the foundation of the home to prevent pests from entering the house. While this is a good service to have, it may not fully meet all of your needs.
Perimeter pest control is a service that is offered by structural pest control license holders. Unlike lawn care licenses that allow for turf and ornamental pest control, structural pest control is highly regulated, and the licensing process is different. If a person performs this service without the proper licensing, they could be in violation of state laws.
The lawn is a great place for pests to hide, as they are able to move quickly and quietly through grassy areas. They can find crevices to sneak inside homes or even spread serious diseases. Outdoor pest control services can eliminate ants, clover mites, fleas, flies, spiders, and ticks to ensure that your family and guests are free from these harmful organisms.
While standard lawn maintenance services are important, most lawns need additional care to thrive. Organic lawn care is a sustainable and environmentally responsible way to improve the health of your landscape, protect the environment, and enhance the beauty of your home. It is an approach that reduces the need for chemical pesticides and focuses on building healthier soil that supports healthy turf. This in turn reduces the need for excessive pesticide use which is bad for the environment and your family.