Sunday, June 30, 2019

When to Fertilize Lawn: Best Times for Lawn Fertilization

Know when to Fertilize Lawn

A lush green lawn can dramatically enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home. However, to keep your lawn healthy and green, you need to provide it regular feedings and high-quality fertilizer. When a quality lawn fertilizer is applied at appropriate times, it provides essential nutrients to turf and helps it grow thick and healthy as well as resist pests, weeds, and environmental stresses.  

When to Fertilize Lawn 

Constant overfeeding is never healthy for a lawn. It doesn’t help your turf grass in any way and can affect the environment adversely. For most lawns, it’s enough to apply lawn fertilizer around once or twice per year so as to keep the grass healthy and green.  

The right time for applying lawn fertilizer depends largely on your type of grass, and partly on the climate. Lawn fertilization should be performed during the season your grass grows the most.  

What Type of Grass do You Have? 

The type of your grass would determine when to fertilize your lawn.  

Grass comes in various types, but there are only two main varieties – warm-season grass and cool-season grass. Generally, warm-season grass grows in southern states and cool-season grass grows in northern states.  

1. Cool-Season Grasses 

Cool-season grass remains green, in general, throughout the year when it grows in transitional and cool areas. The climates that are most suitable for such grasses are the ones with warm (not hot) summers and cold winters. Regions having temperatures within 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit are best for the growth of these grasses. They grow all-round the year, except late-and mid-winter months.  

Some of the cool-season grasses are –  

  • Perennial/annual ryegrass 
  • Fine/tall fescue 
  • Kentucky bluegrass 
  • Bentgrass 

When to Fertilize Lawn with Cool-Season Grass 

It’s recommended by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service to feed cool-season grass twice during the fall – in November and September – and then during the spring – in April or May – following the first flush of growth. 

2.Warm-Season Grasses 

Regions having temperatures within 80-95 degrees Fahrenheit suit best for the growth of warm-season grasses. These grasses go dormant or become brown during winter, based on your climate. The dormancy of winter lasts for around 3-5 months.  

Some of the warm-season grasses are – 

  • Centipede 
  • St. Augustine 
  • Zoysia 
  • Buffalo 
  • Bahia 
  • Bermuda 

When to Fertilize Lawn with Warm-Season Grass 

Warm-season grasses should be fed during active periods of growth. However, avoid feeding them in hot midsummer months. The fertilizer should be applied in three phases – first in early spring when the grass begins to green, then in late spring, finally in late summer.  

Now that you know the best time to fertilize your lawn, here’s an idea of how to proceed with lawn fertilization. 

How to Fertilize Your Lawn 

Fertilizing a lawn is a simple process. It usually takes less than 20 minutes to feed a typical subdivision lawn. The steps for fertilizing a lawn are as follows: 

1. Water the Lawn 

Give your lawn a good watering a few days prior to feeding it. Watering prepares your soil to accept fertilizer. 

2. Choose the Best Spreader for Applying Fertilizer 

There are two main categories of spreaders – drop and broadcast. Each fertilizer comes with a distinctive spreader setting to allow correct coverage, and your spreader settings should be adjusted accordingly. Look for the correct spreader setting in your fertilizer bag and ensure that you are choosing the right setting for your spreader.  

3. Apply Fertilizer Around Perimeter 

Applying fertilizer around the perimeter of your lawn first will let you put fertilizer in the remaining area of your lawn without being concerned about missing out any edges.  

5. Fill Fertilizer in the Middle 

Fill fertilizer in the middle of your lawn by following a mowing pattern – walk back and forth along straight lines and slightly overlap with each pass.  

6. Store any Remaining Product 

After applying fertilizer to your lawn, return any remaining fertilizer to its bag and store for future applications. Make sure you keep the product in a dry, cool place away from children and pets.  

 

Leave Your Lawn Fertilization to the Experts 

If your hectic schedule doesn’t allow you to invest any time to fertilize your lawn, let us handle the work! All American Turf Beauty is a reputed Iowa based lawn care company. Our lawn care professionals understand lawns quite well and know how often to fertilize lawn.  

Rely on our expertise for efficient lawn fertilization that results in a lush green, healthy lawn all-round the year. Gives us a call today! 

The post When to Fertilize Lawn: Best Times for Lawn Fertilization appeared first on All American Turf Beauty, Inc..

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

7 Ways to Benefit your Lawns with Earth-friendly Lawn Care

Earth-friendly lawn care for your children

In every aspect of our lives, sustainable living has made a marked impression, so why should our lawns be left behind? An earth-friendly lawn care program not only beautifies the green space, but it also caters to the environment. Your pets and kids will be safe around lawns which are devoid of harmful chemicals. The best way to do it is by hiring lawn care professionals who will go au naturel. Here are the 7 ways your lawns can benefit from their services.

Long-term investment for your lawns

Earth-friendly landscaping and lawn care practices are investments of a lifetime. They are not only energy-efficient, but they save money. An earth-focused lawn care company will not only look at the problems, it will literally go deep into the ‘root’ of the problem. For them, lawn maintenance would mean literally digging deep and finding information about soil, water and plant maintenance for a year-long lush landscape.

Application of Smart Lawn Care Maintenance

A beautiful and healthy lawn begins with smart changes in the way you treat your yard. During lawn maintenance, they will keep the grass short and trim the shrubs. Short grass allows more sunlight to reach the ground. As the lawn becomes dry, there will be fewer ticks and fleas.

Instead of targeting the entire yard, they will look for specific areas which are infested with fleas. Notice the movement of the dogs; the areas they frequent will have maximum fleas. In case your neighbor has overgrown plants, it is time to cut the shrubs in your side. A clearing will have fewer chances of pest infestation.

Assuring a healthy future for your children

The best thing about eco-friendly lawn care products is that they do not pose a health threat to your children who are most vulnerable to hazardous chemicals. Eliminate the chemical usage and go for more natural and organic resources for kid-safe lawn services.

Exposure to harmful chemicals lead to impaired visibility, loss of memory, slow responses to stimuli and motor skills in children and adults. Why take a chance on the welfare of your loved ones with something hazardous and can cause permanent damage?

Keeping the lawns safe for your furry friends

Have you ever asked yourself how safe are your lawns for your furry friends? Most of our pets love the outdoors, but it has been proved that most toxins and chemicals enter their system through lawns. Every year, thousands of pets are accidentally poisoned from lawn care chemicals. Create a safe lawn for your furry friends without limiting their activities.

Ensuring a healthy world for our future generations

A good lawn care company will endorse earth-friendly lawn care practices. Their methods and products are completely safe for the environment. With organic lawn treatments, none of the beneficial earthworms and microbes which enrich your soil are killed. They are known to promote growth of plants and grass naturally.

Knowledge about the local climate and the topography

Lawn care professionals who choose earth-friendly lawn care practices for lawn maintenance are knowledgeable about the local climate and topography. They will tell you about choosing the right grass which grows best in the local environment. With organic lawn care, soil will not only retain moisture, they are bound to receive better aeration. You can easily find the difference in the texture of the soil, once they have treated the soil with bio-friendly products.

Suggestion of eco-friendly lawn care practices

Responsible lawn care service providers suggest eco-friendly methods like rainwater harvesting which reduce the consumption of water in lawn treatment drastically. They will take help of a push or a reel mower; their blades are sharp and can be easily sharpened for a clean cut without piling on energy bills. They will adjust the setting of the mower to 3 to 3 ½ inches high and cut the grass accordingly. As a result, the grass blades will have more surface area resulting in more sunshine and photosynthesis.

What can you do as a homeowner to better your landscaping and lawn care?

  • Be wise in your use of water in the lawns resorting mostly to rainwater. Use water conservation tools to store rainwater and water your lawns. Maintain the aesthetics of your lawn by choosing plants which require little or no irrigation or fertilization. In this way, you will conserve your water consumption for lawns.
  • When you mow the plant, use a mulching mower and if possible, put back the mulched leaves along with clippings back to the lawn. You need to feed when the grass is growing actively. Take help of organic fertilizers and soil amendment practices for weed control and see the growth of healthy grass.
  • When the lawn is wet, do not think about mowing. An uneven cut can hamper the growth of grass and lead to the growth of excessive weeds and dandelions. Be consistent in removing dandelions. Remove their flowers and leaves which will eventually starve the taproot.

A few weeds may not be harmful. But be careful about the seeds of the weeds. Half the battle will be won, if you can eliminate the number of weed seeds.

At the end, all will be taken care of if you have the right lawn care services who know exactly what to do for your lawns. They will have a customized plan which will fit your requirements. Go green and choose your lawn care professional who creates an earth-friendly lawn care plan for your gardens and lawns.

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