Other Names: Pitanga, Surinam Cherry, Cayenne Cherry
Type: Shrub / Tree
Native to: South America
Fruit: The 1" lobed fruits are red-black when ripe.
Size: Grows as large as 25' tall
Hardiness: When the Brazilian cherry tree is fully mature, it can survive down to 22F.
Propagation: Seeds
Uses: Brazilian cherry can be eaten fresh or made into jams and jellies.
The intoxicating scent of freshly mowed grass tickled my nostrils as I proudly looked at my lush green lawn. A flush of happiness soothed my body and mind because I knew the sight I was staring at was the result of organic fertilizers and absolutely no lawn pesticides. I felt confident that I had overcome challenges and was now performing a new, better way of lawn care. A method of lawn maintenance that was saving money on my water bill, keeping neighbor children and pets safe, and protecting the environment while still having a beautiful healthy lawn that made my jealous neighbors wonder why they haven't made the switch to organic lawn care yet.
The debate continues whether lawn pesticides are harmful to young children, pets, and the environment. It isn't much of a debate these days with numerous new studies coming out providing evidence that many of the materials that were and still are being used in "traditional" lawn care will cause cancer and other health problems while harming our environment. My goal of this article isn't to scare homeowners into using safer products or to provide statistics and scientific research on if lawn pesticides are bad. My goal is to educate, and let folks know that there is a better way of maintaining a lawn through the use of organic materials and inform them why it is beneficial for them to make the switch. Hopefully with the help of this education, consumers will start demanding that companies such as Scott's begin to put more of their large R&D budgets toward safer and more natural products that are as effective as the chemicals we have been blasting our lawns with for years.
The first thing I would suggest is to adjust your mentality to what a perfect lawn looks like. Residential lawns are never going to look like the fairway at your local country club. The sooner you realize this, the better. A couple of dandelions showing their yellow heads is not the end of the world. It is actually natural and common even on the most expensive lawn program out there. I'm not saying your lawn can't look similar to that fairway, but weeds come and go. That's nature. Work with it and not against it.
The second thing I would suggest is adjust your cultural practices such as mowing and watering techniques. Without practicing these two things properly, your lawn will continue to fight nature instead of working with it.
Mowing your lawn to short lengths like your country club fairway is not beneficial or correct. Those fairways are usually bentgrass and the correct mowing height is under an inch. Most residential lawns in the Midwest and the northern part of the U.S. are blue/rye/fescue cool season grass mixes. These types of grasses should be mowed at 3-4 inches after being cut. If they are mowed down to lengths below this you will exponentially create an environment that is more prone to crabgrass, broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, and a shallow root system that can't fight off drought, insects, and disease very well.
Watering your lawn everyday is not smart and your root system will hate you for it. The roots of the grass want to dive deep into the ground to search for minerals and water. By watering everyday you are keeping those roots close to the surface and creating a weak root system more prone to stresses. The proper way to water if you need to, is to provide the grass with water when it needs it. Every lawn is different, but I usually suggest watering every 4-7 days for about 1-1.5 hours per spot. You want to water deeply and infrequently to train your roots to dive deep into the ground.
Now let us get into the fun stuff. How can switching to an organic lawn maintenance program save you money? This is what everyone wants to know these days with the economy struggling. Well, the main reason you can save money through a more natural program is because you are actually improving your soil structure instead of just juicing the lawn up with unsustainable top growth through synthetic fertilizers. How does this occur? A lawn is only as good as its base, the soil. You can grow grass on concrete, but it would cost a lot of money, cause you plenty of headaches, and it would be silly since growing grass in 6-10 inches of quality soil is much easier and less expensive. So let's address the issue of how to develop a high quality soil first and then I will explain how this can save you money.
Get your soil tested. This can be done by a local professional lawn service provider, yourself, or your local county extension office. Getting your soil tested is not only smart, but also the right thing to do. The results will provide you with what the soil needs, so you can save money putting only the necessary materials down. Once you have this information, you can then develop a fertilization plan around what the soil is deficient in. There are many organic fertilizers out there that provide many of the same nutrients as chemical fertilizers. The way they work is slightly different, but the result of feeding the grass plant the necessary nutrients is the same. Chemical fertilizers feed the grass plant mainly through the tips of the grass, while organic fertilizers feed the grass plant from the soil up. Organic fertilizers feed the soil life, which in turn feed the grass plant. So how does using organic fertilizers save you money? With organic fertilizers you are actually improving the soil structure with the organic matter while also feeding the grass. This combination of benefits is why organic fertilizers are superior to chemical fertilizers and how in the long run it ultimately will reduce your water bill by providing a much improved soil structure with deeper roots. It seems so simple because it is.
Improving the soil biology aspect of organic lawn care is a little more complicated, but how this reduces your need for lawn pesticides to control funguses and insects is pretty simple. Improving your soil biology instead of depleting it will create an environment that allows nature to fight off pests that harm your lawn. Feed the good guys down there, so they can fight off the bad guys and eliminate your need for insecticides and fungicides. Again, this means less money you have to spend to keep your lawn the envy of the neighborhood. That sounds good right?
So why isn't everyone doing organic lawn care instead of "traditional" lawn care? The main obstacle holding the movement back is the absence of a selective organic weed control. This is where the adjustment of your mindset comes into play. Don't let this scare you though. Your organic lawn doesn't have to be a plot of weeds with some grass surrounding it. There are ways around this, but sometimes it takes a little patience, adjusting your mowing height, a little seed, and even possibly some extra work. Uh oh, did I just lose some of you with that "extra work" comment? I hope not, but don't worry it isn't that much extra work. Following this statement that may seem a bit hypocritical, I will provide you with some tips that will keep your lawn weed free without using lawn chemicals. First though, let me state that some lawns may need an application or two of spot treatments of a selective broadleaf herbicide before the grass can start to naturally crowd out the weeds. This doesn't have to be done, but often times can satisfy the more impatient homeowner looking for a more weed free lawn quicker. Many religiously organic lawn gurus will curse me for stating that, and honestly I hate stating it, but on some occasions it may be needed to avoid drastic lawn renovations that completely kill the lawn and then you would have to start over. If you do use spot treatments of herbicides, make sure to only use them where they are needed and follow the instructions that the label provides because these pesticides can cause harm to humans and animals. Use the proper safety equipment and please make sure to keep your children and pets off the lawn for 24 hours after the application if possible. That is a last resort technique and should only be used after testing out the following tips to reduce and eliminate the weeds in a safer more natural manner.
So what are these safer methods of controlling weeds? The first and most important tip I can give anyone trying to control their weeds naturally is to mow high. A thick lawn will have less weeds and this type of lawn is developed by mowing properly. Remember the mowing tips stated earlier? Follow these and it will help drastically to reduce the number of weeds that thrive in your lawn. Another tip is fill in any bare/thin areas with new grass seed in September or October for cool season lawns. These two tips will help you develop a thick lawn that can "crowd out" the weeds. Even a thick lawn will have some weeds though, so what can you do then? Hand pull or use a device that makes manual weed pulling easy. Make sure you get the entire root of the weed and don't get discouraged when the weeds keep popping up. If you keep at them, they will lose their energy eventually and die off. The main thing with weeds is to stay determined and remove them before they have a chance to seed. If the weeds seed, the vicious cycle of perennial and annual weeds will continue. Sometimes this might mean collecting the clippings while mowing your lawn to avoid spreading the weed seeds over the lawn. This is the only time I would suggest bagging your clippings because those clippings provide extra organic matter and recycles the same nutrients you provide with the fertilizer being applied. This is just another way of saving money because if you collect those clippings when it isn't necessary you will have to put down more fertilizer.
Organic lawn care is the new, better way of maintaining your lawn. There are a plenty of reasons that places like Harvard University are now caring for their property organically. Saving money is one reason, but helping the environment and providing a safer place for children and pets are other reasons. Provinces all over Canada are banning the use of cosmetic lawn pesticides. Places like child care centers, schools, and places where animals habitat are beginning to use organic lawn care because of the previously stated reasons. So why not become one the thousands joining the organic lawn care family daily? Soon, you too can smell the scent of freshly cut grass like myself while having the peace of mind that you are doing something good for the planet. Oh yeah, and you can save some money so you can enjoy that gorgeous healthy lawn of yours.
I am the Owner of PureLawn Organic Lawn Care. PureLawn is a lawn care service provider that maintains Dayton and Cincinnati lawns in an environmentally responsible manner. While working for a traditional chemical lawn care company in high school and into my summers while attending The University of Dayton I saw a huge amount of unnecessary lawn pesticides being applied. I thought there has to be a better way, so after graduating from U.D. with a business degree, I began PureLawn. I was ahead of my time with this type of lawn service and now enjoy a very healthy growth annually with the happiness to know we were doing this before "being green" was cool.
I love the smell of freshly mowed grass. If you drive through a neighborhood during the spring, you might smell the perfect aroma of a mowed lawn or the strong distinct smell of lawn pesticides being applied. My mission and goal with PureLawn, is to make sure in the future that kids and homeowners will have the priviledge of smelling the beautiful smell of freshly cut kentucky bluegrass instead of the toxic scent of pesticides.
Our PureGreen Program offers a pesticide free approach to lawn care using vegetable byproduct based fertilizers. I am proud to say that our customers are our best way of advertising. I'm ecstatic to inform customers to allow their children and pets to roll around on the grass right after our technician leaves. We don't have to put a chemical flag down that the other companies do per the law because our materials are that healthy and safe.
Other Names: Pepino melon, pepino dulce, melon pear
Type: Subshrub
Native to: Andes mountains
Fruit: The fruit is 2-5" long and shaped like an egg. It is a cream color with purple streaks.
The pepino is related to fruits like the tomato, pepper, potato, and tamarillo.
Size: The pepino grows 4-6' tall.Hardiness: Zones 9-11
Propagation: Seeds, cuttings
Uses: Pepino is usually eaten fresh. It has a taste similar to melons, which is why they can be called pepino melon.
Maintaining the beauty and lushness of your lawn has its share of health benefits. For one, it can be a form of exercise and also a stress reliever especially for the hands. In gardening, your hands are at their busiest and most active. Once they get hold of the lawn care tools, the action and fun begins.
Another health benefit derived from engaging in lawn maintenance work is your getting your natural dose of Vitamin D from the sun. This is particularly effective if you work early in the day or towards the end. The warmth of the sun coupled with the fresh smell of raw earth foster a feeling of relaxation.
The Lawn Mower: An Important Lawn Care Tool
The lawn mower is a lawn care tool that is extremely useful. Just imagine what your lawn would look like without benefiting from lawn care tools such as this one. A great many people with large lawns simply find the lawn mower indispensable.
Whether a yard is spacious or not, it has to maintain its beauty and cleanliness with the use of lawn care tools. Lawn mowers are available in many models depending on their functions. The most popular among them are the push mowers, the riding mowers, and the electric mowers.
The size of the lawn is an important determining factor when buying lawn care tools. Do not make abrupt purchases without giving a serious thought to this matter. Large, sprawling lawns would require lawn mowers [http://www.lawncare-help.com/Lawn_Care_Product/] that are durable. Small ones will benefit from the use of portable lawn care tools.
Grass Shears: Never Out Of Style
Despite the emergence of modern lawn care tools, grass shears still remain to be in use by lawn owners. Grass shears are not only beneficial for your lawn. The nerves and muscles of your hands become energized and relaxed at the same time which is good for your health.
Experts say that the act of shearing is even a means of pouring out intense emotions that you might have, such as fury or disappointment, without being physically violent.
Each clipping action releases those negative feelings within you. As a result, you feel good afterwards because after you are through using this lawn care tool, you would be so weary to even think about being mad or disappointed.
You can also find more info on Garden Lawn Care [http://www.lawncare-help.com/Garden_Lawn_Care/] and Lawn Care Contractor [http://www.lawncare-help.com/Lawn_Care_Contractor/]. Lawncare-help.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Lawn Care.
Providing a lawn care service in your local area can offer you an opportunity to become financially successful through self-employment. Would you like to be your own employer? Do you want to run your own business and on your own terms?
Choose the right neighborhood and you'll find that lawn care services are always in demand. In fact, there are many advantages to becoming involved in this type of business. They range from independence to low start up costs to immediate positive cash flow.
Let's say you live in the city of Mississauga and you want to offer a basic grass cutting service or regular lawn treatments to control weeds and grubs. You could get the word out quickly just by going door to door and leaving a simple business flyer that announces your new Mississauga lawn care business. Describe what your lawn services company specializes in and offer a limited time discount for the first 10 customers.
10 Advantages of a Local Lawn Care Business
1. There is an easy entry to the trade. A student with a lawnmower can be a lawn care provider. So, too, is someone with a stenciled cube van or pickup truck and several employees.
2. You are your own boss.
3. The hours are flexible. Within reason, you can set your own hours.
4. You can work out of your own home, cutting down on costs associated with a more complex business start-up.
5. It is outdoor work.
6. If you offer top quality service you will always have plenty of work.
7. There is room to grow.
8. To start up your business requires little financial outlay or investment.
9. Usually, you do not have to have a license.
10. Any specific or specialist knowledge you may require for a job, you can learn.
5 Disadvantages of a Local Lawn Care Business
1. The workdays can be long and very weather dependent.
2. The winter months are slack. Little work is required up to and following the advent of the cold season when grass becomes dormant.
3. The work is heavy. It requires lifting, lugging and hauling machinery of various types.
4. Depending upon what type of lawn care services you offer, you may be handling toxic substances.
5. You may be working with potentially dangerous machinery.
You need to consider both advantages and disadvantages carefully before you decide to start-up lawn care business - or any other sort of business for that matter. Think about this list of advantages and disadvantages and see if you can add some of your own points to these lists. You really need to consider your own character and then try to decide if you want to run your own small business?
Questions to Ask Yourself if You Are Thinking About Starting a Local Lawn Care Business
o Can you work alone?
If you are fond of company and/or require a push to get going, do not consider any form of self-employment let alone starting up a lawn care business. The same applies if you spend more time procrastinating than actually working. You need to set a schedule. You may even have to lay out other schedules for employees. Furthermore, this type of business sometimes demands you do the job now before the grass grows any higher or the crab grass problem becomes worse.
o Are you a self-starter?
You have to be able to put together a business plan. You must consider all the angles. You need to be confident in your own qualities and character to start and move on the project.
o Can you initiate the project and maintain high levels of involvement from start to finish?
It is not simply good enough to start out at a high level of enthusiasm and commitment. You need to maintain a high level of energy and involvement throughout all aspects over the duration. If you do not see to the running of all aspects of your company/business, it will not be a success. Every business requires tweaking and ongoing maintenance. You have to be fully engaged in the process from the initial decision to the final move to sell the company. If you cannot commit yourself to a set period-of-time, do not begin to open a business.
o Are you good at sales?
Can you sell yourself and your work? You will need to do this. At the beginning, you will need to sell both yourself and your work. You are new in a field where there is already competition. You have to sell yourself to clients as being the best for the job. You have to present yourself and your business as professional, reliable, apt and more than acceptable. If you are a one-person-show, you will also have to sell your business on paper, on the net and in other forms of media. You may even end up doing cable TV shows or radio talk shows to improve or garner business. Can you handle needing to be a sales person?
o Are you a people-person?
If not you are wasting your time. The lawn care business is a service industry. By its very definition, this means you are serving other people. Therefore, your daily work and business involves public relations as much as it does lawn care. You must deal with people on a day-to-day basis to ensure your company is doing the right job. You have to talk to people to obtain more customers. You have to set up a means of communicating with possible customers.
You also have to deal with employees. You will need to train and instruct them. In the process, you also have enough self-awareness to know who to delegate to and when. This also requires the psychological ability to understand the employees and their needs. Being aware will also help you in hiring the right people for your business and firing the wrong types. Hiring refers to not only the people you employ to work in the company but those you need to ensure you have the right logo on your vehicles, to print the business cards, to advertise your business on their web site or in print and to handle your accounts.
Listen to Your Intuition
Throughout the analysis process provided above, be thoughtful and honest with your answers. Try to be objective in your assessment of your own nature and character. If you believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then consider it a step in the right direction. What is your gut feeling telling you about the possibility of becoming a lawn care contractor?
If the idea really feels right then sit down with a pen and paper, or computer and printer, and set out your goals. Start to formulate at least an elementary business plan. These steps are an integral part towards starting up what will hopefully become a very successful local lawn care business.
Silka is a freelance writer who is completing her Masters of Business Administration at a major Canadian university. She has an undergraduate degree in Horticulture and consults with local lawn care and landscaping businesses within the Region of Peel. Go here to find other articles about Mississauga and Brampton lawn care matters by Silka.
Other Names: Granada. Misspelled as pomegranite
Type: Shrub
Native to: Middle East/India
Fruit: The pomegranate is 2-5" wide with a leathery, red skin. Inside are white, spongy compartments, each containing the red pulp. Inside the pulp is one hard seed.
Size: The size ranges from 3-20' depending on variety chosen. The dwarf pomegranate shrubs are good patio plants.
Hardiness: Zones 7-10
Propagation: Seeds, cuttings, grafting
Uses: The seeds and pulp are eaten fresh. They can also be made into juices, desserts and other dishes. Syrup made from pomegranates is called grenadine. The pomegranate is also used for its nutritional and medicinal properties.
Before jumping into a new business it is wise to spend at least a few months reading and researching every aspect of the industry that you plan to enter.
This article sets out some of the ways that entrepreneurs looking to start a lawn care business can find useful information on the topic and get relevant experience before starting their own business.
Lawn Care Business Books
The lawn care industry has its share of gurus and experts, some of whom have published books on the subject. Most of the books focus more heavily on the marketing aspects of the business but also include practical guides on equipment and productivity. By searching the main online book retailers you will find a good variety of titles on how to start a lawn care business. There are also many e-books available online authored by lawn care operators who have experienced success and want to share their tips and secrets. The advantage of E-books is that they can be downloaded immediately.
Lawn Care Industry Publications
Subscribe to a lawn industry magazine such as Lawn & Landscape Magazine to stay up to date with the latest industry developments. There are also many good small business magazines to give you a more general perspective on business.
Join an Online Lawn Care Forum
There are a good number of lawn care forums on the Internet. Some of them are general with small sections on commercial lawn care and some of them focus entirely on how to set up and run a lawn care business. By joining this type of community you can read a huge volume of posted information and you can also post questions that may be answered by lawn care operators who are already experienced.
Complete a Relevant Course
You may consider going to a night school or community college and taking a course. Lawn maintenance is a reasonably popular subject and will allow you to learn more about the practical side of the business. The more you know about maintaining lawns the more comfortable you will be consulting with clients. You may also consider doing some business related courses such as accounting or small business management. A course specifically about starting a lawn care business would be ideal but this kind of course would be hard to find locally and you would probably have to look online.
Local Equipment Retailers
Visit local suppliers of lawn care machinery and find out about your machinery requirements. Find out what type of machinery you will need and what other lawn care business operators are using.
Competitors
You can learn a lot about the lawn care business in your local area from your competitors. See what you can find out from their advertising material, from talking to them on the phone or even inviting them over to quote on your lawn.
Mentors
Consider working for a lawn care firm for a period of time before starting your own business. This way you can learn on a daily basis from an experienced professional. You may even be lucky enough to find a mentor who can guide you in every aspect of setting up your own business.
To make sure that you get your lawn care business off to a good start you should become informed by reading and doing research and you should continue to do so as your lawn business grows. Having the right knowledge allows you to progress in the right direction and reduces the likelihood that you will make serious mistakes. Finding information on starting a lawn care business is easy!=
At his site http://www.StartaLawnMowingBusiness.com Steve Sutherland has reviewed three of the top info products that can give you the guidance that you need to start a lawn mowing business the right way.
Steve Sutherland has experience running a variety of small businesses. Passionate about helping others get started in business he writes on several business related topics including the lawn care industry.
Contrary to popular belief, the lawn does not need to be fertilized at the first sign of nice weather in the spring. If a solid lawn care regimen is in place, there will be enough slow release fertilizer from the previous fall to last through the spring. The carbohydrate reserves in the roots begin to decline in the late spring when the first application of fertilizer should be applied. Read more...
A lawn will use it's late spring feeding to build it's carbohydrate reserves back up so it can get through the ups and downs of summer. Drought, heat, frequent mowing and other stresses can bring a lawn to it's knees. By late summer it's ready for another application of fertilizer. Not a lot, just enough to get it through fall. The late summer application is considered a bridge feeding to get the lawn through the fall. Read more...
By late fall it's time to start thinking about the next season. A substantial, late season fertilizer application will help maintain some green color in the winter and create a quick green-up in the spring. The late fall application is important so that the lawn has help in the spring but not so much that it interferes with it's natural growth cycle. Read more...
Although not fertilizer, lime is often applied seasonally to adjust pH levels in the soil. A soil test will determine the need to lime. Although there is not a specific time that is best for applying lime, there are times that are better than others. Read more...
Quick Tip: Use rain to your advantage, even if you have a sprinkler system. Read more...
photo © Jamie Burke
In the north and transition zones, it is not uncommon for a lawn to be covered in frost on a cold fall morning. Whatever you do, stay off of it!
Frost occurs on cold, clear nights when atmospheric conditions cause objects, like grass, to become colder than the surrounding air. Depending on the conditions, frost can be light and scattered, or heavy enough to kill flowers and bring on dormancy in plants.
When a lawn is frosted, the grass blades are literally frozen. Any activity on the lawn while it is frosty, like walking on it or mowing it, will "break" the grass blade and damage the lawn. It will recover eventually, but it may not fully bounce back until the following spring.
On a frosty morning at a golf course, nobody moves until the superintendent determines the course frost free. The frost dissipates as the sun rises and the air warms up. Sprinklers are sometimes turned on for thirty seconds or so to speed up the process, especially in the shade.
For a homeowner, deliveries, mail-persons, or children are usually responsible for unwittingly damaging the lawn.
Your lawn plays a significant role in the overall outdoor appearance of your house. A lot of effort, dedication, and time is required in order to make a yard beautiful, healthy, and green. For families lawns are an integral part of their memories as their children grow up playing in the yard. Lawns are great for a small family and friend get together and they are eco-friendly as well. So lawns are an important part of the house and family and thus it becomes necessary that they should be taken care of to the maximum possible level. However due to busy schedules people get little time and it becomes a difficult chore to properly take care of the lawn and landscaping. It is often better to hire a lawn care professional who can take good care of the lawn. Optimum maintenance of lawn can be done only by a professional lawn service. Lawn mowing professionals understand the requirements and needs of families very well and they will develop the lawn accordingly. Unkept lawns give the house a disastrous look, and it's difficult to spend quality time in a disorderly looking lawn.
So if you want your house to look beautiful, attractive and appealing then it is best to hire a professional lawn service. Lawn care specialists may be expensive; hence thorough research should be done before hiring one. The most important point to be considered is that one should hire a lawn maintenance professional who is qualified for the job he is performing. Experience and a good track record are important qualities of a good lawn service professional. Besides these qualities a lawn care professional needs to be aware of the environmental issues. He should understand the importance of a chemical free and healthy residential environment.
It is important for to collect all the information about the annual cost, and the cost, which will incur after each visit for the lawn care services.
There is a wide range of services, which are offered by the companies so you should be clear about the kind of services you want from your chosen lawn care professional such as mowing, seeding, aeration, maintenance, pest control etc.
Most lawn service companies will offer guaranteed services and occasional discounts.
It is a must to get all the information prior to hiring a lawn care professional or company and by being a little prudent you can be a proud owner of an amazing, beautiful, and attractive lawn.
Josh W is the owner of TruCutt Lawn Care in Toledo Ohio, a professional servicelawn care service and full property management company. Please visit our website for more information and lawn tips. http://www.TruCutt.com
So, when you are wistfully looking out over next door's green and pleasant land, it's time to take some lawn care advice and find out just what you can do, easily, to get that verdant pasture you desire.
It's All In The Watering
Water is vital in getting a beautiful green lawn. These days, when temperatures are rising with the climatic effects that we are experiencing around the world, and rainfall is erratic, the best lawn care advice you can have is to get your watering just right.
If you do fix this, you will find that you neither waste water, nor do you undersell your lawn either.
If you water early in the day or late, these are the right times. If you try it in the heat of the day, you will waste water, as much of it will evaportate off before it's had the chance to do much good. And, what makes matters worse, many grass types will scorch if watered this way.
It's also important to water in the right conditions for your lawn as well. The best lawn care advice would suggest that you water when the lawn needs it and not before. Saturating the lawn can cause other propblems as well as encouraging weeds to grow with a lawn that is under water for too long.
If you think about how well a lawn copes with the natural pattern of rainfall, you will start to appreciate how an irregular pattern of watering will be the best to develop good strong root systems (which like a little thirst!), without drowning the lawn and suffering other diseases.
Mow Your Lawn Carefully
Important lawn care advice is continued with the simple rules for mowing your lawn properly and in the best manner to encourage strong and healthy growth.
By ensuring that you mow in such a way as to cut at the higher end of the recommended grass height (as advised by your grass grower or other lawn care advisor - often found at your local garden center), you will increase the proportion of green surface area, which will allow for a strong plant.
A bit of length is also good to hold back weeds that are trying to force their way through.
Taking proper care of your mower is also good lawn care advice. Make sure that your mower blades are sharp; a sharp blade will cut cleanly and prevent damage to your grass, which will also deter weed growth. It's best to have you blades sharpened professionally each year. The cost will be small compared with the time you will save.
Thatch Control
Thatch is the material that comes from dead grass and other materials laying on the ground and inhibiting growth rather than decomposing. Good lawn care advice means recommending that you do your best to fight thatch.
This is more a project to be handled yearly rather than week by week. Cutting grass at the recommended height for your type of grass will help reduce thatch, as will aeration of your lawn in the spring and fall.
By following this and other good lawn care advice, you'll be able to have a lush lawn that you can be proud of.
(c) 2007 Lawn Care Guidelines. All you need to know to make the right decisions to get a great looking lawn. There's all the information you could ask for, at Martin Haworth's website, http://www.LawnCareGuidelines.com
If a lawn has been managed using a complete lawn care program, it has not been fertilized since late spring. By September, the late spring feeding is beginning to wear off, the root system is becoming depleted, and the turf is beginning to enter an important natural growth cycle which we need to take advantage of.
It is during these cooler temperatures, that conditions are optimum for root growth, shoot density, and better winter color retention in terms of turfgrass quality.
Not to be mistaken with the late fall fertilizer application, this application needs to be done after the heat of the summer but before the grass begins to go dormant.
If applied too soon, the grass will use the nitrogen for leafy, top growth rather than building the root system. If applied too late, the grass will be entering dormancy and not take full advantage of the root building characteristics of the application. Try to time the application to coincide with rainfall to ensure the product gets adequately watered in.
Consider this application a “bridge” feeding. The grass should be given just enough fertilizer to restore its energy reserves and make it through the remainder of the season. It is recommended that a feeding of ? lb of nitrogen be applied when the night time temperatures begin to fall below 55?F.
For example, an acceptable fertilizer blend would be 25-0-12 with IBDU. A small amount of nitrogen is immediately available to the plant while the rest is in slow release form, allowing it to slowly break down and provide an extended feeding to the grass.
Late summer/early fall fertilizing should be applied in conjunction with a complete lawn care fertilizer program for best results.
Regardless of whether you are a professional specialists on lawn care who treats lawns like a mother treats a new born baby, or a weekend mower without a care of how their lawn looks insofar as its presentable enough, a number of requirements and basic equipment for lawn care must be purchased.
Investing in a great lawn takes time, energy, and yes, a bit of change from your pockets. But, buying the right equipment can ease your lawn care burdens by making the job quicker, easier and yes, even more satisfying.
What exactly is required in order to get the task at hand executed properly? Here are a few pieces of essential equipment which every homeowner should have.
Good Quality Lawnmower:
A good and functional lawnmower may be your most valuable asset as far as your lawn is concerned. A good lawnmower will save you from wasting your time as well as your energy. There are two main kinds of lawn mower which are available on the market. First of all, you have the standard bog mower which has no single motor and operates on push power. The second kind of mower is the motorized mower which may run on gas or electric power.
If you are unsure of the particular kind of mower that you require, you should examine your yard. If your yard is large and flat, you should get yourself a power mower. Yards which are very large may need a sit-on mower in order to reduce the amount of time which is spent moving up and down your yard pushing a mower. Yards which are smaller may only require a motorized push along mower. Lawns which are rather smaller may need a person-powered mower.
Of all the lawn mowers in existence, one of the most popular and least expensive model of lawn mowers, is the push mower, without the push. It is a power-assisted and self-propelled mower which is easy to handle and quick to operate as well.
Edger and Trimmers:
Mowing may look like all that is required in order to create a great looking lawn but in reality, this isn't true. Edging and trimming your lawn properly can do great wonders in making a yard which doesn't look so good, quite great.
Great trimming tends to add a good touch of completion to a lawn which tends to be a rather scruffy one.
Trimmers come in both manual and motorized models but a large number of people think of the motorized trimmers as rather difficult to handle. They also tend to be rather heavy and cumbersome as well. This makes your trimming job rather long and arduous as well. Choosing a trimmer of great quality may save you a lot of time as well as trouble.
For models which are small and rather easy to handle. You should consider the modern 'strimmer' type of edge trimmer but it may be hard to control because of its excess speed.
Sprinklers:
When purchasing lawn equipment, a lot of people tend to forget the most basic of all items needed: a means to water to your lawn.
Sprinklers tend to come in different sizes as well as types and prices. You have everything from movable models which you hook up to your hose and position all over your lawn, to pop-up timed models. There is always a sprinkler system for every need, interest or budget.
Guy Starbuck is a Super Geek and Health Phreak who writes for HabitatRepair.com, and LawnCareHome.com.
The 20092-Electric Start by Toro is an all purpose, 21 inch, gas powered mower ideal for all lawns but perfect for hills, slopes, and larger yards.
The Personal Pace® self propel system adjusts to the operator's walking speed so when faced with an incline, the system works harder making normally difficult mowing situations much easier. I've been behind mowers my whole career and this self propel system is the best, most intuitive, I have ever used.
Another great feature is an electric, key-start. The Key-Lectric® start is powered by a small rechargeable battery, backed up by a traditional pull-start - with a five year "Guaranteed-to-Start" warranty. The convenience of this feature is reflected in the price, but it's worth it if you're tired of yanking on a rope to start a mower.
The Briggs & Stratton engine comes with a five year full warranty and is plenty powerful, easily mowing large slopes and hillsides.
I thoroughly enjoy this mower. It's features are labor-saving, innovative, and a little luxurious. It's main use is around ponds with steep banks so the self propel eases the burden tremendously. The electric key-start is more icing on the cake of a mower that is near perfect already.
The future of a newly sodded lawn rests in how it's established. Proper watering is crucial at this time.
A new sod lawn should be deeply watered immediately upon completion and kept very moist for at least two weeks.
The sod must not dry out or it will wilt, burn and suffer decreased root growth and diminished turf health and vigor.
Pull up a corner once in a while to ensure the soil underneath the sod is moist and look for new root growth. In a couple of weeks the roots and leaf blades will begin growing and the pieces will knit together.
Ease up on the water once the roots grow about an inch into the soil and it looks just about ready to mow at the desired height.
If you have recent acquired a home or business premises with a lawn, and it is the first time you are in charge of one such lawn, you could find yourself at a loss as to how you will get the lawn cared for. Although it looks very easy when viewed superficially, the truth of the matter is that a lot of labor and skill goes into proper lawn care. Yet it is something you simply cannot ignore, because if you choose to neglect your lawn, your whole home (or business premises, as may be the case) will end up looking very unkempt; which would be a very bad reflection on you.
Personally, you may not have the time to do your own lawn care. If you are a business owner, chances are that the commitments that go into keeping a business running would never quite allow you do it yourself. The constraint here is one of time: you may want, and know how to take care of your lawn, but you simply can't find the time to do it. Then again, although it may be a case of a home lawn, and although you may have all the time to do it, you may simply not know how to go about it: it is quite a delicate business. There would also be the situation where you know how to care for a lawn, you have the time to do it, but you simply don't want to do it yourself. So, in all those situations, what are your options in terms of getting your lawn cared for?
Well, the first lawn care approach at your disposal is where you can hire a laborer to do it for you, under your direction. This would be a relatively cheap option: it is something you can get done at minimum wage. Of course, seeing that it is an unskilled person you would be hiring, it would be upon you to provide him with the instructions for the lawn care. This means that you would need to be conversant with lawn care (the 'skills bit') yourself, but probably only lack the physical motivation/ability to do it. It certainly wouldn't be an option for you if the reason for your seeking for someone to do lawn care on your behalf is your lack of skills in it. And since you have to work with the laborer showing them what to do to, chances are that it wouldn't save you much time either.
The second lawn-care approach at your disposal would be where you hire a skilled lawn care 'artisan' - with the artisan handling both the physical aspect of the job and the mental (skilled) part of it. Here, you stand to save your time, as you just give out the job and wait for results. It is also a viable option if what is keeping you from doing your own lawn care is your lack of skills in it. The downside is that you will need to spend a little more money on this, and more crucially, you can't be certain of the claimed 'artisan's' skills: everyone can claim to know how to take care of a lawn.
The third lawn care approach is where you subcontract the whole lawn-care business to the companies that have come up in that field. You just tell them what you want, and leave it up to them to work out how to give it to you. The advantage here is that you save yourself the considerable troubles of trying to recruit a (genuinely skilled) lawn care artisan, that you are provided with a full range of skills in lawn care and that you get to save yourself considerable amounts of time. The downside is that you may have to part with a somewhat tidy sum of money.
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