As many of us already know proper lawn care and maintenance is a vital part of your homes curb appeal and exterior beauty. Unfortunately, many people don't know how to properly maintain their lawn, so here are a few great tips that will help you this fall in not only maintaining your lawn, but ensuring a beautiful lawn next spring.
For those of you that do fertilize your lawn.... The first thing you want to do is your last weed & feed fertilizer treatment should be done by mid to late-September at the very latest. The reasoning for this is so there are no chemical reactions, nor an over fertilization when you do your winterizer fertilization treatment generally around late October. It is good to do a winterizer treatment to promote good root growth and health. Fertilizers are not for everyone for many different reasons, if you do not like them or don't want them used on your lawn no problem.
The rest of these tips are great for everyone to follow to help your lawn grow lush, thick, beautiful, and healthy with an excellent root system.
Dethatching- Dethatching is the process of removing the old dead grass clippings that have built up above the ground, which can choke out your lawn and prevent it from getting the proper water and nutrients from rain, air and fertilizers. Dethatching is done usually with a machine, however you can (if you have the time and energy) "power rake" to gain similar results, which is extremely vigorously raking your lawn which can be very tiresome, and time consuming.
Core Aeration- Core Aeration is the process of pulling plugs (commonly refered to as a core) out of the ground. By removing the core you are opening the ground so it can breathe, and take in nutrients from rain,air, and fertilizers. Also core aeration opens the ground so it is not compacted which promotes excellent root growth which is one of the biggest keys to a great, beautiful, healthy, lush, green lawn. While there are many different products on the market that claim to be aerators (generally refered to a spike aerators), including flip-flops with spikes these products do not work effectively.
Reseeding- Reseeding (also commonly refered to as over seeding) is the process of spreading new grass seed over your existing lawn. If you fertilize your lawn wait atleast one month before, and after doing a reseed as many fertilizers contain chemicals which will kill the new grass seed, wasting your time and money. Reseeding is an excellent and vital step to follow if your lawn is thin, or has bare spots for any reason. I recommend reseeding the entire lawn (front, or back or both if needed) instead of simply filling in the patches as it will give you a thick, rich, consitantly, even coloration throughout your entire lawn where spot seeding can give you patches of different colored grass which often can look odd and is highly noticable. Also, when doing a reseeding you will want to scuff or open up the ground a little, which can be done by raking the lawn. However, if you do the reseeding shortly after or the same day as the dethatching and aeration you have already opened the ground enough to do the reseed saving you some time and making your lawn even healthier, thicker, greener and more beautiful. Generally you should wait 2-4 weeks to allow your new grass to properly root itself in the ground before mowing your lawn, so make sure you mow your current lawn lower than you normally would, or be willing to allow your lawn to grow slightly higher than normal between cuts.
Fall Clean-up- Fall clean-ups are just as they sound, clean up the leafs that fall. Whether you pick them up when mowing with a bagger system or rake them up it is best to get them out of the yard as opposed to just mulching them into the lawn. However, mulching the dead leafs into the yard is still better than actually leaving them sitting on top of the lawn.
Horton's Lawn Care L.L.C. is an insured, residential and commercial lawn care and landscaping provider specializing in many services to assist you in the proper care, and maintenance of your lawn. You can have that beautiful, lush, green lawn you have always wanted with our lawn care services that include: aeration, detaching, lawn rolling, re-seeding, fertilization, lawn mowing, weed whipping, edging, hedge trimming, flower, shrub, and tree planting, spring clean ups,fall clean ups, landscaping, and snow removal. We currently provide our services in the Genesee County Michigan area primarily in Burton, Davison, Flint, Flushing, and Grand Blanc.
For a Free Estimate Call Chris at (810) 877-9655
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