Lawn Care Blog

Are healthy lawns a sign of consumer confidence?  Or is consumer confidence rendering an uptick in healthy lawns?  The lawn care industry normally experiences an increase when times are good.  That is, people begin to invest in their lawns either by hiring lawn care professionals or purchasing higher-end products for do-it-yourself care.  As pointed out by a recent article on FMC Turfwire.com, home sales are starting to rise, the net worth of the average American household is increasing, and the Gallup Economic Confidence Index shows that Americans are more confident in the economy this year than in the last five years.  All this seems to equate to healthier lawns.

People want to enhance their overall property.  One way to do that is to pay attention to landscaping and turf needs.  Once you get your lawn and garden healthy, it’s easy to keep it that way, with a little TLC.  Healthy turf filters toxins out of rainwater, creating a natural healthy lifecycle.  If the turf isn’t healthy, it tends to perpetuate a downward spiral.  Healthy lawns and gardens require regular maintenance, including weed control, fertilizing and insecticide treatments.  A professional lawn care company can provide all of these services within a budget that’s right for you.  Get a basic package if you’re just starting out and your confidence level still needs some encouragement.  It will cover your critical needs and improve the look of your lawn quickly.  If you’re extremely confident and you want your lawn to show it, invest in a higher-level deluxe package or one that includes your trees and shrubs.  These plans not only offer summertime treatments, but add fall over-seeding and aeration, weed control and winter granular fertilization.  This way, your lawn will be ready for next spring and summer, and you’ll exude confidence all year round.

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Summertime in Harford County, MD, brings sunshine, heat, and … bugs.  From mosquitoes to wasps, they’re all pesky, but the ones that can infest your trees, plants and lawns can be especially vexing.  Certain plants have recurring insect issues, and although it can happen year-round, it is more concentrated in the summer months.  Heat and humidity coupled with the delicious leaves of the fully budded plants create a wonderful atmosphere for insects to thrive.  Bagworms, beetles, grubs, aphids and scale insects are all challenges for lawn and landscape maintenance.

What’s the solution?  Since there’s really no way to stop the insects completely, we need to control them with insecticide.  Investigate your local lawn care stores aisles and find the insecticide that is most gentle on plants and toughest on the pests.  Or, enlist your local lawn care professional in a care and treatment plan.  The program should include a few seasonal treatments of insect and disease control applications, plus treatments to feed the plants and shrubs so they get their nutrients.  A strong, healthy tree or shrub is less likely to succumb to the clutches of these pesky bugs.

In addition, choose resistant plants that are indigenous to the Maryland area, such as dogwood, laurel and maple.  These trees have developed a strong resistance to the local insects and have a built-in survival instinct.  Most importantly, when you see one or two of these bugs, be sure to take steps to monitor and address it before they happily multiply among the leaves of your beautiful trees.

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You’re at the starting gate just outside your garage!  Your mower is humming!  The grass is waving in the breeze!  And you’re off for another week of exciting lawn mowing! 

Hopefully you’ve already mowed your lawn a few times this season and found yourself well-prepared.  The best way to have a lush lawn is to take good care of it year-round – whether that means getting yourself on a schedule to fertilize, mow and water carefully or getting a professional lawn care company who will never miss the time window for a treatment.  For mowing, a checklist of sorts from the professionals at Hillside Lawn:

• Keep your mower on the high setting so that you are cutting the blades of grass only one-third of the way down.  This will prevent your lawn from drying out or being burnt by the hot sun.  
• Sharpen your mower blade.  A dull blade will tear or damage the grass, leaving it susceptible to heat and disease.
• Clean your mower deck.  Having clumps of grass on the deck is simply not safe.  
• Mow the grass only when it is completely dry.  This will prevent clumping and jamming of the mower and it will also keep your grass healthier.  It will keep the grass clippings from landing in clumps throughout the lawn and preventing those areas from getting sun and moisture to keep growing.  
• If you have someone mow your lawn, make sure they follow the same guidelines and respect your wishes for a beautiful, green lawn this summer.

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Cold, wet weather can cause fungal diseases in your lawn.  This spring has been extraordinarily cold and damp in northern Maryland, so be sure to keep an eye out for fungi.  While we can’t predict the types of fungus that will prevail, nor can we control the weather, we simply have to watch and try to make sure the grass and soil have proper care and nutrients.  One of the common diseases that appears in this type of weather is Red Thread disease.  It’s easily identifiable by its red or pink color.  Unfortunately, by the time it appears, it’s already too late.  It has already affected the grass blade and become a patch.  To make matters worse, it can be spread by windy conditions to other parts of your lawn.  

Once you’ve identified Red Thread, you simply have to wait it out and let the infection run its course.  One of the causes of Red Thread is low nitrogen levels in the soil, so you should be sure the soil is healthy.  Any fungus on the lawn is an indication that something isn’t being done correctly.  You can get a better idea of what might be causing it by consulting a lawn care professional.  You can also follow a few simple steps when caring for your lawn, like not overwatering, using a sharp lawn mower blade and not cutting the grass too short.  Overly wet grass and very short grass can be an ideal environment for fungus or bacteria.  Talk to your lawn care professional about fungus prevention and balanced soil nutrients.  They can offer good insight and services so that you won’t see that red thread running through your green grass.

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Aaaahhh, inhale!  The distinctive scent of fresh mulch is in the air!  If you’re wondering whether or not you should mulch this year, the answer is probably yes.  It’s always good to refresh your mulch from year to year, both for aesthetic value and practicality.  Mulching helps to retain moisture in the soil, prevent those pesky weeds and protect the base of the plant.  When mulching, here are a few tips that lawn care professionals use:

• Buy mulch only from a reputable seller.  It will be freshest and probably most cost-effective.  Decide whether you’ll buy bagged mulch or bulk mulch.  
• There are many kinds of mulch – wood chips, bark chips, inorganic (rubber, stone, pea chips, etc.) They come in many different hues -- from brown and black to reds and yellows.  A natural color will be better for the soil itself, because it is dye-free.
• Measure the amount of mulch you’ll need before you order, so you don’t end up with too much or too little.  A thickness of about two to four inches is ample for protecting the plants and preventing weed growth.
• Edge the grass around the area where you’ll be mulching to help prevent the mulch from blending into the grass.  This not only looks better, it also helps avoid getting mulch in the mower.
• Weed the area where you’ll mulch so that you start with fresh soil.
• Consider having a professional lawn care company mulch for you.  They can take care of the ordering, delivery and that back-breaking, time-consuming job of spreading the mulch.

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If the last time you paid attention to pH levels was in seventh grade science class, here’s where we finally get the answer to that question, “Why will I need to know this in life?”  You may want to apply what you learned to help your lawn become healthier.

In lawn care language, pH is a measurement of the amount of nutrients in the soil and the ability of the turf grass to capture these nutrients.  A science refresher: pH measures the quantity of hydrogen ions on a scale of 1-14, with 7.0 being neutral.  Anything less than 7.0 is considered acidic.  Anything more than 7.0 is considered alkaline.  Ahh, yes, it’s all coming back now.  Remember the litmus test for pH balance using paper strips?

Now the quiz: Why is a balanced pH important for your lawn?  That’s easy.  The pH of the soil affects how fertilizer is absorbed and how effective insecticides will be.  Soil in Harford County and Baltimore County is highly acidic, so it requires some neutralization.  Soil with a bad pH level in either direction won’t allow grass to grow properly.  It will require more fertilizer in order to be absorbed and get to the grass itself.   Spring is a good time to have your soil tested for pH levels.  According to the Maryland Cooperative Extension, most garden and landscape plants grow well in soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0.  If the results of your soil test show it is highly acidic, you can treat your lawn with lime to get it closer to a balanced pH, which will make your lawn and plants grow healthier and heartier.  

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As promised, here’s the lowdown on why we think Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is smart for Harford County lawns.  Integrated Pest Management is the process of using the best mix of products to care for your lawn and thwart infestation of pests.  Using an IMS system means giving special attention to both technique and chemical products – or lack of them.  With IPM, your lawn treatment can be totally natural, using products with no chemicals or preservatives, or it can incorporate some organic products that will have the least harmful effect on the lawn and the environment.   

Simply put, IPM is environmentally responsible.  It’s beneficial for your lawn and for everyone exposed to it – from children and adults to pets.  The new, low-toxicity pesticides available in today’s marketplace work just as well as the traditional toxic chemicals, yet they are safer on all counts.  Using these formulas helps to maintain the natural balance of your healthy lawn and gets rid of insect pests.  They actually preserve the beneficial insects while wiping out the harmful ones. 

The best way to control pests is to prevent them in the first place.  So, ask your lawn care specialist for a plan that’s right for you.  It may include several treatments over time, like surface feeding insect control, sub-surface grub control and ornamental insect application.  It’s best to have your professional lawn care company implement each treatment for two reasons.  They will always get it done within the right timeframe to prevent pests from becoming just that -- pests.  In addition, they will have access to the best organic or 100 percent natural products, knowing how to make them work together in a cost-effective, environmentally sound way.

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While we all know that April showers bring May flowers, the flowers have to be planted before they’ll appear this spring.  Don’t miss your window of opportunity.  

First, know the difference between annuals and perennials.  Both will brighten your landscape and are delightful when the colorful blooms are at their peak.  Despite the fragile nature of most spring flowers, their short blossom window is still a beautiful sight, and the best gardeners create a rolling effect of flowers blooming at different times throughout the season.  

Annuals are just what their name implies – they need to be planted each year.  They start from seeds planted in the spring and flower during the late spring and summer.  There are many different types of annuals – ranging from those that can tolerate cold weather to those that can’t.

Perennials are flowers that come back year after year.  They are often bulb plants, and they develop strong root systems that allow them to become dormant, yet survive through the cold winter months.  Daylilies, Shasta daisies and hydrangea are good examples of perennials.  Biennials are the in-betweens – they start from a seed and have a two-year life span.  

Annuals, perennials and biennials all have flowers that can bloom at different times throughout the spring and summer.  If you want to plan a colorful garden that lasts with a variety of flowers, there are websites that will guide you according to color, timing of blooms and timing for planting.  From a lawn care perspective, getting flowers planted early -- before dormancy breaks – is most helpful to the overall picture.  Ideally, mulching is done in the early spring, and you don’t want the flowers to be torn out or buried by the mulch.  Your lawn care professional can advise you of the best schedule for both mulching and planting, and provide the right information for fertilizing and caring for your lawn and gardens. 

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There’s no stopping it and no denying it.  Most lawns already have some type of disease.  Whether that disease becomes a detriment to the lawn or is stopped in its tracks is simply a matter of management.   

Spring is the time to identify and manage turf grass disease.  Prevention means doing everything right, starting with a brand new lawn.  It must be fertilized, watered, mowed and mulched all at the exact right times.  It means continuing to be right every year going forward.  The odds are against you.  

Once the lawn has even a little spot of turf grass disease, fertilizing and chemicals won’t solve it.  If applied properly, they can manage the diseases.  With the right fertilization and continued re-seeding, unhealthy grass will be replenished by healthier, disease-free turf.  Ask a professional lawn care company to help you control and manage disease problems.  The experts there can identify the disease from the more than 100 types of turf grass disease.  Then, they can recommend the best course of treatment.  These professionals are effective disease managers.  It’s their business to be on top of it at the right times and use the right chemicals.  They are managing these diseases every single day.  Not only will they address the diseased turf, but they will also help you to generate new, healthy turf.  By letting a professional manage all aspects of your lawn care, you have a better chance of getting closer to doing everything right.  The result will be a thick, lush, healthy lawn for which you’ll get credit, not blame!

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This is the time of year when people start to think about how they’ll care for their lawns in the spring and summer months.  There’s lots of talk about irrigation systems for lawns and how easy you can make the watering process for yourself.  One of the most prevalent misconceptions is the need for an irrigation system for residential lawns in Harford County.  Most Maryland lawns are meant to be drought resistant.  The grasses are chosen for their hearty qualities.  

There is a right way and a wrong way to irrigate your lawn, and you have to be sure you do it right or risk disease and shallow roots.  Watering a lawn deeply and frequently and at the right time of day is the best course of action, but this advice simply begs the questions of, “How deep?”  “How frequent?” “What time?”  Of course, the answers depend on so many factors unique to your lawn, that promoting lawn watering is a lost cause.  Too much water can lead to disease.  All lawns have some disease, but it is more easily spread if the lawn is overwatered.  

Let your lawn care professional give you a crash course on watering for your personal circumstances.  Look for grass that is drought-resistant.  Get the advice of a lawn care specialist before spending hundreds of dollars on an irrigation system.  If you do decide to install a system, be sure you do it right by hiring a professional.

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