Necessity of Irrigation

Posted on by Chip Harkes Posted in Lawn Care — No Comments ↓

This post is the first part in a four part series about watering your lawn and landscape.

Every living thing needs water. This includes the grass and plants all around us. Some plants need more water than others, but all plants need hydration.

We have had some hot and dry stretches this summer. As a result, some of the grass and some landscape plants are starting to show it. They are looking lighter green to even brown, and looking dry and starting to wilt. Now most of these plants will recover when mother nature provides rain, but it is best not to find out which ones will and which ones won’t. We have already seen some plants that have fallen victim to the heat and lack of water. This can be avoided.

The best thing to do is to keep your lawn and landscape properly watered. This way your plants will stay healthy. And when it comes to the fall and even next season, the plants in your lawn and landscape can provide the show they are supposed to, and not be catching up from the heat of the summer that has gone by.

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Reasons Why Crabgrass Control Does Not Last as Long as Desired

Posted on by Chip Harkes Posted in Lawn Care — No Comments ↓

As we get into the middle of summer, we are hoping that our lawns still look perfect. And with a few tasks, that is easily achievable. However, if you start to run short on watering your lawn, and it starts to dry out, evenly slightly, then there may be another problem starting to brew, crabgrass.

If your next thought is ‘I put down pre-emergent crabgrass control, why am I seeing crabgrass?’ It comes back to your lawn not getting enough water. It may sound weird, but we will go over how the two are related.

The pre-emergent crabgrass control works by creating a barrier on top of the soil. When the crabgrass seed tries to grow, it reaches the barrier and is killed. Thus no crabgrass is your lawn.

Now when a lawn has a chance to dry out, the soil dries out, and the pre-emergent crabgrass barrier breaks down. The drier the soil and lawn, the faster the barrier breaks down. So you may be thinking, ‘I will just water my lawn to no end’, that is bad as well, don’t do that. Maybe not so directly for the pre-emergent crabgrass barrier, more for the lawn itself. You will drown the lawn in water and the grass will become harmed.

What you should be doing is providing the water that your lawn needs on a regular basis. If it is in the form of rain, then that is good. But if there is no rain, then sprinklers will need to take over for mother nature. Either way, your lawn drying out is not good for trying to keep crabgrass away.

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Happy Independence Day 2018!

Posted on by Chip Harkes Posted in General — No Comments ↓

We want to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day (aka the Fourth of July)! As we celebrate our independence, cannot thank all of the men and women that have served our great country enough for all of the sacrifices that they have made to keep the United States of America free.

I know that this post has nothing to do with lawns or landscape, but everyone needs a time to sit back and appreciate what we have; including our freedom, and the blessing to live in this great country.

Happy Independence Day!

Achieving The Perfect Lawn

Posted on by Chip Harkes Posted in Lawn Care — No Comments ↓

A healthy lawn is very beneficial in many ways. It is good for reducing pollution, reducing temperatures, aesthetically pleasing, a surface for relaxing or playing, the list could go on and on. What do you have to do to achieve that perfect lawn?

I wish it was one simple thing that you have to do. However, it is not that simple. It can actually be a complex process with differing tasks depending on the situation. This is where you would insert a shameless plug for hiring a lawn and landscape company to do the work for you. And that is definitely a plausible option if your finances allow. At times, managing a single home lawn can be a lot of work, and at other times, it can be simple.

However, there is no magic solution or single task that will make a yard the envy of the neighborhood. The best thing is to provide what your lawn needs. And that list happens to be long:

  • Proper mowing
    • Height
    • Frequency
  • Water when needed
  • Proper nutrition
  • Cultural care
    • Compaction reduction
    • Thatch removal
  • Pest control
    • Weeds
    • Insects
    • Moles
    • Voles
    • Turf diseases/fungus
    • etc.

This list is a broad idea list of what needs to be done and monitored for to help to achieve that grass that is desired. A lawn and landscape professional will be able to help you with any problem that may arise and should be able to offer the service. And the lawn and landscape professional will be able to answer any questions that you may have about any of these tasks for you lawn. Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or quotes that you would like.

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Correct Plant Spacing

Posted on by Chip Harkes Posted in Landscape Maintenance — No Comments ↓

Planting a new landscape can be a lot of fun. I always enjoy seeing the ideas that we have become reality. However, something that I see homeowners occasionally do is not use the correct plant spacing.

Why is correct plant spacing a big deal, you may ask. It has to do with the use of the space and the proper installation and care of the plants. If proper spacing can cause problems in the future when the plant is getting too big for the location. The problem can be for the plant and its health, or it can be the space becomes unusable because the plant is overcrowding the area, like blocking a pathway.

The biggest reason I hear after the plants have grown is that ‘they were not that big when I planted them’. Which is true. However, plants are living things and they are going to grow. Even if they were not that big to start, they will get to about the size that is listed on the plant tag when you bought it.

What can be done if they are too close together? Transplanting them to the proper spacing is a good start, however, transplanting plants can result in plant loss. It is not a guarantee. If the plants are becoming too big for the location, maybe it is time to start to think about redoing the landscape all together. Then, the best thing to do is to plant them at the correct spacing right from the start.

 

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