Need to get your lawn ready for spring? Follow these steps..

FOR YOUR LAWN:

Rake

Rake away all the thatch, leaves, and whatever else may have accumulated on your lawn during the fall/winter months. Thatch, for those who are unsure, is dried up grass and weeds that gets mixed in with the living grass. If you do not remove the thatch it acts as a shield against water, oxygen, and other nutrients. Get it out of there.

Fertilize

Early spring is a great time to start spreading organic fertilizers or weed and feed applications. Corn gluten and Scott’s Weed and Feed are two of our favorites. This ensures that your lawn has the proper nutrients to start a healthy growing season. If you are unsure which fertilizer to apply, you can contact us or perform your own soil pH test. Soil pH tests will provide tons of valuable information that gives you great insight into what your lawn is craving.

Consider Aerating

Aeration will ensure the penetration of oxygen into your soil. Oxygen rich soil, as I am sure you know, returns the absolute best lawn growth.

FOR YOUR TREES AND SHRUBS:

Prune

Walk around your yard and trim off all the dead / excess branches that you find. Removing dead / dying branches before they have a chance to effect the rest of the tree/bush is essential to its health, not just the beauty. Dying branches can indicate a disease problem. Removing the branch is the sure way to prevent it from spreading.

Mulch

Applying a layer around 3 inches in depth of mulch around the bases of your bushes and trees provides a few different benefits. Two of the most notable reasons are that it guards the roots from the weather elements, and it provides nutrients for the plant. Remember to keep the mulch at-least an inch away from the trunk of tree/bush to prevent rot.

FOR THE WEEDS:

As soon as you see them, get rid of them

Early spring is the best time to remove the weeds before they have a chance to flower and spreed seeds. Once the seeds spread, even with spraying, they are hard to destroy. Also keep in mind that when the soil is wet/damp, the weeds are easier to pull.

These are just a few common ways you can begin to get your lawn ready for spring, of course there are more, but we think you get the idea!

For a list of the services we can help you with, visit blaircountylawnservice.com/services/

Don’t start paying attention to your gardens and lawns quite just yet..

The weather doesn’t seem to resemble winter too much, and at times the temperatures remind us of an early Spring. But don’t get the Spring mindset just yet.

Some are starting to perform yard work that should not be started yet!

Don’t let the weather fool you, starting now could cause more harm then good once the lawn is actually ready to wake up. Allowing your lawn and garden to wake up on its own – gradually, is the best thing for it. Starting to soon can end up killing new shoots, cause flowers to bloom to soon (leaving them dead when you want them most!) and opening the door up to fungus and diseases.

When should you consider starting your lawn work?

Normally April-May are the best months for our area. It differs though from year to year – February is definitely way to early to start lawn maintenance.

What should I start with when it is time?

Raking. Clear out the left over leaves from Fall, give the lawn a good raking. This will provide a small amount of de-thatching and help new blades get oxygen & sunlight. You may want to consider a sprint aeration service or professional de-thatching service as well.

Get your soil pH tested.

The second step I would recommend is to get a soil pH test from a local garden center / home improvement store. They normally cost around $8.00 – $10.00 and give you valuable information regarding the condition of your soil. Poor soil returns poor lawn grass, so don’t under estimate this step. We also provide soil testing services that get returned with documents that explain all recommended fertilizer applications – which really helps put you a step ahead for spring maintenance.

View a complete list of our available services at www.blaircountylawnservice.com/services/

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Tips to survive a drought.

Drought Riddled Lawn

The weather is scorching and rain is not falling in central Pennsylvania. With high temperatures and little water your lawn and garden is facing a really stressful situation. If you are not careful, it could end up dead.

The following tips will help you prepare your lawn for drought conditions

Watering your lawn

Wait for your lawn to turn a blueish-gray color before watering. Water deeply and infrequently instead of daily with a little bit of water. The intention for this is to build a strong deep root system. Try to water between 5:00 AM and 8:00 AM, try to pass up watering in windy conditions. You would like the water to soak in, not evaporate.

Mowing your lawn during a drought

Be cautious while mowing your lawn in harsh conditions. You should keep the mower deck 3″ and above all season long, but do not cut more than 1/3 of the grass during the dry period. Make sure your blades are sharp. Dull blades will only add to the strain level on your grass.

Fertilizing during a drought

Do not apply fertilizers through out a drought period. The salt in synthetic fertilizers will absorb what little moisture the grass and soil does have. Fertilizing during a drought will cause more stress then positive effects.

Compost during a drought

Apply a light layer of compost, not to much. Don’t smother your lawn. A rich compost will add minerals and nutrients, along with extra moisture for the soil and grasses.

Aerating and Dethatching during a drought

If your soil is compacted or you have a thatch build-up, aerating and dethatching will help build stronger root systems and allow more oxygen into your soil.

Watch where you step

You would be surprised how a much a little bit of foot traffic will stress out your lawn during a drought period.

Herbicides and Fungicides during a drought?

Do not apply either one of these products during a drought. They will cause way more harm then they will good.

Still having problems with your lawn this summer? Ask us a question at www.blaircountylawnservice.com/questions/

Go Green with Property Maintenance

Why not explore different options for lawn maintenance? What can you do with your lawn to help give back to the earth?

Think reduce, reuse, recycle, or renew natural resources

When mowing lawn grass, keep all equipment in good condition. Keep the motors running smooth, the blades sharp, and the deck higher. Mow around 3 -4 inches in height. Why? Mowing higher helps produce stronger root systems in your lawn. Strong roots return healthier fuller grass. It actually even reduces the interval between cutting time. And the best part – higher grass shades out weeds. Less weeds and more grass is what we are all looking for. right?

Return grass clippings back to the lawn as you cut. Mulching or composting them back to the soil is a 100% guaranteed method to promote a healthy lawn.

Chemically treated grass clippings are best kept on the lawn to break down herbicides over a six-week period. Rethink chemicals. Reduce using chemicals to save time, money, and reduce toxic pollution. Stop killing beneficial life: microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms. They all recycle organic materials back to the soil. These little creatures are nature’s balance in a fascinating world under our feet.

Compost Piles

Reuse leaves, collected clippings, egg shells, mushrooms, coffee grounds, and so forth by creating a place on your property to recycle them. The best place for a compost pile is in the shade. Shade helps to keep the compost moist. Renew plant waste by making black composted soil in your yard. Be sure to turn your compost pile every few weeks. A lot of purchasable compost containers have a turning feature that flips the compost easily.

Compost can be used as mulch around tree trunks, be careful to avoid touching the bark of the tree itself with the mulch/compost. Mulching right up to the bark of the tree can develop disease and insect problems.

Use the compost in your flower beds and vegetable gardens – the rich nutrients from the compost provide tons of benefits.

Rethink your lawn layout – save yourself money

Do you have a large property where it is hard to keep up with grass growth? To much money spent on lawn care services – or gas mowing it yourself? Think about adding ground covers, trees, or shrubs to your property.

Ground Covers Instead of Turf Grass

Finding low maintenance ground covers is a way to add beauty to your lawn or garden while in return helping to save on lawn maintenance. Including fertilizer, water, and gas/lawn services. Ground covers are fairly inexpensive. Check your local garden center on which ground covers will work best for your area. Be sure to determine certain factors including shade & soil type.

Pesticides causing problems around the .. world?

I have been reading tons of information from the net lately relating to problems occurring from pesticides. There have been deaths, thousands of illnesses, and plant/tree/vegetation death. Canada has recently banned the use of certain pesticides as well.

Each year in the U.S, more than 110,000 pesticide poisoning are reported by poison control centers.

Combine those calls with the roughly 23,000 emergency room visits each year for the same reason – and you start to see a problem.

Pesticide applications have been linked to massive honey bee deaths
Researches in the United State are looking at what impact pesticides currently have on bee populations, trying to Resurrection the country’s apiary industry.

READ MORE AT ABC.NET

I have also read lately that there is concern pesticide applications may be causing tree death, and plant issues in the United States.

While pesticide applications are a highly demanded product – and the profit, well as consumers, you probably don’t want to know – we don’t apply them. We don’t want to apply them. If you do desire a pesticide application – we urge you, please find a professional. Do some research, make sure they have the proper certifications – and check which kind of pesticides they are spraying. Pesticides are dangerous, and extremely environmentally unfriendly.