Boise Lawn care Service, Keep It Green Lawn Care & Maintenance LLC
Lawn Care Information
Below are a few tips to help you get on your way with your lawn care program. Try them out and you will see that they work great. If you have any questions about the information provided, please feel free to contact us. We are always glad to help out in any way we can. We also provide each of these sevices.
LAWN AERATION: Have you really looked at your lawn lately and noticed it just doesn’t look very healthy? You are probably pondering about what could be going on and what could be causing this issue. If, after you have checked for insects, worms, disease, improper watering and know that your lawn is properly fertilized, you might consider aerating your lawn. Aerating my lawn? What is aerating and why should I do it?
Aerating is the process of inserting holes in your lawn for better water absorption, nutrient absorption and helping in the process of eliminating thatch. The problem starts when the top four inches of soil becomes extremely hard and compact. Like when your trash can is full and you smash it down to make more room.
Eventually you run out of room and there is no place else for the trash to go. Well this is working on the same concept of compaction. The water and nutrients can not penetrate the soil. The thatch from lawn mowing, instead of being decomposed and returned to the earth will just sit there inviting molds, mildews, disease and unwanted insects.
Aerating also enhances oxygen levels to your soil thus stimulating root growth and speeding up the decomposition of the thatch decomposing organisms. In removing the plugs of soil from your lawn this process severs roots, rhizomes and stolons. The affects of this stimulate your grass to produce new shoots and roots that will fill in the holes and increase the density of your lawn. It also increases your lawns drought tolerance and you should be able to see an overall improvement in your lawns health.
Keep It Green Services
Aerating is the process of inserting holes in your lawn for better water absorption, nutrient absorption and helping in the process of eliminating thatch. The problem starts when the top four inches of soil becomes extremely hard and compact. Like when your trash can is full and you smash it down to make more room.
Eventually you run out of room and there is no place else for the trash to go. Well this is working on the same concept of compaction. The water and nutrients can not penetrate the soil. The thatch from lawn mowing, instead of being decomposed and returned to the earth will just sit there inviting molds, mildews, disease and unwanted insects.
Aerating also enhances oxygen levels to your soil thus stimulating root growth and speeding up the decomposition of the thatch decomposing organisms. In removing the plugs of soil from your lawn this process severs roots, rhizomes and stolons. The affects of this stimulate your grass to produce new shoots and roots that will fill in the holes and increase the density of your lawn. It also increases your lawns drought tolerance and you should be able to see an overall improvement in your lawns health.
Keep It Green Services
All About Dethatching
Dethatching removes excess thatch. It is best to dethatch the varieties of grass grown in our area in early fall. (When lawns are dethatched in spring, there is a much greater risk of damaging the newly awakening grass crowns.) If a severe thatch problem is discovered in spring, you are faced with deciding if more damage will be done by dethatching in spring or by leaving the thatch on the lawn for the summer. When it is time to dethatch, mowing the lawn fairly low just before starting will make the job easier. If you are up to it, in small areas remove thatch by raking back and forth. Hand raking is a backbreaking way of removing thatch from any but the smallest areas. There are several better ways to accomplish this task. If the thatch isn't so severe that it is smothering the crowns of the grass plants (over an inch deep), consider using a core aerator to solve the problem. The cores of soil will pull up the microorganisms needed to digest excess thatch naturally, turning it into nutrients for the lawn. For a more serious thatch problem, there are mechanical dethatchers. These machines are usually rented for the day or many lawn care companies offer this service. The best type of machine for dethatching is a vertical mower. It has a row of blades that cut grooves into the thatch and pull it up. The other alternative is a power rake. This is like a lawn mower with spring tines attached to the blades. Power rakes work, but they don't pull up as much thatch and they pull up more grass than a vertical mower, sometimes damaging the lawn. If you are using a mechanical dethatcher, it is better to set it too high than it is to set it too low. Since you almost always have to go back over spots several times, the blades can be lowered when you become accustomed to working with the machine. Once the thatch is pulled up to the surface, it should be raked up and either composted or disposed of. Do not allow it to sit on the surface of the grass for very long. There are also liquid products that can be applied to the lawn to speed up the breakdown of thatch. They are not as reliable as mechanical dethatching and should only be considered to aid digestion on a healthy lawn, not to resolve a thatch buildup problem
Dethatching removes excess thatch. It is best to dethatch the varieties of grass grown in our area in early fall. (When lawns are dethatched in spring, there is a much greater risk of damaging the newly awakening grass crowns.) If a severe thatch problem is discovered in spring, you are faced with deciding if more damage will be done by dethatching in spring or by leaving the thatch on the lawn for the summer. When it is time to dethatch, mowing the lawn fairly low just before starting will make the job easier. If you are up to it, in small areas remove thatch by raking back and forth. Hand raking is a backbreaking way of removing thatch from any but the smallest areas. There are several better ways to accomplish this task. If the thatch isn't so severe that it is smothering the crowns of the grass plants (over an inch deep), consider using a core aerator to solve the problem. The cores of soil will pull up the microorganisms needed to digest excess thatch naturally, turning it into nutrients for the lawn. For a more serious thatch problem, there are mechanical dethatchers. These machines are usually rented for the day or many lawn care companies offer this service. The best type of machine for dethatching is a vertical mower. It has a row of blades that cut grooves into the thatch and pull it up. The other alternative is a power rake. This is like a lawn mower with spring tines attached to the blades. Power rakes work, but they don't pull up as much thatch and they pull up more grass than a vertical mower, sometimes damaging the lawn. If you are using a mechanical dethatcher, it is better to set it too high than it is to set it too low. Since you almost always have to go back over spots several times, the blades can be lowered when you become accustomed to working with the machine. Once the thatch is pulled up to the surface, it should be raked up and either composted or disposed of. Do not allow it to sit on the surface of the grass for very long. There are also liquid products that can be applied to the lawn to speed up the breakdown of thatch. They are not as reliable as mechanical dethatching and should only be considered to aid digestion on a healthy lawn, not to resolve a thatch buildup problem
LAWN MOWING: Mowing frequency depends on whether your lawn is made up of cool season grass varieties such as bluegrass and fescue, or warm season grasses like zoysia, bermuda grass, or buffalo grass. A basic rule is that you should never cut off more than one-third of the grass blades' height at any one time. For a cool season lawn, you should plan on mowing down to two and a half inches tall. Therefore, your cool season lawn is ready to mow when it is just under four inches tall. Warm season grasses tend to be more resilient, so you can trim them a bit shorter. In general, you should plan on mowing your grass about once a week, keeping in mind that it will need to be mowed more often at some times of the year and less often at others.
There is one last thing to cover: how to mow. You should plan on mowing in long, straight lines across your lawn as much as possible. However, you should not always mow your lawn along the same lines, or you could risk harming the grass that is always getting run over by the wheels of your mower. Instead, alternate your mowing direction so that you are mowing in lines that are perpendicular to the lines you created during your last mowing job.
There is one last thing to cover: how to mow. You should plan on mowing in long, straight lines across your lawn as much as possible. However, you should not always mow your lawn along the same lines, or you could risk harming the grass that is always getting run over by the wheels of your mower. Instead, alternate your mowing direction so that you are mowing in lines that are perpendicular to the lines you created during your last mowing job.
Water early in the day if possible.
Given a choice, water early in the day when lawns are normally wet from dew. Avoid midday watering due to excessive evaporation, and at night due to potential increased chances of some diseases gaining a foothold. The exception to this guide is when you are in extremely hot weather and nighttime temperatures don't go below 68 degrees. Then it is better to water in the late afternoon or early evening, providing you don't have watering-time restrictions. Early or late in the day reduces the amount of evaporation that takes place during the very hot day, allowing more water to reach the root zone.
Spread the water uniformly across the lawn.
Sprinklers vary in distribution patterns, and require spray overlap for uniform coverage. Placing coffee cans or similar straight-sided containers on the lawn can help measure water application rates. Avoid flooding areas, or missing other spots. On heavy clay soils and slopes, watch for excessive runoff; it may be necessary to apply the water in several applications to allow for adequate penetration.
FERTILIZING: Plants such as turfgrasses require a number of nutrients for growth. Three of these -- carbon, hydrogen and oxygen -- are rarely lacking because plants get these from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and from soil water. The other elements essential to turfgrass growth and that come from the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, manganese, molybdenum, copper, zinc and iron.
Those nutrients needed by plants in large quantities are called macronutrients. The macronutrients, usually supplied by fertilizers and called fertilizer elements, are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen helps give plants good green color and stimulates leaf and stem growth. Excessive nitrogen, however, will increase mowing, water demand, thatch buildup and plant susceptibility to insects and diseases. Phosphorus is needed for root growth and is very important for turfgrass establishment. Potassium is second to nitrogen in the amount necessary for growth. It may promote disease resistance, winter hardiness, and drought and traffic tolerance.
Those nutrients needed by plants in large quantities are called macronutrients. The macronutrients, usually supplied by fertilizers and called fertilizer elements, are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen helps give plants good green color and stimulates leaf and stem growth. Excessive nitrogen, however, will increase mowing, water demand, thatch buildup and plant susceptibility to insects and diseases. Phosphorus is needed for root growth and is very important for turfgrass establishment. Potassium is second to nitrogen in the amount necessary for growth. It may promote disease resistance, winter hardiness, and drought and traffic tolerance.
