Q: Now that the snow has gone, I notice several round tan to whitish-gray spots, two inches to two feet, appear as snow melts. Should I rake the lawn.
A: Before you even think of raking the lawn, stop! If the lawn is wet,
don't rake. Stay off the lawn. Keep the kids off the lawn. When dry take a light plastic leaf rake, now lightly rake up those snow mold areas, trying not to scratch the soil surface. (You don't want to promote weeds) Remember: DO NOT RAKE UNTIL DRY. Do not dethatch unless thatch is over 1/2". If you are fertilizing correctly, watering, mowing, & aerating as needed per top soil conditions, you should never have to dethatch.
Q: What is the first thing we should do to the lawn after snow goes.
A. If lawn is fairly dry and you won't imprint it or compact it by walking
on it, grab a note pad & pen and take a walk around your landscape. Make notes on areas that may need extra care and also make note of the tools needed. *** Very important to walk along the curb side of lawn and in about 10 feet. Carefully look at the lawn. You are looking for sand. You may find a lot by the curb from the winter street plow. Using a flower or motorized broom when lawn is fairly dry, blow or broom off lawn. If the street sweeper has already gone by, you may call the city to see if they will be sweeping a 2nd time. If not, use a push broom to sweep up sand from street and dispose of properly. If you don't have a hole to fill, you may consult your Disposal service as what to do with it? We offer this service to our clients in LAKEVILLE, APPLE VALLEY, BURNSVILLE, EAGAN, & FARMINGTON for a nominal fee of $59.00 + tax. If it is a tremendous amount of sand, it may be a little bit more, call us to consult. 952-898-3715
A. * By May 30th. You have plenty of time! We install soil thermometers in our Twin Cities south metro service area and check often along with weather forecast's. Based on last years early warm up, pre-emergent weed control for Crabgrass and first fertilizer applications were applied between April 20 & May 30.
*It depends upon the weather. Ground should be unfrozen, and generally in May or June. We predict you will have until the end of May to apply a Quality Pre-Emergent Weed Control such as "Dimension" to prevent germination of Crabgrass and many other grassy weeds that appear in June or July. Pre-Emergents for the most part should be applied before the soil temperature hits 55 degrees for 3 days consecutively.
Q: I want a weed free lawn, what can your firm do for me?
A. I love that question! Let me try to give you a simple answer. You can achieve an almost weed free lawn that looks nice and healthy and green. If you see a neighbors lawn that always seems to be green and look closely you will probably see a few weeds. With thousands of weed seeds per square foot, waiting for a scratched surface to pop up, I can promise you if they have the chance to come up they will. A quality Lawn Fertilization program along with proper mowing, watering techniques and other mechanical cultural controls such as Core Aerification will make your lawn thick and fight off weeds. Also remember to sharpen your mower blades as needed. Inspect each time. On average you should sharpen every 8 hours of mowing. Mow only in late afternoon or evening when it is less stressful for lawn.
Spring: First 1-3 mowings 2.5-3.0 inches.
Summer (when it gets hotter) move that mower to the highest setting 3.5-4.0 inches. This will prevent the lawn from burning, and more importantly shade out weeds. It also conserves your water. A broadleaf weed control should be used when broadleaf weeds such as Dandelion, Clover, etc appear. After applied you should expect to see yellowing of the weed in 8-12 days. Be patient, remember we are working with soil science.
A. In the spring we generally receive lots of rain. When we evaluate a lawn we look for several things. One of the most important is checking top soil depth, sub soil make up, and of course the general landscape for drainage. Most of the lawns in the south metro suffer from "Limited Top Soil" The recommended amount of water is one (1) inch of water per week. Most clients
in our service area benefit from watering 2 times a week. Example: 1/2" Monday between 4 AM-11 AM 1/2" Thursday 4 AM- 11 AM. This is a good schedule for limited top soil lawns. Try watering all at once, you may see it run off and that is a waste of water. Remember: If it has rained a lot, don't water. If you have time, set out a rain gauge and check weekly, then dump or re-set. Never, water a lawn more than 2 -3 times a week. Never water lightly, it promotes short root growth and weak turf opening it up to pests such as weeds. Weeds love dry conditions, blue grass does not.
plastic leaf rake, now lightly rake up those snow mold areas, trying not to scratch the soil surface. (You don't want to promote weeds) Remember: DO NOT RAKE UNTIL DRY. Do not dethatch unless thatch is over 1/2". If you are fertilizing correctly, watering, mowing, & aerating as needed per top soil conditions, you should never have to dethatch.