Handyscapes Inc. » Landscaping tips

12 Ways to Create Natural Healthy Lawn

Garett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:24:58 +0000

1. Keep the lawn clean and standing straight. Your spring clean up should remove any
debris and lift matted grass.
2. Fill in bare spots with new grass, seed or sod, before weeds fill them in.
3. Treat weak looking or diseased spots with an early fertilizer.
4. Remove thatch!
5. Aerate the lawn and soil. Aeration breaks through thatch and opens up the soil to help
reduce compaction. It encourages deeper rooting and makes watering easier.
6. Discover soil pH level. Once determined you will know to add new soil or lime to neutralize
the soil and improve the growth.
7. Fertilize naturally!
8. Mow the right way. Don’t cut the lawn too short. Keep the blades sharp and never cut off too
much at once.
9. Water deeply. Light watering too often keeps the roots at the surface and makes for weaker
grass and thatch formation.
10. Keep pests at bay naturally. Nematodes, traps, predators, barriers, bait, “Attack”,
diatomaceous earth and natural insecticides.
11. Control weeds: corn gluten, manually pull, super heat, eco clear and more nitrogen with
fertilizer applications. Taller, thicker lawns crowd out many weed types. Controlling soil
compaction and watering will eliminate others.
12. Keep it green in the fall. Green blades mean food production, for winter storage and root
growth. Don’t neglect the lawn or start cutting it too short. You can lower the height of the
lawn when growth slows down, but keep it green. September is the best month for lawn
repair, thatch removal, seeding, aerating, and fertilizing. Keep leaves from matting on the
grass and don’t let any leaves stay on the grass over the winter.

Caring for your shrubs

Garett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:12:19 +0000

Please follow the watering instructions below to ensure that your new shrubs thrive.

Dry roots are the chief cause of planting failures. After receiving your new shrubs you should water as soon as possible. Watering should penetrate deep into the soil to encourage strong deep root development.

Always check the soil before watering to make sure it is dry. The soil should not be spongy or soggy as over-watering can cause the plants roots to suffocate.

Place the hose at the base of the shrub and let soak (using a soft flow that doesn’t create craters in the soil or run off) for 20 minutes.
Remember to water in the fall, before the ground freezes, is important for box, azalea, rhododendron, mountain laurel and broadleaf evergreen shrubs, whose leaves lose moisture in winter.

Natural Lawn Care Terms & Techniques

Garett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:53:00 +0000

Aeration: used to relieve compaction and cultivate the turf and soil system. It is best to be done in the spring and/ or the fall, depending on compaction level.

Grass cutting: keep the grass at a height of 2 ½”- 3 “: never cut more than 1/3 off the lawn height at one time: keep mower blades sharp: keep the underside of the mower deck clean, it allows the grass to be lifted properly before cutting: never add gas or oil to the mower on the lawn: alternate cutting patterns, it allows for a more upright lawn.

Nematodes: Beneficial microscopic parasites that infest & kill more than 250 different pest larva.

Overseeding: seeding of the lawn areas to thicken up the grass. Best to be combined with aerating and top dressing.

Soil amendments: for optimum growth, lawn grasses prefer the soil pH in the 6.5 to 7.0 range. Perennials & shrubs also have specific pH requirements. Soil amendments, lime or gypsum, must be added to bring the soil pH to this level. Perennials, trees & shrubs also benefit from the addition of organic matter to the soil.

Top dressing: a quality matured compost or a rich top soil applied to the lawn area will enhance and amend the soil. Improving the soil structure and quality of your lawn. The best time to apply top dressing is in the spring or fall.

Thatch: is the build up of living and decaying litter between the soil and the turf. Up to half an inch is healthy, more will be problematic, contributing to the onset of disease and insects. Best time to dethatch is late spring or fall.

Watering: to water properly you must be aware of the weather. Lawns do not need watering in early spring. After the spring rains have stopped and we get in to our dry summer weather, use the following technique. Water your lawn deeply, for one hour every three to four days without rain. Do not water after sunset; it promotes mildew. Do not water daily; it promotes thatch build up. Do not water lightly; it promotes shallow root systems.

After seeding: Keep seeds damp for 5 – 7 days.

After soding: Water each area for 20-30 minutes daily for the first 5-7 days.

After fertilizing & nematode applications: water heavily to allow fertilizer or nematodes to soak in.

Caring for your new tree

Garett — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:00:40 +0000

We hope you will enjoy your newly planted tree. Please follow the watering instructions below to see that your tree(s) thrive and grow.

Watering Do not allow the roots to dry out or your tree may die. It doesn’t take long for this to happen and nothing is sadder than a row of dead cedars or a leafless tree in a garden. The roots of your tree need to remain moist (not soggy or squishy) for the first couple of months, so it is important that you water several times per week, based on how hot and dry the weather is. If you are going out of town, try to hire a local teen or exchange watering duties with a neighbor. How much? New trees with less than a 3” trunk diameter will have a root well of about 5 cubic ft. Typical soil will soak up about one gallon of water per cubic foot, meaning the tree should be given around 5 or 6 gallons per application. It would be wasteful to exceed 10 gallons on trees of this size, but be sure that you are efficiently applying at least 5 gallons. It is important to note that insufficient surface watering may cause root development to concentrate too close to the surface. Roots should be promoted to depths of 4 to 18 inches for drought hardiness and anchor strength.

To water properly, you need to bring the hose right to the base of the tree and soak it for at least 30 minutes. Check the soil to see that it is moist more than 4” below the surface. Continue to water once a week for the first year. In the second year you can reduce the watering to twice monthly through the late spring and summer. Never water if the soil is already soaked because trees can be over watered causing the tree roots to drown and become suffocated. Roots need air circulation to grow.

Watering techniques for newly installed sod

Garett — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:00:05 +0000

Watering New Sod
Newly installed sod has very important watering needs. Proper watering immediately after installation will ensure the turf gets established, and it will also have an impact on how well the lawn continues to flourish for years to come. Avoid hand sprinkling because it cannot provide the necessary uniformity as most people do not have the patience, time or “eye” to adequately measure what is being applied across any larger areas of lawn.

WHEN To Water New Sod
Begin watering new sod within a half hour after it is laid on the soil. Apply at least 2 to 3 cm. (1 inch) of water so that the soil beneath the turf is very wet. Ideally, the soil 7 to 10 cm. (3 to 4 inches) below the surface should be moist.

Watering Tip #1: pull back a corner of the turf and push a screwdriver or other sharp tool into the soil. It should push in easily and have moisture along the first 7 to 10 cm. (3 or 4 inches), or you need to apply more water.

Watering Tip #2: make absolutely certain that water is getting to all areas of your new lawn, regardless of the type of sprinkling system you use. Corners and edges are easily missed by many sprinklers and are particularly vulnerable to drying out faster than the center portion of your lawn. Also, areas near buildings dry-out faster because of reflected heat and may require more water.

Watering Tip #3: runoff may occur on some soils and sloped areas before the soil is adequately moist. To conserve water and ensure adequate soak-in, turn off the water when runoff begins, wait 30-minutes to an hour and restart the watering on the same area, repeating this start and stop process, until proper soil moisture is achieved.

Watering Tip #4: For the next two weeks keep the below-turf soil surface moist with daily (or more frequent) watering. Especially hot, dry or windy periods will necessitate increased watering amounts and frequency.

Watering Tip #5: Water early in the morning to take advantage of the daily start of the grass’s normal growing cycle, usually lower wind speeds and considerably less loss of water because of high temperature evaporation. During the rest of the growing season most lawns will grow very well with a maximum total of one inch of water a week, coming either from rain or applied water. This amount of water, properly applied, is all that is required for the health of the grass, providing it is applied evenly and saturates the underlying soil to a depth of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches).

Caring for your nemtodes

Garett — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:59:35 +0000

We’ve applied millions of microscopic nematodes to your lawn!

Please water your lawn every day for 3 days if possible. Otherwise the nematodes will not reach the grubs at the roots of your lawn and will dry up and die off without completing their job.

These amazing organisms will start to eradicate your grubs in 2 to 3 days. They are safe to pets, humans and to beneficial bugs. They only like the destructive bugs (white grubs citrus root weevil, Japanese beetles, May/June beetles, European/Masked chafer, Black vine weevil and Sod webworm). 174

Caring for your annuals

Garett — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:59:09 +0000

We hope you enjoy your newly planted annuals. To encourage growth and colour please do the following:

Water:
Annuals need water to thrive. Please water them deeply after we have planted your garden. You need the top 4” of soil to be moist. Always check by poking your finger into the soil to determine whether you’ve reached this level.

To encourage growth you should water your garden deeply two to three times a week after planting. Always check the soil with your finger before and after watering. We do this before you start determine whether your garden needs water (over watering can create the ideal environment for the spread of fungus diseases). You do this after especially if you are using a hose as it takes quite a lot of time to sufficiently water a plant bed. In general the best way (and least labour intensive) to water a garden is with a soaker hose.

Feed Your Plants:
Feeding your annuals once per month will encourage maximum growth, and along with deadheading finished blooms, will ensure continuous colour.

Caring for your new perennials

Garett — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:58:05 +0000

We hope you will enjoy your new perennials. Please follow the instructions below on how to care for them. Please water your new perennials well after we’ve planted them. Water only when the plants need it. Let the plants dry out between watering (however, don’t let them get bone-dry or wilted). Probe the soil and if it is dry in the top 4 to 5 inches, then it is time to water.

Remember, plants may show the same symptoms from being over-watered as from being under-watered (e.g., yellow leaves and/or wilting). There is no other way to determine when a plant needs water other than to monitor the soil moisture. Late evening or nighttime watering may encourage mildew and/or fungus. Water deeply – a general rule of thumb is to provide (from rainfall and irrigation combined) a 1 to 2 inch depth of water every week.

Perennial Fertilizing
Most perennials do not require large amounts of fertilizing. In fact, many will respond to over-fertilization by becoming excessively tall and produce minimal or no flowers. If your soil is particularly poor you can follow fertilizer suggested feedings of every 60 – 90 days. Phlox, Daylilies, Daisies and Hibiscus can benefit from being fed every 45 to 60 days.