Seasonal Lawn Care Tips

There are many steps that can be taken to help prepare and your yard and garden throughout the year for the change in seasons. Many people think of this in terms of the late fall season, and preparing your lawn and garden for the harshness of the winter cold and snow.  However, preparing your lawn for the growing season is equally as important.

I spoke briefly about de-thatching techniques in an earlier post and this is the first step in preparing your lawn.  Coupled with aeration your off to a great start.

Aeration is technique used to remove "plugs" of grass and deep thatch from your lawn. Each portion removed is anywhere from 1/2inch to 1 1/2inch in depth; depending on the equipments used to do the job.  The removal of these bits of grass, thatch and tight roots; allows water, air, and fertilizer to get deep to the remaining roots and ultimately creates healthier, stronger, greener grass to grow. 

As a quick tip for fall preparation that will help with these steps later, make sure to trim your grass to about two inches the late fall season.  This will help prevent deep thatch from developing over winter.  If your grass was quite long at the end of the season, you may end up with bald spots, fungus, and grass mold. Long grasses in the fall are breeding grounds for rodents too, like field mice. Mice can be particularly damaging to your lawn during the fall and early winter as they feed on the surface root systems of your lawn.

Once your lawn has been de-thatched, and aerated, allow the young grass shoots to grow out before cutting for the first time.  Grass should get to an initial height of 3-4 inches before trimming for the first time.  Then for the first 2-3 trimmings remove only 1/4-1/2 inch at a time.  Cutting too much, too soon, too fast can shock the grass and cause it to die! It's easy to forget that grass is alive, and can be easily damaged by "rough" care. 

After two or three regular trimmings, you can apply your first treatment of consumer grade fertilizer, and seed your lawn if needed.

If you want regular; worry free lawn care, and property maintenance consider hiring a professional many services are much more affordable than you may think.  Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape hires and trains top quality individuals to know the best techniques for seasonal lawn maintenance. Let us take the work and worry out of caring for your lawn. Call today for a FREE, no obligation consultation.



Andy and Courtney Bailey
Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape
www.greenersolutionslawn.com
517-945-1204

Preparation for Winter Weather

As we begin to see the early effects of this latest winter storm, we want to remind you all to be careful. Take some extra time to get to work, and walk slowly on potentially slippery sidewalks and parking lots.  Greener Solutions takes pride in the properties that we attend to.  We prepare lots in advance of snow events to help prevent the build up of black ice, and our skilled team, works hard through the storms to make sure that the parking lots, and sidewalks are cleared.  We put the safety of our customers and their clients and employees first.  Need some tips on how to better prepare your home and/or vehicle for an ice or snow event, here's a few that we recommend.

First, working in cold weather can put extra stress on your body.  If you have a history of health conditions, please be safe, and follow any advice from your doctor in regard to strenuous activity. Ask for help if needed, and if you decide to do the work yourself then dress warmly, work slowly, and take frequent breaks indoors.

Add a few essential items to your vehicles emergency kit. Including, blankets, warm dry clothing, a small snow shovel, and rock salt, or sand for traction if needed.

Just like your vehicle you may want a few emergency supplies on hand at home too, like bottled water, canned foods, a battery operated radio, and an extra heat source in case of power outage, like fire wood for fireplaces, or oil or kersosene heaters. Write down an emergency plan for your home that includes reminders like turning on water faucets slightly to prevent pipes from freezing during prolonged power outages in the cold weather.

Before the storm arrives take some time to pre-treat sidewalks and walkways with de-icing products or rock salt. This will help to prevent early build up of ice in these areas making clean up later a little easier.

Be cautious when walking over areas of compacted snow this often times will have a layer of ice underneath, and can cause fall injuries.

Use the blade of your snow shovel to remove all snow and ice from walkways and treat with de-icing products or rock salt again, and repeat this often as the snow and ice begin to melt.  Puddles of melted snow and ice can re-freeze overnight creating new slippery areas that may appear to only be wet.

Be safe and remember we are available for 24 hour Emergency service. Call us anytime 517-945-1204!

Andy and Courtney Bailey
Greener Solutions Lawn and Landscape