Caring For Your Lawn In The Summer

Recent rain showers have led to some beautiful green lawns in our area, and our crew are busy!  But, as you may know soon the dry summer months will be upon us and your lawn will begin to dull and dry out. If not properly cared for you could end up with a drab yellow, or patchy, lawn.

So here are a few simple tips to keep your lawn healthy this summer.

1. Don't continue to mow your lawn once the dry months arrive. Once the dry months of summer arrive, your grass will stop growing, and regular mowing is unnecessary.

2. Toward the end of the Spring rainy season cut you grass to a height no lower than 3 inches.  Cutting shorter than 3 inches will promote dryness, when the drought season is in full effect.

3. To help your lawn survive dry conditions and stay healthy all season, raise your lawn mower to its highest setting and leaving the cuttings on the lawn. The clippings also help shade the soil so it doesn’t dry out and compact this will also provide 50 percent of the nutrients your grass needs.

4. Also, keep mower blades sharp. Dull blades leave ragged cuts; moisture leaks out, disease enters, and grass turns brown.

5. You can allow your grass to go dormant which is a natural way to manage your lawn, this will create some browning of your grass.  Or, you can choose to water the lawn to maintain the green. 

6. If choosing to water your lawn, water it deeply at least 1 inch deep or run your sprinklers for at least 1 hour in the early morning or late evening when the sun is not high in the sky.  Watering in the middle of the day can cause your grass to burn and die. 

Follow these tips and your grass will thank you for it.  Not sure you want to spend the time maintaining a lawn year round consider new landscaping.  A new trend in the landscape industry is sustainable landscaping,  a lawn free alternative, requiring little to no maintenance using drought resistant plants and stone accents.  

Enjoy your summer! And, call us anytime for a FREE lawn care consultation (517)945-1204!

Complete Outdoor Maintenance

Many homeowners are overwhelmed with the thought of getting started with their early Spring to do list.  Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape is here to help. We have a unique program designed to take all of work out of your outdoor maintenance providing you with a worry free outdoor living space, that is well maintained year round.

Our complete outdoor maintenance packages are special because they are completely customizable, and offers a single monthly rate that is guaranteed not to change.  You decide which services you want to have completed by our team of outdoor professionals, and can still do the things that you enjoy. Complete outdoor maintenance packages also include 24 hour emergency services at no extra charge!

Packages can include:

Lawn care                                                                  Garden Bed Maintenance
Trimming                                                                    Spring and Fall Clean-Up
Edging                                                                        Leaf Removal
Tree Trimming/ Pruning                                            Gutter Clean Out
Shrub Care                                                                Snow Removal
Mulch installation and maintenance                        De-Icing
Annual and Perennial Planting                                 And More!!

The benefits are endless, and if you pay for 1 year up front, we will provide a 10% discount; that's more than 1 full month of service for FREE! As always our estimates are FREE, call anytime 517-945-1204 for more information about our outdoor maintenance packages, and enjoy worry free maintenance of your property at a low fixed monthly rate!


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

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