More Spring Preparation

We wanted to take a moment to share with you one of the Spring promotions from Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape, to help you with your outdoor landscape this season.

First, I know many of you have read and are following out blog for early indoor vegetable planting. Thank you for your interest!  Greener Solutions is offering a special this Spring on raised garden beds to further help you get your garden growing this year!

There are many great reasons to use a raised garden bed. Raised beds offer a clean slate, guaranteed not to allow your plants to take over your yard or other garden areas, raised garden beds keep plants contained.  Raised garden beds also offer you an opportunity to start with the very best soil.  Clean soil with the proper pH will ensure healthier plants, and higher yields. They are also quite decorative, and can be a nice addition to your outdoor landscape. Plant, vegetables, herbs, or flowers, the possibilities are endless!

This season we can build and install your new raised garden bed, including top soil at a great price. All you have to do is put in the plants!  We offer a wide variety of exterior building materials including, treated lumber, stone, or vinyl, and can build your raised garden to the size and height of your choice. Call us anytime to schedule your free consultation for raised garden bed installation. 517-945-1204

Prices include, preparing the area by leveling the ground, building the exterior wall structure with the materials of your choice, installation of garden underlayment for weed control, and new fresh top soil fully installed! This is a fully customizable service, so call anytime for a FREE consultation.


Continue to follow our blog for more information about our company and services! Thank you

Andy and Courtney Bailey
Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape
517-945-1204

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

More Help With Those Tricky Tomatoes

In an earlier post we discussed starting tomato plants from seeds, and the need to use tomato cages when transplanting to an outdoor garden bed. I have just a few more tips to grow the healthiest tomato plants possible, and ultimately get more fruit out of your plants!

First, before the first shoots appear, keep your seed starters in a warm place and keep soil moist until germination takes place.  Once the first shoots appear, move into direct sunlight and continue to keep soil nice and moist. 

Tomato plants can have weak stems if you don't condition them for outdoor conditions.  The best way to do this indoors is to turn a fan on to the plants for 10-15minutes per day.  The swaying of the plants in the breeze helps to strengthen the stems.  Once true leaves appear, you can use the palm of your hand to gently brush across the tops once or twice a day to further encourage strong stem growth.

Also once true leaves form on the plant, begin to add soil in the pot, up to the bottom of the true leaves.  Tomatoes can develop roots from their stems, so adding more soil will encourage new roots to form. The development of a strong root system, ultimately leads to a healthier plant, and more fruit. Further this concept at the time of transplantation into the outdoor garden bed by trimming off the bottom leaves from stems 6inches in height or more, and bury the plant up to the remaining height of the leaves.

If young plants begin to bud before it is time to transplant outdoors, then simply pinch off the buds.  Budding too early can stress young plants.  Also watch for the development of suckers in the crotch of the plant.  These are tiny leaves that form where the branches of the plant split. These leaves have no real purpose and drain nutrients from other parts of the plant. You can simply pinch these off as well. Remeber to remove any dead or dried leaves on the lower portions of the plant too over the course of the season.

There are many varieties of tomatoes that you can choose from too.  Think carefully about how you would like to use the fruit once harvested.  For example, beef steak tomatoes are great for slicing and are usually very juicy.  Whereas the pompeii variety is a great tomato for use in sauces, and salsas. And cherry tomatoes are a wonderful addition to salad.  A little research in advance can help you decide which type will work best for you! Happy gardening!

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

The Benefits Of Attending Your Local Home Expo

Spring is nearly here and it's time to start your annual home improvement wish list.  I love this time of year it inspires me to look at my home and property and look for opportunities to freshen things up, and make some changes!

There is no better place to become inspired than at your local Home Expo!  These home and garden shows are a great way for area homeowners to meet local contractors, interior design experts, and lawn and landscape companies. As well as learn about the newest trends for home improvement, and how to make those ideas a reality in your own home. Finally, these shows are entertaining, the companies and vendors who attend often put together unique interactive displays that are just fun to see and learn from.

The local home show can help you in selecting a great contractor. Finding the right company to take on your project is like choosing a doctor, this is someone you need to be able to trust to work in your best interests. Local home expo's are often times supported by your communities home builders association, so you can be rest assured that the contractors that you are meeting are quality, licensed contractors that you can trust.

A few tips to make the most of your Home Expo visit:

1.) If you have a specific project in  mind, bring some pictures or references for vendors so that everyone is on the same page
2.) Be open minded to the suggestions of the vendors, they are the experts!
3.) Be aware that many vendors may not provide pricing at the show but prefer to look first hand at the space and measure anything needed prior to giving any final price quotes for projects.
4.) The home expo is a busy place and you may have to wait to speak the representative, be prepared for short waits, the vendors try very hard to get to everyone.
5.) Be prepared to walk, Home Expo's are often held in large expo or convention centers that require a lot of walking.
6.) Have your calendar ready so you can schedule time for contractors to come out to prepare estimates if you have serious interest in getting your project started.

Now that you're fully prepared; come join us and the Jackson MI Home and Lifestyle Show, March 22-24 at the American One Fair Events Center! We'd love to discuss your ideas, and inspire you this spring!

Andy and Courtney Bailey
Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape

Preparing For Spring

As we prepare for the start of a busy Spring season; I'm reminded of a few things that should be done on a seasonal basis for your lawn, gardens, and equipment.  Here are a few tips and reminders to prepare your outdoor living space this Spring.

1. Perform a quick maintenance on your mower in the spring.  Cold weather can effect the performance of your equipment and it's a good idea to take care of a few things before restarting your mower in the Spring. Change out spark plugs, oil and fuel filters.  Clean old clippings and leaves out from under the mower deck, and change the oil and fill with fresh gasoline before restarting.

2. Be patient with your lawn, it's not advisable to run out on the first warm day of Spring and attack your lawn.  It's been dormant for an entire season and starting lawn care too early can risk damaging the new grass shoots, causing bald spots to develop in your lawn. 

3. When you do start your lawn care regimen start with raking, or de-thatching.  Removal of dead grasses from past seasons can help aerate the upper crust of the soil and allow new grass shoots to flourish.

The thatch is the old dry grass remaining from previous seasons

Commercial de-thatchers pull the dead grass out leaving only the bright green healthy shoots

4. If you find a lot of areas that are not soft when walking, or are compacted from heavy snow; you can try aeration. This is a service that we recommend you have done by professional, improper aeration techniques can cause more damage than good.  Compacted soils can be loosened with aeration and roots systems will be stronger if performed correctly.

5. If you know your lawn is prone to weed growth, Spring is a good time to consider applying consumer grade herbacides.  It's much easier to try to prevent the weeds from cropping up than to deal with them once they have taken root!

We hope these tips help you prepare for the spring lawn and garden season.  Greener Solutions Lawn And Landscape can help too! We offer full scale lawn and landscape services including, de-thatching, aeration, grass seeding, and mowing. Call anytime for a free consultation.

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

Tips For Starting Tomato Plants From Seeds

Tomatoes can be a temperamental plant, and especially when started from seeds.  Generally the best time to start you tomatoes from seeds is 6-8 weeks prior to planting. Do Not transplant to outdoor beds until after the last early spring frost, or you'll lose your plants and your hard work. 

Tomato seeds should be sown in fertile planting soil, 1/4 inch deep and approximately 0.5 inches apart from one another.  If your using the biodegradable newspaper planters from our previous post then sow only 2-3 seeds per container. Allow seeds to germinate in damp soil until stems begin to show and then make sure that you move your plants to a sunny place or under florescent bulbs. Tomatoes require a lot of full sunlight to grow strong.

After about 15 days you should begin to see the early baby leaves of the plant open.  They should be bright green, if yellow or pale, get more light and water slightly less (but don't allow the soil to dry out completely). These early leaves are called the cotyledons, an additional 15 days of growth and you will begin to see the first true tomato plant leaves growing above these tiny first leaves.  Once true leaves are present you can thin your plants to 1-2 per growing container as needed. Keep in a warm sunny place, and make sure to water regularly.

Once temperatures have reached a consistent (day and night temperature) of at least 55 degrees, then you can transplant your tomatoes into the outdoor garden bed.

When transplanting your tomato plants, be sure to remove the cotyledon leaves and plant low in the ground bringing the soil up to the first true leaves.  Tomatoes can grow roots from their stems, by burying deep in the garden early, you'll develop a much stronger root and stem system for your plant. Water thoroughly immediately after transplanting, and set up your tomato supports. 

There are many types of tomato cages that you can choose from. They are very important to the health of your plant and the condition of the fruit.  Tomatoes that are not properly supported can have stem breakage, and fruits resting on the ground will develop soft spots (bruises) and over ripen much faster. Follow manufacturer suggestions/ instructions when erecting your tomato cages.

Continue to follow our blog or website for more information about getting you garden growing!

Andy  and Courtney Bailey

Greener Solutions Lawn and Landscape

www.greenersolutionslawn.com

ww.greenersolutionslawn.blogspot.com

 

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