Unifying Landscape Design With Effective Lawn Care Practices to Achieve a Green Space in the Needham and Natick, MA Areas
Unifying a landscape design can be achieved when you focus on lawn health that includes beneficial treatments and effective lawn care practices. The best lawn care tasks happen throughout the year to ensure continuous improvement and vigorous growth. The pros have the equipment, treatments, and strategic approaches to ensure your lawn and landscape are thriving.
Best Lawn Care Practices
For a lawn to grow and flourish, ongoing maintenance is required to keep its bold, green appearance. While regular mowing is essential, there are other practices that feed, protect, and boost lawn health which is the goal of a six-step lawn care program.
Step 1
Approaching lawn care with a proactive plan can ensure success throughout the year. The first step is planned for early spring to prevent crabgrass from emerging. Crabgrass is sneaky because it looks like grass but is actually an invasive weed that competes with the grass plants for food, water, and nutrients. As the temperatures rise in the summer, crabgrass becomes almost impossible to kill so prevention is crucial.
Step 2
Even the most diligent weed preventives won’t stop every weed so post-emergent weed killer in late spring is designed to kill off the weeds that made it through germination. Pivotal to stop the spread of weeds in the summer lawn, post-emergent weed control is a necessity before summer.
Step 3
Early summer is the best time for an organic fertilizer that feeds the lawn through the hot summer months. Treating the lawn with insect control stops the pests from overtaking the grass plants.
Step 4
Mid-summer is when another fertilizer application and grub treatment gives the grass another boost. Grubs are the larvae of Japanese beetles that lay their eggs on the lawn where they hatch and burrow down to eat the roots as they mature. Before you realize they are in the lawn, they will create entire patches of dead, rootless grass.
Step 5
The final fertilizer application prepares the lawn for the dormant, cold months by providing nutrients it can store for food.
Step 6
The application of lime on the lawn balances the pH levels for optimal health.
Seasonal Cleanups
Cleanups in the spring and fall can remove debris from the landscape that hinders lawn health and makes your landscape look less than stellar. A clean, trimmed lawn and landscape delivers the curb appeal that makes you the envy of the neighborhood.
Lawn Aeration
Throughout the year, the grass and soil can become compacted from foot traffic, mowing, and other ways you enjoy your yard. Fall is the perfect time for lawn care professionals to bring in the aeration machines which pull small soil plugs out to allow water, nutrients, and oxygen to reach the roots of the grass. With the lower fall temperatures and warm ground, it is also the right time to plant new grass by spreading grass seeds that germinate and take root before winter.
Core aeration, re-seeding, and compost are the perfect fall combination to rejuvenate your fatigued lawn due to the summer heat and dry conditions.
Mulching and Edging
Fresh mulch in various colors or pebbles for a sustainable mulch option protect the landscape plants and give your landscape the clean, finished appearance that unifies the entire outdoor area.
About the Author
As a fourth-generation landscape and building construction professional, Peter Indresano grew up working for his father’s construction business. At just 14 years old, he worked 50 hours per week in the summers, which helped him develop his strong work ethic and uncompromising belief that a clean job is a happy job.
