Guide To A Beautiful Lawn In 10 Steps
Guide To a Beautiful Lawn in 10 steps
Hey Ottawa! Contact Peartree Property Services Ottawa for any or all of these great lawn tips!
Here is our 10 steps to minimize weeds and have the best lawn possible:
1. PROPER FERTILIZATION: with a high slow release content, and a proper balance of nutrients for your specific soil and grass types.- Fertilizers are not all the same, and the cheap ones do give you cheap results that can stress the turf-grass plant even more! We recommend fertilizer in the spring and fall. Your lawn doesn’t need any more than that.
2. PROPER MOWING FREQUENCY: Frequent mowing is key, especially during high growth months (may-June, Sept-Oct). Turf-grass was not created to fit into everyone’s weekend availability. Ideally mow every 5 days and you will have a thicker lawn with less weeds!
3. PROPER MOWING HEIGHT: Mow at the top or 2nd highest setting on your lawn mower and sharpen your blade frequently- 2x /year for every 5000 sq. ft. of lawn. Need your blade sharpened?we can show you how.
4. BAG YOUR CLIPPINGS: Yes, it goes against everything you may have heard, but bag your clippings IF you have a high amount of weeds, and they are in flower. This will prevent you from spreading the seeds throughout your thin bare lawn. (You can stop bagging once you have the weeds in check, or they stopped flowering/seeding)
5. WATER PROPERLY: Water once a week for 1.5 hours in each area- give the lawn a deep soaking and let it dry out in between watering sessions. This will give you a healthier lawn with deeper roots and less stress.
6. AERATE: Aeration is great, but NOT when you have a weed infested lawn. You’re just replanting little weeds all over your lawn. Get the weeds under control first by following steps 1-4. If your lawn needs it then avoid spring aeration, aerate in the fall.
7. OVER-SEED PROPERLY: This helps to thicken your lawn. But make sure you use high quality varieties of grass seed that will thicken your lawn, and have better disease, insect and drought resistance. Use “Certified Seed” that is 99.9% pure. Usually, the more you pay- the better the seed! Don’t fall victim to fast growing grass marketing, they are just quick germinating cheap fescues that are not right for most yards. Seed must be in contact with the existing soil, so cut short, scratch up, rake, or aerify the top 1" of your existing soil first to ensure success. KEEP IT MOIST!!! …and they will grow. Let it dry and they will die.
8. TOP-DRESS CORRECTLY: Dumping a bunch of “dirt” on top of your lawn isn’t going to help anything, except back pain. Use a “dry granular compost” that has been heat treated (pasteurized) to kill weed and weed-grass seeds- otherwise you are compounding your weed problems. But definitely DO top-dress with the correct dry granular compost material for a healthy soil to support your lawn.
9. MANAGE GRUBS AND CHINCH BUGS: Apply Nematodes for grubs at the right time of the year for the best chance at control (you can ONLY apply them effectively during Late August and September). Make sure the Nematodes are fresh, the correct species and you MUST make sure the soil is wet before and after application to have any chance at success. They are also very intolerant to light, application in the middle of the day is useless, it is best done in the evening when it is raining. Check with a professional for the best Chinch Bug Management options for your area.
10. KEEP AT IT, Lawn work is not easy.
Lawns are made up of millions of constantly growing, living, breathing turf-grass plants that are constantly cleaning air, filtering water and producing oxygen. If you follow these steps EVERY year, you will enjoy a Green and Healthy Lawn- Guaranteed!