5 Reasons to Seek Professional Help with Your Lawn

Often folks ask me why leverage a professional versus doing it themselves. I list a few of those reasons below.

1. Time – We all are busy and would prefer to spend our free time with friends and family. Proper treatment of a yard as well as the research to teach yourself how to do it can be time consuming.

2. Effort – Most people overlook the effort required to properly treat their yard. Buying products, putting those products down, trying to guess what problem to treat for. The list goes on and on. And that doesn’t account for having to fix any mistakes.

3. Money – Often the cost of a professional service is just a small amount of money more than the cost of the products you need to buy. These products are fertilizer, weed control, insect control and fungicides for your yard problems. Professionals buy in bulk much cheaper than consumers for the same products. I didn’t even mention aeration equipment.

4. Eliminate guess work – Professionals know exactly what to do eliminating rework. As well as the ability to properly diagnose problem to get them fixed quickly.

5. Guaranteed results – I guarantee if I kill your yard I will re-sod it. I’ve done it and replaced a yard before. If you apply too much fertilizer and kill your own yard you will have to pay for the new sod yourself.

If you have the time and are eager to learn by all means do it yourself. I have tons of content specifically to educate you on how to do it. However, if you prefer the easy button just reach out to me for a free evaluation and quote.

Aeration and Its Benefits

Lawns are one of the most multi-function parts of our landscape. Not only do we enjoy them because they add beauty to our yard, but we also use them as a place to sit and relax and even make them as playgrounds for kids. That is why it really important to maintain them and keep them as beautiful as they can be.

In order to achieve and maintain a beautiful lawn, you should employ basic lawn care practices such as properly mowing, fertilizing and watering. It is also necessary to ensure that nutrients can reach the soil beneath your grass. This is where aeration comes in.

What is Aeration?

Aeration is basically perforating the soil as well as the thatch covering soil. It can be an extremely vital element to a healthy lawn because it allows air and water to penetrate built-up grass or lawn thatch – a crumbly layer of dead and living shoots, roots, and leaves.

You can choose from two methods for aeration: manual or motorized. Manual aerators work best for small lawns and produce results that rival automated aerators. You use foot-power to plunge two to four hollow cylinders into soil to extract cores or punch holes. Strap-on spike shoes accomplish a hole-punch effect but don’t remove soil cores.

The easiest way to aerate is to hire a lawn service to tackle the job. But if you’re a die hard do-it-yourselfer, renting an aerator could be ideal.

Should You Be Aerating Your Lawn?

Regardless of where you live and what type of turf grass you’re working with, aeration can help your lawn be healthier and more beautiful. The trick is knowing when it’s best to aerate, what equipment to use, and what else you can do to encourage the vigor of your grasses, while limiting weeds’ ability to gain a foothold in the lawn.

 

Your lawn is probably a good candidate for aeration if:

– You recently bought a new home. Construction crews often strip away topsoil, leaving new sod without crucial nutrients.

– It gets heavy use. Your lawn gets compressed when your family, visitors, and pets, walk and play on it.

– You have lots of clay. It’s hard for water, air, and nutrients to get past dense soil and you probably have too much thatch.

 

When to Aerate Your Lawn

The best time to aerate your lawn is based on the type of grass in your lawn. weather conditions in your area, and amount of moisture your lawn has received.

It can be done anytime of the year but the best time for aeration and seeding is as we go from summer to fall. This is the perfect opportunity to give your yard a rejuvenating boost before winter approaches. It is best performed just before or during periods of high growth, but not immediately preceding or during periods of stress to the lawn, whether from heat or drought. The type of grasses that make up your lawn will determine the best time of year to aerate.

 

If you have not scheduled your lawn for aeration, it is highly recommended to contact one now because it is one of the best things you can do to help ensure you have a beautiful and healthy lawn.

What Causes Dead Spots or Brown Spots?

Here is our list of common causes for dead spots or brown spots.

As a homeowner, there are fewer more satisfying sights than a lush, green, freshly moved lawn with uniform stripes. When you are able to achieve this look, the end results are great. However, gardeners are constantly up against it when it comes to maintaining a healthy yard, because there are so many factors to take into considerations. Brown spots, or worse still, dead spots, are incredibly annoying, especially when you thought you’d done everything right. The last thing you want is for your yard to be littered with brown, yellow, and dead spots, so what can be done? As it turns out, quite a lot, but when gardening is concerned, prevention is the best cure. Understanding what causes dead spots or brown spots in your yard, is very important, which is why we’ll be listing a few of the more common causes below. Take a look, familiarize yourself with them, and be sure to follow our advice on rectifying the situation right away.

 

Watering – Hold on. If you want a lush green yard and avoid brown spots, surely your grass needs plenty of water? Well, yes it does, but like everything else, it can still have too much of a good thing. If you are overwatering your yard, or if it simply will not stop raining, your grass may literally be drowning. As well as that, soil which drains poorly can also be a factor because the water will just sit there, rather than draining away. When the water is not absorbed properly by the roots, it can cause them to drown and become very ill, causing the green grass to turn brown. Make sure you aren’t over-watering your yard, and consider spiking tools to create drainage holes for the water.

 

Dull mower blades – How many of you reading this article can honestly say that you’ve ever sharpened, changed, or even looked at, the blades on your lawn mower? Mowing the yard on a regular basis is supposed to keep it looking neat and tidy, but if your mower blades are dull, it will have the opposite effect causing brown spots or dead spots. You see, dull blades will not cleanly slice through each blade of grass. Instead, they will shred and tear up the grass which will lead to brown and yellow patches. If you notice your yard suffering, try changing the blades on your lawn mower, or having them sharpened.

 

Chinch bug damage – Chinch bugs are sworn enemies of lawn enthusiasts across the nation, and for good reason. Chinch bugs are very small, hairy, dark-shaded winged bugs that love feeding on grass, leaves, and other forms of foliage and cause brown spots. Infestations in lawns are very common, and that is where problems arise because in large numbers, these hungry little pests can make short work of your once lush green yard. The real damage is caused when the bugs replace healthy plant fluids with toxins that cause the grass to die. There are a number of natural and non-natural ways of managing Chinch bug infestations.

See my video on chinch bugs 

 

Grub worm damage – Grub worms are another pest that might be responsible for brown spots in your lawn. These grubs are found in the soil where they feast on the roots of your grass, leaving the grass to turn brown and eventually die off. As if that wasn’t bad enough, to add insult to injury, other animals may destroy your lawn by digging up the soil to get to the tasty grubs hiding beneath the surface. Again, there are a number of treatment options available.

Pet damage – Finally, your furry friends could also be the reason why your yard has a brown spot and unhealthy looking. Pet urine for example, is full of Nitrogen which the grass quickly absorbs, and subsequently dies off. You may notice that around the edges of dead spots, that the grass ironically looks greener and healthier than ever. This is because small traces of Nitrogen are very beneficial. The problem is that large concentrations overwhelm the lawn. Dogs are the main culprits because cats tend to prefer soiled areas for digging. The best thing you can do is simply train your dog to pee in a part of the yard away from the grass and plants.

Brown Patch Disease/Fungus

What is Brown Patch Disease?

This is a disease that shows up in St. Augustine/Zoysia grass from late August up until spring (give or take a week or two). It is a disease in the soil. In that area, it’s like cancer in the soil. It forms a brown circle or a ring, sometimes it looks like crop circles, can be disfigured also. Nothing can stop it from coming up, or get rid of it, or make it smaller, it is incurable. Yes, it will come up in your lawn every fall and run until spring. Eight to ten St. Augustine lawns, will have this disease (it is very common). Cooler soil temperatures in the fall and winter makes the disease come out of its dormant state, spreading and scarring the lawn in the mean time. In the spring the disease will go dormant and areas will recover 100 percent. As temperatures in the spring go up a long with temperatures outside this will cause the disease to go dormant, being it doesn’t like hot soil temperatures. Inside the brown patch areas the grass will turn brown and look like it’s dying but it’s not, it is temporarily bruising the lawn. The disease will weaken those areas, turning them brown, and you may get a little top growth but not to be alarmed, it will recover. You can rake areas if you choose, it will not hurt the lawn, but don’t take clippings out of area and transfer clippings to other parts of the lawn because you can be spreading the disease. The following spring, those area’s may be slower to recover than others due to the stress from the disease. At times you can see a golden yellow ring will be around the brown patch circle this means the disease is very active, and spreading.

How do I get Brown Patch Disease?

There a number of ways of getting Brown Patch Disease, soil moving from one lawn to another, mowing services, lawn care services, also walking over the disease and transferring it to another lawn. Brown Patch Disease being a soil disease it is fueled by cooler soil temperatures and a lot of moisture. These two combined, triggers the disease to come out of dormancy. The disease does not like hot soil temperatures or weather this is why it goes dormant during the spring and summer. It is a fall and winter disease, going dormant coming spring. The roots of the grass will stay intact, rooted into the soil if it is Brown Patch Disease. A little dead top growth will come out of spots if raked out, unlike Grub Worms roots are cut in half and grass will pull up with no root connection into the soil, very easily. I have heard of people taking dirt out of areas and putting new dirt and new sod, and brown patch not showing up again and I have also heard that it has shown up again after replacing the dirt and sod so there is a 50/50 chance that it will work for you.

What to do to treat Brown Patch?

Fungicide is a product that will slow brown patch disease from spreading and scarring the lawn so bad. It will not stop it from coming up, or get rid of it, or make the spot smaller, it just slows it down from growing. Watering your lawn properly during brown patch season, can help you also minimize the spreading and scarring of the disease. If you are over-watering this time of year, you’re making the disease worse (you are feeding the fire). You cannot help mother nature but you can control how you are watering.

How to water during Brown Patch season up until spring?

Water from late August to spring just when you feel it needs it (not saying stop watering all year and let the lawn die). Twenty minutes per zone or area when you do water, make sure to water deep so you don’t have to water so often. Water mornings only, especially during this time of year. As temperature’s get cooler/colder during the fall and winter, the soil temperature gets colder and the water doesn’t evaporate as quick as it does in the spring and summer because the temperatures are much higher.

Final Reminder:

Brown Patch Disease, Grub Worms and Sod Webworms can all three be active at the same time of year. Understanding Brown Patch Disease, knowing when it starts, recognizing the signs, and taking the proper actions can save your lawn a lot of stress and a quicker recovery.