Lawn care services can help achieve a vibrant, healthy lawn. These services include soil testing, mowing, aeration, weed control, and pest control.
Soil testing reveals pH levels and nutrient content that affect grass health. Adding gardeners sulfur can lower the pH and add essential nutrients to promote growth. Click Here to learn more.
Fungicide treatments prevent and treat lawn diseases like dollar spot, leaf spot, red thread, and brown patch.
What is Lawn Care?
Lawn care encompasses a wide range of services and practices that nurture grass and soil to promote healthy turf. From mowing to fertilization to pest control, lawn care is essential for creating a lush landscape that adds curb appeal to your home or business.
A healthy lawn is a great place to play, relax and entertain. It’s also the backdrop for all your outdoor memories. But a lawn is nothing without a beautiful landscape to go with it. That’s why lawn care and landscaping go hand-in-hand to create the perfect backyard oasis.
Proper watering is key to a healthy lawn. A thorough soil test will help you determine the right amount of water your lawn needs, as well as the best time of day to water. Soil compaction can prevent water and nutrients from reaching the roots, so aeration is important to avoid this. Core aeration helps relieve this condition by perforating the soil with holes, which also eliminates thatch buildup and allows for better moisture absorption.
Weed control is another critical aspect of lawn care. The most effective way to eliminate broadleaf weeds is through regular, consistent treatment with pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides. A yearly program is recommended for optimal results.
Trees and shrubs are another vital part of a well-maintained property. Tree and shrub pruning keeps them looking their best by removing dead branches, suckers, or other unhealthy growth. Fertilization is often recommended to ensure optimal health, and it can be in the form of a soil-injected liquid or granular application. We also offer insect and disease management, utilizing fungicides for diseases such as turf rust and grubs.
Mowing
A lush, healthy lawn provides a green backdrop for flowering shrubs and perennial flowers, enhances curb appeal and can even serve as habitat for wildlife. New York lawn care professionals can help you select and plant native species that require low maintenance, such as deer-resistant coronation gold yarrow.
Lawn care companies provide regular mowing, weed control and other services to improve your property’s appearance and health. They know how to properly fertilize your lawn (rather than over-fertilize or apply at the wrong time, which can cause fertilizer burn), use aeration tools and techniques that work best for your property and its location, and tackle other seasonal tasks, such as leaf removal, weed control and tree trimming.
One of the most popular landscaping services is mowing. A professional lawn mowing crew can eat up a yard in no time and leave it looking neat, crisp and well-kept. They can also handle edging, mulching, soil amendments, tree and shrub pruning and special cleaning tasks like spring and fall cleanups.
If you’re tired of fighting weeds by hand, hiring a lawn care service to spray them with herbicides can save you time and effort. They know how to spot weeds quickly and treat them effectively. They can also help you create a plan for managing your weeds that works best for your property, budget and lifestyle.
Lawn Love has a team of local pros who are experienced in mowing, edging, mulching, aerating and weeding. They can transform your Ithaca, Saratoga Springs or Rochester lawn into a landscape worthy of Instagram fame and all at a price that won’t break the bank. They can set you up with recurring lawn care services, which will save you money and give you peace of mind that your lawn is always in tip-top shape.
Fertilizing
A healthy, vibrant lawn needs a regular supply of nutrients. Fertilizers add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil in a granular or liquid form. Plants absorb these through their roots and use them to grow. Fertilizers also replenish nutrients that have been used up or pulled out of the soil by weeds or other plants. There are natural organic and manufactured fertilizers available. Each has its own benefits and disadvantages. All types of fertilizers can cause environmental problems if not applied properly or if used in excess.
Many manufactured fertilizers contain high levels of nitrogen. Grass that gets too much of this nutrient may experience burning on the surface of the ground and weakening in the roots. Organic or natural fertilizers typically contain a lower concentration of these nutrients. They can be less expensive than manufactured products, but more bags will be needed to provide the same amount of nutrients. This may make them less cost-effective.
A grass that is healthy is not only more attractive, but it is also more resistant to weeds. A fertilization schedule that starts in the spring and continues through mid-autumn is important for a lush, green lawn. A lawn care company can advise you on a fertilization program for your specific type of grass. They can also recommend the best types of flowers, shrubs and trees for your landscape in the climate in which you live. This will improve the appearance of your property and add to its value. Native, low-maintenance plants are often preferred, from blue wild indigo to deer-resistant coronation gold yarrow. Mulching helps moderate soil temperature, retains moisture and suppresses weed growth. It can also reduce the need for watering and mowing.
Weed Control
Weed control involves any activity that reduces the number of undesirable plants growing in a lawn. Because weeds compete for water, nutrients and light, their removal results in improved growth of desired turf species. Some weeds produce seeds that are dispersed by wind, animals and machinery. This makes them difficult to eradicate. Other weeds reproduce vegetatively and develop rhizomes or creeping roots that are difficult to remove once established.
Preventive weed management is the most effective means of control. Depending on the weed species, preventive measures include cultivation, crop rotation, cover crops, tillage, mowing and herbicides. Herbicides are effective only if the correct growth stage of the weed is targeted. Ideally, herbicides are applied at the germination stage of the weed or during the first few weeks after emergence. Alternatively, the weeds can be mowed before they go to seed. For biennial and winter annual weeds such as yellow starthistle, mowing can prevent seed production if it is done before flowering.
Herbicides can be used to kill the entire weed or selectively infested areas of a field. It is important that the weeds be in the most susceptible growth stage for the particular type of herbicide used.
Other methods of weed control include burning, steaming, boiling, flaming, solarization, mechanical methods such as digging, pulling and mowing and the use of mulches to suppress weed growth. Biological controls that utilize living agents to reduce the vigor of weeds can also be effective. These agents can include insects, fungi and grazing livestock.
Correct identification of the weed is essential to success in all weed control methods. This may involve consulting neighbours, local agricultural fieldmen and plant identification books.
Pest Control
Lawn care services that include pest control are vital for the health of your turf. There are many different types of harmful insects that can ruin turf if not managed properly. The best lawn care companies utilize preventative insect control treatments to help reduce the need for reactive treatment.
For example, grubs are a common sub-surface pest that destroys grass roots and creates unsightly patches in the yard. We offer preventative grub control that works by applying a product in the spring that takes care of the young grubs before they can mature and cause damage. This helps reduce the need for curative products in late summer when they are typically not effective.
Another preventative service we offer is fungicide. Fungicides protect your turfgrass from diseases that can wreak havoc on your lawn. Diseases like dollar spot fungus, red thread fungus and brown patch fungus can quickly deteriorate the health of your grass if not treated. These diseases are exacerbated by wet conditions and poor drainage.
The hot summer heat often brings high levels of surface feeding pests like ants, earwigs and house crickets. A thick, well maintained lawn discourages the spread of these pests but, if needed, lawn care services will apply a preventative treatment that reduces their numbers. In the winter, pests like mice, rats and spiders invade homes looking for warmth so it is important that your lawn has been kept healthy throughout the year to provide a barrier. We use EPA approved Integrated Pest Management programs that focus on prevention and only apply pesticides when necessary.
