Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Larry

One important process of proper lawn care is fertilizing your lawn. So let’s get started…

Lawn Care: When Should I Fertilize?

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According to most lawn care sources, early autumn is best for fertilizing your lawn. Fertilization is a basic procedure to keep your lawn green and full. If you fertilize properly, it makes your lawn beautiful. If done improperly however, it can lead to problems, such as fertilizer burn.

If you’re not careful you can over-fertilize your lawn. Fertilizer burn occurs when the levels of nitrogen reaches toxic levels for the grass. If you do over fertilize your lawn, and you notice leaf scorch or fertilizer burn, first off, don’t panic. Be aware that your lawn can recover, but it will take time. You may need a lawn care professional to come in leech the fertilizer out by diluting it slowly and gradually. The type of fertilizer you use can also help to prevent burning.

What Fertilizer Should I Use for Proper Lawn Care?

Even among lawn care services there is often debate about what fertilizer you should use. Some are strong proponents of organic fertilizer, while others use a balanced nitrogen solution. To cut through the confusion, you want to make sure that the product you’re using doesn’t have a high nitrogen percentage, and you also do not want fertilizer that has too low of a percentage.

As you see, sometimes it is a little more complicated than you might think. When you are in doubt, call in a lawn care service in Gilbert instead.

Part two of this series on lawn care explored gas and electric mowers, and part one covered when and how much to mow your lawn.

If you need lawn care, call a professional. Green Servpro has been serving the Greater Phoenix area for over 25 years.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Get Lawn Care

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Larry

Part two of a three part series on lawn care explores the use of lawnmowers. There are three types of lawnmowers out there: manual, gas-powered, and electric. Which is best? Well, they each have their strengths and weaknesses.

What About Gas Powered Lawn Mowers and Lawn Care?

It’s estimated that over 50 million people that don’t use lawn care services in the US mow their lawns every weekend. This has an alarming cost, both to your pocketbook and to the environment. First off, gasoline is not cheap. As of the time of this article, gasoline is running at about $3.75 a gallon on average. Per year, we use 800 million gallons of gas and produce tons of air pollutants. Until the late 1990’s, garden equipment wasn’t covered under emissions standards. Lawn mowers alone emit dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides, and are responsible for up to 5% of the nation’s air pollution particularly in metropolitan areas.

One of the most effective ways of reducing air pollution is to reduce the number of internal combustion engines out there. Hiring a lawn care service in Phoenix, AZ, is actually better for the environment. Less use of gasoline, and less use of lawn mowers. If you still wish to use a gas mower, they are fairly durable, only needing spark plugs every now and then and routine maintenance.

Are Electric Mowers Used in the Lawn Care Industry

Yes. There are two types of electric mowers used by your Phoenix lawn care service: battery based and corded. A battery powered electric mower has a battery that you put in a charger until you need it, then you pop the battery in the lawn mower and then mow. The advantage to battery-powered units is that there is obviously no danger of unplugging them accidentally all the time, however, they can also run out of a charge if they’re not fully charged. A corded mower is more likely to keep going, that is until you yank the cord out when it gets tangled.

The old-fashioned push mower is obviously the best for the environment, however, it is much more labor intensive to mow even just a small yard. So as you see, lawn care is a lot simpler in the hands of a pro.

Part one of our series on lawn care covered how much to mow, and part two explored the types of mowers to use. Part three of our series will explore how much and when to fertilize.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Larry

Lawn care is all about knowledge. What type of seed, how often you should mow, and what you should use to control weeds are just some of the questions you need answered before you start setting up your lawn.

Lawn Care: How Often Should I Mow?

Grass grows fairly quickly. A good rule of thumb for mowing your lawn as part of proper lawn care is every week to ten days. Otherwise, your lawn will begin to get out of control. When you mow your lawn as you may or may not know, make sure it hasn’t rained for at least two days and also that you haven’t watered your lawn. Otherwise, instead of cutting your grass all you are doing is flattening it slightly. Then it will start to grow at all angles. Cut the grass when it is relatively dry, and then figure out what you want to do with the mulch.

Lawn Care: Mulch or No?

A lot of people argue about mulching. One lawn care professional on television will highly recommend a mulching mower, while another one will recommend that all of the cut grass should be removed to help eliminate weeds. For the record, mulching neither helps nor stops weeds from growing. It can provide a level of fertilizer for your lawn and help you to build turf effectively. Too much mulch however, particularly if you haven’t mowed your lawn in a while can lead to bare spots on your lawn. So use your best judgement on mulch. You also have other considerations if you want to mow your lawn yourself, like what type of mower to get.

Believe it or not, manual lawn mowers still exist, even more than a century after they first came out, and they do have a bit going for them. For one thing, they’re durable. A manual mower can last years or even decades, and need just a bit of sharpening every now and then. They are great exercise too. The biggest drawback they have is that they are slow. It takes two to three passes of a section of grass to get it to cut down. If you get tired, you’re better off calling in a lawn care company to mow your lawn for you.

Part two of this series on lawn care will explore gas and electric mowers, and part three will cover when and how much to fertilize your lawn.

If you need lawn care, call a professional. Green Servpro has been serving the Greater Phoenix area for over 25 years.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Get Lawn Care

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Seed or Sod?

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Larry

Lawn care is all about choices. Do you use a sun mix of grass seed, or a sun/shade mix? Should you use a ground covering? Should you skip the seed completely and just put down sod?

Sod: One Type of Lawn Care

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Sod is one option you have when you’re looking at lawn care. Here are some tips from This Old House about how to lay down sod:

When it comes to getting a thick, healthy lawn, nothing beats sod for instant gratification. Sure, it costs a bit more: about $400 to cover a 1,000-square-foot backyard (double that installed). But lay it right and in a couple of weeks you’ve got a dense, well-established lawn that’s naturally resistant to weeds, diseases, and pest infestations.

“You’re basically buying time,” says This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook. “You’re paying for turf that someone else has coddled for 14 to 18 months.”

You’re also buying convenience. Sod can be installed spring through fall (and even in winter in mild climates). In areas of the country that favor cool-season grasses, like the Northeast, it avoids the problem of sprouting a nice crop of weeds when seeding a lawn in spring. And in southern states, which favor warm-season grasses like Bermuda grass, zoysia grass, and centipede grass, sod is the best way to cover the yard at any time of year, since these turf types cannot be grown from seed. [READ MORE]

Seed is another option to consider as part of a lawn maintenance regimen. There are several types of grass seed that grow well in Arizona. Each of these seed types work in different levels of light and have different watering requirements. Call in a lawn maintenance company to help you decided which type of seed you should use for your property.

If you want to use seed, plant in mid-late spring, which in Arizona is Feb-Mar. Also make sure that you put down ground covering to keep birds from eating the grass seed. After all, you want a lawn, not a buffet. When in doubt, call in a lawn maintenance service to help you seed bare spots, or care for your lawn appropriately.

Green Servpro is an Arizona based lawn maintenance company serving the greater Phoenix area.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
greenservpro.com

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care and You

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Larry

Lawn care in Arizona is often misunderstood. A good portion of Arizona’s population is from somewhere else, particularly colder climates. As a result of this, they are often bemused that their lawn which did so well in the Northeastern US does so terribly here. Arizona has an extreme environment, and as a result, grass seed from a cold wet climate will not thrive without a few extra steps that you will have to take.

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Lawn Care and Avoiding Mistakes

Lawn care is all about knowing how to adapt to Arizona. One common mistake that people make when they are trying to seed their lawn is planting the wrong sort of grass seed. From the 1950’s to the 1970’s in Arizona for example, Bermuda grass was seeded in a lot of developments as it does well in warm weather climates.

When it is closely trimmed, Bermuda grass is almost indistinguishable from other types of grass, like fescue, rye, or bluegrass. However, using Bermuda grass for a lawn has its own challenges, as any lawn care service can tell you.

Lawn Care Tips

As any lawn care expert knows, Bermuda grass sends out runners that if unchecked can strangle out other plants in your garden or landscaping. If you cut the grass and these runners are entwined in any other plants, the runners will die off, leaving a dried brown matted mess of grass that takes a lot of effort to remove.

Good lawn care is all about the choices you make. Should you plant seed, or lay down sod instead? Both have their pluses and minuses. Grass seed requires that you place ground covering over the top of it. Otherwise, birds will eat up your grass seed before it has a chance to germinate. If you lay down sod, you must make sure you find the balance between too little water or too much. You need enough water for the sod to root, but not so much that it kills the grass.

Both sod and seed require that you have a bit of patience. Sod takes 2-3 weeks to root properly, and until it does, you have a bunch of squares and rectangles on your lawn. Seed requires about a month to germinate. So which is better? Seed or sod? Depends on what you want to do with your lawn. When in doubt call in a lawn care service. They will be able to tell you what will work best.

Green Servpro is a Phoenix lawn care company.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Get Lawn Care

Home and Garden, Irrigation and Sprinkler Service, Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance, Sprinkler Repair, Sprinklers

Lawn Maintenance Tips Part 3

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Larry

Time for lawn maintenance — Time for Lawn Maintenance | (928) 356-8167

Lawn maintenance is more than just seeding and fertilizing, there is also watering. Part three of a three part article series explores how much water you’re going to need and how often you’re going to need. Part one of this series explored seeding your lawn, and part two explored fertilizing.

Lawn Maintenance and Watering

First off, how much water will your lawn need? Well, according to the University of Illinois:

How much water does a lawn need? In general, cool-season grasses need about one to 1.5 inches of water per week to maintain green color and active growth, and naturally slow down in growth and may go dormant in hot weather. Factors such as the soil, weather, and management practices all have a role in water needs of lawns. Here are a few general rules to follow:

Decide before summer to either water lawns consistently as needed throughout the season, or let lawns go dormant as conditions turn warm and dry. Do not rotate back and forth. In other words, don’t let the grass turn totally brown, apply enough water to green it up, and then let the grass go dormant again, as breaking dormancy actually drains large amounts of food reserves from the plant.

To read the source article, please click here.

Know How Much Water is Needed for Proper Lawn Care

With good lawn maintenance, you want a balance between over watering and not watering enough. The amount of water that each type of grass needs varies significantly between species. Warm weather and drought tolerant grass doesn’t need as much water as water from a cooler and moister climate. Make sure that your watering method is in good working order. Check your hose for kinks or breaks, and if you have a built in sprinkler system, make sure that you don’t need a sprinkler repair job done.

Lawns are fairly easy to take care of. It is about putting down the right type of seed, and fertilizing the grass properly, and making sure that you put down the right amount of water. With all of these skills down, you will find that lawn maintenance isn’t as hard as you may think.

Read Part 1 of this series
Read Part 2 of this series
Read Part 3 of this series

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
greenservpro.com

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance, Uncategorized

Lawn Maintenance Tips Part 2

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Larry

Fertilizing your lawn is the next stage of lawn maintenance. In part two of our series, we’ll cover fertilization of your lawn. Fertilizer fits into two categories: organic and chemical fertilizer. First off, what is fertilizer? According to this Wikipedia excerpt: Fertilizer (or fertiliser) is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions: Six macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S);
eight micronutrients: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) (1987).

The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue in quantities from 0.15% to 6.0% on a dry matter (0% moisture) basis (DM). Micronutrients are consumed in smaller quantities and are present in plant tissue on the order of parts per million (ppm), ranging from 0.15 to 400 ppm DM, or less than 0.04% DM.[5][6] Only three other macronutrients are required by all plants: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These nutrients are supplied by water and carbon dioxide. To read more of this Wikipedia, please visit the source material here. Fertilizer, as a part of a lawn maintenance schedule, doesn’t just help your lawn to grow, it also helps it to thrive as well. But which should you choose and why?

Organic fertilizer is usually a combination of animal or plant material that is rendered for the nutrients. It is slightly better for the environment than chemical fertilizer, Chemical fertilizer is usually nitrogen based, and while it can help plants to grow, it can also cause problems such as algal blooms in the ocean which can be lethal to various forms of life. Living in Arizona, runoff from fertilizer isn’t as much of a problem as it is in coastal areas, or river mouths, however it is a good idea to consider what type of fertilizer to apply when you are doing your lawn maintenance. You also want to make sure to apply the fertilizer at the proper times each year.

You want to fertilize pretty much every season except winter, though in Arizona, winters are notoriously mild. You pretty much want to fertilize your lawn in varying degrees from spring until fall. When in doubt, make sure you do a bit of additional research or call in a company that specializes in lawn maintenance.

Read Part 1 of this series
Read Part 2 of this series
Read Part 3 of this series

Green ServPro is a lawn maintenance company based in Prescott, Arizona.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
http://www.greenservpro.com

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Maintenance Tips Part 1

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Larry

Lawn maintenance is made up of three procedures that interconnect: seeding, fertilizing, and watering. In this three part article series, we will explore seeding.

According to this article from Wikipedia:

Early autumn, spring, and early summer are the primary seasons to seed, lay sod, plant ‘liners’, or ‘sprig’ new lawns, when the soil is warmer and air cooler. Seeding is the least expensive, but takes longer for the lawn to establish; deeper rooting, though, can make for a more durable lawn. Aerating just before planting/seeding will promote deeper root growth and will help thicken turf. To read more of this article, please visit the source article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn. Seeding is just the first step of lawn maintenance.

The first thing to do when selecting grass seed for lawn maintenance is to pick the seed that works well in Arizona. Grass is broken down into two main categories: warm season and cool season. Cool season grasses do better in cooler climates, but they need a lot of water, or they’ll brown over in the summer. Warm season grasses are heat tolerant, however they brown over and go dormant in cooler temperatures. There are six types of grass seed used for lawns: Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, buffalo grass, perennial rye, Bermuda, and Zoysia.

Kentucky bluegrass does well in cooler seasons like Autumn and early spring, and is widely used in North America. It’s used for homes as well as parks and playing fields. Fescue is a category of grass seed, and there are usually three types: fine, tall, and turf type. Native to North America, buffalo grass matures well and makes a lawn that is both uniform and has very impressive tolerances for heat, drought, and cold. Used in the Southwestern United States for overseeding during cooler winter months, perennial rye grass makes a durable lawn that lasts well. Bermuda grass requires low water and is an excellent choice for Southern US states because they it hasa high tolerance for traffic. Zoysia grass is fine textured and forms a thick mat after it establishes itself, however, because of its slow growth rates, it can take up to three years for a zoysia lawn to be fully established. A lawn maintenance company would be able to determine which type of grass seed to plant.

Read Part 1 of this series
Read Part 2 of this series
Read Part 3 of this series

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
http://www.greenservpro.com

Home and Garden, Lawn, Lawn Care

Time for Lawn Maintenance?

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Larry

So, be honest here. It is time for lawn maintenance?

Looks like its time for lawn maintenance to us…

Green ServPro is a lawn maintenance company serving East Valley Cities like Gilbert, Tempe, Mesa, and Prescott.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Lawn Care

Lawn, Lawn Care

Lawn Maintenance and Property Values

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Larry

Is lawn maintenance part of property estimates? Not completely, however, it is one factor that is used to determine mean property values in an area. If an area has homes that are kept up and landscaped well, they are assessed at a much higher value than homes that are dilapidated and run down. First off, what part of your property is considered the lawn?

Your Lawn and Lawn Maintenance

A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants and can be defined by four characteristics: It is composed only of grass species; it is subject to weed and pest control; it is subject to practices aimed at maintaining its green color; and it is regularly mowed to ensure an acceptable length.[1] Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn. In recreational contexts, the specialised names turf, pitch, field or green may be used, depending on the sport and the continent. The term lawn, referring to a managed grass space, dates to no earlier than the 16th century. Tied to suburban expansion and the creation of the household aesthetic, the lawn is an important aspect of the interaction between the natural environment and the constructed urban and suburban space. To read more of this article, please click here. Whether in a large open city park or your own front yard, lawns require lawn maintenance.

Why People Prefer Lawns and Lawn Maintenance

Lawns add a bit of beauty to your home. While a lot of people try to save money by getting gravel and desert landscaping, such landscaping is not for everyone. There is actually another surprising reason to have a lawn as opposed to gravel. As they are a natural repository for moisture then can help to cool your home. Temperatures drop by 10 degrees off a lawn that has had proper lawn maintenance and watering done.

Lawn Maintenance and You

Some people can do their own lawn, particularly in a smaller space, however, it is often better to call in a company to help you with your lawn, as it can be a bit tricky without the proper seed and fertilizer. If you do need a lawn maintenance company, go with someone local.

Green ServPro is a Prescott-based landscaping and lawn maintenance company.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
http://www.greenservpro.com