Lawn Care Kentucky includes mowing, aeration, seeding, weed control and tree and shrub care. These services keep lawns lush and healthy and improve curb appeal.
Grass needs nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to thrive. It gets the first two from air and water, but must get the last three from soil or applied fertilizers.
Lawns need routine mowing, watering and fertilization to keep them lush and beautiful. When these treatments are done on the right schedule, they stop unwelcome insects and diseases from making themselves at home in your yard.
Start with a thorough soil test. The results tell you the proportion of sand, silt and clay in your soil as well as its pH. Knowing your soil type helps determine how often you should aerate, and it also influences other lawn care decisions, such as whether to use cool-season or warm-season grass cultivars.
If your soil is too alkaline (pH higher than 7.0), adding sulfur will correct it. If your soil is too sandy, it won’t hold water very well; you’ll need to irrigate more frequently. And if your soil is too dense, it won’t allow for good root development and may become compacted over time.
Healthy grass grows thicker and outcompetes weeds, so it needs to be regularly mowed. It should be mowed high enough that the leaves are no longer touching the ground, but not so high that it becomes ragged and brown.
The best-looking lawns are dark green, but achieving that color takes more than just regular mowing. It’s important to choose quality fertilizer and follow the application instructions on the label. Using a local garden center or fertilizer supplier rather than a big box store is better, since they will sell products specially blended for your climate.
Over time, grass uses up the nutrients in the soil. To replenish these, you need to feed it. The timing of this is important, too. A soil test reveals the amount of nitrogen and other nutrients your soil requires, so you can buy the right amounts at the right times to avoid overdoing it.
A dense lawn needs aeration to help it breathe, but you don’t want to aerate too frequently or you’ll damage the grassroots. Aim to aerate your turf in spring and fall for the best results. If your yard is thin, scatter grass seed in bare spots to promote growth and fend off weeds.
Weed Control
Weeds compete with grass for nutrients, water and sunlight. They can detract from the beauty of a well-groomed lawn, so it’s important to identify and control them. Many weeds are perennial or annual and will come back each year unless they are killed. A common mistake is to kill all weeds with an herbicide, but a more effective approach is to target specific weeds and use nonchemical controls when possible.
Most weeds can be controlled with hand-weeding or other nonchemical methods. If the weeds are very established, however, fertilizer and/or herbicide may be needed to kill them. Choosing the right products and using them correctly is crucial to the success of any weed control program. It is important to follow the directions on the product label exactly. If not used properly, the product could fail to control the weeds or damage desirable plants, and it may run off site and contaminate creeks and rivers.
There are different types of herbicides for controlling weeds, including preemergence and postemergence products. The weeds should be in the early germinating or seedling stage for the preemergence herbicides to be most effective, such as dimethphenamid-d, flumioxazin, indaziflam, isoxaben, napropamide and oryzalin. The postemergence herbicides clethodim, fluazifop-p-butyl or sethoxydim are good choices for larger weeds. Many of these require addition of a surfactant for best results.
A few weeds are normal in a healthy lawn, but excessive growth can be a sign of an underlying problem such as poor soil conditions or improper cultural practices. Correcting the underlying problem will help reduce or eliminate the need for weed killers and prevent serious problems in the future.
A few weeds also can be controlled by using mulches, modifying irrigation or pulling the weeds before they go to seed. Another way to reduce weeds is to encourage the spread of desirable plants by creating and maintaining good garden or landscape design. Then, the desirable plants will out-compete the weeds for water and nutrients and prevent them from spreading. The use of stale seedbeds, crop rotation and other site-specific strategies can also reduce the number of viable weed seeds in soil.
Pest Control
A good lawn care service will use a combination of weed control, disease control and pest control products as needed. They’ll also fertilize the turf and soil to keep it healthy. The key is to use these products when they’re most needed, and not just to make a lawn look good for a few months.
Insects and other harmful bugs will infiltrate any lawn, and the best way to treat them is by spraying a targeted area with a low-toxicity insecticide, such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This product is safe for pets and kids when used properly. It’s also much better for the environment than broad-scale insecticides, which kill all insects instead of just those that are causing damage.
It’s not uncommon for fungi to develop in the grass, and when this happens, a fungicide treatment is necessary. This prevents and controls lawn diseases such as leaf spot, brown patch and summer patch.
A good lawn care company will know how to recognize the early signs of these issues, so they can get them under control before they spread. They’ll also know which fungicide treatments are the most effective for your specific type of grass and soil, so you can save money by using less product. And finally, they’ll be able to give you expert advice about watering your lawn to ensure that it stays healthy and in optimal condition. This may include recommending irrigation or sprinkler systems and educating you on water conservation and efficiency. They might even help you get rebates on your water bill!