Aeration

Scheduled in early Spring & or Fall typically prior to over seeding the lawn. Prior to aerating we suggest flagging any obstacles in the ground which may be damaged from the aerator machine such as sprinkler system equipment. Aeration, one of the most overlooked necessities for any lawn. The process of aeration plugs holes into the ground punching through the thatch layer built up on top of the ground, allowing water, air, and nutrients to the roots of your grass, promoting healthier, sturdier, greener, and denser grass. If it can be afforded performing aeration in Spring and Fall would be the best for the lawn.

Lawn treatment program (6 steps)

We offer a six application program for your yard. This process helps keep your yard in the best condition for the entire season. These applications are designed to help fertilize for healthy growth, prevent and kill weeds, and help prevent and control pests that damage your lawn. For the best results it is recommended that all of the following rounds be watered in right after application with exception of Round 2 which is a liquid application. The treatment program rounds are all child and pet friendly. It is recommended to keep children and pets off the lawn following Round 2 until it has dried.

• Round 1: An application designed to prevent crab grass and other grassy weeds from growing in your lawn. This is also a slow release fertilization to help your lawn with a strong start to the season. Scheduled in early Spring.
• Round 2: An application designed to kill broadleaf weeds that have started to grow such as: dandelions, hen-bit, check-weeds, and clover. A second round of fertilization to help with growth, color and density. This is typically a liquid blanket spray. You should keep your pets and kids off the lawn until dry approximately 4-6 hours after the application. Scheduled in late spring.
• Round 3: An application of granular insecticide that targets the dangerous grub worm that can damage the lawn very quickly. Grubs typically will be active May-July in the lawn. This is scheduled in early summer.
• Round 4: An application of an insecticide to attack and control summer insects in that make their home in your lawn. While this is not a replacement for proper pest control this round helps prevent and control infestation of worms, moths, beetles, fleas, ticks and grubs. Fertilizer is included to help maintain its strength and growth through the end of summer. The insect control could be scheduled several times through the season for better control of annoying pests such as mosquitos. The insect control will only last about 1.5 months depending on how much rainfall we get that will wash away the protection. Scheduled in late summer July-August. Can be scheduled 2 or 3 other times upon request.
• Round 5: An application designed to help control and kill weed grasses and other weeds that could be reappearing in your yard. This round also fertilizes your lawn to continue to promote strong root structure, color, and growth. Scheduled in early fall.
• Round 6: An application designed to be one of the most impactful rounds for your lawn. This round has huge impact on controlling the weeds in the spring of the next year. We apply a winterizer fertilizer with a 2% slow release nitrogen that feeds the lawn what it needs through the winter. Giving your lawn the boost it needs to come back strong and dense with great color next season, when we start all over! Scheduled in late fall.

Verticut, Rake, & Remove Thatch - Fall

Scheduled in early Spring and Fall, and is typically scheduled prior to performing an over seeding of the lawn. Prior to verticutting we suggest either you or letting us flag your sprinkler equipment to avoid damage from the machine. Verticutting’s primary purpose is to rough up the ground and cut through the thatch build up on top of the ground which prevents the new seed from making direct contact with the lawn’s soil, which is necessary for proper germination of the seed. Thatch is a layer of organic materials over time from the cut grass clippings and other debris from the environment on the property. We cut shallow vertical grooves into the entire lawn cutting through the thatch layer. We will then rake the entire lawn by hand which removes most of the loosened cut thatch from the ground. Any areas that machine blades will not contact we will rough up by hand. The thatch will be bagged and hauled away. This process is one of the best ways to get new grass established in small problem areas of the lawn and even renovations of entire lawns.

Starter Fertilizer

Scheduled in early Spring and Fall usually following any over seeding service. Starter fertilizer will jump start the germination process and accelerate the growth of new grass seed and established grass. Giving your existing lawn’s roots a boost, it also improves your lawn’s ability to absorb water and nutrients. We also suggest applying starter fertilizer to the ground where sod will be installed jump starting the sod’s root development.

Spot Seeding - Spring

Scheduled in early Spring. During the service we will inspect the lawn for thin or bare areas and apply seed to those areas by hand. Installing a seed germination enhancement would be our suggestion to get the best results from the seeding: Seed germination mat, straw, peat moss or similar product. Your lawn can and will almost always develop some thin or bare spots each year for several reasons. The grass was damaged from extreme heat and drought from previous season, died out from not getting enough water, was smothered from leaf debris left on the grass too long, leaves left on the lawn going into winter it snows and the leaves freeze to the ground, extremely hard winters with low temperatures and drought. All of these reasons can contribute to the bare spots that show up in your lawn.

Mowing, trim, edge, blow clippings

Scheduled weekly or bi-weekly in some cases, typically starting in March and ending sometime in November depending on the season. The mowing service can be scheduled along with our tree shrub and bed maintenance service “remove unwanted growth weeds and suckers” from your existing landscape bed areas. You save money on a tree shrub & bed maintenance plan if you are on the schedule for mowing. We always suggest being on a weekly frequency for optimal appearance, bi-weekly frequencies will allow the grass to get a little too tall for any mowers to cut efficiently. Grass should be maintained to 3.5” to 4.5” tall and each time the grass is cut you should not be cutting off any more than 1/3rd of the total length of the grass. Our mowing service will include mowing with yard with strict emphasis on setting 2 patterns on the lawn and alternating those patterns each time it is cut. We will trim with string trimmer along the perimeter of the front and back yard, fence lines, landscape bed lines, obstacles in the middle of yard including tree rings, play sets, etc. We will blow the grass clippings back onto the lawn from patios, driveways, walks, streets, and out of landscape beds. We will even look for clippings that may have gotten to your air conditioner. All of these tasks, part of our standard mowing procedures, will leave your lawn looking manicured.

Leaf & Debris Clean Up - Spring & Fall (2 visits)

Scheduled in early Spring, Fall and late Fall as part of our Gold & Platinum turf care plan. Although this services can be scheduled anytime of the year if a property needs to be done. Lawn, landscape areas, shrubs, hard surfaces, and decks will be cleared of leaves and the various other debris that comes out of the trees such as limbs, helicopters, gum balls, etc. The leaves will be blown onto the lawn areas and mulched by mowers until they are mulched up enough to minimize disposal space, then the leaf mulch will be removed from the yard. Our suggestion would be to have the debris cleaned up 2-3 times if possible in the Fall this will protect any new young grass established and the existing mature grass from being smothered out by tree debris. In any area where there are many established shade trees, we strongly suggest against waiting until all of the leaves fall off of your trees for a one time clean up.

Seeding Entire Lawn

Scheduled in early Spring and Fall. We suggest over seeding the lawn following either Aeration & or Verticutting of the lawn. Included in our Platinum plan, we suggest that you over seed the yard each year in the Fall. Fall is the most effective time to germinate new grass seed, due to favorable weather conditions. We will use fescue & blue grass seed blend for sunny areas and apply a mixed shade seed blend in the shady areas of the property. We apply the seed at the rate of 8lbs per 1,000 sq. ft. Complete bare areas of the yard our crews will automatically inspect and apply extra seed to those areas, and we would suggest installing a seed germination enhancer such as; seed germination mat, straw, peat moss or similar product. Using a seed germination enhancer will retain moisture to the seed, minimize seed washing away from rain storms, and help control the birds eating your new grass seed. For the best germination results we suggest that you water the newly seeded lawn 2-3 times per day for about 5-10 min in all areas for about 2-3 weeks, then start to water the lawn less frequent and for longer periods of time promoting healthy deep root growth. Seeding your lawn each year will counter act the grass damaged from extreme heat and drought, grass that died out from not getting enough water, grass smothered from leaf debris left on the grass too long, and winter damage.

Lime Application

Scheduled typically in the Fall (September-October) along with grass establishment services. Lime is crucial to restore the lawns soil back to a neutral pH level. Our soils around the area tend to grow acidic over time. Acidity is caused by different factors including use of nitrogen based fertilizers, use of compost, leaf debris, pine needles, or if rain water contained sulfur. A soil test is the best determining factor for how much lime should be applied to your property. It is suggested to let us perform a soil test or you may use a home testing kit taking soil samples from various areas of the both front and back yard to get the pH level. When a soil test results in a pH reading less than 5.5% a lime application is needed. Fall is the recommended time because the lime application treats your soil, not your grass. You are preparing for more optimal conditions for grass growth in the next season and lime can burn growing grass so you want to apply it as the growing season comes to an end.

Flag Sprinkler Equipment

Scheduled typically prior to lawn aeration or verticutting in the early Spring or Fall of each season. We will flag the sprinkler system heads and valve boxes by running the system and placing a flag by each component of the sprinkler system in the ground. Sprinkler equipment could be damage by an aerator or verticutter if not flagged. This can be added to your service plan, or you can flag the system yourself prior to us scheduling aeration or verticutting.

Soil Test

Scheduled any time of the season March-November. Soil testing is affective to get a scientific reading of your property’s soil conditions. It’s a good idea to get a soil test whenever you are having some problem areas getting grass to stay established, determine if you need to lime the lawn to restore proper pH levels in the soil, and to get a reading for any other minerals or nutrients that your lawn’s soil could need for the optimal environment for your plants, grass, and trees.

Remove Unwanted growth-weeds & suckers

Scheduled March-October. This service can be added to any turf care plan, and is also included in our Gold & Platinum landscape maintenance service plans. We will inspect all your bed areas mulch, groundcover, river rocks, bushes, and trees. Removing the suckers that grow off the base of a tree trunk or out of the ground from shallow roots, remove weeds from all plants, shrubs and bed areas by hand. We look at the shrubs for those ugly suckers or vines that can grow right from the middle of a shrub. Remove dead foliage from flowers and plants that’s died back from the summer heat or stress. Keeping this service scheduled with mowing service will keep a manicured look to your existing lawn and landscape all season long.

Post Herbicide

Scheduled April-October. This can be added to any turf care service plan. Or 3 visits are included as part of the Gold landscape maintenance plan. We suggest 6 visits for the best control. Any growth along the curb lines along streets and parking lots, cracks in driveways and parking lots, sidewalks, river rock bed areas, and bed areas where weeding by hand is not cost effective. Growth sprayed you should start to see dying off anywhere from 3-10days. This kills the sucker or weed back to the root system through the foliage.

Mulch Mat

Scheduled typically in the early Spring or Fall with seeding. Mulch mat is an organic woven fabric like materials that will decompose in our natural elements of nature. We will typically use this product on sloped lawn areas to be established and very thin or completely bare ground areas of the lawn. This mat will help keep the seed in contact with the soil, retain moisture around the seed for improved germination, protect the new seed from being eaten by birds, and will minimize rain washing away the newly seeded areas. The mat will be unrolled and stapled to the ground over the seeded areas. The new grass will grow right through the mat and the mat will never have to be removed as it breaks down over a short period of time.

Peat Moss

Scheduled typically in the early Spring or Fall with seeding and spot seeding. It is spread over newly seeded bare spots to help hold the seed to the soil, improve water retention and minimize washing of the seed from rains. We suggest only using this product in small bare spots throughout the yard as a seed germination enhancer. Using peat moss in large bare areas as a cover to the new seed can be an expensive project and there are many cheaper alternatives to this such as the mulch mat.

Straw

Scheduled typically in the early Spring or Fall with seeding and spot seeding. It is spread over newly seeded thin or bare areas to improve seed germination results. Straw has similar benefits as mulch mat and peat moss. Straw is not as effective for holding the seed to the soil or controlling the rain washing seed. Where lawn establishment budgets don’t allow for the cost of installing the mulch mat, straw can be a cheap alternative to improving results of lawn establishment.