Why Your Lawn Needs Year-Round Care
Did you know that taking care of your lawn is a year-round job? It’s easy to think that you only have to work on your lawn in the spring and summer, but fall and winter are just as important! Between the herbicides, nutrient treatments, disease control and more, it’s difficult to know what to do to your lawn, and when you need to do it. That’s what we’re here for! We specialize in lawn care and can keep your lawn in tip-top shape all year long. But is yearly lawn care worth the investment? Absolutely! To prove it, here are eight reasons why year-round lawn care services are worth the investment:
1. Keep Your Lawn Fertilized
Fertilizer, or “tree food”, is necessary to have a healthy lawn and shrubs. Fertilizer promotes root growth, controls and eliminates weeds, and helps your trees and shrubs flourish. There are multiple benefits to fertilizing your lawn, such as…
- Replacing nutrients that may have been lost throughout the year
- Improving air quality by generating more oxygen
- Providing erosion and runoff control
- Promoting tree and shrub growth
- Controlling weeds in your lawn
But how frequently should your lawn be fertilized? Ideally, your lawn and shrubs should receive fertilizer in February, April, June, September, October, and November. That’s six months out of the year! Clearly keeping your yard properly fertilized requires more than a few random fertilizer treatments throughout the year. Plus, the time of year determines what type of fertilizer your yard needs. For example, you’ll need to use a different type of fertilizer in April than you will in October and November. During the fall, your lawn care provider will use a starter fertilizer, which is planted close to the grass root, promoting growth. Then, in the winter, a winter fertilizer or “winterizer” will need to be used. This is crucial to proper spring growth because a winterizer helps your grass store the food it needs to survive the winter. When to fertilize: February, April, June, September, October, and November.
2. Control Unsightly Weeds
While fertilizer will help control the weeds in your lawn, you’re still going to want a lawn care expert to eliminate weeds in your yard. Weeds can spread quickly, stealing nourishment from your lawn as they grow. Not to mention, weeds can ruin the look of your lawn all together if not treated properly. To get rid of weeds, experts use two types of weed control: pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide. Pre-emergent herbicides are sprayed early in the year to coat your topsoil and prevent weeds from emerging. Meanwhile, post-emergent herbicides are sprayed to attack existing weeds. Pre-emergent should be sprayed in February and April, while post-emergent should be used February, March, April, and August. By using these two methods of weed control at the right time, your lawn should be weed-free all year long! When to control weeds: February, March, April and August.
3. Maintain Proper Nourishment
If you’re worried about the effect chemicals can have on your lawn, then choose a lawn care expert who uses organic bio-nutrients. Organic bio-nutrients are natural supplements that encourage plant growth without the use of chemical assistance. Bio-nutrients work to improve the grassroots’ ability to absorb water from the soil. This allows your lawn to thrive without having to use multiple other treatments. Bio-nutrients can also help protect your yard from weed and pest invasions! Your lawn care team should be applying a bio-nutrient in February, April, and June to keep your lawn healthy all throughout the year. When to apply an organic bio-nutrient: February, April and June.
4. Prevent Lawn-Killing Diseases
While it doesn’t happen to every yard, you should still want to protect your lawn against disease. Some common lawn diseases are:
- Brown patches
- Dollar spots
- Fairy rings
- Fusarium patches
- Pythium Blight
These are only a few of the diseases that could threaten your lawn. Many of these diseases are known to take over lawns in the summer. However, diseases like Gray Snow Mold and Powdery Mildew, can occur in the fall and winter months as well. By proactively receiving disease prevention in the summer, your yard will not only be protected that summer, but through the winter months as well. When to apply lawn disease prevention: May, June, July, and August.
5. Monitor Healthy pH Levels
Another important reason to invest in year-round lawn care is to check for and maintain a healthy pH level in your soil. If your soil is too acidic, it will be difficult for grass to grow. To combat this, experts should check for healthy pH levels in the soil in March. In July, a lime application should be applied to help maintain a healthy pH balance. A lime application is a yearly lawn treatment that helps balance the pH levels in your soil by providing nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) to prevent high levels of acidity. There are many benefits of a lime application, like…
- Manages moss and weed growth
- Feeds your lawn with calcium to improve lawn strength and color
- Protects your lawn from heat or drought
- Improves the performance of fertilizer
Monitoring pH levels is crucial to having a healthy lawn! When you invest in a year-round service, your lawn care provider will be sure to check for and treat unhealthy pH levels. When to check pH levels: March and July.
6. Let Your Lawn Breathe
Many people don’t understand the importance of aeration. Aeration is the process of drilling small holes into your soil to allow air, water, and nutrients to reach the grassroots. The main benefits of aeration are:
- Aerating your lawn loosens up compact soil. Compact soil prevents air, water, and nutrients from reaching the roots.
- Aeration breaks through excess lawn thatch, which is organic debris preventing nutrients from reaching the roots.
If you invest in professional lawn care services, your grass should be aerated in the fall, around September and October. This coincides with your lawn’s growing season, which allows your grass to heal properly and keep your yard healthy. When to aerate your lawn: September and October.
7. Control Insects and Pests
The last things you want ruining your lawn are pests and insects. To protect your yard against insect damage all year, talk with your lawn care expert about seasonal insect control. Insects can eat through your lawn, harming its overall health. Not to mention insects are a nuisance! Insect control treatments should be applied to your lawn at the beginning of summer, to keep insects out throughout the season. When to apply season long insect control: May.
8. Plant (And Prevent) New Grass
Two more important parts of year-round lawn care are overseeding and Poa Annua control. Overseeding is the process of distributing and planting grass seed to fill bare spots in your lawn. Overseeding is important because you don’t want Poa Annua to grow and take over those spots. Poa Annua control, on the other hand, is the prevention of the annual weedy grass, Poa Annua. In order to make sure healthy grass is growing in dead spots rather than weeds, your yard needs to be overseeded. Overseeding should happen in the autumn, through the months of September and October. After overseeding is complete, your lawn care team should begin Poa Annua control. These preventative methods should occur in November and December to protect your lawn throughout the winter. When to overseed and control Poa Annua: September, October, November and December.
Killingsworth’s Year Long Lawn Care Package
When you’re looking for a lawn service team to take care of your lawn all year long, look no further than Killingsworth! Our Platinum Lawn Care Package covers all of the above services and more. Curious about our service breakdown? Here’s what you can expect from our year long lawn services:
- 5 applications of fertilizer
- 3 applications of organic bio-nutrient
- 2 applications of pre-emergent herbicide
- Weed control (as needed)
- 4 applications of lawn disease control
- 1 lime application
- 1 application of season-long insect control
- 3 iron applications
- 1 pass aeration
- Overseeding
- 2 applications of Poa Annua control
- Soil analysis (if needed)
With care like this, it’s easy to see why an investment in year-round lawn care is worth it! We promise to treat your lawn like it’s our own and meet each of its specific needs. We want to work with you to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful all year long! Ready to get the perfect lawn? Get started by signing up for a service from one of our lawn care experts.
