You’ve probably heard the saying “April showers bring May flowers” – but we would add “weeds, mosquitoes and ticks!” What lawn care companies do in May can determine the success or failure to get a handle on weed growth.
At Groundhog Turf Care, we have unofficially declared May to be Love Your Lawn month. Our lawn service techs are very busy in May treating a variety of lawn-related issues.
During the month of May, the soil temperatures in New Hampshire are starting to reach the mid-sixties, which is the ideal condition for most broad leaf weeds like dandelion, clover and violet to grow. Although not visible yet, annual weeds like crabgrass have sprouted and are waiting for the heat and drought of summer to make their presence known.
At Groundhog Turf Care, we like to take a proactive approach to both pre-emergent and post-emergent weeds. We laid the foundation in April with an early pre-emergent. In May we are applying our second round of fertilizer and crabgrass control. We use a powerful and effective product that is a combination of a balanced fertilizer, a pre-emergent crabgrass weed control, and a post-emergent blanket broadleaf product. We have found that this one-two punch of treatments set the stage for the entire turf season, is one of the differences that sets Groundhog Turf Care apart from other lawn care companies in New Hampshire.
Shrub beds too. In the same way as in a lawn, preventing weeds from taking over your shrub beds is the best way to manage them.
We also offer a Bed Weed Control program that helps to keep shrub beds and mulched areas weed-free all summer long. This service is not typically offered by lawn care services and not many of our customers have heard about it. While mulch may be a good inhibitor to weed growth, it does not eradicate weeds. If there are weeds under the surface, you are only helping them grow!
Our Bed Weed Control program consists of a pre-emergent granular in the spring and four post-emergent sprays which keep the new mulch beds weed free and looking great all season.
Tick talk. In addition to weeds, May is the time of year when mosquitoes and ticks start to re-emerge. Ticks are especially hearty little critters; they can survive even the coldest and harshest of New Hampshire winters. At Groundhog Turf Care, we have an environmentally-friendly mosquito and tick spraying program that helps to control ticks in lawn areas and shrub beds. Not to let those nasty ticks get the jump on us, we are already applying our second round of tick treatment in May.