Spring has sprung! After a cold, snowy winter, we are ready to resume our Turf Care services. Our first lawn care treatment is packed with vital minerals and weed controls for vibrancy and health.
This is the first application and what we are accomplishing with it:
Your technician will apply a balanced fertilizer high in nitrogen which will bring the turf out of dormancy and promote root and shoot growth. The long, cold winter really stressed the turf and this feeding will go far towards turf recovery. The low soil temperature we have in the spring is the best time to apply the early season crab grass preventer. The preventer will become acclimated in the soil, creating a barrier to prevent seeds from germinating.
This pre-emergent is non-selective, meaning it will prevent all grass types from germinating. If you are thinking about seeding, please contact the office or let your technician know. We can adjust your program accordingly. Round one also includes a blanket weed treatment eliminating most early season weeds like henbit and chickweed. This spray will also suppress more difficult to control weeds like ivy and violets.
Here are some tips to prepare your lawn for the season:
• Spring cleanups – while it is important to spring clean the leaves, branches, and twigs off of the turf, it will not impact the efficacy of our treatment. It is far more important to feed and apply the weed controls, rather than wait to clean debris. The fertilizer prills are designed to penetrate a 6” leaf cover and are not sucked up, even by commercial mowers. We recommend a light raking either before or as soon as 24 hours after our treatment. The raking is not only to remove debris but to break the mycelium (web like growth on turf) to allow air to flow.
• Dethatching – We DO NOT recommend spring dethatching. This article from the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Department explains the science behind dethatching. Rather than digging out the thatch, we recommend simply scoring it just enough to break up the mycelium but not enough to disrupt the roots. Groundhog Landscaping maintenance crews do this as part of our spring cleanups.
Our first tick sprays and ornamental tree and shrub fertilizers are also applied during the months of April and May. The tick sprays are a great way to protect you and your family including pets from ticks, fleas, pesky mosquitoes and black flies. The tree fertilizer is specifically designed for your ornamental trees and shrubs and NH soils.
We look forward to working with you throughout the year!