Seasonal Information & Tips

Just as people usually embark on spring cleaning their homes, it is also just as important to remember lawn care. Spring lawn care is important because it helps prepare your lawn for the hot months of summer. During this season, people are enjoying the outdoors and the flowers are beginning to bloom. Prioritize the following items for a beautiful lawn year-round.

• The warming temperatures and regular rainfall of spring are the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, and flowers—but not grass. Be sure, though, not to plant until the threat of frost is over.
• Any season is the right season to make sure your shrubs and trees are properly mulched. Mulching helps regulate temperatures and maintain proper soil moisture. Avoid mulching directly around the base of trees and shrubs, however, as this can lead to rot.
• Spring is also the perfect time to make sure your irrigation or sprinkler system is in good working order before summer arrives.
• Remember to raise your mower blade unless you have Bermuda grass. Check to see that the blades are properly sharpened.
• Fertilizer is an integral part of spring lawn care. Many grass types will need to establish strong root systems to endure the harsh conditions of summer.

The hot temperatures of summer usually mean one thing – watering. Research the specific water needs of your lawn, trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants as overwatering can be as detrimental as drought.

• The primary rule of summer watering is to water thoroughly and deeply each time, allowing for the soil to dry off a bit before watering again.
• Water in the morning hours so the leaves can dry off a bit before the hot sun hits them.
• Cut your grass at the proper height for each turf type: Tall Fescue – 4 inches; Zoysia – 1 to 2 inches; Hybrid Bermuda – 1 to 1 ½ inches; Common Bermuda – 2 inches.
• Remember to change directions each time you mow to have a more even cut.
• And similar to spring, mulching can be done at any time of the year. Properly mulched trees and shrubs will help regulate plant temperatures and maintain proper soil moisture.

Even though the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler, as fall approaches there are still plenty of things to do in your lawn and garden.

• One of the most important things you can do for your lawn in the fall is to aerate and overseed. The heavily compacted clay soils of the Piedmont restrict the water and air content of the soil, which are very important to plant and grass growth and health. Aerating, which is removing cores of soil, helps break up the compacted soil, providing oxygen for the roots and helping to develop rich topsoil. Your grass will have greater nutrient uptake, giving you better and deeper root growth.
• The average life cycle of fescue is about three years, and every year the normal fescue lawn loses about one-third of grass; it only makes sense to replace it with reseeding.
• Fall is also the best time to plant spring bulbs to give you a warm welcome and fantastic display of color after a long winter.
• Prune any dead or diseased branches from trees and shrubs, and be sure to give your trees and shrubs one last good drink of water before the cold weather arrives.
• And, of course, mulching can be done at any time of the year. Properly mulched trees and shrubs will regulate plant temperatures and maintain proper soil moisture.