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Identifying Good and Bad Bugs in Your Garden

Identifying Good and Bad Bugs in Your Garden

When you find insects in your garden, your first instinct might be to destroy them, but that’s not always the best course of action. Some insects are destructive and should be controlled, but of the more than 1.5 million known insect species in the world, more than 97 percent are beneficial to gardens, or simply benign. That leaves less than three percent that are agricultural and nuisance pests.

Beneficial insects perform vital functions in the environment. More than 75 percent of crops and an equal amount of flowering plants rely on animals to distribute pollen, and most that perform this task are insects. Bees, butterflies, moths and even beetles and flies pollinate plants. Every year in the U.S., honeybees alone pollinate about $15 billion in crops.

Insects also perform the important tasks of aerating soil, breaking down dead materials and returning them to the earth, and serving as food for wildlife. Some insects, such as ladybird beetles and green lacewings, also eat harmful pests, which helps to keep the environment in balance.

Identifying and Managing Insect “Strangers”

What should you do when you spot an unknown insect in your landscape? You certainly don’t want to squash a good guy, but it’s not advisable to ignore a troublemaker, either. The next time you see an unknown bug in your yard, follow these three steps to assess whether it’s a good or bad bug.

  1. Observe. Take a close look at the insect and note what it’s doing. Snap a photo, if possible. If the bug is eating, and the result of feeding is causing extensive damage, it’s likely a pest. Also, note if more than one insect is present. A large number of insects congregating on plants may indicate a pest infestation. The sooner you verify this fact, the sooner you can get the problem under control.
  2. Research and Identify. Compare your photo — or an actual bug that you’ve captured and killed —to images of insects on various expert sites, including the The Bugwood Insect Imagesand the Agricultural Research Service Image Gallery. Also look for images on sites maintained by university entomology departments.

If after some research you suspect that you might have an invasive pest in your yard, contact your local university cooperative extension office by mail, or show up in person with your photo or bagged bug specimen. There, an agricultural agent will be able to ID the insect for you.

  1. Use high-quality control products. If you wish to wage battle against invasive pests in your yard, opt for Worry Free® Brand Insecticide and Miticide Ready To Use, which kills more than 250 pests. The active ingredient in this product is pyrethrins, which is derived from chrysanthemum flowers and is quickly destroyed by heat and light, so there are no residual effects. Keep in mind, however, that this product will harm any insect that comes in contact with it.

 

13 Can’t-Kill Flowers for Beginners

13 Can’t-Kill Flowers for Beginners

Don’t say you have a brown thumb! Try these easy-to-grow, can’t-kill beauties and watch your beginner’s thumb turn green.

Sunflowers

Sunflower seeds are large and easy to handle, so they’re great for children or beginner gardeners. ‘Shock-O-Lat’, shown here, has giant, chocolate-brown blooms with golden tips. You can find sunflowers in many different sizes and colors; they grow happily in sunny gardens.

Zinnia

Look for zinnias in almost every color except blue; they’re also available in a variety of heights. The flowers may look like daisies or dahlias, spiders or pom poms and more. Plant them in the sun and space them as directed on the seed packet or label; good air circulation helps prevent disease.

Marigolds

Cheerful marigolds are easy to grow in sunny spots, brightening your garden with shades of yellow, red and gold as they bloom all summer long. African or American type marigolds grow 3 to 5 feet tall, but you can find shorter and more compact varieties.

Pansies

Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) add color to your garden while the weather is cool, in spring and fall. They’ll even overwinter in some regions if they’re mulched for protection. Give these undemanding little plants sun and soil that drains easily.

Impatiens

Impatiens ask little more than a shady spot and enough water to keep them from wilting. Plant these pretty annuals when the weather is reliably warm. In recent years, many impatiens (I. walleriana) have succumbed to downy mildew. ‘Big Bounce’ (pictured) is a new hybrid for shade to partial sun that resists this deadly disease. You’ll also find disease-resistant impatiens in the ‘Bounce’ series.

Begonias

Tough, can’t-kill summer begonias like ‘Surefire Rose’ are great for hanging baskets, containers or garden beds. Give them sun or shade and they’ll reward you with lots of lush color.

Snapdragons

Bring butterflies to your beginner’s garden with pink and cream snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) like ‘Twinny Appleblossom’. These  plants bloom heavily and stand up to the often harsh weather in spring and fall.

Daffodils

Plant daffodil bulbs and stand back. They’ll burst into bloom each spring, filling your garden with color and fragrance. Give these hardy bulbs a sunny or partly sunny home in the garden or in containers; they’re best planted in the fall.

Cosmos

Add cosmos plants to your garden or grow these daisy-like flowers from seeds. These annuals are so undemanding, they’ll bloom even in poor soils. They like full sun (but appreciate afternoon shade in hot climates) and tolerate drought once they’re up and growing.

Geraniums

Great in window boxes, hanging baskets, pots or the garden, geraniums are low-maintenance plants. Grow these perky flowers for color from spring until frost; they prefer full sun, but may need some afternoon shade in hot regions.
 

Morning Glories

To help morning glory seeds sprout, soak them in tepid water the night before you plant or file the hard seed coat to open it. Once they’re started, morning glories can take care of themselves. But because they drop their seeds and self-sow readily, be careful where you plant them or you’ll be pulling volunteers for years! To help control unwanted seedlings, mow, rake or heavily mulch the ground underneath the plants.

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)

Blanket flowers (Gaillardia) are native wildflowers in parts of the U.S., and they grow robustly in full sun. These butterfly magnets bloom from early summer into fall.

Daylilies

These sun-loving perennials bloom dependably in almost any kind of soil, as long as it drains easily. Best of all, you can divide them after a time and expand your garden.
Be sure to call ProGreen Plus for all of your lawn mower parts and lawn mower repair services!

Flower Beds for Beginners

Flower Beds for Beginners

Improve your yard’s curb appeal with front yard flower beds that deliver a colorful first impression.

Trade front yard turf for beds of blooms. Draft a container, like this one filled with ‘Limelight’ hydrangea, to add a focal point to flower beds.

Welcome guests with front yard plantings that complement your home. Include blooming plants to create an eye-catching display right outside your door that makes coming home a treat. Typically, entry gardens include a mix of foundation plantings, walkway beds and driveway borders. Spice up these practical, needful gardens with clever design elements to make your yard the talk of the block.

Foundation plantings anchor your home to the surrounding landscape and ease the transition from structure to lawn.

Fill foundation beds with plants featuring different colors and textures, and arrange them in layers to create a sense of depth. Always research and position plants based on mature size so they have adequate room to spread, which saves you endless pruning down the road.

Incorporate curving bed edges to soften hard angles between sidewalks, driveways and your house. Test-drive any proposed curves with your mower before actually forming flower beds. Make sure curves and corners are easy to maneuver.

For guaranteed good looks, follow classic design principles when designing front yard flower beds.

For instance, arrange flowering plants by height, with tallest bloomers in the back of beds viewed from one side or in the center of beds viewed from all sides. Don’t place too-tall flowers in front of windows to avoid blocking the view. Keep walkways skirted with knee-high or shorter bloomers to ensure sprawling plants don’t present an obstacle course.

Avoid a stand-alone driveway edging bed, which draws attention toward your drive and garage. Instead, connect a driveway bed with a foundation bed. This beckons the eye to wander along plantings toward your front door.

Design front yard planting beds to usher eyes toward your front door. Flowers play a strong role in this by providing pops of color that the eye naturally spots and follows. Repeat a hue throughout front yard flower beds and even on porch planters or hanging baskets and you’ll subtly direct the eye. Choose that hue based on accent colors on your home, and your plantings will blend artfully with your home’s exterior.

If your front yard is sunny for at least six hours a day, tuck edible crops into planting designs. Blueberries, goji berries and even trellised raspberries can serve as a hedge, and beds of asparagus easily blend into foundation plantings with their post-harvest ferny form. Dwarf fruit trees, including apple, cherry, pomegranate or fig, slip neatly into foundation planting areas, blending seasonal beauty with a tasty harvest.

Choose kiwi, pole beans or grape vines to grace an entry trellis and plantings of multi-hued leaf lettuces followed by chard, red mustard or assorted basils to serve color through summer heat. Tuscan and other types of kale introduce strong architectural leaf forms to flower beds that allow blooming plants to sparkle against the leafy backdrop. Disguise hardworking tomato, pepper or eggplants with flounces of colorful marigolds, dwarf daylilies or cheerful blanket flowers.

The biggest must with edible front yard plantings is maintenance.

Keep plants staked, harvests gathered and fallen fruit picked up to avoid transforming your beautiful spot into a neighborhood eyesore. Many edible crops need to be pulled after bearing. Design your beds with succession plantings in mind. Replace early-season peas or lettuces with colorful annual bloomers or herbs.

In cold-winter areas where snowfall accumulates, select plantings based on snow removal patterns. Beds along driveways and sidewalks may do best with annuals or perennials that melt away after frost and can handle heaps of snow, as opposed to woody shrubs or roses that might break under the weight of shoveled snow.

Be sure to call ProGreen Plus for all of your lawn mower parts and lawn mower repair services!

10 Landscaping Ideas That Will Transform Your Yard

10 Landscaping Ideas That Will Transform Your Yard

Check out these tips from the pros to add color, texture, functionality, and points of interest to your yard.

landscaping ideas

Create Curved Lines

landscaping

Choose Native Plants

native landscaping

Just like you should plant grass that is specific to your region, pick native plants for less upkeep. By choosing plants that are native or grow well in a specific zone or area, that will keep water and pruning prices down, and the plants will thrive.

Use Potted Plants

potted plants

Incorporating pots into landscaping makes a yard not only more low-maintenance but also more versatile. Potted plants are an easy way to add color to different parts of a yard, and they are mobile. For an added pop of color, coordinate the flowers to the season. Try whites and pinks in the spring and summer; switch to yellows and reds in the fall.

Combine a Variety of Plants

variety

Illuminate Focal Points and Walkways

lighting

Attractive landscaping deserves to be seen after hours, which is where landscape lights come into play. The lights play many roles, from adding to the home’s attractiveness to illuminating steps and sidewalks for safety to showcasing points of interest in the landscape. Placing lights alongside paths and walkways is one of their most common uses, although that doesn’t mean they have to be set in straight lines at prescribed intervals. You can place them on alternate sides of a sidewalk to break up a line.

Plant Lavender

lavender

Lavender adds a relaxing aroma, a burst of color, and it needs to be watered only once or twice a week if you don’t live in a climate with regular rain. It also doubles as a bug repellent, so plant it near your patio.

Add Outdoor Seating

Stone bench

Installing a patio or bench near the edge of your lawn, away from the house, provides an outdoor escape. Concrete will do, or you can use stones or pavers. Building it near trees or tall flowers gives the area some privacy, while chairs or benches let you sit or lie down to read or nap. Keep it 6 to 8 feet from your property line and surround it with flowers.

Make a Natural Water Feature

backyard fountain

A water feature—even a small, self-contained unit that stands alone on a patio—should look like it belongs in its surroundings. You can use natural stone to build it up, or you can use the same stone or material that you find on the house. Do not to use too many materials or the effort may backfire. A good rule is to use no more than three elements in one area, or the area can get too busy.

Connect Points of Interest with a Walkway

garden path

Instead of trampling down the lawn and making a makeshift path of dead grass between your patio, fire pit, and garden, create an attractive walkway using concrete stepping stones, natural flagstone, decorative brick, or crushed stone.

Construct a pathway, walkway, or any other landscaping feature from material that’s the same or similar to what’s used on the exterior of the house, such as a brick or stone, because it will tie the path aesthetically to the home. Or use the material to provide a striking edging along the walkway.

Use Crushed Stone

crushed stone

Use crushed stones in beds because it’s a great xeriscaping technique. Stone is also a nice option in beds because you never have to replace it.

Be sure to call ProGreen Plus for all of your lawn mower parts and lawn mower repair services!

Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill

Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill

Tough as nails, but they’re pretty, too. Turn your black thumb into a green thumb with our picks for the top 10 plants you can’t kill.

As gardeners, we’re constantly faced with challenges: plants that won’t bloom, flowers that die from a late frost, droughts that wipe out entire beds.

Gardening definitely has its fair share of difficulties, so every once in a while it’s nice to have plants that require little maintenance. Even better-grow plants you can’t kill!

Sure, spraying these all-stars with weed killer would probably lead to their demise. But for the most part, these are hardy, maintenance-free picks that work well in any North American backyard.

So are you ready to turn your black thumb into a green thumb? Get planting with these top picks for plants you can’t kill.

Purple coneflower
Purple Coneflower

Coneflower

(Echinacea, Zones 3 to 9)

Coneflowers have become a garden staple for their easygoing nature. Growing 2 to 5 feet high and 2 feet wide, they are the perfect companion plant in just about any garden. They require well-drained soil but will thrive in full sun as well as partial shade. Known for attracting birds, bees and butterflies, coneflowers also make lovely cut blooms.

Why we love it: The coneflower is the low-maintenance star of nature-friendly gardens. It comes in many colors, and it’s easy to find one you-and the birds-will love.

Colors: purple, pink, crimson, white, yellow, orange and even green. It’s easy to find a variety that you-and the birds-will love.

Cosmos flower
Cosmos flower

Cosmos

(Cosmos bipinnatus)

If big, beautiful flowers are one of your top requirements, cosmos is perfect for you. Though it’s an annual, it often reseeds on its own. Blooming summer to frost and growing up to 6 feet high, this backyard favorite deserves a regular spot in your sunny garden.

Why we love it: It’s easy to grow from seed. So for a couple of bucks, you’ll have a gorgeous show in a single season.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Daylily

Daylily

(Hemerocallis, Zones 3 to 10)

An excellent choice for a classic garden, daylilies can tolerate flooding, drought and salt and are often used for erosion control on steep hillsides. The pretty blooms come in every shade except blue and pure white; their distinctive trumpets may be triangular, circular, double, spidery or star-shaped. Daylilies grow 10 inches to 4 feet high and 1-1/2 to 4 feet wide and do best in full sun to partial shade.

Why we love it: Some cultivars attract hummingbirds and butterflies. A plant that is best divided every three to five years, the daylily is perfect to share with friends.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Hens and Chicks
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Hens and Chicks

Hens and Chicks

(Sempervivum tectorum, Zones 3 to 8)

The only way to kill this succulent is by being too kind with overwatering. This perennial is perfect for rock gardens. It grows 3 to 6 inches tall and up to 20 inches wide and blooms in summer. For best results, plant in well-drained soil that gets full sun to light shade.

Why we love it: This low grower also works wonders in containers. Since it doesn’t have a deep root system, you can plant it somewhere fun. Try growing it in an old birdbath or shoe.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Yarrow
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Yarrow

Yarrow

(Achillea, Zones 3 to 9)

These easy-care, long-lasting flowers come into their own once summer is on its way. They grow 6 inches to 4 feet tall and 18 to 24 inches wide, in yellow, white, red and pink. Well-suited to most growing conditions, yarrows provide a long season of bloom. They’re a good cutting flower, too. Avoid seedy varieties that may require a bit of weeding to keep contained.

Why we love it: This plant is heat- and drought-tolerant and can survive on benign neglect.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Hosta
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Hosta

Hosta

(Hosta, Zones 3 to 8)

Easy-to-grow hosta is a must for shade gardens. The beautiful foliage comes in a wealth of colors, textures, sizes and shapes, growing 4 inches to 3 feet high and 6 inches to 6 feet wide. In summer, hosta blooms in purple, white or lavender. Divide in spring or late summer to early fall. Hostas like moist ground, but be careful not to overwater.

Why we love it: The ultimate low-care shade plant, hosta comes in endless varieties and colors. It also can be easily divided-perfect for the budget-minded.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Sedum
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Sedum

Sedum

(Sedum species, Zones 3 to 10)

Take a close look and you’ll see this plant’s star-shaped blooms, similar to a pentas. With yellow, orange, red, pink or white flowers, it grows from 2 inches up to 2 feet high and wide. You can grow some species as ground cover, while others make good border plants.

Why we love it: Hello, butterflies! If you want flying flowers in your yard, this plant is a slam dunk.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Zinnia
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Zinnia

Zinnia

(Zinnia)

With new heat-, drought- and disease-resistant plants on the market, there’s never been a better time to grow zinnias. This annual grows up to 3 feet high, with blooms that last until the first frost. For the newest varieties from seed, check your local nursery or favorite garden catalog. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, order online.

Why we love it: You’ll save tons of money growing these from seed. Start seeds indoors, or sow outdoors about 1/4 inch deep after the threat of frost has passed.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Petunia
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Petunia

Petunia

(Petunia x hybrida)

Petunias have been around for decades, but the newer varieties have advanced in leaps and bounds. Days of deadheading and disease-prone plants are long gone. Nowadays, these beauties flourish in both full sun and partial shade without a lot of extra work. And you can find them in almost every color imaginable.

Why we love it: Even if you forget to water for a few days-it happens to everyone-these plants keep going.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill: Yucca
Top 10 Plants You Can’t Kill: Yucca

Yucca

(Yucca filamentosa, Zones 4 to 11)

There’s a good reason so many Southern gardeners use this as a backyard centerpiece. It’s about as drought-tolerant as they come-and on top of that, it boasts beautiful white flowers amid its spiky leaves.

Why we love it: Both flowers and foliage come with this beauty. For a unique variety, look for the variegata cultivar. Its blue-green leaves with white edges are stunning.

How To Water Your Lawn

How To Water Your Lawn

How much should you water your lawn?  How often should you water your lawn?  Proper watering is crucial to having the best-looking lawn on the block.  Here are some key points:

  • Your lawn needs at least 1”-1 ½” of water per week, year-round, during the winter, too.
  • Water deeply 2-3 times per week, rather than daily.
  • Water as early in the morning as you can, when possible.
  • If you can’t push a 6” screwdriver into your lawn, you’re not watering enough.
  • You will need to water more in the heat, especially if you have a fescue lawn.
  • Don’t water so long that it runs down the street.
  • If you have automatic sprinklers, check them regularly to be sure you’re getting complete coverage.
  • If a brown area doesn’t respond to watering, look for another problem.

Let’s go over these points.

Your lawn needs at least 1″-1 ½ ” of water per week, year-round, during the winter, too.

Lawns that are dry going into winter or during winter are more stressed and more likely to sustain winter damage. How do you know how much you’re getting?  First of all, buy a rain gauge.  If you get an inch of water in it per week, you’re cool.  If you don’t, you need to water.

How long should you water your lawn to get one inch?

We can’t tell you that, because we don’t know what kind of sprinkler you have or what your water pressure is like.  With automatic sprinklers, it’s usually one hour.   But you can measure that yourself.  Just get a tuna can, which is 1” tall, (eat the tuna out of it, first) and place it where your sprinkler is hitting.  Run your sprinkler and see how long it takes to get a half inch of water in the can – just like a rain gauge.  Usually it’s about 30 minutes.   So 20 minutes, 3 times per week will get an inch of water on your lawn, and 30 minutes 3 times per week will get 1 ½” down.  Bear in mind that during extreme heat, you will need to water more, due to evaporation and heat stress on the grass.

Water your lawn deeply 2-3 times per week, rather than daily. 

Watering daily will give your grass a shallow root system.  Shallow root systems dry out fast and weaken your turf.  Watering deeply 3 times per week will give your grass a deep root system, making it stronger and more drought-resistant.

Water your lawn as early in the morning as you can, when possible.  

Watering early in the morning will ensure that your lawn dries completely before nightfall.  A wet lawn at night, on a regular basis, can lead to fungus and disease problems.  Also, it’s cooler and less windy in the morning, so you have less evaporation, which will save money on your water bill and take less time to get the water on your lawn.  If morning watering is impossible, watering at any time is always better than not watering at all!

If you can’t push a 6” screwdriver into your lawn, you’re not watering enough.

Watering 1″-1 ½ ” per week is a guideline.  Different soil types need different amounts.  Soil is rarely composed of one type, but rather a combination of clay and sand, which makes loam.  A sandy loam won’t hold moisture as well as a clayish-loam.  Clay holds moisture better (think mud,) but the water is slow to penetrate it.  You can tell what your dominant type of soil is by getting a moist handful and squeezing it.  Clay will smush into a ball that doesn’t fall apart.  Sand will stick together when squeezed, but not for very long.  Our soil is mainly on the clay side, unless you’re by a river, and then it leans toward sand.  High winds also dry out your lawn incredibly fast.

You will need to water your lawn more in the heat, especially if you have a fescue lawn.  

You may need to water more in the summer heat to keep your lawn from becoming drought-stressed, especially if high temps are accompanied by high winds.  If we have extreme temperatures – high 90’s and over 100º – for a prolonged time period, you might want to 1) raise your mowing height a little 2) water lightly daily to cool off the grass (this is especially true for fescue.)  Grass needs more water during the heat because it also uses water as an internal coolant.  Daily waterings in the heat should be in addition to your regular deep waterings.

Don’t water your lawn so long that it runs down the street. 

 If water starts running down the street before you get your half inch on there, turn off the water and wait for it to soak in, then resume watering.  This might happen if you haven’t had time to water for a while.  If it happens every time you water, either you’re waiting too long in-between waterings, or you may have a compaction problem.  Compaction occurs in heavy clay soil or in high traffic areas.  Aeration may alleviate the problem temporarily, but usually you have to change the conditions causing the compaction for long-term relief.  You might want to consider an application of an environmentally-friendly, liquid aeration. It’s the same price as your regular application price, so just let us know if you’d like it .

If you have automatic sprinklers, check them regularly to be sure you’re getting complete coverage.   

Have you ever driven by a neighborhood entrance or along a business with nice landscaping that has this one sprinkler head aimed out at the street, and every day it’s on, spraying in the street, even if it’s raining – even if it’s freezing cold, and it’s making a nice icy spot on the road?  Watch your sprinklers every once in a while to be sure you don’t have one like that!

If a brown area doesn’t respond to watering, look for another problem.  

Assuming your sprinkler coverage is adequate, you might have a fungus, Spring Dead Spotchinch bugs, construction debris buried a foot under the soil, or any number of problems that mimic drought stress.  Take a closer look, or call us to come out and look at it.

BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO LAWN CARE

BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO LAWN CARE

Mowing, watering, weeding, oh my! Whether you have just recently purchased a house and find yourself with a lawn to contend with, or if you are just now getting into the swing of this whole lawn care thing, keeping your landscape healthy can seem like a full-time job. But achieving a gorgeous and healthy lawn doesn’t have to be a total hassle! Luckily, you’ve got friends like us in your corner with some great expertise to help make this process a little easier.

NEW TO LAWN CARE? GET THE DIRT HERE!

Although your lawn may seem intimidating at first, with some time, some know-how, and a few deep breaths, you too can have a beautiful lawn to be proud of. Read on to learn all about the basics of lawn care so you can host that first backyard barbecue with pride!

MOWING: THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

We can hear you scoffing from here. Yes, mowing seems like the most straightforward part of lawn maintenance–heck, that kid from down the street makes a pretty penny doing it for your neighbors! But the truth is, properly mowing your lawn requires a little more expertise than you think. Properly mowing your lawn is about three things: blades, height, and frequency.

  • Blades: Before you even think about mowing your lawn, you need to make sure that your mower blades are sharp. Mowing your lawn with dull blades tears your grass instead of cutting it, which is unsightly and unhealthy. If you don’t want to deal with sharpening blades yourself, check out your local home improvement shop or garden store–they can do the job for you quickly and usually for cheap!
  • Height: Let’s face it, mowing the lawn isn’t much fun. It can be tempting to crop your grass as close to the ground as possible, so you don’t have to mow every weekend–smart, right? Wrong! When you slice your grass too close to the root, it can become unhealthy and start to die. Instead, raise those mower blades–your grass will thank you!
  • Frequency: Yes, we know, a taller height means that you have to mow more often. But before you surrender at the thought of your Sunday mornings disappearing into a flurry of grass clippings, just keep in mind that mowing more frequently and at a taller height will give you healthier grass–which means your efforts will get rewarded with a lush, healthy landscape.

WATERING: GIVE YOUR LAWN A DRINK

Obviously, your lawn needs water, and if you water your lawn yourself or have a sprinkler system, you might think you’ve got this part covered. But don’t scroll down to the next section just yet–hear us out! Do you know how often you should be watering your lawn for maximum effect? Or the time of day you should water? If not, settle yourself down and let’s get pulled into this hydration station! Follow these great tips to maximize your watering efficiency and effectiveness, so that you can hydrate your landscape like a pro:

  • Water in the early morning. That’s right, you might have to set your alarm a bit earlier, but watering your lawn in the early morning allows the moisture to get down into the root systems before the heat of the sun evaporates it away. And don’t even think about cheating and watering at night when the sun goes down! Doing so could bog down your roots and give you soppy, saturated soil.
  • Water about one inch during each watering session–this is the perfect amount of water for your landscape to absorb without becoming oversaturated, and enough to keep your grass perfectly hydrated.
  • Water about three times per week. Any more than that could oversaturate your soil; any less could leave your grass roots high and dry! Remember, three times a week at one inch!
  • Check your grass for puddles and dry spots after you water. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a perfectly flat landscape, so it is important to see where your water is running to. If you see dry patches, focus on watering more in those areas. If you see puddles, try to divert some of that moisture away. Equalizing the water you expose your lawn to will help you achieve perfectly green, lush grass!

FERTILIZER: A WELL-FED LAWN IS A HAPPY LAWN

How would you feel if you were never fed your favorite food? If you have been slacking on fertilizing your lawn, your grass might be feeling a little famished and grumpy too. One of the best ways to ensure that you have a healthy and gorgeous lawn is to ensure that its nutritional needs are being met with fertilization treatments. But you can’t just throw grass food out there and expect results. Instead, follow these tips for success:

  • Timing is everything when it comes to fertilizer–you want to apply fertilizer to your lawn only during its growing seasons. For cool season grasses, fertilize in the fall and spring and for warm season grasses, fertilize in the spring and summer.
  • Regularly test the pH of your soil to ensure that you are using the right kind of fertilizer.
  • Consider using a spreader or a calibrated spray nozzle to help spread your fertilizer over your lawn rather that doing it by hand. Not only will this save you time, but it will help ensure an even spread of fertilizer for your hungry grass to munch on.

WEED CONTROL: DON’T FEED THE WEEDS!

Ah yes, now it is time for one of the less glamorous lawn care chores–dealing with unsightly weeds. Pesky weeds are more than just nuisances, they can do some serious damage to your lawn if left unchecked. Follow these tips to get rid of weeds in your lawn so you can spend less time on in the dirt and more time enjoying a weed-free lawn:

  • Most of your lawn includes weed seeds–they just haven’t germinated yet. Avoid tilling your soil too often to avoid plopping these unseen weed seeds into fertile soil to keep more from popping up.
  • Make mulch your friend. Besides the fact that mulch looks gorgeous, did you know that it can also help with weed control? Weeds need light to germinate and grow, and covering portions of your land with mulch stops weed seeds from getting that sunlight. Bonus–more mulch means less grass to mow!
  • Keep your plants closer together. When you reduce the space between the plants in your garden, the weeds will have less space to grow and more competition for nutrients and sunlight.

REVITALIZE AND REJUVENATE WITH AERATION & SEEDING

If your routine lawn maintenance doesn’t have your landscape looking the way you want it to, aeration and seeding can help. These processes help to revamp an exhausted lawn after a year of inevitable wear and tear. If you spend a lot of time out in your yard, or if you have started to notice bald or browning patches, your grass may be crying out for help!

Aeration is the process of taking small plugs of soil out of your yard. This process can be done using an aerator–which can be bought at your local hardware store or garden shop. When you aerate your lawn, you will help to break down the thatch layer that may have accumulated on your lawn over the year. This process has the following great benefits:

  • Improves moisture retention (to go along with those watering techniques we talked about earlier) 
  • Increases nutrient uptake (so your grass will respond more favorably to fertilization treatments)
  • Gives your grass roots some breathing room (so your grass has the space it needs to heal after a rough year of use)

Note: We would recommend hiring a professional to aerate your lawn. Doing it incorrectly could result in even more damage. 

NOW IT’S TIME TO FILL IN BALD SPOTS!

Once your lawn is aerated, it is in the perfect position to benefit from overseeding. During the overseeding process, you can spread grass seed over your newly-aerated lawn. This will help to fill in bald patches in your landscape, and will make your lawn fuller and healthier overall. This is one of the many tricks that professionals use to bring a failing lawn back from the brink and revitalize lawns that need a little bit more than just routine lawn maintenance. You should aerate and overseed your lawn at least once a year to ensure that your grass receives the full benefit of this lawn care technique.

For warm-season grass, aeration and seeding is best done in the spring, while with cool-season grass, fall is the best time.

Summer Lawn Care Tips

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Summer Lawn Care Tips

The summer season brings about glorious days of warm weather and outdoor activities that keep us outside of hours upon hours at a time. For some, most of those hours during these months are used to maintaining a healthy landscape around their homes.While some homeowners know exactly what their lawn needs on a daily basis, most will find that they have issues keeping their grass healthy and, in turn, will be looking at a very barren dry lawn by the time fall rolls around.Below are some tips and procedures that can assist any homeowner in making their lawn healthy throughout the hot summer seasons.

summer lawn care tips

Mowing the Lawn

A healthy lawn does not necessarily mean that it has to be short. When cutting into your lawn, the blades need to be set as high as possible. The length of grass, preferably high, provides numerous amounts of benefits towards keeping the soil healthy and productive.

Tall blades of grass are able to obtain more light during peak sun hours and, in turn, will use this energy to produce and provide more nutrients to the roots and surrounding soil. Taller blades will also provide shade that allows for the soil surrounding each blade of grass to maintain moisture throughout the dry heat of most summer days.

Grass Clippings

The waste produced in regards to your mowing should not be considered waste. The clippings that you produce during your mowing time should be redistributed across the lawn.

There are certain mowers that do not collect clippings in bags but rather just cut and allow for the shredded lawn to fall back into the grass and the soil. These cut blades of grass will be able to supply the soil with an added supply of nutrients as well as additional shade to further along the growth of a healthy lawn.

Fertilization

Fertilization at both the beginning of the spring season as well as at the end of the fall season is vital to your grass maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Most organic fertilizers used in the spring allow for the soil to be kick started with an abundance of nutrients to inhibit growth at a more rapid pace. On the opposite side of the spectrum, most winterizing fertilizers allow for the soil to capture nutrients and store there to maintain a healthy landscape during the harsh snow and inclement weather of the winter.

Seeding

Any patches of lawn that do not seem to grow properly needs to be seeded accordingly. Patience is the key in this situation because some homeowners tend to seed barren lawn patches more than once which in turn will cause the soil to be overworked.

Seeding once and maintaining a proper water schedule on those parts will show some improvements in the days and weeks to come.

Weeding

Weeds are a nuisance to any lawn across the country. There has to be a conscious effort to walk your lawn on an every other day basis to find any instance of weeds and remove as soon as possible. This will allow you to catch newly formed weeds before they have a chance to grow roots and stake a claim in the soil of your lawn.

Watering

Hydration is essential to the growth and nutrition of your lawn. The entire landscape surrounding your home needs to have at least an inch of water on a weekly basis. This inch of water can come from rain or can come from manual irrigation through your water hose.

The main keys to remember when it comes to manual hydration are to water as early as possible as well as not to over-saturate your lawn.

All watering must be done in the early morning hours so that the soil can absorb all moisture before any sun and or heat has a chance to dry it up. The watering must be measured, through the use of a coffee can as an example, to make sure that you do not over water the lawn and cause the soil to become infertile due to too much moisture.

Clean Slate

The landscape of your home should remain clean at all times and seasons, especially in the fall. Leaves and debris will find its way to the ground from surrounding trees and will cause havoc to the soil if not cleaned. If there is no clean-up, the leaves will remain on the ground through the winter months and, in turn, cause an unsafe setup of nutrients and bugs to inhabit the soil and delay growth in the spring months.

Be sure to call ProGreen Plus for all of your lawn mower parts and lawn mower repair services!

10 Surprising Facts About Grass

Facts about grass
Facts about grass

Grasses are often considered valuable for their aesthetic qualities, but there is much more to these plants than meets the eye. All grasses are in the Poaceae family, which is one of the most abundant families of plants on earth. From pasture grasses for animal consumption to food crops, such as oat and barley, for human consumption, grasses make up the world’s most significant food source.

While there are more than 10,000 varieties of plants in the Poaceae family, different types of grasses have some similarities. All grasses produce seeds that are monocotyledonous, which means that each seed produces only one leaf sprout. Additionally, most grasses are herbaceous, so they don’t produce woody stems, and they die back to the ground at the end of the growing season. Grasses are invaluable assets to our planet and its inhabitants. With a better understanding and appreciation for grasses, you may never look at your lawn the same way again. Here are 10 unusual facts you may not know about the Poaceae family of plants:

1. About 1,400 species of grasses exist in the United States.
2. Grasses make up about 26% of the plant life on earth.
3. By weight, turfgrass is 75 to 80% water.
4. Varieties of grass grow on all continents, even in polar regions. Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia Antarctica) is the only member of the Poaceae family native to Antarctica.
5. A healthy lawn can increase a home’s value by up to 20%.
6. Grass-covered lawns, prairies and hillsides help prevent erosion by keeping soil in place with their root systems.
7. Grass lawns improve air quality by producing oxygen and trapping airborne dust particles and other contaminants.
8. Home landscapes that include grass lawns, trees and shrubs can reduce the air temperature surrounding the home by up to 14°F.
9. Giant bamboo, which can grow up to 151 feet tall, is the largest variety of grass.
10. A 2,500 square foot lawn produces enough oxygen for a family of four.

Because grasses have a positive impact on climate, clean water and air quality, every homeowner can take part in supporting a healthy environment. While you’re probably not growing giant bamboo or Arctic hairgrass, maintaining your lawn is a simple way to improve your air quality while increasing the value of your home.

 

3 Quick Lawn Fixes You Can Do in a Weekend

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How to fix lawn and grass bare spots

How to fix lawn bare spots and soil compaction

Discover 3 quick and easy lawn fixes that you can do in just one weekend with this helpful post by ProGreen Plus. Learn how to repair bare spots, address soil compaction, and control weeds for a healthier and more beautiful lawn. Follow these expert tips to help your lawn look its best in no time.
 
Having a lush, luxuriant lawn — and still having time to enjoy it — may be simpler than you think. Many lawns are just a few quick fixes away from the thicker, healthier look within your reach. With a small investment of time and the help of superior lawn care products, the three quick weekend fixes below yield big returns. When the time comes for those special backyard barbecues, your thick, lush lawn will be ready for the traffic and the compliments it’ll earn.

Patch And Repair

Despite your best efforts to protect your yard, bare spots show up. Outdoor entertaining, playful kids, energetic pets and a host of other factors can leave your lawn in need of quick repairs. Avoid patch and repair projects when weather is overly hot and grasses are stressed or dormant. In northern lawns, fall and spring are perfect times. Late spring and early summer are ideal for southern lawns. With a premium, all-in-one product quick weekend yard repairs are as simple as 1-2-3:

  1. Prep the area. Remove any dead grass and debris from the damaged area, and rake the soil lightly to smooth and prep it for repair.
  2. Apply the repair mixture. Spread the mixture over the prepped area, wherever you want thick, beautiful grass. The combination product includes superabsorbent wood mulch, premium grass seed and fertilizer to nourish seed and start it out right.
  3. Water the area. Keep the area watered daily until the seed sprouts and grass grows to mowing height — about 3 inches tall. The natural mulch is dark when moist. When it turns lighter, it’s time to water again.

You’ll see bare spots turn green in just two to three weeks, but give new grass another four to five weeks before use. Depending on your growing region and your weather, grass should reach mowing height in two to seven weeks. Limit activity on your quick yard repairs until you’ve mowed them three to four times. Once you reach that point, grass roots are ready for some traffic.

Thicken And Restore

As lawns age, they naturally get thin unless a helping hand steps in. Lawn professionals depend on overseeding to keep lawns thick and lush. Overseeding is simply sowing grass seed into your existing lawn, so new seedlings fill in and restore your lawn to its thicker, lusher glory. Early fall and spring are great times for overseeding cool-season northern lawns. Late spring is ideal for warm-season southern lawn grasses.

Overseeding with a premium grass seed improves your lawn in other ways as well.

  1. Prep your lawn for seed. Mow your existing grass as short as possible, then lightly rake the soil to loosen debris and it to prepare to receive the seed.
  2. Spread the seed with a regular lawn spreader. Overseeding only takes about half the amount need for a new lawn, so check the seed bag for the overseeding rate and spreader settings. Follow the recommendations; don’t overdo it. Too much seed will slow down the process, not speed it up.
  3. Water the area well. Continue to irrigate daily or as needed to keep it moist until seedlings emerge and reach a mowing height of about 3 inches.

Depending on the Smart Seed grass type you choose, you’ll typically see results as new seedlings emerge in seven to 14 days. New grasses should reach mowing height in about seven to eight weeks. Continue with your regular mowing schedule as they get established, but hold off on heavy yard play or foot traffic until you’ve mowed them three or four times. Then your thicker lawn will be ready for use.

Replenish And Rejuvenate

Thick, beautiful lawns depend on nitrogen more than any other nutrient, but nitrogen leaches away with rainfall and irrigation. Keeping grass healthy and nourished means replenishing of this essential nutrient. With a premium lawn fertilizer you can rejuvenate more lawn with less fertilizer and get superior results. Just a few simple steps and this quick weekend fix is at work:

  1. Prep your lawn for feeding. Mow at your regular mowing height and water your lawn well one to two days before you fertilize.
  2. Spread the fertilizer with a regular lawn spreader. Check the bag for the proper rate and settings for your spreader.
  3. Sweep any stray fertilizer back onto grass. Excess fertilizer that ends up on sidewalks or other hard surfaces goes back on grass instead of into stormwater systems.