Thursday, 28 March 2013

Full-Blown Lawn And Garden Maintenance Strategies From A Kansas City Landscaper

By Louis McDodd


You won't have to pay an expert for a professional quality lawn servicing. On the other hand a professional servicing takes a lot more than a weekly cut and water. Kansas City landscapers utilize a variety of proactive methods that this post will briefly go over.

You cannot overlook the requirements of each aspect of the grass as a plant- root, stem and leaf. Properly addressing each part of the lawn- root and leaf- will give the lawn what it truly needs. Understanding needs will not fix anything, however. It remains for you to answer them.

Before any other issue is addressed, Kansas City landscapers advise treating the upper two inches of earth. Correct preparation will use sand or organic materials like manure to result in a composition that is rich in organic matter and somewhat "sticky", retaining moisture but also draining adequately. Your goal should be proper water and gas exchange, while retaining some moisture. Experts recognize that roots need to "breathe" a bit of oxygen, yet stay moist.

Soil acidity is the next fundamental issue in yard care. A Kansas City landscaping supplier should stock a simple test-kit for pH. The acidity can be regulated with lime or other products, like sphagnum peat moss, sulfur, or wood ash. A level of around 6.7 (slightly acidic) is good. Kansas City landscaping shops will have the tools and materials you need. Application methods depend on the material you are using, so ask about what you should do

Standing water and excessive erosion are typically big issues in the Kansas City region. This can be deadly to areas of your lawn if not dealt with properly. Loose soil will be washed away by fast water-flow while standing water suffocates the roots and prevents the exchange of nutrients. Use extra soil to re-grade steep or bowl-shaped areas. Installing sod in steeper areas or utilizing landscaping technology like erosion blankets can help in especially steep areas.

After the soil has been prepared and graded you will want to cover any bare spots (or even plant the lawn itself). You will have a huge variety of grasses to choose from and can either spread it as seed or install it as sod. In general, seed is much less expensive and you can mix the varieties you like, while sod is not as vulnerable or time and labor-intensive.

Mixing multiple varieties of seed can help you know first-hand which will thrive the best in your yard. A particular species may thrive in one area and another species thrive in another, depending on the variable conditions, such as heavy shade, high-traffic, etc.. The only disadvantage of varied grass varieties is that the color and texture of the yard may not be uniform. If this is an issue, more drastic landscaping may be necessary to remove the varied conditions. Once again, inquire with a professional Kansas City landscaping supplier or contractor to answer your specific needs.

It is very important that you understand proper watering methods. Too often unawareness and assumption lead to an over-stressed yard. Kansas City landscapers view watering as an art that must be customized to each yard. Warning signs of over-watering include- Fungus, Thatch (dead layers of grass throughout the yard), yellowing patches, burned grass (in the Summer heat), and an abundance of weeds. Two inches of water once a week should work for most lawns.

Your yard can become choked and overly stressed by thatch over time. It has the capacity to choke and stress the grass. Still, some thatch is seen as a valuable thing. A thin layer of dead grass can retain moisture and nutrients in the soil. But if the cycle of decomposition is not fast enough, it must be treated.

De-thatching is therefore a required part of regular lawn-care. De-thatching requires a power-rake for large areas, though a hard hand-rake with suffice in small areas or if a power-rake is not readily available. The goal is to simply remove the built up thatch. This replaces the normal decomposition process. Remove the thatch with a mower or by hand, being careful not to mulch it back into the yard.

The weather all year round can inevitably compress the dirt in your yard. This has to be treated if your lawn is going to reach its fullest potential.

Kansas City landscapers treat this dilemma by aerating. Hire or borrow an aerator and run it over the yard twice (at right angles) to break up the soil's surface. This will ease the compression and permit free exchange of elements to and from the roots.

Kansas City landscapers commonly use a pre-emergent in early spring. Once the weather gets consistently above freezing weeds begin to emerge. Before the weed germinates, the pre-emergent will stop the seed from activating and sprouting. What this means is the weeds don't even take root. Thus, time and effort will be saved, both for you and your grass.

All living things need food to survive and grass is no exception. Soil will lose elements over the years from sunshine, wind, and other processes. These must be replaced several times a year if the yard is going to be healthy and strong. Kansas City landscapers suggest a spring and fall feeding at least and, if the conditions are not too stressful, a Summer feeding. Compost and manure are great options for replenishing the soil.

Make sure the lawn has not grown too long or gone to seed when your are spreading the fertilizer or else the nutrition will never reach some areas of the yard and be too strong in others. In addition, be careful not to cut the grass too short. This will stress the grass as it tries to grow back to a healthy length and adding the fertilizer at that time can burn the grass. It is necessary to highlight that many people believe cutting their grass shorter will save them work later, but this is not true. Professional Kansas City landscapers always advise cutting it at a medium height so that the grass does not have to repeatedly recover.

A once a year treatment of fungicide is helpful in the Kansas City regions because local yards are given to infection. Untreated grass will be prone to mold, mildew, and fungus that can destroy a yard. Kansas City landscapers keep a continual eye on the yards in their care, but the ounce of prevention will cost much less than the pound of cure.

Effective Kansas City landscapers will keep the yard in the healthiest state possible. Keeping the yard healthy will provide it with the best chance of fighting off disease and pests, just as a healthy person will fare better when sickness comes. Kansas City landscapers always advise people to be proactive before drought and harsh weather come and not after. Trying to fix issues after they happen is simply foolish.

You cannot neglect any of these issues if your are going to have a professional-quality yard. Enjoying the process and learning as you go will guarantee an enjoyable and valuable experience. So what are you hesitating for? Get going!




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