Achieving a crisp green lawn takes time, commitment, and know-how. The natural nutrients already present in your soil may not be enough to achieve the healthy green lawn that you envision for your house. Fertilizing your lawn is one of the most utilized methods of achieving the lawn your home deserves. However, it’s not as simple as dumping a bunch of fertilizer in your yard, there’s a variety of factors to take into account, including the type of fertilizer you use, the time of the year, the tools required, how much fertilizer to spread, and much more that if unaccounted for, could make your fertilization attempt ultimately useless.
That’s why choosing to hire a lawn care professional to handle your fertilization needs would ultimately choose to be a timesaving, and even cost-saving choice. Lawn care professionals and landscapers in your area know more about the nature of your grass, the variety of grass-types in your area, what those grasses need, and how they should be treated in order to grow at their healthiest and highest potential. Your lawn is an organic, living, breathing community that has its own very specific nutritional needs. With a knowledgeable caretaker, you can sit back and rest assured that all those needs are being met appropriately.
While it may be your goal to promote the healthy growth of your grasses, you may also find yourself trying to stifle the growth of other plants, namely, weeds.
Weed control and removal services go hand in hand with proper lawn care. The unwanted growth and spread of weeds can become a frustrating experience if not dealt with swiftly. They can be especially invasive during the summer months when they propagate rapidly throughout your yard. This can degrade the beauty of your lawn and make all the hard work you put into maintaining a pristine lawn seem pointless. Weed control is another complicated aspect of lawncare to tackle on your own. It’s not as easy as spraying weed killers into your yard. Weed killers have different effects based on the variety of weeds you are trying to treat, furthermore, the wrong weed killer can actually end up killing or damaging your grass, which might affect its color, growth, and texture.
Lawn fertilization does more than just give your grass the nutrients it needs. The benefits of proper fertilization are further reaching than you might initially believe. If you choose to hire a lawn care professional to handle your fertilization requirements, these are just some of the benefits you can expect to receive.
Provides Essential Nutrients
In order for your grass to grow to its full potential, you’ll need to supply it with three essential nutrients: Potassium, Nitrogen, and Phosphorous. If your soil is lacking in any of these three nutrients, then you will have a hard time maintaining healthy grass growth, especially over longer periods of time, as the nutrients in your soil become depleted. Each of these three nutrients serves an important role in nourishing your lawn, and proper fertilization ensures that your grass is receiving those nutrients in adequate quantities.
Strengthens Root Systems
A lesser-known benefit of fertilization is its effect on what happens underneath the soil: in the roots. As your grass receives the nutrition it needs, the root system underneath the soil grows stronger and more efficient. This means that after long rainy days, you won’t have to worry as much about stepping into a muddy lawn, as the roots quickly and efficiently absorb the rainwater. Furthermore, a deeper root system also means that your grass is able to absorb nutrients deeper under the ground, which can lower your fertilization costs later down the line.
Reduces Weed Growth
If you opt to use a fertilizer with a weed control treatment mixed in, then you’ll also have the added benefit of reducing your overall weed growth while increasing the strength of your grass. However, even if you decide not to use a fertilizer with a weed reduction mixture, the increased strength and efficiency of your grass may naturally combat weeds, as the weeds will have to work harder to compete for those nutrients that your grass absorbs so efficiently.
Reduces Pests
One thing that insects and other pests love is weak and easily damaged grass. When you apply fertilizer, you end up thickening and strengthening your grass, making it much more difficult for pests to eat through it. When pests have a harder time consuming their food, they will propagate at a much slower rate. Pests have a harder time flourishing in a lawn they can’t easily chew through.
Protects Soil
If your area is prone to heavy rainfall and flooding, then you risk losing essential nutrients in your soils from runoff. Your thick and healthy grass is able to quickly absorb rainwater, thereby reducing the effects of runoff on your overall soil quality. Fertilized grass ends up protecting the soil in the long term in this way.
Reduces Diseases
Losing large swaths of your grass to disease may seem unpreventable. In truth, however, a nutrient-deficient lawn is more prone to disease. Just like any organism fighting off an illness, you can’t expect it to get better if it’s not being nourished appropriately. Fertilization provides the nourishment required to fight off diseases before they take hold of your grass.
Increases Property Value
One common technique a realtor uses to increase the property value of a home is to improve the quality of the lawn. Not only are lawns aesthetically pleasing, but they also effectively increase the usable space of your property. An appropriate fertilization protocol can therefore increase the value of your property if you ever decide to put your house on the market.
Natural Carpeting
Is there a better feeling than running and playing barefoot on the grass? The only thing better than that might be watching your kids roll around and run around barefoot on your grass. Fertilization gives you thick and even growth of your grass, nature’s natural outdoor carpet!
Weed control is another important element of lawn maintenance. While a fertilized and healthy lawn will naturally prevent weeds, sometimes weeds can be invasive and propagate out of control. In these cases, an effective weed control protocol is needed. Choosing a lawn care professional’s weed control service is one of the fastest ways to control weeds, and to reap some of the benefits of weed elimination.
Maintains Soil Nutrition
Weeds are living organisms fighting tooth and nail to survive in your yard. Out in your yard, they will do anything to survive. Weeds are constantly battling for the same nutrients used by your grass. This means that if they are allowed to propagate, they will reduce the overall nutrient density of your soils and steal valuable nutrients that your grasses could be used instead. The same potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus that your grass utilizes for its growth are being siphoned off by invasive weeds. Effective weed control will end up saving your soil’s nutrients for the plants that you actually want to grow.
Maintain Lawn Beauty
By keeping weeds at bay, you stop nutrient-deficient plots of your lawn from spring up. These nutrient-deficient patches can cause your lawn to look discolored and sickly in certain areas. This can be caused by uncontrolled weed growth. If weeds are able to outcompete your grass for nutrients, then that grass will grow sickly, and may eventually die off. To maintain the beauty and evenness of your lawn, you’ll want to practice effective weed control measures.
Removes Poisonous Plant Growth
Some weeds are poisonous to animals. If you let your dog frequently out into your yard, then they may end up eating or chewing on some poisonous weeds and cause damage to their digestive systems and overall health. Some of these weeds can even pose harm to your children. If you want surefire peace of mind, then investing in a weed control service might be a great option. Furthermore, even if the weeds themselves are not poisonous they may attract stinging insects that are.
If you’ve decided that you need lawn fertilization or weed control for your own lawn, then you’ll need to consider several key factors. A lawn care professional will have a firm grasp on what is needed for your specific lawn and will also have the appropriate tools and procedures ready. Here are just some of the factors that professional lawn care services and landscapers take into account when handling your lawn.
Existing Soil Quality
Before attempting to fertilize your lawn, a good lawn care professional will take into account the existing quality of your soil with a soil test. A soil test will let the professional know what your lawn is deficient in, and what nutrient ratio of fertilizer is required to cause your grass to grow at its best.
Spread
Depending on the time of the year, the type of grass you have, and a variety of other factors, a certain amount of fertilizer spread will be required. Lawncare professionals use a special piece of equipment, called a spreader, in order to distribute the fertilizer appropriately. Using too much lawn fertilizer actually ends up hurting your grass, while too little fertilizer might not yield you the results that you’d like.
Time of Year
Different times of year will call for different fertilization and weed control processes. Lawn care services often offer their services year-round, as the different elements and weather conditions will require that the lawn be handled in very specific ways. For example, weeds tend to grow more in the summer. A lawn care service will know what type of herbicide to use in the summer and choose the appropriate herbicide for the weed variety. During the summer, the lawn will also need a specific fertilization protocol in order for it to more effectively handle any damage caused by the heat.
Type of Fertilizer
There are a variety of different fertilizers available to you. It may be hard to choose the right fertilizer for your specific lawn situation. For example, not only do you have to choose the appropriate nutrient ratio, but you also have to take into account which of the fertilizer types are best suited for your situation. These include slow-release, quick-release, organic, granular, and liquid. A professional will be able to help you choose the right type, as well as have the knowledge needed to apply it correctly.
Herbicide Application
When it comes to weed control, you’ll need to ensure that you’re using the appropriate herbicide for your specific weed variety. Even if you’ve chosen the correct herbicide, the incorrect application of herbicide can end up killing your lawn and causing unnecessary damage to other plants in your garden. It’s important to know not only which herbicide to apply, but how to best apply it while minimizing damage to your lawn grass.
The benefits of lawn fertilization and weed control are numerous. However, without the proper application of fertilizers and herbicides, you can end up causing long-term and unnecessary damage to your lawn. This is especially disheartening if you’ve invested your time and energy into maintaining your pristine grass. This is why so many homeowners today opt to use a lawn care professional or landscaper to handle their fertilization and weed control needs. By hiring out your lawn care to a knowledgeable lawn care service, you can rest assured knowing that your lawn will be at its healthiest and is growing at its full potential.