Regular, simple maintenance goes a long way in making a healthier, thicker lawn. But jobs done once a year play a huge role in sustaining tinier steps across the months. For many people, aerating lawns to alleviate soil compaction and enrich grass growth is a common yearly task. If you are wondering should you aerate your lawn, you should realize any lawn can profit from aeration when it's done right. Grass roots need water and air to grow healthy, deep, and thick. When soil becomes compacted, even a little, it stops the flow of the requirements that support healthier, thicker turf growth. Just a thin layer of compacted soil can make a huge difference in the beauty and health of your lawn. Aeration forms hole down into the soil to relieve compaction so water, nutrients, and air can reach grass roots. Robbed of their essential needs by compacted soil, grass struggles in demanding situations, like low rainfall and heat, losing its rich, healthy color. Grasses become thin and ultimately die out entirely due to no water, oxygen, and nutrients available. When grass become weak, it allows room for weeds to take root. Even a single aeration job can unlock these essentials to get to their mark and put your grass back on an upward move. When to Aerate Your Lawn As with plenty of bigger lawn jobs, like planting grass seeds, it's best to aerate right before or during the time your grasses get to its peak time. Aeration is great for lawns, but it can stress grass if done incorrectly. For cool-season grasses, early spring or fall are the best times to aerate your lawn. For warm-season grasses, the best time for aerating is very early summer or late spring. When aeration corresponds with active growth, grasses recover fast and fill in areas where aerator equipment reveals soil. Aerating is most natural on you and your lawn when your soil is wet from rainfall the day before or irrigation. Parched earth can be hard to aerate, so wetness helps the process. Never aerate very wet lawns. Instead, wait a couple of days. If you have any questions or help with your aeration job, call a York tree contractor. Sweetgum trees give new meaning to the term lethal beauty--you know what we mean if you’ve ever stepped on one of the round, thorny balls that fall incessantly from these trees every fall and winter. While this hardy, gorgeous tree graces yards across America with luscious, star-shaped and color-changing leaves, the golf ball size prickly spheres it casts off cause enough trouble to throw entire cities into a tizzy. If you’re wondering how to control these little balls of fire, you have a few options; namely removal, replacement, or prevention. Let’s explore each of these options a little more. Removing Sweetgum Tree Balls Some clever manufacturers have figured out a way to capitalize on this the sweetgum tree’s feisty fruit by creating contraptions that scoop them up with ease. Bag-A-Nut, for example, crafted a lawnmower-looking contraption you can push across your lawn to collect the pesky balls. If you don’t want to shell out your cash for a fancy new gadget, a rake does the work just as well. Replanting a Fruitless Sweetgum Tree Many sweetgum tree owners simply don’t have the time or energy to constantly remove the seemingly endless supply of prickly balls. A more permanent solution is to remove the entire sweetgum tree and replace it with a fruitless variety called the roundleaf sweetgum tree. This sister tree is fast-growing and looks identical but does not drop the irritating tree balls. If you like this option, contact a local tree removal company to do the dirty work for you. Preventing Sweetgum Tree Balls The third option is to apply a chemical injection to the sweetgum tree that prevents the tree from growing any fruit at all. The timing needs to be absolutely perfect for these injections, otherwise the fruit will still grow (albeit much smaller). You will need a professional tree specialist to safely and effectively apply this growth hormone to your tree. When done correctly, you can kiss those prickly balls goodbye for the year. If you’re in the York, PA area and have a tree service need big or small, don’t hesitate to call the experts at Tree Service York PA. From sweetgum tree care and beyond, we can deliver the tree care solution you require. You raked to prepare the soil and diligently laid down the grass seed. You fertilized, mulched, and watered. And then, you patiently waited and waited. Finally, it’s summer; time to bask in the glory of your fresh and pristine lawn. But wait--is that crabgrass you see? If you followed grass planting advice, you didn’t apply weed killer to your newly planted lawn, so that pesky crabgrass was free to germinate right along with your grass seeds. If you are wondering how to get rid of crabgrass in the summer, during the peak of turf season, you’re in luck. We’ll discuss how to rid your lawn of crabgrass and prevent it from coming back. Pull it Up It’s simple, really. Pull the crabgrass up by hand; this is the best way to safeguard your lawn and get rid of the crabgrass right away. For tough roots, try thoroughly watering the affected areas to soften the soil before pulling out those annoying weeds. Dispose of them by throwing the weeds into your yard debris bin. Apply a Post-Emergent Herbicide Yanking out a handful of weeds is easy enough, but if your lawn is totally overrun with this irritating grass, weeding might not be an option. Thankfully, post-emergent herbicides do a pretty good job of taking care of the problem. You can purchase these weed killers virtually anywhere, from garden specialty stores to online retailers such as Amazon. Be sure to follow the instructions if you use a post-emergent herbicide so you don’t harm your healthy grass. If you’re worried about proper application, contact a professional service. Prevent Crabgrass from Returning In the spring, uniformly apply a preemergence herbicide to your entire lawn. Why spring? Crabgrass germinates in the spring and will be in full bloom by summertime, so you need to attack before it emerges. Follow manufacturer instructions for application, and if in doubt, call in an expert. Remember: Crabgrass is nothing but an irritating weed. Using these crabgrass control tips, you’ll be the master of your garden in no time. For help with tree care projects big or small, call Tree Service York PA. Our services include everything from land and brush clearing to emergency tree removal, and we’d love to talk tree with you. It’s tough to know when to prune trees when there’s so much conflicting advice. The good news is, pruning your trees is simpler to master than most people think. Use Tree Service York PA’s handy guide to know when’s the best time to prune for the health and longevity of your tree. Prune Anytime for Plant Health If your tree has dead or diseased limbs, limbs that are crossing over one another, or limbs that are hanging in hazardous positions, prune those suckers off any time, winter, spring, or summer. Keep in mind that while a clean clip here and there won’t do much, a significant amount of pruning will kick your plant into growth mode. So when pruning for health, prune sparingly when possible. Prune During the Winter to Encourage New Growth Tree care specialists agree that pruning during a tree’s period of dormancy is the preferred window for several reasons:
Prune for Spring Cleaning It’s not a good idea to prune heavily in the spring as this is when many trees are putting on their best blooming show, so save the heavy spring cleaning for your closets. However, a little tidying up in the spring is sometimes in order. Clip the flowers when they’ve wilted to encourage continued blooms all season long. Pruning Fruit Trees Fruit trees have their own set of rules for the first few years after planting. Once they become established, prune during dormancy for best results. Avoid summer pruning which will inhibit growth--not good if you’re expecting a plentiful fruit harvest! Never Prune in the Fall Just like bears hibernate to make it through the long winter, trees also go dormant during the winter to conserve energy. Pruning a tree encourages new growth and requires the tree to expend a lot of energy, which is why pruning a tree right before it goes into its period of dormancy is a bad idea. Pruning in the fall also increases the risk of disease. Relax with a pumpkin spice latte and leave the pruning for another season. Don’t Prune Dangerous Limbs You should never risk your life to prune a limb. If your tree has hard to reach limbs, limbs that are extra large, or limbs that might cause damage on their way down, it’s best to call a professional tree care company to do the job for you. Happy pruning! Backyard gardeners tend to disagree on what time a garden should be watered. Is it morning, late afternoon, or night? Many gardeners have arguments for each option and have lush, healthy gardens to prove their choice. But the experts at Tree Service York PA agree: There is one--just one--best time to water plants. In the early morning. If you’re a night owl, you probably don’t like the sound of that. Maybe you’ve been taught that it’s best to water in the evening when the sun can’t zap all the water through evaporation. Sadly, someone gave you bad advice. Shame on them. Watering at night can lead to damp leaves, root rot, and powdery mildew on your plants. If you want your plants to thrive, you’ll have to start cranking that hose on a little earlier than you might like, at least for the summer months. Here’s why early morning is the optimal time to water plants:
If you absolutely cannot water in the early morning, you have a few options. You can set up a smart garden with a timer-controlled watering system. With this method, you can set the timer to water whenever you’d like and for as long as you want. It’s hands-free gardening! For a less time and labor intensive investment, water in the late afternoon. This is the second best time to water plants, according to expert arborists. No matter what time you choose to water; Happy planting, happy watering, and may the growth be ever in your favor. |