Cutting crew courtesy

Common courtesy among lawn care providers is alive in well for most in the industry. When we show up to a lawn in the middle of it getting cut, we move on to our next job and circle back once the cutters are done. Some of our alliances even receive our schedules ahead of time so we can co-ordinate our routing and everyone is happy.

Yet, as in any industry, you have a few bad apples who ignore Notice signs on lawns, and cut anyway, although they know a 24 hr. grace period is needed for the weed controls to work.

These are the companies who usually cut too low hoping to get a few more days before returning for the next mowing. They are the greedy operations, who value customer count over quality, and who don't give a damn about any entity unless it's within their own crew.

I understand, we've all had to race against Mother Nature, work around the wet weather, and try to keep the customer happy in the process. It's a balancing act we've endured for years and will continue to walk the high-wire for years to come. 

So we need a little common courtesy, if not common sense.

Fighting against the conditions is one thing. Fighting each other doesn't need to be.

Kentucky Blue, blows

Sodding is a multi-million dollar business in Ontario. Consider new housing developments,  a useful tool for landscaping projects, and the homeowner who wants to swop a failing lawn with instant gratification. 

Pallets of the green roles are ubiquitous. Yet, many don't know much about sod, other than it looks fantastic when it's first installed.

What you need to know about this pre-grown grass and soil is, it  mostly consists of Kentucky Blue grass. Although you will be told KBG is a cool season grass, I beg to differ. 

KBG is notoriously slow to green-up in the spring. Every year I see lawns that were sodded within the last year that do not respond well to fertilizer until approximately mid-May. By this time, your weeks behind the emerald green of your neighbours.

KBG does not have a deep root system, making it a poor choice for the health of your lawn unless you plan on over-seeding with diverse species of grass (fescue/ perennial rye) to outcompete the Kentucky Blue.

Be prepared to dump biblical amounts of water on your new sod to get it established, or watch it die a slow drought death. I see this mostly in new subdivisions where the sod is dead and dying within a year of establishment.

KBG rings the dinner bell for chinch bugs and grubs. These insects love the stuff and will blow through it in short order. Raccoons also appreciate a newly sodded lawn. It's easy for them to roll it up and have quick access to food.

Also you should be aware that new sod will keep the weeds out of your lawn for a couple of months, but once the chemicals wear off, it's back to the weed farm for most, and you are right back where you started.

With the cost of sod, it doesn't make sense to me to go this route in the first place.

If I said you needed to put a new roof on your house every three years, would you do it?

All this said, there are options when it comes to sod. RTF is a much better choice, and will give you a fighting chance against the elements. However, be prepared to pay at least $5 more a roll (you get what you pay for.) Even then, I would suggest annual fall over-seeding to strengthen the health of your lawn.

If you are still determined to go the sodding route after all I've said, hopefully it's because your moving and want the instant curb appeal. By the time your sale closes and you move on, that sod will be someone else's problem.  

Everything everywhere all at once

 

Remember when it snowed for the first time? Remember how everyone forgot how to drive? Remember how everywhere you looked, people were losing their minds on the roads and highways?

Well this spring it's the same thing, except snow is replaced by dandelions.

Dandelions on boulevards. Dandelions in parks. Dandelions on your damn neighbours lawn encroaching on your grass.

It's wonderful to think, as a small lawn care provider, I can be everywhere at once to spray those pesky weeds but that's not the case. People need to exercise patience. The weeds popped early this year, and with all the wet weather, even the big companies are struggling to keep up.

I've been doing this long enough to realize, customer's memories are very short, and everyone will be singing praise by the end of May when we are well into our second round of weed control. Also the germination of the dandelion will be complete for a while, and things can return to status quo...until the snow flies.

After 4/20 is when we should think about weeds

 Soaking rains, wet snow, thunderstorms, strong winds, and cold miserable drizzle, are conditions that have plagued us since the beginning of April. It's nothing new, yet it seems, this April is packing more precipitation than normal.

While the lawns are soggy and oversaturated, the grass still loves all the liquid attention, and most lawns are on, or at, the cusp of emerald and deep forest green already.

The grass is growing, and although lawn companies are finishing clean-up, they are not yet cutting lawns.

With warmer weather and sunshine sure to appear as early as next week, there is another concern soon to be on the homeowner's mind---weeds, and plenty of them. Those invasive species everyone loves so much are set to pop in ubiquitous numbers virtually overnight, triggering panic in all who can't stand the slightest emergence of yellow damaging their curb appeal. Again, this is nothing new, but memories are short.

With Ontario bylaws in effect, it is a never-ending battle between the homeowner and  weed eradication.

So, the next time you hear 4/20, don't just think of getting high---get prepared. The war for your lawn is about to begin...again.

The war between spring and winter

 

If there's one thing we have come to expect, it's April will always carry elements of winter. Case and point: The cold, snow and rain in first week of a traditionally spring-like month, has displayed no signs of warmth or growth. However, next week promises the opposite, with higher temperatures on the way.

Every year, it is a mixed bag of precipitation that can be down-right miserable and unappealing to out-door-types, longing to get into gardens or general lawn clean up. Yet, if you'd consulted the Farmer's Almanac long before any weather models were made public, you would have seen the same information---cold, rain, snow---in the forecast.

Patience is the key as the days tick by and the sun finally appears (or doesn't with the upcoming eclipse.) You'll be gardening in no time, and cursing your lawn mower, but you need to wait for the war to end and spring to reign victorious as it always does.

August comes to October

 Usually, by the time the calendar flips to October the nights are cool and the days carry a hint of Fall. The trees are bursting with colour, the buzzing of lawn mowers is less frequent, and the splashing in a neighbours' pool is a distant memory of Summer---but not this year.

At a time when most lawns have recovered from July/August stress (drought/dormancy/ chinch bug, etc.), the damage is still visible, and the reclamation far from evident.

As I write this, we have gone 21 days without rain, have daily temperatures pushing 30 C including new record highs for this time of the year. If you haven't been watering your lawn religiously (2x a week for an hour each.) chances are, you have nothing but concrete for soil and any attempts to get water to your parched grass is useless.

The few mechanical core aerations we have done, have pulled up only cores of dust, and we are still waiting for the fall fertilizer to kick-in, in most cases.

You don't have to have inground sprinklers to combat the dryness, just a few minutes to turn on a manual sprinkler and then turn it off an hour later. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security when the rains come. The robust 100 plus millimetres of June and July can easily turn into less than 70 mil over the last TWO months like it has. 

Now you're left with a tale of two lawns---one watered, and one not.

Aeration: Choosing between mechanical and liquid

 Aeration is one of the most beneficial applications you can do for your lawn, however, with new technologies there is a choice between liquid aeration and traditional core aeration.

Which one should you choose?

Let's look at the pros and cons of each.

Both mechanical and liquid break down thatch layers in your lawn, thatch that hampers lawn health and where chinch bugs usually hide. Mechanical does this by punching holes and removing cores of soil to allow nutrients, air and moisture to reach the root zone. Liquid aeration uses a organic mix of Humic and Fulvic acids to create micro channels in the soil and accomplishes the same end. Esthetically, liquid does not leave behind unsightly cores of dirt reminiscent of a flock of geese.

Both applications can be done with seeding, fertilizing, or weed control (if you choose not to seed.)

Now here is where Liquid Aeration leaves Mechanical Cores in the dust in my opinion.

Liquid takes less time and is less labour intensive.

With liquid aeration, there is no need to mark shallow lines, or sprinkler heads.

There is no worry when it comes to hitting Bell or Rogers cables.

Liquid aeration can cover 100% of your lawn's area, unlike core aeration at approx. 85%. 

Liquid will not rip up your lawn and can be done shortly after new sod unlike core's one-year wait for the grass to establish.

Liquid leaves no mess behind i.e. muddy wheel tracks.

Sure, once you own a machine, it pays for itself, but unless you are a lawncare provider why would you buy an aerator?

Although liquid aeration means a constant replenishment of the product, therefore increasing you bottom line, I can't deny the time saved.

In other words, you had me at "less labour intensive."