Lawns Hub

Lawn care requires a reasonably high amount of attention. While not the single most labor- or time-intensive aspect of the landscapes around our homes, lawn care does require some attention to detail. Regimes concerning lawn mowing, fertilizing and watering face us all with the necessity to try and wrestle with something usually enjoyable, yet often challenging, time wise. I know that from the perspective of one who installs entire lawn and garden systems, from grass to irrigation, seeing my product taken good care of means I will have a sense of pride and design ownership for long years

Generally, I install places and then leave. I acquaint clients with the systems of course and generally leave a sheet with instructions and tips. I also recommend certain lawn care professionals. For me, I generally recommend Tru Green – who have provided great services for me over a long period of years. I realize the actual amount of time couples and families have for the work. Installing the landscape itself is a chore some folks take on by themselves. Obviously, I make my living with those who are reluctant to take on such high-energy, high labor tasks, especially in newer homes. In this day and age when everyone is necessarily busy making a living, it can be a delight watching someone else provide your lawn care services at reasonable rates.

And, before I pound the lawn notion into the ground, businesses who provide lawn care also provide analyses of tree and plant issues. Being the professionals they are, they have a professional interest in seeing every growing thing in a landscape do well. It is not only a reflection on them, it is just good business. These lawn care pros can analyze issues such as diseases, pests, and over- or under-watering issues in the midst of their daily routines and recommend some easy cures.

My interest is in seeing a home owner’s investment pay off in beauty and natural enjoyment of their landscapes. Lawn care and what good attention to detail and progress can provide is the real secret behind good-looking and long-lasting landscapes.

Who does it better? Golf courses are the penultimate source of state-of-the-art issues regarding grass lawns. We sit in front of our TV’s sometimes and just drink in the other-worldly green wonders of a Pebble Beach or Augusta and find it satisfying and relaxing, somehow. I’m speaking of just the ambiance, and not even the players themselves. We even now have a TV channel totally devoted to the game of golf: The Golf Channel. I often wonder how many of us are drawn more to the simple gorgeousness of the sport, as opposed to the competition. Or, of course, the combination of the two.

From water conservation techniques to fertilizer applications, the innovations inspired by the constructions and maintaining of golf courses has propelled lawn and garden technology and turf science to new heights. Golf courses are the Guinea Pigs for our own personal affairs with our own lawns. They continually innovate, led by the urgency of continuous beauty and grounds that are beneficent to golf equipment. Oh, and the roll of the ball! Better not leave that small detail out.

Golf instruction includes a focus on taking care of the golf course itself as well. Divots are to be sought out after a shot and every golfer gets to play “gardener” as they replace them by properly relocating them and patting them down as firmly as possible. Obviously, this is done so that it will grow back. Since most courses are watered nightly, it happens almost seamlessly. Below is the picture of a course – Pebble Beach Golf Course – which has hundreds of players every day, almost year round. Find the divots:

Not easy, is it?

Granted, a golf course is a special place, with oodles of care provided and budgets to cover maintenance on a nearly minute-by-minute basis. But what is far more relevant to homeowners and people like us is what they find in their own science of golf course lawn care. Their findings winnow their way down into classic conventional tactics regarding issues like drainage, fertilization and mowing techniques. In the end, we, as end users, gain immeasurably in the most practical ways. We owe golf courses some huge props for lending that science back down to us.

Oh, and we owe some thanks for those killer views The Golf Channel gives us too! There’s nothing like discovering the 14th Green at Pasatiempo at 1 AM when one feels a bit too restless for sleep. As far as I know, looking at Paradise has never been a bad experience. Maybe we should call it a “transitional sleep aid” instead.

I realize it’s mid February, but it won’t be long now before we are all concerned with things like getting the mower ready for action, tweaking the irrigation – if we have some – and fertilizing. Naturally, being a gardener/landscaper, I am always optimistic about the arrival of Spring. The fact is, I generally hope it gets here early, without fail. Of course, sometimes it doesn’t cooperate at all! There’s nothing worse than snow in April, is there? Nevertheless, it is never too early to prepare for those chores leading to another year with a great lawn.

I always make my own checklists at this time, hoping by doing so, I will actually read them later. Those I make for others, I tell them they MUST pay attention. What a hypocrite I am. I amaze myself sometimes. Anyway, here are a few things I look at at the onset of every Spring:

Fertilizer: Did I use a Winterizing fertilizer? If so, how has it worked in the past? Did it last into Spring at all? If not, then I will need to have mine handy for when the daytime temperatures get above 50 degrees consistently.

Irrigation: Did I drain the system appropriately? I often find a reasonably warm day in very early Spring where I actually run through the system. Yes, it does mean shutting the entire system down again, as we did in the early Winter, and sometimes we entrust that chore to others. In any case, what I can do easily enough is to make sure the timer has a 9 Volt battery sufficient for the year and even do an quick inventory on the obvious aspects such as sprinkler heads, valve boxes and the rest. Just take a look at them, not much more, necessarily. If they are broken, either flag them or make a note and get it fixed early rather than having to wait when the entire world is out fixing lawn systems. It could be an excellent time as well to prune away branches that might interfere with sprinkler arcs, too.

The Mower:  Unless you already did the work, it is close to the time when any servicing needs doing. Listen, beat the rush. Small engine guys get swamped in late March, all over the Northern Hemisphere. Having that baby ready to go is quite a solid feeling.

There are a bazillion other small chores to pay some attention to, but these are your typical ready-made challenges. Addressing these things take just a little while but pays off handsomely when we are all organized when the season hits.

If you’ve been reading up on composting, you probably know by now that you can either have aerobic or non-aerobic composting. Briefly recapping, the difference lies with the type of micro-organisms that break down the organic material into what we use as compost: the process can be either aerobic (literally meaning involving air) or anaerobic/non-aerobic (where the breaking down is done without air).

Aerobic composting is much superior to the anaerobic kind. It means your “ingredients” will break down faster and almost no smelly side effects (whereas anaerobic composting tends to produce more smelly gas).

The problem? To get the desired aerobic process going, you have to take time to manually turn your compost heap, at least once a week. Now, some folks love this type of work, taking care of their precious heap as if it were a family pet. They know what its temperature is on any given day and nurture it accordingly. However, if you want to take composting to the next level, or if you want to save on manual labor, Earthmaker has the solution for you:

This dark looking talk is an advanced aerobic composter with three chambers. Operated by the force of gravity, it moves organic material through the chamber for continuous cycling and perfect aeration. This means both faster composting, producing up to 10 gallons per month, and less gas emission (in other words, eco-friendly and doesn’t stink ).

So, if you recycle organic waste for your lawn, you may want to consider moving on to this smart system. Check it out on Amazon here.

Yes, it’s winter time, and many “lawners” are staying indoors and away from their lawns. Still, now’s a good time to get ready for spring, and since it’s also the time of year when you may be looking for a unique gift for a fellow lawn enthusiast, I thought it might be worth  mentioning the Ames Lawn Buddy:

This simple product, priced at under $50 is a huge success with lawn and garden owners. It’s not just a mobile storage area, it’s first and foremost a mobile seat, that allows you to sit down at just the right height to perform your gardening chores. Finished with one spot? easily glide onwards to the next.

And yes, the storage room is awesome too, with room for all your tools, and even for a cold drink! This no-rust, all plastic product is a total hit with owners providing raving reviews on Amazon. You can still get it in time for the Holidays – what a cool unique gift!

Click for more details and price

Here’s a unique piece of lawn decor, or garden decor, if you will. Not only does it feature a delicate fairy – a favorite theme for many a gardener – but it has another magical quality: it lights up your garden at night time:

You see, this pretty sculpture has a built-in lighted globe with its own solar-powered ni-cad batteries. Its  photo cell sensor can tell when it turns dark outside and that’s when the globe gets lit up with a soft delicate shine. It will stay lit for several hours (four to six, according to the manufacturer), giving a soft glow to a special corner of your lawn.

If you’re looking for a beautiful lighting element, as well as an interesting item of lawn decor, this one is definitely for you: click here for the product page on Amazon where you can read more about this product and make your purchase.

Setting up your own lawn care business is as easy as it sounds.  If you own a truck or even just a trailer for a car that could handle clippings, pruning, fertilizers, gas cans and tools, you too can join the trade. Many have done just that, in fact.  Another fact is, that is exactly how began my businesses, at first. It does not require a monster amount of money to begin, just an urge and the ability to starve a while and to work harder than heck to get it all going.
In fact, in no way would I go through it again…  What you learn in your first year is that so many things complicate matters it’s just not funny.  You can go to work on your new gig with your hopes high and a willingness to work just short of killing yourself in order to get it all going, but it can almost do just that.  Just the same, in answer to the question of whether or not it can be done, of course it can.

What is so often overlooked are things like the following:  Business licenses; licenses of all types including in some places contractor’s licenses; tax compliance forms and papers; insurances, business-wise and vehicular; medical issues and the all-important Workers Compensation issue if you hire anyone; gas and oil for hungry trucks and mowers; tools and their inevitable replacements; an office space and the papers and parts for that; somewhere to store tools safely; advertising issues; networking issues.  Tired yet?

And what about the trade-specific issues like plants health, lawn diseases, pruning techniques, fertilizers, aeration and dethatching issues? Have you had any experience at it?  Do you have a small bundle of work you can begin with? It is one thing, after all, to declare yourself and independent business man, yet another altogether to actually BE one. It takes jobs and the ability to get more.

Now, being in the field yields more work.  Lawn mowing firms are highly visible.  They get asked all the time for extra work from neighbors of projects.  It is entirely possible to make it work, doing just that – referring and getting referred.  But the end analysis means at least a little bit of starvation in my experience unless you can begin capitalized sufficiently.

So, yes, it is entirely possible and requires less to begin than almost any other trade.  The fact is, if you take pride in your work, you will find more, too.  That’s a no brainer. People who answer their telephones also rake in the clientele, simply by answering.

It’s a great thing to do.  Plenty of exercise in a great environment, the working conditions are what drew me to it. But bear all that other stuff in mind, please.  It will save the completely deflating discovery of their needs before you lose heart after investing all that sweat.

Seeding a lawn from scratch is not as intimidating as it might seem.  Like gardens, we get to experience a miracle of Nature as we see the initial sprout sticking up out of the ground, then watch in wonder as it thickens and grows into some green expanse we can be proud of. There are a few things to pay attention to, but I can tell you now, grass seed is a most reliable grower, so one can relax and enjoy after a few simple tasks are known and adhered to.

Make sure the surface is smooth enough to consider having a lawn on it, first. Final grading should reveal the surface dimensions and slopes you really do want.  Also, try and determine the soil is an adequate medium for your eventual busy and hungry little grass plants.  Grass requires a pretty constant diet of water and nutrients, either in the form of rainfall, in the case of water, or from bacteriological sources in the organic material beneath the surface. Make sure there is organic matter in the soil when preparing a lawn. Compost of some type should have been tilled in thoroughly, allowing a good bacteriological base. Once this is establishes, and the raking is done, then casting the seed is pretty much child’s play.  Make sure the seed is dispersed as uniformly as possible.

Once the seed is spread, I like to either cover it with a small sheen of compost but this purpose can be arrived at by passing the back of a spring rake over all the seed, thus surrounding the small seed pods with something that will insulate a bit and retain water. It also can protect from the beating sun or even from frost.  I like also to run a half filled or less lawn roller over the seeds to further insure some insulation and press them deeper into the soil.  After this, water adequately but no too much and watch it grow.