Most homeowners know what services are necessary for good lawn care: proper mowing, aeration, overseeding, adequate hydration and fertilizer. Aeration is one of the most beneficial lawn care services, especially if you live in an area that experiences episodes of little to no rainfall. Aerating your lawn will allow the water from your irrigation system to reach the grass roots directly and be immediately absorbed. However, even though aeration ensures that your lawn and soil are manipulated, you should go one step further and also have your soil periodically tested by a lawn care professional.

A soil test is a fairly simple procedure and many lawn care companies offer the service for free in conjunction with their lawn care programs. The lawn care technician will take a small soil sample and have it sent to a lab. A qualified soil expert will examine the sample and look at the pH level (acidity); the presence or absence of such macronutrients as phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen; the presence or absence of such micronutrients as iron, calcium, zinc, boron, manganese, copper and other nutrients that deter weed growth and enhance the lawn’s resistance to insect and disease infestations; the soil type, which can help your lawn care technician create a preventative plan to reduce the incidence of compaction; and levels of decomposed plant material, also known as thatch.

Once the results are back, your lawn care specialists can consult with you on what the best plan of action is regarding your lawn care regimen. To schedule a soil analysis, call your local lawn care company today.

Any recipe is only as good as its ingredients and that goes for Princeton Junction lawn care too.  If you don’t have good flour and shortening (soil and pH level), it doesn’t matter how much frosting (or fertilizer) you add, your recipe (lawn) isn’t going to turn out well.  That’s why it’s important to get a soil test and start with a good foundation.

A soil test can measure many things like soil fertility.  Elements like phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, manganese, copper and zinc are removed from the soil to determine nutrient and contaminant content.  One of the most important things a soil test measures is pH.  Experts say if a soil is too acidic or too alkaline it can be toxic to plants.  The acidity in the soil can limit plant growth to such extremes that the plants won’t be able to utilize any fertilizer applied.  So, the soil test can help determine the best lime and fertilizer recommendations.  It’ll help save you money in the long run and help the environment by limiting the over-use of fertilizers.

Basically soils in moist climates tend to be acidic while those in dry climates are generally alkaline.  A soil pH lower than 7.0 is an acid soil, anything higher is alkaline.  The soil has to be adjusted to fit the needs of the particular plants planted in the area.

There are do-it-yourself testing kits available in many areas at reasonable prices or you can hire a company to do the testing for you.  Either way you’ll be getting important information that will help your Princeton Junction lawn and garden grow and will make you look like the expert with the green thumb without all the effort.

Are your best efforts to grow a picture-perfect Princeton Junction lawn being literally trampled? Growing a Princeton Junction lawn that is often traversed by kids and animals can seem like an uphill battle that is often lost; however, there are some Princeton Junction lawn care tips that can make the process a little more successful.

The first step is choosing a resilient type of grass and making sure it is well maintained. Lawn care specialists recommend using tall fescue blended with perennial rye grass. Different parts of the country respond differently to various grass types, so it is important to contact your Princeton Junction lawn care company and get an expert opinion on your specific location, but tall fescue tends to do well in most climates. Tall fescue also performs well under high-stress conditions such as constant traffic. Regardless of what type of seed you use, what is more important is aerating your Princeton Junction lawn once a year (sometimes twice). Core aeration alleviates the compaction that occurs when people and animals are constantly walking over the Princeton Junction lawn. An added benefit is that aeration also improves the color and density of your Princeton Junction lawn.

Another way to combat the effects of high traffic is to regulate the traffic itself. Instead of allowing your dog to roam free in your yard, take him to a dog park where he can wear himself at the expense of someone else’s Princeton Junction lawn. If you have both a front and back yard, have your kids switch their play areas every few weeks to give one area a chance to recover. Even better, send them off to the park as well!

If none of these options are ideal, Princeton Junction lawn care professionals recommend artificial turf. It is more expensive than a regular Princeton Junction lawn, but its resiliency is much, much higher than a natural Princeton Junction lawn.

If you aren’t sure what to do to keep your Princeton Junction lawn healthy, contact your local Princeton Junction lawn care company and put it in the hands of the professionals!

You are really looking forward to sprucing up your Princeton Junction lawn this year and have decided to add fertilizer into your Princeton Junction lawn care regimen, but you might be wondering which is better: liquid or granular fertilizer?

The choice between liquid and dry fertilizers may depend on what Princeton Junction lawn care goals you hope to achieve this season. If you have a persistent weed problem, then liquid fertilizer may be the way to go. Some fertilization treatments include pre- and post-emergent weed control elements and when they come in liquid form, they are absorbed more quickly, producing faster results. Lawn care specialists also suggest that liquid fertilization treatments are better for the environment because the fertilizer does not spread all over your landscape like granular treatments.

Liquid fertilizer has the benefit of taking less time to be effective. In order for granular fertilization to work properly, there must be adequate moisture. If you’re having a dry season, the results may not be as successful as with liquid fertilizer.

There are some Princeton Junction lawn care experts who suggest using a combination of dry and liquid fertilizer for optimal results. When you begin to fertilize in the spring, the weather is typically wetter than in the late summer and early fall months. You can take advantage of this moisture and use granular fertilizer to jumpstart your Princeton Junction lawn. The warmer months typically produce less rainfall, so liquid fertilizer is more ideal during this period, along with proper hydration.

For the best results, contact your local Princeton Junction lawn care company and leave it up to the professionals. Employing a Princeton Junction lawn care company often allows you to expect higher quality results.

Lawn care involves many steps, but perhaps none is as important as proper hydration. After all, a Princeton Junction lawn cannot grow without water. Adequately hydrating your Princeton Junction lawn is not an exact science, but it is close. The best plan is to install a sprinkler system that ensures your Princeton Junction lawn is watered every day at the same time. Sprinkler systems with a timer are even more ideal, but you still have several options there. Lawn care specialists highly recommend pulsating sprinklers for the best results.

Pulsating sprinkler systems spray water into the air and allow the water to fall back down to the ground in a fine mist. There are five different types of pulsating sprinklers: impulse, traveling, stationary, oscillating and rotary. Impulse sprinklers are the top choice of Princeton Junction lawn care professionals who need to water a larger area such as an entire landscape or vast Princeton Junction lawn.

It is important to know if you have high or low water pressure, as that also factors in to which type of pulsating sprinkler you choose for your Princeton Junction lawn care needs. If you have low water pressure, an H-base is a better choice than a spike-based sprinkler which is better suited for high pressure.

Pulsating sprinklers have the benefit of being designed with gusty winds in mind, as well as low-hanging trees or tall shrubs. The height of the water spray can be adjusted accordingly and since the water is typically sprayed close to the ground, its spray is unaffected by the wind.

If you think a pulsating sprinkler may be beneficial to your Princeton Junction lawn, contact your local Princeton Junction lawn care company. Many Princeton Junction lawn care providers also install irrigation systems, especially since proper hydration makes their job that much easier!

Mowing might seem like the simplest of Princeton Junction lawn care tasks, but it is actually quite important to know how to properly mow your Princeton Junction lawn to ensure the best results. Over-mowing or mowing at the wrong times or height can have detrimental effects on your Princeton Junction lawn. Here are some Princeton Junction lawn care tips on proper mowing procedures.

Most Princeton Junction lawns are dormant during the winter months, so once spring rolls around, it is time to drag the mower out and get back into the routine. But when you should begin mowing? Lawn care technicians recommend keeping the mower stored away until the ground is thoroughly thawed. Once the ground is soft, that means that grass is growing and mowing it will not cause any damage to the crowns or the shoots.

Most people know that allowing the excess clippings to remain on the Princeton Junction lawn is beneficial because as the clippings deteriorate, they become natural fertilizer for the soil below. However, for the first few cuts, attach the bag and gather the clippings. Allow your Princeton Junction lawn to grow and breathe without the weight of clippings on top of it.

Lawn care professionals recommend mowing your Princeton Junction lawn at a slightly shorter height than you may typically have your mower set. If you normally mow at three inches, take it down to two. This will allow your Princeton Junction lawn better stimulation to get the season started off right.

If you have any questions about spring mowing, contact your local Princeton Junction lawn care professionals.

As the cooler temperatures arrive and you’ll soon be exchanging your leaf rake for snow shovel, consider a few simple leaf raking tips that will help winterize your Princeton Junction lawn while increasing your chances for a better spring green-up.

How well you maintain the leaves in your Princeton Junction lawn is a large indicator for how healthy and prepared your Princeton Junction lawn will be for next season. When neglected, leaves can suffocate and rob turf of sunlight, water and other essential nutrients. For every leaf that lies on top of your turf, multiple blades of grass beneath it run the risk of browning or even worse, developing patches of mold or fungus depending on how low temperatures drop in your area.

Depending on your yard, raking once a week should be sufficient in at least warding off fungus and disease from developing in your Princeton Junction lawn. If you do step up to twice a week, try to keep it to a light raking as it will be gentler on your Princeton Junction lawn. Raking is a natural form of dethatching but a little layer of thatch build up is actually healthy for your turf. Just be sure the second raking doesn’t over do it.

If you want to save time and utilize leaves for compost, a mulching mower is a smart investment. A mulching mower can be very beneficial to your Princeton Junction lawn as it will chop up and shred leaves to easily decompose in the soil. This granulizes leaves into a natural fertilizer to be absorbed into your Princeton Junction lawn.

Check back next week for more information about the absorbing of nutrients in your Princeton Junction lawn.

You have been noticing that your Princeton Junction lawn is not growing as fast as it should or perhaps it just does not appear as vibrant as it used to look. You may want to call your Princeton Junction lawn care company and ask them to perform a soil analysis. There could be several explanations as to why your Princeton Junction lawn isn’t thriving, but one reason may be that the pH level of your soil is not where it should be. If that is the case, your Princeton Junction lawn care specialists will more than likely suggest lime applications to correct the acidity level. However, wood ashes are an alternative to lime applications that with continual use can have the same level of effectiveness as lime.
The reason wood ashes are used to correct the pH level of soil is because the ashes contain small quantities of boron, potassium, phosphate and other elements pertinent to increasing the soil’s pH level. If you do decide to use wood ashes, you need to be vigilant about using them often and having your soil’s acidity tested annually. Wood ashes are particularly effective in sandy soils. Lawn care experts recommend spreading a thin layer of the ashes over the soil in the winter, then mixing the ashes in with the soil again in the spring. Be aware of what other plants the ashes come into contact with, as they can cause damage to plant roots or seedlings that are in a state of germination.
If you aren’t sure about how much to use or how to correctly apply the wood ashes, call your Princeton Junction lawn care professional.

Fertilizing your own lawn can be quite an ordeal and usually requires (or should require) a fair amount of research. Many lawn care companies have fertilization programs that have been perfected over the years by experts in the lawn care industry. However, if you’re looking to take on the project yourself, you may want to explore the types of spreaders that are available to make your task easier.
When it comes to fertilizing your lawn, there are generally two types of spreaders you can use: broadcast and drop spreaders. Broadcast spreaders are a popular choice for lawn fertilization projects for a few reasons. One reason why many homeowners prefer to pay a lawn care company to fertilize their turf for them is because of the mundane, monotonous walking back and forth across the yard. This can be a particularly tedious task if you have a large area to fertilizer. However, the broadcast spreader is perfect for spreading fertilization over a large area because the granules fall down through the hopper and onto a rotating disc. This disc disseminates the fertilizer in every direction possible, allowing you to spread more fertilizer over a larger area of your lawn without walking back and forth as much.
While you may be fertilizing your lawn, the plants, trees and shrubs in your landscape will be getting fertilized as well, essentially killing two birds with one stone. Although this process sounds simple enough, you will still need to figure out how much fertilizer is needed and when it should be applied. You may find that the fertilizer you purchased at the store isn’t as effective as more professional-grade products. If you want to rid yourself of the burden of fertilizing your own lawn, contact your local lawn care company and have the pros provide you with perfect fertilization.

When your New Jersey lawn needs fertilized, the best solution is to contact your local New Jersey lawn care company and have the professionals attend to the task. However, if you’re one of those do-it-yourselfers, then there is some research to be done on the subject. Not all fertilizers are the same, so you should decide which fertilizer is right for your New Jersey lawn, how much should be applied, when it should be applied, as well as what to do to ensure the application is successful. If you’re using granule fertilizer, you will want to look into purchasing a spreader to disseminate the fertilizer evenly.

There are generally two types of spreaders: drop spreaders and broadcast spreaders. Broadcast spreaders are particularly advantageous for those who have a large New Jersey lawn to cover. However, if the area you’re fertilizing is small, a drop spreader might be more ideal.

Whereas broadcast spreaders fling the fertilizer in every direction, drop spreaders are more focused, releasing the fertilizer directly underneath the device through the hopper. This means you have to make certain you have covered that area thoroughly, or else you could have some areas of your New Jersey lawn growing wildly while other sections barely look alive. Another downfall to using a drop spreader is the risk of over-fertilizing your New Jersey lawn; applying fertilizer is a very delicate balance and if you apply too much fertilizer, you run the risk of frying your New Jersey lawn.

If this sounds like too much of a hassle or you’re not particularly good at staying within the lines, your best option is to contact your local professional New Jersey lawn care company and leave the fertilizing to them. Sometimes having a beautiful, successful New Jersey lawn means leaving it up to the pros!