The care and maintenance of:

Your newly seeded lawn.

To get a lush, healthy lawn there are some pretty simple but important steps you have to take. The main idea behind these steps is to develop a deep, healthy root system.

First, water. Your new lawn will benefit the most from frequent light watering rather than infrequent heavy watering. If you are seeing puddles, you are overwatering. Keeping the area moist for the first five days to three weeks, depending on the type of seed you have, is critical. You should plan to water twice a day, once in the morning and then again in the early evening. This will help keep the soil around the seed or sod base moist. Once you do see blades of grass growing you can cut back on watering to every other day. After the second lawn cutting you can cut back watering, depending on the weather. Again, you don’t want to drown your lawn so use how dry the soil is as a gauge of how often to water. In cooler weather, a once or twice per week heavy watering will suffice; in drier, hot weather, you may have to water more often.

Second, keep foot traffic off the area. A few steps here or there will not ruin your lawn but don’t plan a volleyball tournament until the roots are well established. This includes mowing. It is best to not mow the newly seeded lawn until the blades of grass are over 3.5 inches.

Finally, fertilization. You can begin a fertilization program approximately thirty days after you have first mowed the new grass. A starter fertilizer should be used and we strongly recommend following that up with a Step program.

Your established lawn.

Let’s just say it right off the bat, the best thing you can do is hire Adam Landscaping to get a lush, healthy lawn that will make the golf courses turn green with envy!

Okay, now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about what you as a homeowner can do to keep your lawn in great shape.

For an established lawn you need to water as deeply and infrequently as possible. Irrigate when the turf indicates water is needed. Look for signs of wilt, which often show up in the same location on the lawn time after time. Footprints or lawn mower tracks that remain at least one half hour after traffic has passed indicates irrigation is needed. Turf will also turn a shade of blue-gray when it is water stressed and in need of irrigation. The best time to water is early morning; watering during the night encourages fungus and mold.

We get a lot of requests from homeowners to catch the clippings. We know that it leaves a cleaner, sharper looking lawn, the kids don’t track it in the house, and many other reasons, but in reality, leaving the clippings on your lawn helps keep your lawn healthy. The clipped grass decomposes and leaves behind healthy nutrients to feed your lawn. However, if your lawn has a lot of weeds, you are going to want to catch the clippings so you don’t give the weeds a helping hand.

For Newly Installed Trees & Shrubs.

As with lawns, it is very important for your new plantings to be watered regularly. To check if watering is necessary, test the moisture of your soil about 4 – 8n inches deep. If you find it is dry or only slightly damp, you should water the plant. Since roots grow where oxygen and water are most available, short and frequent watering will result in the development of a shallow root system. Watering deeply, thoroughly and only as needed encourages a deep and healthy root system that is able to withstand environmental stresses.

Keep in mind that heavy watering of lawns next to newly planted trees and shrubs can be harmful to those trees and shrubs.

The use of mulch around your new plant will help the plant in many ways. First a layer of several inches of mulch help retain soil moisture and help prevent wide fluctuations in soil temperatures throughout the year. It also inhibits the growth of weeds in the area and by eliminating the grass close to the plant, it also reduces the risk of injury to the plant by whips and mowers.

Once your plant becomes established, it may benefit from being fertilized every few years. Spring is generally the time of year when plants have their greatest growth and therefore their greatest need for nutrients. To make sure the nutrients are available for this growth period, fertilizer can be applied in the fall after the plant has dropped it leaves or in spring before the plant breaks from dormancy.

We strongly recommend that if you are going to apply fertilizer yourself you speak with a certified, knowledgeable professional as the application of certain fertilizers at certain times may actually damage the plant in the long run.

Proper pruning is very important. It should be done to promote the health and natural form of the plant rather that to try and alter it. Again, pruning is something that should be done by a qualified professional to ensure the wellbeing of the plant. If a plant is improperly pruned you can undermine the strength of the plant as well as invite disease and insect to the plant it and prevent is natural defense system from functioning properly.

Staking is generally not needed for newly planted trees as allowing the trunk to move freely is essential to the development of a strong tree. If staking is needed for some reason, for instance a tree has been blown over by wind, it should be done so as to allow movement by the tree and the wires should be covered in some manner to prevent damage to the trunk. Once the tree becomes established, usually one season, you can remove the stakes and ties.

Winter care for your shrubs and tree is rather simple. You should not water heavily in early fall or fertilize with nitrogen or the plants dormancy will be delayed making it susceptible to winter damage. Water should be decreased in early fall then you can water more heavily in late fall to give the plants the water they need to withstand winter winds.

Using a commercial tree wrap in fall will help protect against sunscald on young trees or thin-barked species. Using a porous wrap will protect the tree while allowing the passage of gases and liquid through the material. Be sure to remove wrap before the growing season or you will put the plant at risk of disease.

Browning or winter burn of evergreens is a common problem, the appropriate watering plan throughout spring, summer and fall will help. Anti-dessicant sprays may help somewhat but it is more effective to use burlap or a similar material to screen the plant from the wind and sun. Animals can also do a great deal of damage. While there are many commercial repellents installing hardware cloth or other fencing around the plant may be most successful.