Services
Most everyone understands the need for regular feeding, weed control, proper mowing, watering in maintaining a thick green, beautiful lawn. The single most important service you can perform for your lawn is aeration. Golf courses perform this process two to three times a year. The benefits of aeration aren’t just here today and gone tomorrow. They continue for months after being performed and work together with all the other services your lawn received throughout the year.
The best way to understand aeration is to think of it as a rearrangement of your soil without damage to your turf. You might ask. “Who cares how much soil moves?
What difference does it make anyway?” Aeration removes thousands of soil cores from your lawn and deposits them above the thatch layer. The core from your lawn and deposits them above the thatch layer. The cores are about _” in diameter and 2” to 3” long. As soon as the aeration is completed a lot of good things begin to happen to your lawn and will continue for months after the service is performed.
The first immediate benefit is a creation of tiny pockets in your lawn to catch and hold air, water and fertilizer. This is especially important to heavy soils that tend to be compacted and shed water rather then absorbing it. The next thing that you’ll notice is that the soil cores begin to dissolve during rainfall and irrigation. The soil is mixing with the thatch layer and helping it decompose, preventing a thick, solid blanket of thatch forming over the lawn. Then, because the holes are catching water and fertilizer, the grass roots begin to grow toward them, getting fuller and thicker on the way. And since there’s extra space, the compacted soil of your lawn begins to loosen and that means more oxygen reaches the roots so they can grow deeper without hitting hard soil.
The root system of you lawn is constantly renewing itself by sending out new shoots. This new growth needs loose and open soil. If your soil is heavy and compacted, the new roots stay near the surface or even in the thatch layer itself. This leads to a lawn that dries out too quickly and builds up thatch much faster then a deeply rooted lawn. Consider including power aeration in your annual lawn care program. It’s a wise decision that will continue to pay dividends at the “grass roots” level, long after the aerator is gone.
There are several types of white grubs that feed on the roots of lawn grasses. All of them can cause severe damage if left untreated. They live and feed in the soil. It’s easy to miss them as they gradually cut the roots out from under your lawn until brown patches begin to appear and the grubs are finally discovered. Pull back the turf if you suspect grubs. If the lawn pulls up easily, you may find white grubs in the top inch or so in the soil. Grubs are the larval or worm stage of many types of beetles. The beetles lay their eggs in the lawn, and the newly hatched worms work their way through the thatch and into the soil, where they feed on roots of grass plants. Most beetles lay their eggs in mid to late summer and the young grubs do their greatest damage during the fall months. As the weather cools, most grubs burrow deeper into to the soil for the winter. They then return to the surface to feed again as the soil warms in the spring. After this spring feeding, the grubs pupate into adult beetles and begin the cycle again.
Of all lawn-damaging pests, fungus diseases are some of the most difficult to tame. There are hundreds of diseases that can infect your turf. Some are relatively harmless, while others can destroy an entire lawn in a very short time.
WITH TREATMENT, CONTROL IS THE GOAL
Disease treatments do not usually eliminate the disease from lawns. Instead, they suppress activity for a period of a few days to several weeks. The goal is to keep the disease in check long enough for your grass to recover or the weather conditions to change. Often, several treatments are needed. If you have any questions or concerns about diseases and their control, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Lime “Sweetens” your soil. In areas where soil is naturally “sour” (or acid), this is extremely important for growing healthy turf. Lime helps improve lawn color and density, helps control thatch, and increases root development. Your lime application helps keep the chemistry of your soil in balance so that you can have and enjoy a thicker, greener healthier lawn.
Lime Affects Color, Thatch, and Root Development
When your soil phi s too low (acid), it needs lime to bring it back into balance. Soil that is too acid causes “fertilizer lock-up.” This means that fertilizer and important micro-nutrients become locked up in the soil and unavailable to the grass plants. The results of this lock-up are that the grass becomes thin and yellow, thatch may build up faster, and root growth slows down. A lawn in this condition is called “unthrifty,” because even when properly fertilized, it can’t make use of the plant food applied to become thick and stay green. We suggest annual liming for you lawn. It helps everything else we do work even better. That’s what makes lime such a great value for your lawn.
All soils are not created equal. In fact, soil is constantly changing. Nutrient elements in soil can become diminished due to plant growth, leaching or erosion. On the other hand, nutrient elements can increase in soil when fertilizer or compost is added.
The best way to determine if your soil is supplying the required nutrients for healthy plant growth is to perform a soil test. Through soil testing, the current “fertility status” of your soil can be measured. This lets us know what nutrients may or may not need to be added to the soil to help it foster growth.
One of the main soil properties that get measured during a soil test is the ph level. Most turf grasses, flowers and ornamental shrubs grow best in soil what a ph level between 6.4-6.7. Soils with a ph level below this range will benefit from the addition of lime. If the ph level is above this range, aluminum sulfate may need to be added. Other soil properties that can be tested for include texture and available nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium levels.
Texture: Texture of the soil influences the amount of water and nutrients a soil can hold. Sands (S), loamy sands (LS), and Sandy loams (SL) require more frequent watering during droughts and lose nutrients more readily by leaching than do fine sandy loams (FSL) and loams (L). Silt loams (SIL), silty clay loams (SICL) and clay loams (CL) retain moisture for longer periods of time and lessen the leaching of nutrients.
Nitrate and Ammonium Nitrogen tests indicate nitrogen immediately available to plants.
Phosphorus binds strongly in soil and is often unavailable to plants. Annual applications of phosphorus fertilizer are usually necessary. Deficiencies in phosphorus are often indicated by poor root, fruit or vegetable growth and a purpling of the older leaves. Excessive phosphorus can move to rivers, ponds and lakes and promote the growth of algae and weeds.
Potassium is supplied by the clay and organic matter in native soil, however, improved plant growth is often obtained by the addition of potassium fertilizer. Sufficient potassium is thought to improve flowering, disease resistance, cold hardiness and drought survival. Potassium leaches readily from soil.
Calcium in soil is readily revealed by our test. Limestone can correct a calcium deficiency, and will also neutralize soil acidity. When the pH is high and the calcium level is low gypsum (calcium sulfate) is often suggested.
Magnesium tests identify soils where magnesium treatments such as dolomitic limestone or epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) are likely to be beneficial. A Low magnesium level is usually associated with acidic soil.
By testing your soil on an ongoing basis, we can provide your lawn and landscape with the ideal nutrient amounts for proper growth.
Every year Tufflawn sends hundreds of soil samples to the UCONN department of plant science for analysis. Tuff Lawn takes pride in caring for each lawn one soil test at a time!
