Lawn Care Companies Archives - Page 2 of 3

14 Dec

Common Lawn Drainage Problems – Yard Drainage Systems Springfield MO

Common Lawn Drainage Problems

Do you get a small lake in your backyard after a healthy rainfall? Poor lawn drainage is a problem that needs to be addressed and can be fixed.

Problems Resulting From Poor Lawn Drainage

The most common landscaping problem associated with poor lawn drainage is that most plants are not adapted to water clogged soils.

Turf grass can suffer from root rot, if sitting in water too long. Moss, on the other hand, never gets too much water. So poor lawn drainage tends to tip the balance in favor of moss over grass.

Most trees and shrubs are also not adapted to growing in water saturated soils. They also suffer from root rot and lack of oxygen. Some trees, such as bald cypresses and red maples, are better adapted to such conditions.

Another big annoyance that comes with bad lawn drainage is that you can’t enjoy your yard, let alone walk on it, until the water has completely dried out, which can take days. Walking on a wet lawn can cause soil compaction, which is also bad for your plants.

Sitting water close to your house’s foundations can be a big problem, since it may slowly sip into walls, possibly cause cracks, mold, and other problems.

Mosquitos may also be an issue. If the water stays on your lawn for two days or more, that is long enough for mosquito eggs to hatch.

Finding the Source of Your Lawn Drainage Problems

The first step to fixing your problem is to understand why it’s happening. Start by observing how water gets into your yard, and how it flows or sits. Then, you need to think about what you want to do with your landscaping and consider your possible options.

Keep in mind that no drainage is ever instantaneous. Rain water is never completely absorbed immediately by the soil. On lawns especially, roots can create a thick barrier that can greatly reduce soil permeability. Soil compaction may also be an issue.

Water always follows gravity and therefore ends up in the lowest point. When water falls on the ground, if it can’t penetrate the soil, it runs down to wherever gravity may pull it. And then it may get trapped if the place to which it runs happens to drain poorly.

So the two most important issues pertaining to lawn drainage are soil permeability and yard topography. Consider where the water is coming from and how it travels on your yard.

If a fair percentage of the water actually trickles down from elsewhere (your roof, your driveway, for instance) and ends up on your yard, then you need to find a way to divert the excess water, possibly using drains.

If the rain falls directly on your yard and it just sits there, then there are a few options.
You could work on the nature of your soil and the topography of your yard. You could also consider installing drains.

If the problem is not too major, you could simply get wet plants that enjoy the wet environment or create a rain garden.

French Drains and Yard Drains

French drains swallow up the water accumulating around the foundations of your house, while yard drains can drain water from anywhere on your yard.

In a setup where you have a French drain and yard drains, the yard drains may be connected to the French drain and the whole thing connected to the sewer system.

If you only have yard drains, then they may be connected to a dry well. Another possibility is to let the water escape to a stream.

In both cases, a good layer of gravel on top of the drains will help the water reach the tubes. And you need to ensure that the tubes are sloped so as to let the water flow towards the escape route, and not the other way around.

Installing drains is a big job that require finding someone like the drainage experts at Gabris Landscaping who know what they’re doing. Many drainage jobs involve digging out landscaping plants while the work is being done.

We will ensure that we leave enough roots for your plants to protect both the plants and their roots from the sun and from overheating or freezing, and that the roots won’t dry out. A good natural fertilizer helps your plants grow roots faster when we put them back in the ground.

There are many different types of yard drainage systems. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses. By combining the use of dry creeks, dry wells, French drains, standard drains, burms, and calculated plant placement, we are able to create some effective solutions to manage water flow and drainage issues. Our yard drainage systems solutions maintain the aesthetic appeal of your landscape while improving the functionality of the land.

By Gabris Landscaping Grass Fertilizations, Grass Over-seeding, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Service grass, handout, Irrigation System Backflow Testing, Lawn Irrigation, Lawn Sprinkler Design, Lawn Sprinkler Repair, Lawn Sprinkler System Service, plants, turf, Water Sprinkler Troubleshooting, watering grass, Watering new plants, Winterize Sprinkler System, Yard Drainage Systems 0 Comments

30 Nov

Winterize Your Lawn – Winterize Sprinkler System Springfield MO

Winterize Your Lawn

Winter is serious business here in the Midwest. Before you know it, your beautiful lawn will be covered in a blanket of ice and snow. Be sure to prepare so that your grass, shrubs, and plants spring back to life and health when the seasons turn again. Before that happens, you need to prepare and winterize your lawn so that it will be the envy of the neighborhood, when it warms back up in the spring.

Why Winterize?

You may think that your grass just sits there waiting to freeze its roots off when the temperature starts dropping. Actually, grass is smarter than you might think. Cool season grasses can feel when the temperature begins to dip, and they know that it’s time to shunt their energy away from their surface leaves and down to their roots so that they can hibernate during the winter. Come spring, your grass will need to call on those reserves of energy to do lots of growing as the weather warms back up.

A big part of winterization is giving your lawn the right dose of high quality fertilizer so that all of your plants have plenty of energy to store through the winter. You won’t be able to do a thing for your lawn during the winter months, and by spring it will be too little, too late. The time to fertilize is before winter hits.

More Winterization Tips

If you are going to make the effort to fertilize your lawn as part of your winterization efforts, you might as well do it right. Give your lawn even more support by aerating and seeding. Aerating your lawn helps introduce more oxygen into the soil, which the roots of your grass and plants will be eager to gobble up. Seeding can also address any patchy or bald spots on your lawn that a hot summer, lots of use, and pets have a tendency to create.

You’ll definitely be able to see the results of all of your efforts if you winterize the right way. When the snows melts, your grass will spring back to life, lush, green, and healthy. The more grass that grows, the less room for weeds to find their way in!

Include Your Sprinkler System as Part of Your Lawn Winterization Plan

You could perform try to perform some of these lawn winterization tips by yourself if you have the time and the energy, but there is one more important winterization activity that you should definitely hire professionals to perform. During a long, cold winter, the frost can go deep into the ground and freeze any liquid that remains in your irrigation system. Since water expands when it freezes, it can damage your lines, which will be expensive to fix.

Call the professionals at Gabris Landscaping to perform a sprinkler blowout. We use an air compressor to forcefully blow all of the remaining water out of your irrigation system as part of our winterize sprinkler system process before the winter cold sets in. A blowout requires the use of dangerous equipment, and it is not recommended that you try to do it on your own. Instead, let us handle this last part of your winterization plan. A yearly sprinkler blowout is necessary since our winters always include deep frosts.

Don’t gamble with your sprinkler system. If you want to have a beautiful yard in the spring, you need to take the steps to winterize your yard properly.

02 Nov

Benefits of Over-seeding Your Lawn – Grass Overseeding Springfield MO

Most people only consider overseeding their lawn when their yard is bare or filled with large brown patches. But did you know that you can also spread grass seed over your entire lawn (even if it’s not bare or patchy) to make it fuller, denser, and healthier? This process is known as grass overseeding and it can greatly improve your lawn’s health and appearance, especially if you combine it with aeration and fertilization. To learn more about the benefits of overseeding, check out our tips for overseeding.

Tips for Overseeding Your Lawn

DO overseed your lawn in the fall. Hot, harsh summers often damage lawns, so autumn is a great time to give your grass some extra love and attention. Aim to plant in late summer or early fall, to give your new grass seed time to grow before the first frost of winter arrives. By overseeding in the fall, you’ll also give your grass plenty of time to mature before the following year’s summer.

DON’T just throw down the seeds. This is one of the biggest mistakes made by the do it yourselfers. If you want to give your grass seeds the best chance at success, help them penetrate the soil. So you’ll first need to aerate the soil to loosen it up and remove excess thatch. It’s important that the seeds come into contact with the soil instead of simply sitting on top of the grass blades. If possible, it’s also best to mow your grass a bit shorter than usual and use a commercial seed planter.

DO use quality grass seeds. For best results, you need to use high-quality grass seeds that have been selected and grown for the area we live in. Quality seeds will produce quality grass. That’s why we’ll only use a grass seed that is either (1) the same type as your grass or (2) compatible with your type of grass.

DON’T let the seeds dry up. After overseeding, you’ll need to make sure that the seeds stay wet for a couple of weeks, giving them plenty of water with which to germinate. After those initial two weeks, you can taper off your watering until the first frost of the season occurs.

DO hire a professional. With our carefully selected grass seeds, years of experience, and expert knowledge, our lawn care professionals can help you get the most out of your lawn through overseeding. We can also come back for a lawn “check-up,” to ensure that the overseeding process was successful and the grass is healthy and beautiful.

Mature grass has a slower reproduction rate, so overseeding (which brings in young seeds) will help keep your lawn lively and vibrant. After overseeding, your lawn will be thicker and any thin spots should be filled in with grass. Your yard should appear fuller, lusher, and generally more beautiful. What’s not to love?

If you’re planning to overseed your lawn, give Gabris Landscaping a call. Our overseeding program includes aerating the soil, removing thatch, and using a commercial seed planter to work the seeds into the soil. Additionally, we only use high-quality seeds, selected and grown for the southwest Missouri area. We look forward to making your lawn the best that it can be.

21 Sep

Benefits of Mulching During Leaf Removal Springfield MO

Once Fall arrives and the leaves begin to cover your yard, we get lots of phone calls for leaf removal. People often ask us: Should you remove the leaves? What can you do besides removal? And, what do those leaves do to the soil if they are not removed?

If you want quality turf in the spring and your home has a lot of leaves in your yard, then you need to do something about those leaves. Turf needs sunlight to thrive. Turfgrass leaves must be exposed to sunlight to assist in the process of photosynthesis. One thing to consider is removing all the leaves entirely.

We can’t perform our other lawn and landscape winterization services (dethatching, fertilizing, aerating, bed mulching, etc.) if you have a serious layer of leaves in your yard.

Another course of action is chopping up or “mulching” those leaves. If you have a fairly deep or thick layer of fallen leaves, having them all chopped up does not necessarily alleviate the sunlight exposure issue. But providing organic material to your lawn, ornamental beds and soil is a good thing. Having a good amount of organic material in your soil increases aeration and soil tilth. Mulching leaves certainly assists in accomplishing that mission.

There are other considerations too. Certain leaves, from certain cultivars of trees, can alter the pH of your soil. Oak trees make the soil acidic just by being there – and the leaves make the soil even more acidic and below what is desired for most turfgrass soil. Pine needles, for example, can also increase the acidity of soil.

That’s why we do a combination of leaf removal with mulching during our leaf removal services by putting mulching blades on our mowers. Mulching mowers chop up leaves (turfgrass clippings, just about everything) more finely. It basically holds things inside the mower deck longer and chops the stuff up more. It saves you additional fertilizer applications, improves soil tilth and reduces thatch. It allows your grass clippings to decompose faster.

When you want those leaves removed but still want to consider that is best for your lawn, consider a combination of leaf mulching and leaf removal.

By Gabris Landscaping Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, Leaf Removal, News, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization Springfield MO, Grass Over-seeding Springfield MO, Lawn Aeration Springfield MO, Lawn Applications Springfield MO, Lawn Care Companies Springfield MO, Lawn Care Services Springfield MO, Lawn Dethatching Springfield MO, Lawn Maintenance Springfield MO, Lawn Mowing Service Springfield MO, Lawn Service Springfield MO, Lawn Weeding Springfield MO, Leaf Removal Springfield MO, Yard Pest Control Springfield MO, Yard Weed Control Service Springfield MO 0 Comments

07 Sep

Fall Care For Healthy Spring Lawns – Grass Over-seeding and Lawn Aeration Springfield MO

Chances are, most people who care about their lawn already regularly invest time, resources and money to keep it greener, thicker and healthier. Mowing regularly with blades set at least 3 inches or higher is one important aspect an owner can easily provide towards achieving desirable beauty and health, but other aspects are often better left to an expert. As fall approaches, core lawn aeration and grass over-seeding are two other important actions that are often overlooked, yet two of the best chemical-free ways to improve the overall health and appearance of your lawn.

Core lawn aeration is the process of removing small plugs of soil and thatch from the lawn area. A stronger root system with more nutrient storage capacity translates into a greener and healthier lawn, including natural weed control and pest prevention. Two important reasons for regular core aeration are thatch decomposition and soil compaction relief.

Thatch is the decaying area of material between the soil and the green part of your grass. Some thatch area is normal and good; however, half an inch or more is not! It prevents light, water, air and vital nutrients from getting deeper to the root area of your lawn. Some problems created by excess thatch are shallow roots, increased susceptibility to disease and insect-related problems, more frequent need of water, and less tolerance to heat and drought. Simply put, core aeration promotes the breakdown of the thatch layer.

Soil compaction is the natural process of settling that occurs in soil. This is a particular problem when soil is clay based, as it generally is in many areas of Missouri. Compaction also is compounded in lawn areas that endure heavy usage or foot traffic by people, pets, vehicles or machinery, and in times of low moisture or drought. Many lawns suffer from compaction and heavy thatch following drought.

When soil is compacted, water runs off the top more easily, air and nutrients are unable to reach into the soil as deeply, and it is a difficult environment for turf roots to expand and strengthen. Fall core aeration provides an enhanced opportunity for root development during the time of year when lawns are instinctively working to establish a more vigorous root system. The holes created through core aeration allow turf roots to more easily expand during this stage of root development.

Grass over-seeding is simply the spreading of new seed over the lawn area after core aerating. As the plugs of soil on the lawn’s surface break down, they come in contact with and protect the new seed. Other seed finds a safe place in the empty plugholes and, in a few weeks, you have new grass establishing itself in your lawn. It is important to overseed evenly to avoid a patchwork quilt appearance of varied colors or turf varieties. Spring and fall provide the best environment for seed due to favorable temperatures and moisture, which are important for germination.

Most lawns benefit from annual core lawn aeration. Spring and fall are both ideal times to core aerate and overseed. In spring, we recommend aerating between March and May. In fall, we aerate between September and November. Core aeration before or at the time of late-season fertilization enhances root growth and improves spring green up.

After aeration, your lawn should also be able to go longer between moisture without showing signs of wilt. With repeat aerations over time, your lawn will show enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance. Lawns that receive annual core aerations will be healthier, more vigorous, easier to maintain and less susceptible to pest problems.

By Gabris Landscaping Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, News, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization Springfield MO, Grass Over-seeding Springfield MO, Lawn Aeration Springfield MO, Lawn Applications Springfield MO, Lawn Care Companies Springfield MO, Lawn Care Services Springfield MO, Lawn Dethatching Springfield MO, Lawn Maintenance Springfield MO, Lawn Mowing Service Springfield MO, Lawn Service Springfield MO, Lawn Weeding Springfield MO, Leaf Removal Springfield MO, Yard Pest Control Springfield MO, Yard Weed Control Service Springfield MO 0 Comments

10 Aug

Treating Brown Spots in Your Yard – Lawn Applications Springfield MO

Treating Brown Spots in Your Yard

You have brown patches of dead grass in your lawn. Is it the common lawn disease known as “brown patch” or is it something else? The answer is important: if it is brown patch you probably need to spray with a fungicide. If it is not, you’ll waste your money on lawn applications that won’t really solve the problem.

DISEASE vs ENVIRONMENT – While brown patch does cause patches of dead grass, other things can cause the same symptoms. If the area is poorly drained and water stands on a spot for more than 24 hours, the grass roots will rot, causing a dead patch. If you have a sodded lawn less than one year old, it is possible the soil underneath the sod was never plowed to relieve compaction. Where the sod has rooted poorly, brown patches will develop as dry weather sets in. If one part of the lawn was once used as a baseball home plate or a soccer goalie area, the earth beneath is almost as hard as concrete. It’s easy to see why green grass would turn brown there.

BROWN PATCH SYMPTOMS – If you eliminate environmental causes of the brown patch, what are the true symptoms of the disease? True brown patch spots are small to begin with but in warm weather they can enlarge rapidly. Seen from above, the patch will look like a doughnut – a ring of tan grass having a patch of green grass in the center. Individual grass blades will be brown down to the crown – where the blade emerges from the ground – but the crown will be green. Early in the morning during hot, damp weather you might see a white fungal web at the edge of the dead grass patch.

KEEP GRASS HEALTHY – Remember that the fungus that causes brown patch is constantly present. It can not be eliminated. Your grass gets sick because it is weak and becomes susceptible to the disease. You can help keep the grass strong by fertilizing only when the grass needs it: during the cool months for fescue and during the warm months for Bermuda Grass.

WATERING – Never water in the evening. The best time to water is in early morning. Fescue is much more susceptible when it has lush, green growth plus warm nighttime temperatures. Warmth at night can not be avoided but lush growth can be moderated. The second step is to water at the right time. Since brown patch needs 14-16 hours of wet leaf surface to reproduce itself, water only after the dew has dried in the morning. An alternative is to water after nightfall. Since the grass is wet with dew anyway, watering in the dark does not unnecessarily extend the wet period.

FERTILIZER – Fertilizer applied in late spring and summer causes rapid growth (which must be mowed!) and drought stress. It is best to fertilize fescue only in fall, winter and spring. Nitrogen fertilizer in June, July and August increases the severity of brown patch fungus on all cultivars except Kentucky 31 fescue. The disease is worse at mowing heights less than two inches and more than three inches. Fungicides to control brown patch are available but they must be applied regularly. To avoid the expense, change the cultural conditions before reaching for the fungicide.

FUNGICIDES – If you are absolutely sure you have brown patch, the disease can be controlled with fungicides with our lawn applications. Several are labeled for brown patch control.

If you have brown spots in your lawn and aren’t sure what’s causing them, contact Gabris Landscaping to get a professional diagnosis and proper treatment to take care of the problem.

By Gabris Landscaping Grass Fertilizations, Grass Over-seeding, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, News, Uncategorized, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization, Grass Over-seeding, Insects, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, Leaf Removal, missouri, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service 0 Comments

01 Jun

Spider Mite Treatment – Yard Pest Control Springfield MO

Identifying Spider Mites on Houseplants and Outdoor Plants

As a leader in local landscape and lawn care, part of our yard pest control task involves removing spider mites from plants. Initially, spider mite damage will appear as small yellow or brown spots on the leaves of the plant. If the plant is badly infested, the plant’s health will suffer and it may develop completely yellow leaves and may stop growing.

Spider mite damage may also include a telltale spider web type webbing on the plant. Spider mites are arachnids and are related to spiders. They produce webs in order to protect themselves and their eggs. It is very difficult to see spider mites on houseplants and outdoor plants with the naked eye because they are so small, but if you suspect that your plant has spider mites, you can hold a piece of paper under the leaves of the plant and shake them gently. If it is spider mites, specks will fall on the paper that looks similar to pepper.

Effective Yard Pest Control to Kill Spider Mites

One natural spider mite remedy is to simply spray down the plant with a nozzled hose. The force of the stream of water is enough to knock most of the spider mites off of the plant.

Another natural spider mite remedy is to release natural predators of spider mites around the plants. These can include Ladybugs, Lacewing, Minute pirate bugs, and Predatory mites. If the infestation is too extensive or you do not have the time or products to treat your yard pest control, call us right away.

Also, an effective spider mite treatment that we provide is to use an insecticidal oil, like neem oil, a horticultural oil or a dormant oil. You can also try using a miticide, a substance made specifically to kill mites. Yard pest control can be a tedious task, but it is important that the proper precautions are being made. You should not try to use a normal pesticide for spider mite treatment as they are resistant to pesticides. Using a pesticide will only kill off the beneficial bugs that eat spider mites, which will only make the spider mite infestation worse. Spider mites on houseplants and garden plants is annoying and unsightly, but you do not have to let spider mite damage kill your plants. Knowing what spider mite treatment works means that you can kill spider mites quickly and easily.

By Gabris Landscaping Grass Fertilizations, Grass Over-seeding, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, News, Uncategorized, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization, Grass Over-seeding, Insects, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, Leaf Removal, missouri, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service 0 Comments

20 Apr

Watering Trees, Plants and Shrubs – Lawn Sprinkler Design Springfield MO

How to Water

Drip Systems —Advantage of drip systems is adding emitters and increasing the area watered as the plants grow, but most drip systems do not have enough well placed emitters.

Hoses — A perforated hose is a good device for watering, but can spray water in a random pattern.

Sprinklers — Your lawn sprinkler design can cover a large area but can be inefficient with plants, grass and trees because of wind and evaporation.

Watering Frequency

Water consumption rates vary among plant types. Plants that use a lot of water, such as willow trees, need more water than mature arid plants.

Root depth

Root depth has a huge impact on how often plants should receive water. For instance, deeper rooted plants do not need frequent watering periods, but somewhat surface deep roots may absorb the water faster and cannot hold the water for very long.

Watering Time

The amount of time needed to water your plants depends on your type of soil, your irrigation system, root depth, and weather. All of these characteristics of the plants can be seen by how quickly water is absorbed in the soil.

Weather

During the summer moths, plants tend to use 3 to 5 times as much water then they do during the winter. Watering your trees, plants and grass when summer is on the horizon is good practice once a week. If you have evergreen trees, in the winter they will keep moisture at their roots to keep from dying but generally the cold weather is normal for trees and plants to loose their leaves and even die.

Plant Type and Maturity

For new, young plants it is good to water them more than old established plants. After the new plants have been accustomed to their surroundings, and one year has passed it is good to start lessening the frequency of watering them. This allows the plant to adapt to lessened water and become tolerant.

Type of Soil Irrigation

Most of the time, you have multiple types of soil in your yard, but usually the top soil is what most people will see and use for their plants. However, if you have clay soil in your yard, this type holds water easily but if you have sandy soil, you should irrigate more often but less frequent.

Mulch

When water stays in the ground and does not evaporate, this is a good situation to be in because it doesn’t allow the plants to be in a drought or stressful situation. 3 to 4 inches of organic or rock mulch on top of a plant root area will reduce the frequency of watering because it is holding the water near the roots.

Under and Over-Watering Signs

When under-watering occurs, the soil becomes dry, the leaves will turn yellow or brown and can even fall off. Also, old leaves are wilted which shows the lack of water. When over-watering occurs there is water standing near the plant or tree, new leaves become yellow and brittle, shoots are wilted and mushrooms start to grow.

20 Apr

Lawn Mowing Techniques – Lawn Aeration Springfield MO

While there can be a numerous amount of things that can affect your lawn, the three most common influences are the weather, the soil and lawn care and mowing techniques. Since the weather and soil can be quite difficult to control, proper lawn care and mowing techniques are a manageable variable that can show a big difference.

Proper lawn aeration, care and mowing techniques are vital to having a healthy lawn and landscape and usually cost a minimal amount. Coming up with lawn care and mowing techniques can never happen too early or soon. Some tips for healthy lawn care and mowing techniques are:

High Mowing

The higher the grass, the healthier your lawn will be. With the height of the grass and the depth of the roots, there is a one to one relationship, which means if you mow at two inches, your roots will have a depth of two inches. The one-third rule states that you should never remove more than one third of the high of the grass in one clipping, because it leaves the grass more prone to diseases. High mowing will add root mass and will make your lawn more disease and drought-resistant.

Variation of Mowing Pattern

Mowing pattern variation makes sure that the wheels of the mower are not running over the same areas every time. This can cause bald spots in the grass and can eventually weaken it.

Sharp Mower Blade

A good thing to remember is to keep the blade on your mower sharp. Cutting with a dull blade will leave the grass jagged, which will brown the grass quickly and will leave the grass prone to disease.

Mulch Clippings

When people bag clippings, they are losing a lot of nitrogen they are applying when fertilizing. Leaving the clippings on your yard will help maintain soil activity. One environmental positive of not bagging mowing clippings is the landfills are not being filled with good healthy nitrogen.

Water Dry Grass

Especially during the summer months, grass needs at least one inch of water per week. Watering deeply in the morning to reduce the possibility of disease once a week is a good technique.

The frequency of watering isn’t the most important issue anymore, the amount of moisture and the timing is what matters the most.

Aerate

Aeration reduces compaction, which makes root development easier. This also pulls microorganisms to the surface, which helps break down thatch and other organisms.

By Gabris Landscaping Grass Fertilizations, Grass Over-seeding, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, News, Uncategorized, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization, Grass Over-seeding, Insects, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, Leaf Removal, missouri, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service 0 Comments

20 Apr

How to Pick a Healthy Plant – Yard Pest Control Springfield MO

Before going out and finding the perfect plant for you, it is good to know that, since plants can be expensive and temperamental, some plants might not work for your landscape or they might not be in season yet. Even the fully developed plants can develop problems quickly, such a yard pest control problems, diseases and damages done, but knowing how to tell if a plant is healthy may solve future problems.

Selecting A Healthy Plant

The first step before selecting a plant for your landscape, is understanding the signs of a healthy and unhealthy plant. Looking at all of the plants parts will tell you if there are any problems, and you should start with looking at the leaves. Next you should look at the growth of foliage, then disease and pests issues and finally with the roots. Here at Gabris Landscaping we can help you with any of your landscaping needs, anywhere from starting from scratch with a new house, to a yard pest control problem, to planting a new tree or shrub.

Growth of Foliage

Healthy plant growth will indicate a healthy plant. Most plants, with some exceptions including plants with multi-colored leaves, should have green leaves with even color. It is recommend not buying a plant with pale leaves. Also, it is a recommendation to avoid dry leave edges and yellowing or brown leaves on plants. Full, bright colored growth is a sign of a healthy plant. Instead of long plants, it is recommended to choose sturdy plants. If a plant looks to be pruned, this could indicate a damaged stem has been removed because it was diseased or damaged in process of growth or movement.

Disease and Pests

After looking at the leaves and growth of a plant, it is recommended to look at symptoms of diseases and possibly pests. When looking for diseases and pests, you should check underneath the leaves and where the stem attaches to leaves. At Gabris Landscaping we can help you with any problems you may encounter with your landscape with our yard pest control service. This is the location some pests stay, such as: Spider mites, Aphids, and Scale Mealybugs.

Roots

Other signs of a healthy plant are good sturdy roots. However, because roots are difficult to see when a plant is in a pot, most of the time you can tell if the plant is rootbound. you notice roots growing through the hole of the pot, the plant has been in that pot too long. When the roots are growing on top of the potting soil mix, it is a sign of a rootbound problem.

Rootbound plants are not necessarily an unhealthy plant, because it shows that the plant is growing, but it is recommended to repot a rootbound plant as soon as you can.

By Gabris Landscaping Grass Fertilizations, Grass Over-seeding, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, News, Uncategorized, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service Grass Fertilization, Grass Over-seeding, Insects, Lawn Aeration, Lawn Applications, Lawn Care Companies, Lawn Care Services, Lawn Dethatching, Lawn Maintenance, Lawn Mowing Service, Lawn Service, Lawn Weeding, Leaf Removal, missouri, Yard Pest Control, Yard Weed Control Service 0 Comments