There’s something enticing about a home with a lush, vibrantly green lawn. It immediately says “pride of ownership.” However, even homeowners with the best of intentions can’t always keep up with the demands of a lawn, so it often makes sense to outsource to the professionals. Here are five lawn improvements you can expect from “a lawn service near me” in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Related: What Could Be Included in a Full-Service Landscaping Maintenance Plan in West Bloomfield, MI?
Mowing to the Correct Height
Homeowners often outsource lawn mowing because it’s time-intensive. And many lawn problems are the direct result of mowing too high or too low. The pros know exactly how high your grass should be given its location. Mowing height matters because mowing too low will expose the soil to the hot summer sun, drying it out and stressing the lawn. It can even shock the grass into not growing much anymore that season, which can result in a brown, ugly patch of dirt where a lush lawn should be.
Mowing too high means too much water gets trapped at the ground and doesn’t get a chance to evaporate. This can lead to mildew and disease. Like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it’s important to mow to the height that’s optimal for your lawn given its sun exposure, grass species, and so on.
In addition to mowing to the right height, the pros maintain their equipment frequently, ensuring sharp mower blades that cleanly slice grass rather than tearing at it.
The pros will also ensure that the lawn is perfectly edged to your specifications.
Filling In the Blanks
Many lawns have areas where grass growth is vigorous, and areas that seem to struggle no matter what you do. Lawn care professionals can assess the nature of the problem: poor soil, poor drainage, pests, disease, or weed infestation. Then, they will treat the problem and overseed the bare patches or take up the damaged or dead grass and install sod. Getting to the root of the problem is essential to prevent the problem from recurring.
Aeration and Dethatching
These services do not produce immediate dramatic results. These are time-consuming and tedious tasks but they are essential for the ongoing health of the lawn. Aeration helps loosen compacted soil so that water, nutrients, and air can reach the roots. Detaching involves removing the dead plant material that collects around the base of each grass plant, again so that water, nutrients, and air reach the roots.
Weed Management
Keeping up with weeds can be a full-time job. Along with fertilization, lawn care professionals will control weeds using a combination of pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides that are applied with safety in mind.
Fertilization
Applying fertilizer at the right time is an acquired expertise—without it, the grass may show signs of struggling. By then, it can be too late to resurrect a lawn quickly that season.
One of the keys to success with fertilizer is soil testing. Soil testing is often done at least once a year to determine which type of fertilizer will be most beneficial to the lawn and to avoid over-saturating the grass with too much of a particular nutrient.
The pros will apply fertilizer correctly to prevent “fertilizer burn” and with safety in mind.
In combination with proper mowing, aeration, dethatching, weed management and patching bare areas, fertilization is essential for the health of your lawn.
Related: Why Fertilization is Essential to Landscape Maintenance in Superior Township & West Bloomfield, MI