Four Signs You’re Not Taking Care of Your Lawn
Lawn care can be a dreaded and tedious task for many homeowners. Homeowners desire the perfect lawn, but they may not have enough time to dedicate to lawn care routines. As a homeowner, you have the important responsibility of making certain that your lawn is in excellent condition.
How often do you pay attention to your lawn? There are times when you might forget to tend to your lawn due to your busy schedule. You could also fail to recognize potential lawn problems that are developing. This article explores four key warning signs that you may have an unhealthy lawn.
Thinning Grass
Your lawn may not be as full and lush as it used to be. Thinning lawn grass is a crucial sign that you’re not taking proper care of your lawn. There are several underlying causes for your lawn thinning. Your lawn could be thinning due to lawn pests, malnutrition, improper mowing, improper watering, and unbalanced pH levels.
Brown Tips
The tips of your lawn could be turning brown and you might not be aware that this is something you should not ignore. Brown tips on your grass are a clear sign that your lawn is unhealthy. Before you can come up with a solution, you must first determine why the blades of your grass are turning brown. This problem may occur from improper mowing, using too much fertilizer, soil erosion, or poor soil quality.
Lawn Mushrooms
Does your lawn have an accumulation of mushrooms? The presence of a few mushrooms may not be a huge issue. However, you can have too many that are problematic. The appearance of mushrooms on your lawn is an indication that your lawn has lots of organic materials in the soil. This problem can develop from prolonged periods of wet or humid weather.
Mushrooms are not usually harmful, but they can make your lawn unsightly. To achieve the best results, you must consider hiring lawn experts to get rid of lawn mushrooms.
Minimal Growth
Do you know why you have stunted grass growth? Your grass is not getting enough nutrients if it has too little growth. It is known that minimal grass growth can also occur from a lack of water. According to lawn experts, lawns need at least 1.5 inches of water each week. Failure to water your lawn can affect its growth and may cause it to develop a brown appearance. Long-term deprivation of water can also lead to the death of your grass.
Key Takeaway
Your lawn is an extension of your home that provides you with peace and quiet when you want to spend time outdoors. There’s nothing more delightful and impressive than having a lawn that is healthy and aesthetically appealing. While the aesthetics of your lawn is a huge plus, it can also have a positive impact on the environment.
However, when you’re unable to keep up with your lawn care responsibilities, you have the convenience to rely on lawn professionals. A lawn care service can identify issues with your lawn, provide solutions, and ensure that you have a healthy lawn throughout the year.
Dealing With Broadleaf Weed Problems
It can be a daunting scenario – you have broadleaf weeds in your yard or outdoor space, and they seem to be growing like mad. Maybe you've observed this growth over multiple seasons. Maybe it seems to be getting worse each year.
What can you do with broadleaf weed control? The answer is sort of complex, and based on some specific factors. Here are some of the approaches that professionals take with dedicated steps to get rid of broadleaf weeds for clients. We often talk to our customers about how to successfully rid your lawn of these usual suspects.
Identify Broadleaf Weeds
First, these weeds have to be identified. That's partially because there are different mitigation practices for different kinds of broadleaf weeds. Many of these are pretty tenacious and have their own defense systems built into them naturally. In these days of digital identification, getting to the bottom of the situation can be easier than it used to be in the old days. But this is a step you can’t skip.
Remove Existing Weeds
Professionals understand that for most broadleaf varieties, removal of the weed by the root is the critical step to getting that frontline remediation.
The question is how you do this. Pulling individual weeds is often very labor-intensive, especially if they have grown to any significant size. Even if they haven't, the seeds are lurking in your soil or mulch, looking to bloom.
That leads many people to go the route of using chemical assistance to control broadleaf weeds. Weeds can be killed that way, but many of these substances are known to be hazardous, or potentially hazardous, to humans or animals.
You only have to look as far as lawsuits against the Bayer company to understand this is part of the equation. There’s danger in using broadleaf sprays indiscriminately. So sometimes the solution doesn’t end up looking all that easy.
Adapt
That adaptation of your landscaping practices is a clear part of controlling broadleaf weeds of any kind.
After the initial removal, you will be wanting to make sure that weeds don't come back stronger than they were before. How you do that is again up to various alternatives that have their own uses in long-term landscaping.
When you're fighting broadleaf weed invasions, you can rely on Oasis Lawn Service to be at your side. We help residents in the Noblesville, IN area to get their properties clear of these nuisance plants, and keep them that way. Take a look at the website for more on our approach, our certifications and our acumen with broadleaf weed control and more.
When it's time to really take on those wild outdoor areas, Oasis Lawn Service is a resource that you want to have on hand.
4 Tips For Keeping Your Lawn Green and Healthy This Winter
A lot of hard work goes into maintaining a residential lawn. Homeowners in the United States are willing to spend lots of money to keep their grass green and healthy. During the spring and summer months, your grass will be provided with lots of moisture and plenty of sunshine. This makes keeping your grass healthy much easier.
However, when fall and winter approach, your grass will be exposed to harsh temperatures. If you don’t take preventative measures, your lawn will get severely damaged during the colder months of the year.
Instead of dealing with a brown and lifeless lawn, you need to protect your grass from winter temperatures. Here are some things you can do to keep your green looking great in winter.
1. Schedule Professional Lawn Fertilization
One of the best things you can do for your lawn before winter weather arrives is to overseed it. This process involves spreading a generous amount of rye grass seeds across your lawn. Once these seeds have been put down, you need to keep them moist for around two weeks. This will help promote germination, which is an important component of keeping your lawn healthy.
Once germination has begun, you will need to fertilize your lawn to stimulate root growth. Instead of trying to choose and apply fertilizer on your own, you should leave this job to professionals. With the assistance of the team at Oasis Lawn Service, you can get your lawn fertilized correctly.
2. Get Your Sprinkler System Ready
Proper hydration is one of the main things your lawn needs to thrive. Most people solve their lawn hydration problems by installing a sprinkler system. Before freezing temperatures move into your area, you need to get your sprinkler system ready. You can do this by shutting off the water supply to your system and draining the water. By doing this, you can avoid rupturing pipes during the winter months.
3. Don’t Allow Leaves To Remain On Your Lawn
Some homeowners fail to realize how harmful a thick layer of leaves can be to their grass. If leaves are allowed to remain on top of your grass, they will deprive the root system of vital nutrients. Without these nutrients, your grass will start to die off. This is why you have to rake leaves from your lawn throughout the fall and winter months.
4. Avoid Scalping Your Lawn
Before winter, you will have to mow your lawn a few times. On the last mow of the season, you will have to leave some length on your grass. Scalping your lawn can have disastrous consequences. In most cases, things like disease and fungus will form on scalped lawns. If you are unsure about how to mow your grass properly, then letting professionals handle this job is a good idea.
If you are serious about keeping your lawn looking great this winter, then you need to implement the tips in this article.
Reasons Why Your Lawn Isn't Green
If you have a lawn, your goal is for it to be lush and green. Home and property owners spend countless hours worrying about their turf grass and sometimes vast amounts of money trying to keep their lawns healthy. Turf grass is a hardy plant, but it can be tricky to stay healthy all year long, depending on several factors.
Let's face it; your lawn takes a lot of beating between the natural elements, pests, and irrigation issues, and maintaining a healthy lawn can seem impossible. If your yard isn't green, it shows that it needs attention. Here are some top reasons why your grass isn't lush and green.
1) Irrigation Considerations
Grass requires regular watering for optimum growth and its healthy, green color. While summer-active grass species may survive the heat and drought of summer, their green may fade, which makes them appear drab and lifeless. Finer-leaf grasses that thrive in cooler seasons require much higher volumes of water, especially if the temperature remains high.
Your irrigation system may need to be adjusted or redesigned to ensure all lawn areas receive the correct water at the right time. Otherwise, you may see dry, brown patches begin to emerge, especially in hot weather.
2) Excessive Thatch Can Diminish A Lawn's Green Color
Thatch is a runner produced by all turf grasses that die and then replace themselves with new cells. Like runners, thatch dies and then has new growth on top of dead growth, creating layers. These layers slow down water infiltration from the surface to the roots and provide an ideal home for insects and fungal spores. Thatch can also cause the grass to be less green as it scuffs and leaves scalped patches in the turf.
3) Poor Nutrition
Turf grass requires proper nutrition to thrive. If your soil lacks the nutritional elements needed to support healthy grass, it can reduce the uptake of minerals and other dietary components that the grass needs to grow. If the soil has an imbalanced PH range, that too will lead to poor absorption of critical minerals, which leads to the grass becoming yellowed, weak, and prone to disease. Professional lawn care specialists can determine if your soil is the reason for your lawn's appearance and get it back on the right track.
4) Mowing Factors Into The Equation
The height you mow your lawn is a critical component of its health. Mowing heights will depend on the turf grass you have, and the mower you use will also determine the frequency of cutting. The general rule is to cut the grass at regular intervals and only remove one-third of the leaf tip with mowing. This practice will ensure that excessive amounts of grass aren't removed and that it will stay healthy and green.
Seek Professional Lawn Care Advice
If you have problems keeping your lawn lush and green, consult your local lawn care company for advice. Turf grass is affected by many elements that are sometimes out of our control and others well within our ability to correct.
Three Facts About Grubs
So today, let's talk about our grub control lawn service.
Do you need grub control on your lawn? This is something that people Google quite a lot from time to time as they look at how to maintain their properties.
These quick facts will tell you more about whether you need this type of treatment for your lawn.
Grubs Eat Grass Roots
The grub is the larva of the scarab beetle, and it likes to munch on grass roots. So if you want to protect a developing lawn area, you'll want this type of coverage.
“White grubs feed on the roots of corn, timothy, Kentucky bluegrass, sorghum, soybean, strawberry, potato, barley, oat, wheat, rye, bean, turnip, and to a lesser degree, other cultivated crops,” writes an author team at ScienceDirect. “They also infest various pasture grasses, lawns, and nursery plantings. The adults are strongly attracted to fragrant flowers and ripe fruits, and feed on the foliage of forest, shade, and fruit trees.”
Because North America is one place that you can find these pests, the industry has come up with some solutions to mitigate grub damage, and people routinely pay professional teams to have their yards treated.
Grubs Like a Temperate Climate
Grubs like a temperate climate so if you're in the Mid-Atlantic or anywhere in the middle of the US that has four seasons, you might need this kind of service.
Trichlorfon Kills Grubs
The formulations that pest control product makers have put together will kill the larvae so that you don’t have an infestation happening in your own backyard. That’s a relief to some homeowners who just aren’t ready to do battle with these scarabs.
With grub control, the whole thing is about an early intervention that happens before the insect reaches adulthood.
So much lawn care is like that, in a way. The solutions are supposed to be implemented before the problems visibly exist – so that way, you are a step ahead of whatever challenges you're facing with your property.
In this case, the routine treatment involves coverage of a specific area of ground with grow control pellets. It's not extraordinarily complex but having the right equipment and tools makes everything more efficient. So we offer this as part of our overall service model.
Ask us about how to get the best outdoor services for your property. We help property owners to really have peace of mind about keeping their exterior areas in great condition, and sticking with them for the long haul.
How Short Does Your Lawn Need to Be?
If you take pride in the look and health of your lawn, you have likely wondered how short you can cut it without causing damage at some point. The right answer depends on a few factors, such as the type of grass, what time of year it is, and how often you mow. Usually, if you have cool-season grass in your yard, it needs to be cut at three to four inches high. On the other hand, warm-season grasses need to be two to 2.5 inches.
In the warmer months of the year, letting the grass grow taller will help to shade the soil and protect your lawn’s roots from the harsh heat. To better understand what your lawn needs, consider leaving the mowing to the pros. Some other tips can be found here.
Grass Type and Height Considerations
While it may not seem like that big of a deal to adjust the height of your lawn a few inches from time to time, it may be detrimental to the health of your lawn, depending on the type of grass you have. Each type of grass has unique needs, which means you need to know what you have.
Grasses that are in colder climates need to be mowed to four inches to help shade the soil and keep the roots cool during hotter times. In warmer areas, it is a good idea to keep the grass to two to 2.5 inches.
Avoid Cutting Your Grass too Short
Some people like to cut grass lower so they don’t have to mow as often. While this may be tempting, if you mow your grass too low, it can cause health problems. Not only will mowing the grass too short cause it stress, but it can also reduce the density, which makes it more tempting for invasive weeds.
Lawn weeks, such as foxtail and crabgrass, require the sun to grow. If your lawn is too short, the sun reaches the soil, which encourages weed growth. However, when the grass is left slightly longer, it helps to keep the weeds under control. Longer grass will also eliminate damage from the summer heat.
Follow the One-Third Rule
Regardless of the type of grass you have, you shouldn’t remove more than a third of the grass height in a single mow session. You may wonder why? Remember, the grass is a living plant, and it can still be stressed when it is cut too short. Grass that is stressed out will be susceptible to all types of issues. Because of this, you should avoid cutting too much. Hiring professionals will ensure that your grass is never cut too short.
Call Professionals Services to Keep Your Grass Mowed at the Proper Height
When it comes to your grass, there are more than a few factors that have to be considered. Making sure it is mowed at the proper height will keep it healthy throughout the year. You can reach out to professionals who can handle the mowing on your behalf.
Mowing: Tips For Your Lawn
When it comes to mowing, it might actually surprise you to know that there's quite a bit to it…
Hiring some of the best companies will help you to get the results that you want for your lawn.
“Winging it,” or going with the cheapest service, could just bring you heartache and misery – apologies if that sounds over-dramatic!
Let's talk about some of the best practices in keeping lawns in good condition during the growing season.
Optimal Lawn Cuts
First of all, it's not advisable to scalp your lawn, although it may be tempting if you don't want to mow again for a while.
“Why can't I just cut it down to about an inch and a half?” a frugal minded property owner might ask themselves, wanting to save a little bit of gas for the lawnmower in these expensive times.
Well, if gasoline is your only concern, you can do that, but it's really not good for the grass.
Experts and professionals know that grass thrives at around 2+1/2 inches on average, and that it's good to keep the grass a little longer to let it cultivate its own natural air conditioning system.
When you look down toward the grass roots, you see more of a brown color, which could clue you into the fact that grass needs a certain length to be really healthy.
Getting a Haircut
Well, then, how much should you cut off at a given clip?
The rule of thumb is to cut no more than one third of the grass length with each cutting.
But a lot of people don't know that, and so they cut more, compromising the health of their lawn.
Other considerations
There's a lot more to mowing, too, in terms of aesthetic appeal.
There are diagonal and crisscross strategies that make mowing show up better directly after the job is done. There are ways to get around beds and other obstacles that leave more of a neat and manicured result.
You're not going to get a lot of this by just hiring some kid from the neighborhood, although it's good for your young mower’s sense of entrepreneurialism.
Take a look at the website for more on the services that we offer, from mowing to crabgrass control and other landscaping and exterior items.
You'll see that we pride ourselves on our excellence in customer service, as well as a job well done when it comes to your outdoor areas.
Why Investing in Lawn Fertilization is a Good Idea
A lawn full of thick green grass helps to boost the overall curb appeal a home has. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits of watering their grass and mowing it frequently. However, many property owners in the United States are unaware of the benefits that come with fertilizing their lawns.
Nearly 75% of the homeowners in the United States have a lawn to maintain. If you want to provide your lawn with the elements it needs to thrive, then you need to realize the importance of fertilizing your lawn a few times a year. Here are some reasons why investing in routine lawn fertilization is a good idea.
A Green Lawncare Solution
Most homeowners are passionate about finding ways to beautify their properties that are both effective and eco-friendly. If you want to avoid using hazardous chemicals to get rid of things like crabgrass or other weeds, then you need to consider using fertilizer. Once this eco-friendly lawncare substance is applied to your grass, it will provide it with the vitamins and natural chemicals it needs.
Some homeowners worry about too much fertilizer being put on their lawns. If this does happen, the excess fertilizer will just dissipate into the soil. One of the best ways to ensure the lawn fertilization process is handled the right way is by hiring professionals. The team at Oasis Lawn Service will have no problem getting your lawn fertilized.
Provide Your Lawn With Essential Nutrients
When trying to keep your lawn healthy and green, you need to realize the elements your grass needs to grow. Not only does your lawn need a steady supply of water to grow, it also needs vital nutrients like:
Potassium
Phosphorus
Nitrate
Figuring out the most effective way to deliver these minerals into your soil is crucial. By getting your lawn fertilized a few times a year, you can make sure these essential nutrients are abundantly consumed by your grass. Providing your grass with the hydration and nutrients it needs will help you avoid problems involving brown spots and weeds.
Instead of attempting to buy fertilizer and applying it on your own, you need to leave this job to professionals. By hiring the team at Oasis Lawn Service, you can reap the benefits of lawn fertilization without having to perform the work involved.
Avoid Letting Your Lawn Become an Eyesore
Boosting curb appeal levels is something the average homeowner is passionate about. Without proper maintenance, the grass that surrounds your home will become unhealthy, brown and brittle. This can result in your lawn becoming the eyesore of the neighborhood. If you want to avoid this, then you need to realize the importance of frequent lawn fertilization. The money invested in this routine maintenance will allow you to keep your grass looking great.
Now that you know about the benefits that come with regular lawn fertilization, it is time to schedule an appointment with our team. We have a specialized program that will leave your lawn green and free of pests and weeds.
Tips to Avoid Overwatering Your Lawn
Watering your lawn to keep it healthy and green may seem like a simple task. Unfortunately, if you overwater, it can have detrimental effects. In fact, overwatering can be just as damaging to your lawn as underwatering.
Many property owners overwater their landscape and lawn without realizing it. If you want to avoid overwatering situations and the issues that accompany them, you must take the right steps. This includes learning about the soil type, creating a watering schedule, monitoring your sprinkler system, and watching for signs of overwatering. Keep reading to learn more.
Know What Type of Soil You Have
In some situations, the amount of water your landscape needs depends on the area's soil. Because of this, it's a good idea to get to know what type of soil is present. For example, for yards with sandy soil, water drains away quickly. In this case, watering more won't help trees or plants grow. Clay soils can become heavy when they are saturated and prevent plants from getting the moisture needed.
Create a Watering Schedule
A good way to avoid overwatering your landscape is to create a watering schedule. If you have automatic sprinklers, it may mean you just need to adjust the settings. If you water manually, try to water at the same time each day and on the same days of the week. To achieve the best results, be sure to water your lawn and other plants earlier in the morning. Doing this helps to prevent evaporation and minimizes water wastage. Make sure you adjust water frequency to ensure your plants don't get too much water.
Monitor Your Sprinkler System
If you have automatic sprinklers installed, you may take a "set it and forget it approach." This is an advantage of these systems. However, doing this may waste water and result in soil erosion and dead plants. You can avoid overwatering your landscape by regularly monitoring and checking your irrigation system. Doing this will help ensure it is operating properly. One method for checking the system is to turn it on and then inspect the sprinkler heads for incorrect spraying, bubbles, or leaks. You should also watch for puddles or dry areas in your yard and an excess of running water, indicating broken sprinkler heads.
Watch for Signs of Overwatering
It's important to watch for signs that you may be overwatering your lawn. If your lawn is watered too much, you may have soil that stays wet, leaves that are yellow, the base of plant stems that feel mushy, and other issues. If you notice these problems, then you need to adjust your watering schedule and amount.
Keeping Your Lawn Healthy
There's no question that you need to water your lawn to keep it healthy. While this is true, you also need to know if you are watering it too much. Keep the information here in mind and take steps to avoid overwatering. This is going to ensure your lawn stays happy and healthy all season long.
The Top Reasons to Eliminate Crabgrass in Your Lawn
Crabgrass is one of the most common weeds found in Indiana lawns. In an otherwise pristine and well-manicured lawn, a single patch of crabgrass sticks out like a sore thumb. If you want to reduce the impact of this weed and ensure it doesn’t ruin the look of your property, it’s important to learn more about it.
Crabgrass, just as the name implies, is a type of grass. It’s just not the turf-type of grass used to create lawns.
The main difference between Crabgrass and more desirable types of lawn grasses is that Crabgrass is considered an annual grass. Grasses that are used for beautiful lawns are perennial grasses.
Keep reading to learn more about crabgrass and why hiring professionals to handle the problem may be the best move.
Getting to Know Crabgrass’s Lifecycle
In the local area, there are always thousands of dormant crabgrass seeds in the soil. When spring moves in and the soil temperatures exceed 55 degrees, some of the seeds in the lawn will begin to grow. Therefore investing in an early application of crabgrass preventer is so important in the spring.
At this point, the crabgrass seeds will crack open, and the plant’s life cycle begins. The crabgrass will keep growing and spreading during the spring, summer, and partly into the fall. It will also be producing seeds as it grows.
Any existing crabgrass plants will die when cold weather returns (usually sometime after the first frost). For those crabgrass plants, that’s the end of their lifecycle – they will not come back to life next spring. However, every plant has released thousands of seeds on your lawn. These seeds are what will result in even more crabgrass the following spring.
What’s the Big Problem with Crabgrass?
The main reason you want to eliminate crabgrass is that it’s ugly. While it may sound a bit harsh, it’s true. Crabgrass isn’t turf-style grass. It also grows all season long. It can take over if you let it get out of control, especially during the summer months.
The grass used for lawns in the local area grows most during the spring and fall. In the summer, the growth may halt and even stop. However, crabgrass will continue to thrive, even when it is extremely hot and dry outside.
Most landscape professionals know that crabgrass is an “opportunistic” plant. That means it will start growing in bare areas in your lawn. However, it may also begin to crowd your good grass that may be weak – sometimes this occurs if you mow too short, are dealing with insect problems, disease, or something else.
Even worse, when a hard frost moves in, all the crabgrass in your yard will die, turn brown, and be even uglier!
Seek Professional Services to Eliminate Crabgrass Once and for All
If you want to make sure that you eliminate crabgrass from your lawn and keep it from coming back, hiring professionals is recommended. They can get to the “root” of the problem and provide the treatments needed to help you maintain your beautiful lawn.
Why should I choose your service?
Before a customer becomes a customer, the question above is frequently asked. It is a critical part of the consumers buying decision and needs to be adequately answered if a business relationship is going to take place.
My first response is, "Are you happy with your current service and the price you pay". If the answer is yes, I will literally recommend that the person stay with that company. Why would you give up on something that is working? Invariably, however, the answer is some version of no. (Not surprising since we have been asked to leave a quote).
At this point, all I can really do is tell the homeowner a little about our business and ask for an opportunity to prove our value. Everyone makes promises and, unless you personally know me, my promise doesn't carry much more weight than the next guys.
We try to offer some assurance with a money back guarantee. If you are ever unhappy with a treatment for any reason, we will refund the full cost of the application. No "proof" needed. To date, we have yet to issue a refund in the last 10 years.
You also have the comfort in knowing that I will personally be on your property for most every treatment throughout the year. I bring 33 years of professional lawn service experience and, although I don't have an answer for everything, I will work hard to find a solution to any problem.
Lastly, we include everything you need in our program. One thing I have always hated is the "up sell" process. Whether it is cars, appliances, cell phone packages, etc., I hate the way "little" charges drive my price up or I am told at a later date that I need something extra which costs more. Also, I hate telemarketing my customers who I am sure have much more important things to do than get relentless sales calls from their lawn service.
There are other differences between us and our competitors. Like most service businesses, there are some really good companies out there and some really not so good ones. If you have been disappointed by a company, why not give someone else a chance? We won't disappoint you. I guarantee it.
Welcome to the Oasis blog
Over the last decade, we have answered many, many questions from our customers. We thought it would be helpful to share the most common questions and answers as well as have a place for people to ask new questions. Also, we wanted to be able to share information regarding our business and current lawn issues we may be facing. (Drought, high insect activity, etc.)
So here it is; our new blog page! We hope to write often and provide valuable information that both customers and non-customers can use. Here’s to a great 2022 and we look forward to seeing you!