​"

​As a society we tend to take the benefits of grass for granted," says James B Beard Ph.D., one of America's leading turf experts and the chief scientist at the International Sports Turf Institute.
Aesthetically, lawns enhance the quality of life, contribute to social harmony and community pride, increase property values and compliment other landscape plants.
Across America, nearly 30 million acres of lawns have sprung back to life, providing a soft landing for kids at play, a blanket for families to picnic and a cushion for bare feet to roam. The same important benefits stretch worldwide.
Beard notes, “Turfgrasses have been utilized by humans to enhance their environment for more than 10 centuries. The complexity and comprehensiveness of these environmental benefits that improve our quality-of-life are just now being quantitatively documented through research.”
The scientific evidence clearly shows that a healthy lawn is good for the environment. "Because it's around us every day, people don't think about the fact that a healthy turf generates oxygen for improved air quality,” says Beard.
“Most homeowners don't realize noise and air pollution are reduced in most suburban areas because the grass ecosystem serves as a natural filter for the environment.”
Here are just a few of the many additional environmental benefits Beard and other scientists report.
Lawns provide excellent soil erosion control.
They improve recharge and quality protection of groundwater and provide flood control.
They enhance entrapment and biodegradation of synthetic organic compounds.
They absorb and sequester carbon dioxide gases.
They bring substantial urban heat dissipation which results in temperature moderation.
Lawns contribute to home security as well, providing high visibility zones that deter potential intruders and open green spaces that serve as a firebreak to reduce fire hazards.
For these reasons….and so many more…lawns ARE important.
This information provided by The Lawn Institute – www.TheLawnInstitute.org

With the start of September comes one of the most popular seasons of all:                                                         Fall.Let’s take a look at a mandatory practice that will not only benefit your yard today, but also give it lasting benefits throughout the season: fertilizing. While fertilization can be done year-round, experts say that the best time to start is in the fall.
Why the fall? “From a horticultural standpoint, it’s the best time to feed your lawn and make sure the nutrient levels are at their optimum growing conditions,” says Chuck Whealton, region manager with Ruppert Landscape’s landscape management division. “It’s also the best time to do lawn renovation. So, if you’re doing some overseeding of those areas, the best time to get germination of new grass is in the fall as well.”
Whealton explains that with cool-season grasses, fall is an especially important time to fertilize for the following reasons:

• Soil temperatures are relatively warm
• Air temperatures are beginning to cool down
• Typically, precipitation is better and more common in the fall
• It gives grass the opportunity to use the nutrients it’s stored to grow root systems better
• Increases cold hardiness
• Helps grass store energy reserves in the way of carbohydrates
  
  

Why fall fertilization is important Fall fertilization is one of the most important aspects of good lawn health, but many customers may be tempted to opt out of it to save a little bit of cash.
According to Whealton, this could end up costing customers more than it would have to do the initial fertilizing.
“A good offense is better and usually less expensive than defense,” "Something is going to grow there, and we’d rather it be what we want, the desirable turf, than weeds. Once you have weeds, then you have to kill the weeds. We would rather play offense and create a healthy, good standing turf than to have to constantly be battling with herbicides and weed control.”
Even though many think they can easily save money by skipping fertilizing this fall, please know that in the end it could cost you more to repair damage done by weeds than it would to start the season off strong.

24 AUGUST 2017
Being proactive is always preferred over responding after a problem appears, and this is why applying pre-emergent herbicides is such an important feature of any lawn-care provider’s business.
No one wants weeds in their yard, and the best way to go about eliminating them is to prevent them from growing in the first place. This is where pre-emergent herbicides come into play.
“Basically what they do is inhibit root growth, so the roots cannot expand once they come in contact with the herbicide,” said Dan Loughner, a field scientist for Dow AgroSciences Turf and Ornamental. “It stops the roots from growing essentially.”
Because pre-emergent herbicides aren’t killing the weeds but simply shutting down cell division so they can no longer grow, there is a LIMITED WINDOW of time to apply these chemicals so they can take effect before the weed germinates.
The general rule of thumb about when to spray or spread a pre-emergent is to apply the chemical two or three weeks prior to the emergence of the targeted weed. Crabgrass is the most common weed targeted and it tends to germinate when the soil temperature has been above 50 degrees for several days.
So, now that you know when, how do you decide what product to use and in what form to apply it?

​CONTACT US TODAY FOR A PERSONALIZED "WALK AROUND" OF YOUR PROPERTY & FREE QUOTE...TO THE PENNY!