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Top 5 Lawn Service Problems and How to Fix or Avoid Them

Top 5 Lawn Service Problems and How To Fix or Avoid Them

Using a commercial lawn care service should be a stress and worry free venture; however, sometimes this is not the case. In my 30+ years serving lawn care customers, I’ve heard some of the problems homeowners have had when using a lawn care company. I would like to address some of these issues and help you understand why they happen and what you can do to fix them or avoid them all together.

[Read more…] about Top 5 Lawn Service Problems and How to Fix or Avoid Them

Prepare your Lawn for Winter

Follow these steps to get your lawn off to a great start next spring.

  • Lower the mowing height.  For the last mowing of the year (try and do it before the snow falls) lower the mower to remove enough leaf blade to discourage the grass to lay over on itself.  Long grass that over-winters creates the perfect conditions for snow mold which causes round brown patches in the lawn.
  • Rake up leaves.  When snow covers leaves and other debris that is left on the lawn, the grass can die out or at least grow snow mold.  A clean lawn will over-winter better than a clutter filled lawn.
  • Get the Winterizer Fertilizer.  Turf grass will increase the root system to allow storage of nutrients.  Fertilizing in October through November with a Winterizer Fertilizer will encourage the root growth and store the nutrients to be used next spring.
  • Drain the sprinkler pipes.  Frozen sprinklers and pipes almost always results in the need to dig up the lawn for repairs. Use an air compressor to blow the water out.

Water Cycling

Efficient lawn watering has never been more important than it is today due to the water restrictions in place for most Utah cities.  When our lawns are watered, we want to be sure that the water is reaching the root zone and eliminating run-off.  Blake Moore, President of Moore Green recommends ‘Water Cycling’ to achieve this.

Water Cycling, simply put, is watering for shorter time periods but doing multiple ‘cycles’ back-to-back to allow gravity to pull water into the soil, virtually eliminating run-off.  For example, let’s say that your system is watering a zone for 30 minutes.  We would divide this into 3 cycles of 10 minutes each and space each cycle an hour apart.  “Out of a 30 minute cycle it’s not uncommon to see the soil only take 10 minutes of watering and losing the other 20 minutes due to the clay content in our Utah soils.  By watering 3 cycles of 10 minutes each, the soil has time to soak up the entire 30 minutes,” Moore says.

It’s important to know how much water your system is putting out in a given time period.  This will help you know for how many minutes you should set each zone.  Using the chart* will help you determine how many minutes you need to set each zone.  Moore says, “This chart establishes a starting point.  Every lawn is different because of soil type, slope, and sun exposure.  But knowing where to start gets you going in the right direction”.

Those who take the time to know their irrigation system and use the Water Cycling method tend to have greener lawns and can go more days between watering.  For those who don’t have secondary water may also see a lower water bill.  Call the Moore Green office for more information.

Ways to Conserve Water on Lawns

Try these ideas to use less water in your landscape

  •         Raise the mowing height to the mower’s highest setting.
  •         Only water when the lawn needs it – Turn off the Automatic Watering
  •         Add a day or more between waterings. If you water every other day, change to every 3rd or 4th day. Do NOT reduce the watering time – water needs to reach the root zone.
  •         Use ‘catch cans’ to measure the amount of water your system uses
  •         Use a screwdriver to see how deep the water goes into the soil 1 hour after a watering
  •         Water late in the evening or early morning. Complete watering before the sun comes up.
  •         Use ‘Water-Cycling’ *see article
  •         Cover bare soil with a thick layer of mulch
  •         Use a broom or a blower to clean sidewalks
  •         Found a dry spot? Spot water instead of running the entire system.
  •         Adjust sprinklers to avoid watering sidewalks and roads
  •         Get Moore Green’s ‘Water-Less’ Treatment

Moore Green Water-Less Treatment

Our New ‘Water-Less’ Treatment Can Save up to 50%!*

If there was a product available that would cut your water use by 30%-50%, would you be interested? Well listen up, Moore Green is now offering a ‘Water-Less’ Treatment. “I first experimented with this product in 2004, but the product wasn’t easily accessible,” states Blake Moore, owner of Moore Green. “Recently the product is now available and is more stable to use and with the need to conserve water, we are making it available to our customers,” he says.

It’s not a soil wetting agent that is included in Moore Green’s BASIC and PLUS lawn programs or a superabsorbent polymer, however it is humectant and hygroscopic compounds that act like a ‘water-magnet’ that attracts water molecules from the air within soil and making it available to plants. One application lasts up to three months!

How To Use It:

1.     After the application, water heavily within 3 days to move the product into the root zone with at least ½” of water. Failure to deep water makes the treatment useless!

2.     Turn off your automatic sprinkler program. Only water manually on the next morning when the lawn appears grayish-blue and water deeply.

3.     Keep track of your water bill or usage and report it to Moore Green via [email protected]

*These steps must be followed completely to use this product to its full advantage