Organic Weed Management

Mowing height is critical.  When cutting raise mower to 2 1/2 “–3” from early spring until temperatures consistently drop below 60 degrees in late fall. At that time lower setting to 1 3/4'”- 2”.

 

Common mistakes in mowing include dropping the wheel into the street which causes the edge of the lawn to become scalped or minimally too short.  Crabgrass will begin here and spread into the lawn.  When this consistently happens even traditional chemicals will not help you.  If this occurs, water frequently. Do not allow this to dry out, as weeds of  all kinds will get a foothold here.

 

Watering is your next step.  Lawns will require various amounts of water during the season.  In the spring, rain is more frequent and temperatures are lower requiring far less attention than in the summer when temperatures rise at the same time as rainfall diminishes.  During this time you must water 1” – 2” per week.  Irrigation systems are a major aid to controlling turf quality and reducing weed populations by restricting the “opportunity” factor to find bare soil and sunlight.

 

Each service a lawn survey/analysis will provide valuable information on identifying what areas of your lawn have too much shade, low pH, moisture retention problems, insect infestations, fungal damage, mowing and watering.  This is performed by our applicators as they service your lawn.  These notes will be brought back to the office for our customer service staff to follow-up with you on.

 

If a major weed problem exists we may recommend starting with a “Weed Buster” or “Creeping

Charlie” program.  These program enlist the steps 1 – 3 and continue with an accelerated 3 – 4 week

program which may include;

3 applications of nutrient to build weak areas of turf.

Ph adjustments “when soil tests show a requirement”

Core Aeration

Over Seeding

Top Dressing with organic soil building materials

Each of these programs has a specific charge for each service.  There is no easy way to identify this via the

phone.  We highly recommend that we begin to improve the lawn by fertilizing as quickly as possible.  At

the same time the lawn evaluation should be completed and a program suitable for your lawn will be

provided  within 1 or 2 business days.  Our customer service staff will contact you with the

recommendations.  At this time you can choose to perform the work yourself, ignore it or follow through. 

If you choose to follow through we will set your expectations at an appropriate level for your lawn based on

what we see today and where we believe the lawn will be in 30, 60 and 90 days.  If this expectation

level is not met our lawn service technicians will inform us of the progress shortfalls and they will make the

adjustments to the program onsite at no additional charge to you.

 

Once the Weed Buster, Creeping Charlie or Organic Weed Manager is completed a new lawn evaluation will be provided.  From this we will work with you to create a maintenance program tailored to your goals for the remainder of the season