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Toll-Free: (800) 461-5539
Phone: (509) 886-1566
Fax: (509) 884-5464
Address:
Mail:
PO Box 75
Wenatchee, WA 98807
Physical:
4857 Contractors Drive
E. Wenatchee, WA 98802
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Lawn Care Made Easy - Part 1
Lawn Care Made Easy contains two parts. The first part will explain how to maintain
your present lawn to have a beautiful lawn with little work, and the second section
will explain the steps to repair or replace your present lawn. Getting Started Spring
is a good time to get the lawn off to a good start. The following steps will aid
you in pursuing that beautiful lawn with little work and expenses.
Steps
- The first step is to make an assessment of your lawn; this can be difficult if you
do not know what you are looking for. The first things to look for are weeds that
are growing in your lawn. These can be anything other than grass. (The usual weeds
are dandelion, clover, and others) The best time to do this assessment is in late
March and early April. The soil temperature is starting to warm up and everything
is starting to grow.
- After you have made your assessment it is time to start working. Mow your lawn as
close as you can without scalping your lawn, then rent an aerator and run it all
over your lawn, it is best to go in two directions, this will punch holes in your
lawn allowing water and air to enter into the soil. After you have aerated (this
will leave small round plugs laying on the surface) the next thing to do in thatch
your lawn. This will break up the plugs from aerating and also bring up dead grass
out of the grass giving it more air and allowing water to penetrate into the soil
better. This last part is a lot of work and you should plan a day to do an average
lawn. Note rent an aerator in the morning for half a day and reserve a Thatcher
for the afternoon. This will save you some money.
- Now that the hard work is done it is time to fertilize. I recommend a weed and feed
fertilizer used in the early part of late March and early April, this will give
you weed control and a good nitrogen source for the grass to start growing. If you
have a crab grass problem this is the time to use a fertilizer that will control
crabgrass, weed and feed will do nothing for crab grass. If you waft any later than
the first of May it is too late for crab grass control. * If you do not have weeds
do not waste your money on weed and feed. Remember not to get weed and feed in your
flowerbeds or your garden, it will kill those plants also.
- It is now time to water and watch your grass grow. About the first of June it will
be time to fertilize again, this time use a slow release fertilizer something like
25-3-10 plus iron. This type of fertilizer will make your lawn green and you will
not have to mow every other day. This can be followed with another application around
July 10th - 15th and this should be good until October when
you should apply a Fall and Winter fertilizer.
I know I told you lawn care made easy, but believe me this is not as bad as it sounds
and the final result will be well worth if effort.
Other recommendations to consider
- Before aerating be sure to mark your permanent sprinklers. The aerator and Thatcher
will ruin them fast.
- Use a broadcast fertilizer spreader and set the spreader at have the recommendation
on the bag and go to different directions. This will help eliminate skips.
- Watch for birds feeding in your grass, this is and indication that you have bugs
eating your lawn. This will also show up as small brown spots in your lawn, and
can also be bad enough that large areas of your lawn will start to look dead. Use
an insect kill on these areas.
- If you have a persistent dry spot, you can mix up a solution of dish washing soap
and water and pour this on the dry spot (1 cup dish washing soap to 5 gallows water)
you will have to do this twice about 5 days apart. Also check your sprinklers and
make sure one is not working.
- One last thing, if you do not have permanent sprinklers you should consider them
in the future. This is also a project you can do yourself. Talk to any of the wholesale
sprinkler stores and they will glad to help you with the design.
Estimated Cost
These prices will vary but you can use this as a guide.
- Rental Aerator ½ day $55.00
- Thatcher ½ day $50.00
- Fertilizer Weed and Feed
- 40 pound bag will treat about 10,000 sqft -- $18.00
- Slow release 25-3-10 40 pound bag will treat about 10,000 sqft -- $13.00
Other Resources
Lawn Care Made Easy - Part 2
In the spring when you have made your lawn assessment you decide that you need to
replace your lawn. This could be because you have lots of weeds, quake grass, or
your lawn grass is just not good. There are two ways to complete this task. One
way is to remove all the old grass and replace with sod. This is almost instant,
but is lots of work and generally expensive. The second method is easier and can
be done with minimum work and great results. You do not need to roto till out your
old lawn. Follow these steps for that improved new lawn.
Steps
- Mow your lawn as close as you can, be sure to collect the grass clippings.
- Purchase a weed killer called Roundup (Use the concentrated for) mix 4oz in a two
gallon hand sprayer and spray your lawn. You can also buy a color additive to see
where you have sprayed. Spray your lawn being sure not to miss any areas. This will
take about 5 to 7 days for your grass to start turning yellow and dying. I also
say to keep watering your lawn during this time. You want your lawn to die from
the spray and not dry out. About 5 days after you have first spayed mix up some
more spray and look for spots that are not dying and spray them again.
- Mow you lawn again and rent and aerator and this will punch holes in your old lawn
which should be dead now. This will help water, air, and nutrients to enter the
soil.
- It is now time to purchase your new lawns grass seed. This can be a very confusing
task because of the many different types of grass seed mixes that you can purchase.
Choose a mix that has two varieties of Kentucky Blue grass, and two varieties of
Perennial Rye grass, this will give you a nice lawn. Purchase enough so that you
can apply 5 pounds of seed per 1000 sq ft. You can use a tape measure to measure
out an area 20 feet by 50 feet. You can use this as your test area. Measure out
5 pounds of seed and use a broad cast spreader and spread the seed over this area,
keep spreading until the seed is gone. *Note You can also use a slicer seeder that
you can rent to apply the seed, this is the best way because the seeder makes a
groove and places the seed is this groove. After seeding run a roller over the lawn
or use your feet and press the seed into the soil, it does not need to be covered.
You can also purchase some pellets called organic mulch or another product called
Penn mulch to spread over the seed area this will help hold moisture close to the
seed.
- Apply fertilizer and water the lawn. At this time you do not need to water long
but often. The seed is on top of the soil and can dry out fast so water a little
every couple of hours. It will take the seed about 7-14 days to start growing. You
may have to add more seed as needed to help it fill in. You will be using the lawn
in no time.
Estimated Cost
- Equipment rental Aerator ½ day rental about $55.00
- Slicer Seeder 1/2 day rental about $60.00.
- Grass seed prices will vary greatly. You can estimate about $6 to $8 per 1000 sq
ft.
- Mulch pellets about $8.00 per bag this will cover about 2000-4000 sq ft per bag.
- Fertilizer $13.00 for a 401b bag.
- Round Up $68.00 per gallon. (one gallon will go a long way)
Other notes
- When mowing be sure your lawn mower blade is sharp.
- If you use a mulching mower be sure to aerate once a year.
- Enjoy your lawn!
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