You have determined that it’s time to get into shape. You know that in order to get the body and results you want, things have to change with your daily habits. The food you eat, the amount of exercise you put in, the plan you put into place and the consistency with it – all these things will play a factor in your results. You can be sure that if you drop the ball on any one of those things, your results can vary greatly, but stay on top of all of them, and it is only a matter of time before you see success.
Much like your body, your lawn is a living organism. If you want to reach your lawn goals, you will find that many of the things that lead to the success of a healthy body, are the similar things that lead to a healthy lawn. So let’s talk about those factors, and observe the first step towards a healthy lawn.
The First Step – A Plan
Any goal that doesn’t have a plan put into place is destined to fail. If you take off on a road trip, but don’t have a GPS or plan on how to get there, you are sure to get lost and lose time. Much like your body goals that implement a diet, workout regimen and routine – having a plan in place, is going to help you reach your lawn goals.
There are two plans you want to have in place. The first plan is called an Integrated Pest Management plan, or IPM. Having an IPM, is a fancy way of saying, you need to stay on top of any pests that want to come in and damage your lawn. A pest, is anything that will negatively affect the health of your lawn. This can be an insect, creature or plant.
Weeds are a very common pest that want to come in and suck nutrients away from your grass. The more weeds exist in your lawn, the less nutrients your lawn receives. It is important to incorporate a weed control plan so that you can stay on top of the weed pests in your lawn.
If your lawn contains many weeds, you will find that most of the work to control weeds will be at the beginning, but once you have eradicated the weed pressure in your lawn, from there it will just be a matter of maintaining that and staying on top of any weeds that pop up in your lawn.
Some lawns struggle with weeds worse than others. If your lawn is older and well established with a thick stand of grass, you are going to struggle with weed pressure much less. On the flip side, types of lawns that will struggle with weeds are lawns that are young, patchy or thin, lawns that border empty lots or fields and lawns that don’t have any shade. All of these conditions are great to allow weeds to grow.
Many weeds can be controlled with herbicides found at your local hardware or big box store, however, the best weed control herbicide has ingredients that can only be purchased by licensed professionals. If you find that weeds are not reacting to the herbicide you are spraying, it may be a good idea to call a professional about a particular weed you are having issues with.
The next pest that wants to harm your lawn are insects. There are many insects that want to come in a make a meal or home out of your lawn. Some insects are harmless, but most are looking for something to eat or a place to reproduce. It is important to incorporate some sort of preventative pesticide into your IPM or at least have it ready when they do arrive.
Some of the most common pests that want to live in your lawn are grubs, fleas and ticks. All of these will have a negative impact not only on your lawns health, but also on the health of your family members and pets.
Knowing the right type of preventative insecticide to apply is important to keep these pests from causing any issues. These products can be found at your local store, but if you have any confusion about what type of product to use and when, just get in touch with the professionals at Warren Lawn, we would love to help you out with any concerns or questions you have.
The second type of plan you need is a fertilization program. Much like feeding your body a healthy diet, feeding your lawn with the right fertilizers is going to have a huge impact on the results you see in your lawn.
It is important to understand what type of fertilizer you are putting on your lawn, the ingredients that are in them, and the timing of when they need to be put down. There are so many different types of fertilizers containing different types of ingredients. Buying the first bag you can find and tossing it on your lawn will usually have a negative impact on your lawn more than it will do good.
With both of these plans, the best thing to know is the time of year in which they need to be implemented. The seasons, weather conditions and temperature will all have an impact on your plan, understanding timing and how it affects these will be important.
Overwhelmed yet? Luckily, you don’t have to implement a plan all on your own. If you have any questions about a fertilization program or an IPM, at Warren Lawn we can help you with all of those things. Get in touch with us today and we can find the program that will best fit your lawn.
Stay connected with us as we continue to explore the next steps to reaching your lawn goals and finding out what factors have the greatest impacts on your lawn’s health.
