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The Benefits of Applying Mulch to Your Lawn | Nutri-Lawn Burlington

Mulching, the technique of using dried leaves and organic matter for fertilization, is a great way to reintroduce nutrients and microbes into your Burlington property. So, instead of throwing away dead leaves, get mulching! Here are some mulching lawn maintenance tips from the experts at Nutri-Lawn Burlington.

Benefits of Including Mulch in Your Burlington Lawn Maintenance Regiment

Mulch can have a big impact on your Burlington property. For example,

Mulch suppresses weeds: mulch can inhibit weeds in two ways.
1. It covers the soil and deprives weed seeds of the light they need to germinate.
2. Bare dirt is what weeds need to germinate. If the dirt is covered with mulch, most weeds will never come in contact with the soil. For more information about how you can control weeds, check out these detailed resources on Fiesta, Corn Gluten Meal, and Mechanical Weed Removal.

Mulch helps retain moisture: maintaining a consistent level of moisture is key in any residential lawn maintenance program. A properly irrigated lawn will be less stressed and more capable of warding off insects and diseases. Mulch can also keep the soil cool during periods of hot weather. This will help keep plants alive longer during humid conditions and improve the overall health of your turf. To get yourself set up for regular watering, ask us about our Irrigation services.

Mulch feeds the soil: organic mulch breaks down over time, which will in turn add nutrients to the soil.

Popular Types of Mulch

The following types of mulch are all organic, so they will not harm the environment. Each type will bring something different to your Burlington lawn maintenance application. Here's a breakdown:

Shredded or Chipped Bark: this doesn't break down as easily, so it won't provide as much nutrition to your soil; however, this also means that you won't need to replace it as often. Some popular woods are cedar, pine, and cypress. These are useful around trees, shrubs, and on pathways.;

Chopped Leaves: if you have trees on your property, these will be plentiful and free. Simply shred them by running over them a couple of times with a lawn mower. These are ideal for perennial beds, vegetable gardens, and in mixed borders. They break down fairly quickly, so they will give your soil plenty of nutrition.

Straw: this is a popular option for vegetable gardens as well as informal paths. It breaks down fairly quickly.

Grass Clippings: another option that's both plentiful and free. The only stipulation is that the grass cannot have been treated with chemicals. Just be careful - grass tends to break down quickly, which can actually cause the soil to heat up. Grass clippings also work well in vegetable gardens.

Cocoa Hulls: this is the most expensive mulching option. With that being said, it looks very natural. Just remember to be vigilant – cocoa hulls can develop mold in humid, wet weather if left untreated.

Pine Needles: if you happen to have a pine tree in your yard, you're in luck! Pine needles are great mulching material. One word of warning: pine needle can be a bit acidic, so avoid using them near plants that don't tolerate acid soils well.

Compost: this is possibly the best natural option for your residential lawn maintenance. It has a natural look to it, provides plenty of nutrients to the soil, and increases microbial activity. You will need to replenish it at least once per year, but if you already use compost on your own, you'll have a steady supply on hand to incorporate into your Burlington lawn maintenance program.

How to Apply Mulch

When applying mulch as part of your residential lawn maintenance regiment, go crazy! Most people are far too conservative with their mulch applications, so don't hold back – pile it on! The goal is to smother weeds and retain soil moisture. Usually, a two to three inch layer of mulch is necessary.

In addition, don't push mulch up against your plants. Give plants about an inch or so of space, or else the moisture the plant holds on to could cause it to rot.

Since organic mulches break down, you will need to schedule a replenishing treatment as part of your Burlington lawn maintenance program. Plan on adding an additional inch every year, either in the spring or fall.

Make the most of your mulch! Contact Nutri-Lawn Burlington for more details on proper mulching procedures and applications.

Aerate vs. Slit Seeding – Which Should I Choose? | Nutri-Lawn Burlington

When trying to improve your lawn, do you understand the differences between, and purposes of, core aeration and slit seeding? If you don't, it's ok – you're not alone. Here's the difference between the two and how to tell which service is right for you.

How Will Aeration Help Your Burlington Turf Maintenance?

It's a common misconception that aerators simply poke holes in the surface of your turf – holes that you can then fill with grass seed in order to create a beautiful lawn. There is actually much more to the process.

Using an aerator for your residential turf maintenance actually serves more than one purpose for your lawn. The most obvious one is that it helps alleviate the compaction of your soil. Soil compaction prevents strong roots from growing in the grass and is caused by things such as construction, parked cars, heavy traffic, or anything that crushes the soil. Effects of soil compaction can last for quite some time, so if you suspect your soil is compacted, you will want to book a core aeration treatment with Nutri-Lawn to learn more about this beneficial turf maintenance service.

Once you relieve your soil of compaction, moisture (either from rainfall or Nutri-Lawn's irrigation services) will have an easier time penetrating the soil, which in turn will allow nutrients to infiltrate and mix with the soil. This results in well-nourished grass and easier residential turf maintenance.

Aeration also allows air to enter the soil. When air enters your soil, it helps improve bacterial functions, which are critical to the breakdown of organic matter. In other words, aeration helps things like grass clippings and dead or dying plants to decompose, creating food for the roots of your grass. Air is also necessary in order to transform minerals into foods that can be used by your growing grass.

How Will Slit-Seeding Help Your Residential Turf Maintenance?

Simply put, a slit-seeder creates little slits in the soil and drops seeds into the slits it makes. It operates the same way a reel-type lawnmower would. Attached to the slit-seeder are knives, which cut into your Burlington turf. The depth of the slits can be determined by adjusting the machine. How deep you can slit is also related to the hardness of the soil, which in turn is related to the soil's moisture content.

When to Use Which Service?

If your grass is already thick, all you'll need is an aerator. This will help maintain your lawn and improve nutrient distribution. Follow up this residential turf maintenance treatment with Nutri-Lawn's fertilization services.

If your soil is fine, but the grass is thin, Nutri-Lawn's slit-seeding services will bring back the thick, green lawn you remember.

If your lawn is both spotty and the soil is compacted, then only using either the aerator of the slit-seeder won't completely solve your problem. As such, a great idea for healthier grass is to first aerate and allow some moisture to penetrate the soil. After that, contact Nutri-Lawn about their slit-seeding services to give your grass a lush look.

Worried that your Burlington turf is beyond repair? Then consider an overseeding treatment. This new turf maintenance treatment is specially designed for resurrecting a lane in bad shape.

When it comes to lawns, we've seen it all – contact a turf maintenance representative today from Nutri-Lawn Burlington for a personal consultation.

Tips to Keep in Mind When Watering Your Turf | Nutri-Lawn Burlington

Grass is a living thing that needs water. As such, watering should be an important part of your Burlington lawn maintenance and irrigation plan. However, if your watering techniques are wrong, your residential irrigation could be doing more harm than good – to the extent that it could kill your grass. To keep your lawn vibrant, green, and healthy, keep these points in mind.

Your Lawn Type Will Determine Your Burlington Irrigation System Needs

Different species of grass have different watering needs and you need to adjust your residential irrigation accordingly. Some grasses will need a more intense watering schedule, while too much moisture may harm other types. To ensure that you are watering your lawn correctly, talk with the lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn. Contact them today to find out more!

The Best Residential Irrigation Techniques

In order for your grass to develop healthy roots, you will need the right type of watering technique. If you time your residential irrigation so that you water in frequent, yet short intervals, your lawn will grow shallow roots, resulting in a weak root system. Your grass will benefit the most from less frequent, but deeper watering schedules. This will thoroughly soak the root beds and contribute to strong root development.

Your Burlington Irrigation System Schedule

The time of day can make a big impact on the effectiveness of your watering application and the health of your lawn. Watering late in the evening or at night will conserve water, but it can also result in an unhealthy fungal growth to occur on your property.

Afternoon watering is convenient, but any water will quickly evaporate due to the warm weather, as opposed to being absorbed by the lawn.

By process of elimination, the best time to water your yard is thus early in the morning. Early morning watering conserves water, reduces the fungal growth that comes with evening watering, and it allows your grass time to soak up the water before the afternoon heat can cause it to evaporate.

How to Conserve Water

When implementing your Burlington irrigation systems, remember to keep water conservation in mind. This will not only help you reduce your utility bill, but it will also help your prepare for potential irrigation limits during the hot summer months. While watering, aim for early morning and remember to equip your Burlington irrigation system with a weather-smart gauge.

The Best Quality

If you have a well system, it might be a good idea to have your water quality checked. If your water has too much mineral content or an alkaline pH, it could have an impact on the water and moisture requirements for your property.

The Ultimate Solution

Nutri-Lawn's irrigation systems are the ideal solution for your watering needs. Our inground irrigation systems feature an automatic sprinkler design that can be installed directly into your property. Efficient, effective and economical, these inground sprinkler systems are designed to streamline your daily irrigation requirements. Simply set it and forget it! Your sprinkler system can be programmed to come on only when necessary, and will distribute only as much water as your lawn requires.

Inground irrigation can really improve your Burlington lawn care practices. For more information on a custom Nutri-Lawn irrigation system, please contact our offices directly.

How to Develop a Lawn Maintenance Schedule that Works | Nutri-Lawn Burlington

Lawns that are as lush, green, and as well-kept as golf course turf requires a regular lawn maintenance program in order to keep the grass healthy. Starting in the spring and ending in the late fall, there are a few things you can do to improve your Burlington lawn maintenance and ensure that it stays attractive all season long. These things include watering, fertilizing, mowing, dethatching, and aeration. The following are some hints that will help you develop a lawn maintenance program will leave your grass looking fresh all year long.

Your Burlington Lawn Maintenance Starts With Mowing

Mowing is the most essential lawn care service you can have. The grass blade is the area in which photosynthesis happens (where the plant turns sunshine into food) so it is important that you pay close attention to this area. The key is to mow frequently and leave the grass longer so it can access those nutrients. Aim for once per week.

Food for Thought

Another ritual that's fairly basic and easy to establish is fertilizing. Fertilizing gives your lawn the nutrients it needs; however there can be too much of a good thing. Over-fertilizing will do more harm than good. Aim for bi-annual feedings in the spring and fall.

Ditch that Hose – Get an Inground Sprinkler System!

For those who live in dry areas or whose soil doesn't hold water well, irrigation could be an essential part of their Burlington lawn maintenance. Regular water – whether it's Mother Nature or an in-ground irrigation system doing it – will help your lawn stay strong and equip it to better withstand drought and disease. If your soil has a tough time hanging on to water, that doesn't mean you're doomed to brown, dried out grass. It just means that you need to have one of our experts install some inground irrigation in your lawn.

Once installed, you'll want to set the sprinklers so that they water the grass for longer periods of time, but less frequently. If you go for frequent shallow waterings, your turf's root system won't be able to dig in deep, which could cause issues down the line.

Make Aeration a Part of Your Springtime Lawn Maintenance Program

If your grass is planted in clay soil or is subject to a lot of foot traffic, it will become compacted and cut off the root system from nutrients and oxygen circulation. This, in turn, makes water absorption more difficult. The solution is to ask the experts at Nutri-Lawn Burlington about aeration. This process will remove plugs of soil to give your grass room to grow. Aim to keep your aeration schedule in line with your fertilizing schedule: bi-annually and in the late spring and early fall.

Get Rid of the Thatch

Over the season, your lawn will accumulate dead plant matter, otherwise known as " thatch." When it builds up enough, it smothers your grass, foiling any of your Burlington lawn maintenance efforts. A solution to the thatch problem is to remove the thatch annually using Nutri-Lawn's dethatching services. Typically this is integrated into the lawn maintenance program in the early spring or late fall.

Need help establishing a lawn maintenance schedule that works with your Burlington property? Then give us a call at 905-632-2077 – one of our Burlington lawn care experts will be happy to assist you.

Diagnosing and Treating Soil Compaction

Imagine trying to plant a garden on top of cement. Sounds impossible, right? Well, that's exactly what you'll be trying to do this spring if you spread grass seed on compacted soil. Soil that is heavily compacted can be a potentially deadly problem for your property, especially if left untreated this spring. Don't let a rock solid lawn ruin your chances at a lush, vibrant yard this summer. Contact Nutri-Lawn and book your spring Burlington lawn care services now.

What is Soil Compaction?

To answer this question, we must first take a closer look at soil itself. The soil in your lawn is made up of many different elements, including air, water, mineral particles, organic matter, insects, and more. Your grass relies on each of these elements in order to grow properly. As such, whenever one of these elements is out of balance, the entire system falls apart. The soil becomes disrupted, along with the health of any of the plants growing within it. Soil compaction is one of the main reasons a soil can become unbalanced. When the soil particles are squished together, or compacted, the structure becomes compromised. Compaction removes spaces for air and water, making it more difficult for plants to grow.

How to Tell If Your Lawn is Suffering from Compaction

Does your lawn feel hard? If the answer is yes, it's likely suffering from compaction issues. Soil that is not compacted will have a springy feel to it. Furthermore, lawn grass will not grow in compacted soil, so scan your property for patchy spots. If you find any, try and dig a small hole. If your shovel has difficulty penetrating the soil, it's probably compacted. Finally, if the infected space is in an area of high traffic, there's no doubt about it – your soil is definitely compacted.

How to Loosen Up Your Soil

Luckily, alleviating soil compaction is relatively easy. The best treatments involve the following Burlington lawn care services:

Aerating: Lawn aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs, better known as "cores" from your lawn. Core aeration can benefit your lawn by increasing water, nutrient and oxygen movement within compacted soil. Aeration will also improve lawn rooting, enhance infiltration of rainfall or irrigation, and increase microorganism activity within the soil.
Applying an Organic Top Dressing: An organic top dressing application will provide your turf with a wide variety of essential nutrients vital to overall plant health. An organic top dressing will also improve your turf's ability to retain water, which will help loosen up compacted soil even more.

What Not to Do

If you're suffering from a compacted soil issue don't, under any circumstance, simply add a layer of topsoil to the affected area. While this will provide you with a temporary fix, it will only lead to future lawn care issues. The differing soil textures will only cause more problems by interfering with water movement and root spread.

Adding sand to compacted soil is another big mistake. Adding sand to clayey soil could actually cause your soil to compact even more. The more sand you add, the harder your soil will become, creating a slew of future lawn care problems.

Finally, avoid adding gypsum (also known as calcium sulphate) to hardened soil. Continually adding sulphur to your lawn could cause the pH to become extremely unbalanced, creating even more lawn care maintenance issues.

Long-term landscape management and ongoing Burlington lawn care services will help protect your lawn from soil compaction both now and in the future. For more information, or to book your spring Burlington lawn care services, please call 800.599.7509.

Benefits of a Well-Maintained Lawn

Now that spring is right around the corner, you're probably wondering whether or not you should renew your Burlington lawn maintenance services for another year. While you love the results that Nutri-Lawn provides, you're probably wondering if it's really worth the added upkeep. Take it from our staff of professional lawn care providers: the answer is yes! Having a well-maintained lawn does more than simply improve the appearance of your property. A lush, green, even, and healthy lawn will improve the value of your home and provide a better environment for you and your family to live.

When it comes time to renew your Burlington lawn maintenance contract, remember these important benefits:

It's less expensive to maintain a well-cared-for lawn.
Continual lawn care maintenance is the secret to lower upkeep costs. From core aeration in the spring to dethatching and power raking in the fall, these regular lawn care practices will help reduce the potential for common lawn care issues. Not only will you end up with fewer weeds, your Burlington lawn will also be protected from harmful diseases, insects and pests. Investing in consistent lawn maintenance saves you from spending exorbitant amounts on emergency treatments.

It increases the look and value of your home.
Thinking about putting your home on the market this summer? Ongoing lawn maintenance could be the icing on top of a great purchase offer! A healthy lawn is one of the first things potential homebuyers will see when they visit your property, so make sure you're giving a great first impression. Statistics have shown that fixing your lawn can help increase the value of your property by upwards of 14% and speed the sale up by 6 weeks.

It improves air quality.
Healthy grass doesn't just look good; it also does great things for the environment. A beautiful green lawn traps carbon and releases oxygen, helping to improve the air quality of your neighbourhood. Healthy grass will also help improve the health of your soil, which supports other oxygen producing plant and tree life.

It reduces harmful erosion.
Regular lawn maintenance prevents topsoil from being carried away through wind and water erosion. A thick and healthy lawn will improve water retention and prevent topsoil from being washed or blown away. A strong, dense root network is able to hold the soil in place.

It reduces noise pollution.
Did you know that planting grass on the rooftop of an urban building will not only help cool the building, but it will also cut down on the surrounding noise? If you live in a high traffic area, keeping a well-maintained lawn could help inspire some peace and calm in your neighbourhood.

There are many benefits to continual lawn care maintenance. From quality of life to sound financial investments, there's no denying the potential of a pristine lawn. For more information on Burlington lawn maintenance services, contact a Nutri-Lawn representative now. But don't delay – our spring lawn maintenance calendar is already starting to fill up!

Start Thinking About Spring Lawn Care

You've got to admit, it's hard to argue with the weather we've been having here in Burlington this winter. The unusually warm temperatures have been wonderful, which probably has you thinking about your lawn and the upcoming spring lawn care season. While it's still quite early for actual lawn care services, it's always good to plan ahead. Early season lawn care will have a big impact on how your lawn will look for the rest of the year. Just don't be hasty. The key to spring Burlington lawn care is that your lawn must have plenty of opportunity to come back to life during the early spring months.

Begin With the End

Believe it or not, the best time to start your Burlington lawn care is in late fall, just before your turf goes dormant. During the winter, the grass will germinate itself and get itself in good shape to grow like a weed when the temperature starts climbing. With that being said, just because you serviced your lawn in fall doesn't mean you're off the hook when the spring maintenance season arrives. If you're unsure whether or not your lawn received proper treatment last fall, it's best to proceed as if it had no winter preparation at all.

Don't Start Too Early on Your Burlington Lawn Care

Now that you're thinking about your lawn care requirements, you might be eager to take advantage of the warm weather and get started right away. Try to control your excitement! If you tear out the door with a rake and fertilizer in hand now, you could risk killing new grass shoots before they mature. It's always best to wait until your lawn is mostly green before you try aerating or resume mowing.

If you simply must be proactive with your grass now, then why not learn more about our core aeration services? Come spring, our services book up pretty quickly, so the sooner you make an appointment, the better!

Kick Off Your Burlington Lawn Care with Raking

You probably put your lawn to sleep for its long winter's nap in the fall with a good, solid raking. In the spring, it's good to begin your Burlington lawn care with the exact same treatment. By raking, you can pull up any thatch that has accumulated over the winter when the grass was less springy. This also allows you to identify any dead spots or compacted areas. When lawns become compacted, you need to perform core aeration to loosen the soil. This will allow the soil to breathe and the turf to grow easily again.

If you're looking to give your lawn the royal treatment, take a look at our power raking services. It's like a spa treatment for your grass!

Make Sure the Soil is Properly Balanced

You can find do-it-yourself soil pH tests at most home improvement stores and garden centres. This test is a valuable tool, as winters can cause the pH levels of your soil to dip into danger levels of acidity. Grass has difficulty thriving in acidic soil, so make sure after raking, you including a pH test in your Burlington lawn care regiment.

Fertilize Your Lawn

If you fertilized your lawn in the fall, you likely won't need to treat it again this spring. Most grasses usually do a good job of holding on to the nutrients during the cooler months. If you neglected to feed your lawn in the fall, make sure you book an organic top-dressing treatment with Nutri-Lawn for early April. This will provide your property with the essential nutrients it needs to make a full and speedy recovery.

Spring lawn care season is just around the corner. Contact Nutri-Lawn Burlington today to book your spring lawn care maintenance services now.

What To Do If Your Lawn Has Winterkill

It doesn't take a lot of snow to hurt a healthy Burlington lawn. Winter can be unforgiving to even the healthiest turf, so don't be shocked if you notice some dead patches on your property come spring. Winterkill can occur under a variety of conditions, wreaking havoc on what was once a hearty lawn.

What is Winterkill?

Winterkill refers to any severe damage or death sustained by your turf during the winter months. While winterkill is worse following extreme winter conditions, it's not uncommon to see similar damage following a period of unseasonable warmth. If your lawn has experienced prolonged periods of stress prior to the dormant winter season (i.e. drought or malnutrition in the fall) it will be far more susceptible to the devastating effects of winterkill

What Causes Winterkill?

Winterkill is most likely to appear under the following circumstances:

Icy conditions – Winterkill loves to spread and fester beneath icy patches. If the weather forecast calls for snow, followed by warm temperatures, then freezing temperatures, expect to see plenty of ice coverage on your Burlington property. If the ice persists for more than 30 days, your lawn could be in jeopardy.

Snow cover – As counterintuitive as it may seem snow is actually a great insulator. As such, a persistent snow cover can easily create warmer, insulated conditions along the grass line. This could result in the development of grey or pink mould, a common symptom of winterkill.

Unprotected grass – Grass that is left bare during the winter can become desiccated or dried out when exposed to blustery winter winds and extremely cold temperatures.

Hard Soil Can Contribute to Winterkill

One of the main contributing factors to winterkill is hard soil. Grass roots require moist, nutrient-rich soil to grow. Hard, compacted soil makes it difficult for turf roots to take hold. As a result, your grass cannot flourish in the spring.

Soil can compact for any variety of reasons, including heavy foot traffic, parked cars, or prolonged periods of construction. Unfortunately, the effects of compacted soil can be long-term – in some cases, it can take as long as 40 years for the turf to fully recover.

To combat a compacted lawn, first contact the professionals at Nutri-Lawn Burlington. Their team of professionals will likely recommend an aeration treatment for your rock-solid turf. This will help loosen up the soil and improve airflow. Following the aeration, make sure to "feed" your lawn with a nutrient-rich topcoat. This will help replenish the soil and speed up the recovery process.

A little proactive planning can also help you avoid the onset of hard soil. The trick? Setting your Burlington inground sprinkler system properly. Insufficient water during the months of July-October can greatly increase how susceptible your lawn will be to winterkill. Maintaining a vigorous watering schedule during the late summer and autumn months will help keep your lawn hydrated and healthy during the long winter season.

Worried your lawn might fall victim to winterkill? Now's the time to contact Nutri-Lawn Burlington to book your spring lawn care services and cure for winterkill.

We Nourish Lawns and Lives

Building a better future

As part the Re:nourish program, a volunteer group of dedicated individuals from Nutri-Lawn traveled to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic for the second time, where, in accordance with Nutri-Lawn philosophy, they continued their efforts to improve the environment and lives of village residents.

Read the mississauga.com article.

How to Sow Grass Seed for the Best Results | Nutri-Lawn Burlington

How to Sow Grass Seed for the Best Results

Patchy lawns are always problematic. Not only do they look bad, but they can also be a hotbed for disease, pests, and other common lawn care problems. If you have trouble with sparse grass coverage, or are considering grassing in an old garden area on your property, now's the time to act. Fall (beginning in mid-August and continuing until the end of September) is often the best time to sow new grass seed, as the seedbed is less likely to dry out at this time of year, and there is still plenty of time for your lawn to become established before winter. Not sure how to properly sow grass seed in your Burlington lawn? Don't worry! The following tips and tricks for sowing lawn seed are provided by the lawn care and residential sprinkler system experts at Nutri-Lawn and apply to bother overseeding applications and new lawn installations.

Four Things to Consider Before Sowing Grass Seed

The automatic sprinkler system installation experts at Nutri-Lawn always advise their lawn care clients of four important factors when sowing grass seed:

Drainage
Soil quality
Seedbed preparation
Choice of seed, fertility and moisture

Drainage and Soil Quality

Poor drainage can cause major problems for new grass seed, so always make sure that you properly level the area prior to spreading any seed. If possible, try and spread the soil so that it has a gentle slope away from any buildings. In order to avoid soil erosion, try and stay away from any steep slopes or terraces. The automatic sprinkler system installers at Nutri-Lawn also recommend investing in a hearty helping of topsoil to spread across the surface of the seedbed. For best results, try and spread a layer that is between 12 and 15 centimetres deep.

Prepping the Area for Planting

The seedbed will need to be well raked and levelled prior to spreading any seed. This will help remove any depressions that could hold surface water, drowning the fragile seeds. Once everything looks to be nice and flat, apply a good quality fertilizer, preferably one that is high in phosphorus. This will assist in the development of a healthy root system. Grab your rake one more time to ensure that the fertilizer is evenly distributed.

Choosing and Planting the Proper Grass Seed

It pays to select a good quality grass seed, so don't just grab any old bag off the hardware shelf! The residential sprinkler system experts at Nutri-Lawn recommend selecting a variety with at least two different kinds of seed. The type of seed to look for will depend on the sun and shade conditions of your yard (for more help with this selection, contact a lawn care technician at Nutri-Lawn). When spreading your seed, it's always best to use a mechanical spreader. This will help ensure that your coverage is even. Apply half of the seed travelling back and forth. Reposition yourself at a 90 degree angle prior to distributing the balance of the seed. Once the seeds have been sown, make sure that you keep the seedbed dark with moisture until the grass is growing out of the soil. This may require you to bump up the watering settings on your automatic sprinkler system.

Tending Your Grass Seed

The residential sprinkler system installers at Nutri-Lawn recommend avoiding cutting your new lawn until it has grown to a height of 6 to 8 centimetres. When it is time to cut it, don't go any lower than 4 centimetres. If you have been careful to put down good topsoil, weeds should not be a big problem in your lawn. Some careful hand weeding may be required for the first few weeks. After the new lawn has become established, you may wish to contact Nutri-Lawn for more information on environmentally-friendly weed treatments.

Sowing new grass seed can sometimes seem like an exact science. To ensure that your lawn makes the grade, contact a lawn care and automatic sprinkler system specialist at Nutri-Lawn for more tips and advice.

Get a Handle on Your High Maintenance Lawn

Remember when you first installed your lawn, how lush and beautiful it looked? Your yard was the envy of the neighbourhood and the best part – you didn't have to do anything about it! Your lawn looked perfect. And then reality hit and you learned that your seemingly simple yard was actually a high maintenance monster. In order to keep it green, manicured, and homogenous, you spent hours behind the mower. You weeded, edged, fertilized, and watered. In fact, you spent more time taking care of your lawn than you did enjoying it! Caring for a high maintenance law is time-consuming, costly, and resource intensive – so ditch your yard diva with some low maintenance alternatives from Nutri-Lawn.

What is a Low Maintenance Lawn?

Conventional lawns are typically made up of a small number of fine turf grasses. These grasses are normally selected primarily for their attractiveness. Unfortunately, keeping these grasses looking luxurious requires constant attention and irrigation from your inground sprinkler system. A low maintenance lawn, on the other hand, is made up of a more diverse mix of hardy, drought-tolerant, and slow-growing turf grasses and fescues. These species are great because they require less mowing, fertilizing, and watering.

High or Low – Which Way Should You Go?

High maintenance lawns look amazing, but at what cost? The following are few of the problems associated with conventional lawns:

They require an awful lot of water to look good. Municipal water consumption doubles in the summer months, mainly as a result of lawn and garden watering. High maintenance lawns require constant attention and irrigation from an inground sprinkler system. This excess consumption lowers water tables and reduces stream flows, which affects fish and aquatic life. Low maintenance lawns, on the other hand, require less water from your inground sprinkler system.

They produce more air and noise pollution thanks to constant mowing. A meticulously manicured lawn can often require mowing at least once a week. If you use a gasoline or electric powered motor, you're responsible for a variety of air and noise pollutants. Low maintenance lawns grow slower than conventional lawns and thus require significantly fewer mowing treatments.

Increased fertilizer requirements. High maintenance grasses don't always adapt well to Burlington soil types. As such, homeowners need to invest in multiple fertilizer treatments in order to keep their yard looking lush. Low maintenance lawns include a mix of grasses that are best suited to the soil type on your property, so you won't have to spend extra time or money keeping it alive.

Watery Benefits of Low Maintenance Lawns

Low maintenance lawns can help reduce your inground irrigation system use dramatically. When you first install a low maintenance lawn, make sure that your automatic sprinkler system is set to come on regularly. This will help ensure that the grass seeds are well saturated and capable of becoming established. Once the lawn is rooted, and if you have selected species well-suited to your site's moisture conditions, your lawn should only require small doses of water throughout the summer.

While low maintenance lawns typically appear less uniform than conventional lawns, they require only a fraction of the effort and cost to take care of. If you're interested in learning more about the irrigation and maintenance benefit of this alternative lawn covering, contact the automatic sprinkler system installers and lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn. Low maintenance lawns are a snap to care for when paired with a high-efficiency inground sprinkler system, so what are you waiting for? Ditch your diva lawn for an affordable alternative with help from the experts at Nutri-Lawn.

Five Steps to Natural Lawn Care in Burlington | Nutrilawn Burlington

Five Steps to Natural Lawn Care in Burlington

Keeping your lawn looking healthy can be tough, especially since the Ontario-wide ban on pesticides was put into place in 2009. Luckily, the lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn know exactly how to keep your property looking lush naturally. Good planning, efficient irrigation, and frequent monitoring will help you establish a beautiful lawn even without the use of pesticides. The following are five simple tips that every homeowner can follow in order to improve the look of their lawn.

Get Your Mow On

Did you know that your lawn should be mowed at a height of 6 1/4 to 7 1/2 centimetres (2 1/2 to 3 inches)? Raising your mower blade even the tiniest bit will help encourage the development of a deeper grass root system. This will naturally help crowd out weeds and prevent the germination of weed seeds. Hate raking your lawn clippings after an afternoon of mowing? Then leave 'em! Leaving the grass clippings on your lawn will help return nitrogen to the soil, a nutrient that's vital to your lawn's health.

Make the Most of Your Fertilizer Treatments

No two lawns are the same, so why treat your lawn with a generic fertilizer treatment? The lawn care and residential sprinkler specialists at Nutri-Lawn Burlington recommend checking the pH levels of your soil regularly and applying a fertilizer treatment that helps balance the nutrient needs of your property. Remember, just like you and I, lawns need regular meals (fertilizer) throughout the April to October growing season.

Enhance Your Irrigation

A residential sprinkler system is your best defence against many common lawn diseases. Simply set your system and forget about it! For optimum irrigation, set your residential sprinkler system to come on in the early morning before the heat of the day sets in. Remember, your lawn requires 2.5 centimetres of water per week. Pay close attention to how much water you're applying to your property. Under-watering will promote shallow root growth and weaken your lawn. Over-watering can promote the development of many lawn diseases and will leach nutrients from the soil. Grass grows best on well-drained soil or in partial shade. Consider including shrubs and trees in your landscaping to help add an extra layer of protection in areas that receive direct sunlight.

Improve Your Aeration

Aerating compact soil in the spring and fall will help improve root development. Aeration will also make things easier on your residential sprinkler system as moisture will have no trouble getting deep into the soil. The lawn care and irrigation specialists at Nutri-Lawn also recommend adding a nutrient rich top dressing shortly after aerating your lawn. The organic matter will quickly seep into the soil and improve the health of your lawn.

Utilize Approved Biopesticides

Nutri-Lawn offers a number of environmentally-friendly weed and insect controls that are perfectly formulated for Ontario properties. Top treatments from Nutri-Lawn include Fiesta Weed Killer, corn gluten meal, beneficial nematodes, and kelp biostimulants.

Having trouble understanding the wide variety of natural lawn care treatments currently on the market? We can help! Contact a representative from Nutri-Lawn today to schedule your complimentary lawn care consultation.