Information about your Nashville Lawn Care:
Ways to tell which Nashville grass you should have:
Ok so you decided to do something about your Nashville lawn care and specifically the weeds, or let say you keep on seeding and are not happy with the results year after year no matter what you do. Then it is time to evaluate what type of grass you have and how you care for it.
Lets start with the most logical place :
Way to tell which lawn grass you should have #1.
Do you have an irrigation system? I know why should we start there? There is a simple explanation for why to start with an irrigation system. In Nashville there is one type of grass it seems everyone wants and loves and that grass is Fescue. Fescue although hands down the favorite is not easily taken care of. Without an irrigation system no matter how thick and lush or successful your seeding was you will probably wind up with just a little bit of fescue growing in a sea of other grasses and weeds by the end of the season. Watering your grass is so critical to Fescue establishment and permanence that an irrigation system is the only answer to a beautiful successful Fescue lawn.
Way to tell which lawn grass you should have #2.
Second in the list of things you should know to pick a grass is are you willing to fertilize? Some types of grasses require plenty of fertilizer — ahem Fescue. Yes Fescue requires plenty of fertilizer to grow to a healthy thick size and to get that perfect dark green color the crowd loves. So if you have Fescue a couple times a year and for some lawns possibly more you will be fertilizing. Hey some people find it is worth the trouble because once you have that perfect lawn it is all the neighbors will talk about when they step outside.
Way to tell which lawn grass you should have #3.
Thirdly Mowing height and Aeration are important in fact critical to your success with Fescue Grass. Why in the world would how tall you mow the grass be important to having a nice lawn? Well some grasses let you mow them at 1″ tall and will adjust and adapt so you have a lovely 1″ lawn while others will die. Fescue must be maintained at 4″ to be really healthy and give you that lovely lawn you crave. The reason is simple, the stem wants to be that tall. As it grows up from t he ground the stem keeps growing taller as the plant ages and voila you have beheaded your investment. Here’s a little secret, Fescue grass stores nutrients and water in the leaves for drought times of year. This plant has been genetically programmed that a drought is coming so it saves what it needs for that eventuality each year. Well now you have gone and thought ” I should mow my lawn short so I can mow less often” haven’t you? Well doing that just set your lawn up for failure in the tough times of year which in turn lets the weeds grow in the gaps when they appear as the Fescue dies. Now Aeration is also important since it allows the air to get to the roots and why this is important is that grass breathes in through the roots and out through t he leaves. Now thats a strange fact you didn’t know. Breathe in Breathe out and taaadaa your grass can process that fertilizer and water you keep adding to get that perfect lawn.
Great Fertilizer, Weeds, and Turf Disease information can be found at the links provided here:
Organic Fertilizers by Wikipedia
Turfgrass Diseases by Wikipedia
Once you have those ideas out of the way about whether Fescue is right or wrong for you next we move on to:
Turf Grasses and Things to Consider
about Property Care.
Things to consider #1.
Sunlight requirements vary for the different available turf grasses. Bermuda = Full Sun , Fescue = Partial Sun to Full Sun, Zoysia = Full Sun to Partial Shade.
Bermuda :
If you have a shady spot on the lawn the Bermuda Grass will not grow there. So be mindful of having a totally open yard when picking Bermuda for your open areas.
Fescue:
Ok having shade is fine for Fescue but you will have gaps and allowing it to grow a little taller may be necessary so enough surface of the plant gets some sunlight.
Zoysia:
This grass will take full sun, and partial shade and will still be thick and lush.
Things to consider#2.
Mowing Height is going to be important, we already discussed Fescue above saying you need to mow at 4″ tall. Bermuda can be mowed down to 2″ if you like and will be thick and fine. Now for the magic in between size, Zoysia Grass can be mowed at 3″ which seems to be the optimum height for most people and this grass will be mowed less since this is comfortable size for Zoysia. Care is easier with Zoysia and Bermuda.
Things to consder#3.
Is fertilizing your yard necessary? Fertilizing is critical for Fescue to grow to the right size to make a lawn anything less will give you nubby sparse grass. Bermuda doesn’t have to be fertilized and will spread very readily into a thick lawn. Zoysia also does not need to be fertilized but fertilizing will bring out the best in color and thickness. Yard Care is easier with Zoysia and Bermuda.
Things to consider#4. Aeration is absolutely necessary for Fescue, not necessary for Bermuda, or Zoysia unless you have an extremely compacted soil. Turf grass Care is easier with Zoysia and Bermuda.
Nashville Lawn Care Mowing Schedule:
Most properties that are serviced by a professional lawn care service are on a fixed schedule. This makes the process very efficient for our mowing crews and cost effective so we can give you the best pricing. If our next client is located near your home we can save gas and labor time and therefore have savings for our clients.
You will have a regular scheduled day that will only vary with weather, and time of year. In an average year we mow 31 times, trimming of shrubs occurs 2 to 3 times, and weeding of beds on the schedule occurs each visit. We take care to vary the pattern of your yard appropriately so you do not have a permanent reshaping of the soil making it look unattractive.
Seeding of your Lawn:
We will put down seed almost any time of year if a client requests it to be done. We do recommend the lawn be seeded with Fescue seed between the last week of August and the last week of September in most years. This is the critical window when seed will germinate fast and get plenty of rain in fall to become established. Over winter your new grass will concentrate on root growth and when it comes to spring the new grass will grow rapidly forming your new great turf. We recommend core aeration at the time of seeding to give the seed holes in the ground to fall into which make the perfect little warm moist place for germination to occur. Article By Dalton Quigley August 19, 2012
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