Archive for the ‘Environmental Info’ Category

Fall Lawn Care Tips: Let’s Get Started Now!

Now that September is fast leaving us (can you believe that?) and October is about to blow in, it’s time to consider our fall lawn care strategy. Now it does not matter if you have been reading this lawn care blog for a long time, or if you just started, this advice will apply to you. It also applies to those of you who have already forked over the $7 to buy my lawn care book that gives you step by step instructions of what to put down on your grass and when to put it down.

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The reason this all applies to all of you is that I know for a fact that the majority of you have NOT been caring for your lawns like you should; and that’s ok. I understand that summer gets hectic and your lawn care maintenance practices can take a back seat. But now that fall time is almost here, you can make up time and catch up to where you need to be fairly easily. With that in mind, here are some very basic tips on turning your lawn around this fall.

1) First off, your mindset needs to change, and what I mean by that is you cannot think about “starting next spring.” No Way! In fact, starting a lawn care program in the early Fall will yield much faster and long-lasting results than the alternative of waiting until next year. This is because lawns spread out and thicken their root systems in fall and we can take advantage of that by feeding the turf properly at the right time. In addition, there is less weed pressure in the fall, making our efforts that much more effective.

2) Next, you need to get my book. Seriously, it has changed the way a lot of people think about lawn care. You see, the products you put on your lawn (fertilizers, weed controls, etc) are what make the difference, but many of you think that you either need some industrial strength witches brew, or you think that some basic 4-step generic plan at the local hardware store will work. The truth is that neither of those extremes will help your lawn. My plan, which provides a balanced approach, shows you the products to use and where to get them. Of course, most if not all of my recommendations can be found at the local Home Depot, Lowe’s or Menards, but you just don’t know what to look for. In addition to that, I tell you exactly what time of year to use each particular product, and that makes a huge difference as well. Get the book ok?

3) This is in the book too, but it bares mentioning here: YOU MUST AERATE YOUR LAWN THIS FALL! This is not a choice but rather a necessity. My lawn here is as thick as Buckwheat’s Afro but you can dang skippy expect that I will be aerating my lawn this fall and every fall to come. Aeration is just one of those things you need to do at least once a year, like visiting your dentist for a tooth scraping!

When you aerate your lawn you loosen soil and allow those expanding grass roots to get in deeper and wider. You also allow the nutrients you put down in the form of fertilizer to penetrate into the zone faster, thus maximizing your results. Finally, and most importantly, you help release soil microbes that will be spread around to different areas of the lawn, making the soil healthier, Healthy soil is really the foundation for everything else ya know?

Get an estimate to have aeration done by a pro: Click Here For Estimates

So here’s what I want you to do guys: Resolve in your mind that you are going to get out starting this weekend and begin a program to revamp and rejuvenate your lawn this fall. You’ll find that a little work now will really help you have to do less work next spring, no kidding! just get out and do it guys… you will love the results… I promise!!!!

Two Easy Tips To Set Your Lawn Apart From Your Neighbor’s Lawn

Very simple lawn care tips here today folks… You guys know that I talk a lot about mowing and watering properly, as well as fertilization schedules and insect and diesease control. But there are two simple lawn care basics that can really set your lawn apart in the neighborhood and give you the edge over the “Jones’s.” Afterall, don’t we want to look better than our neighbors? Don’t we want our lawns to be the ones talked about at the next meeting of the Home Owners’ Assocation? Here you go:
weed-wacker-quality

Clean, weed-whacked landscape edges! “Beauteus Maximus”

yeah, that is my own crib, in case you are wondering!


First off, you need to weed wack around, well, “the edges”: every single time you manicure your lawn. Just look at how beautiful and buttoned up this looks with nice green grass going right up to the landscape beds. If you make sure to do your string trimming each and everytime you mow, it will not take that long to do each time. The mistake folks make is they skip this step here and there and things get away from them and become a hassle.

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See how clean this looks after a nice BLADE edging?

Much better than using just the string trimmer. Tight!


Next, and more importantly, you need to use a bladed edger around your driveway and sidewalks. Don’t use your string trimmer for edging as it just does not give the same defined look you get when you use a blade edger. I have an old John Deer trimmer that I purchased about 15 years ago and got an eger attachment for, but you can get ones that work just as well at the link below. Just make sure you have a detachable shaft trimmer that will accept, you guessed it, string trimmer attachments. These edger attachments fit on most string trimmers and weed wackers and are convenient and do a great job for homeowners.

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Here is my very old and trusty John Deer edger attachment.

Just make sure your string trimmer will accept attachments.

If it will, then ANY standard edger attachment will work. See below.


Long story short:

1) you need to weed whack and you can do so with a cheap one like the one below (make sure it has detach shaft capability)

2) if you already have a weed wacker with a detachable shaft, then get an edger attachment like these below.

That is really it guys. If your lawn is green then that is one thing, but if you have the edges (the details) cared for as well, you are bound to get noticed on your street. You don’t want to be “that guy” who lets his lawn turn to garbage. Instead, be “the one” who has the perfect lawn that turns heads! It ain’t that difficult!

Lawn Care tips are always free here on Life and Lawns! Tell a friend eh?

Wondering about what fertilizer is best and when to put it down? Get my custom lawn fertilizing schedule here!