Killing weeds with herbicides

Of the many ways to kill weeds, herbicides are the most straight forward and easy to understand. Spray the weeds with herbicide, watch as they die. Simple, right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that. Herbicides carry side effects and dangers, so while they are certainly effective at getting rid of weeds, you should not rely on them only. But when used responsibly, they are an excellent ally in the war on weeds.

Getting herbicide

Almost any lawn and garden related store you walk into will be stocked with various herbicides. So the first thing to decide is what kind of herbicide to get. Most are in liquid form and can be sprayed either directly on the weeds or applied to your lawn. Make sure to read very carefully the label on the herbicide to make see if it will affect your grass if applied to it. The last thing you want to do is try to kill the weeds and kill your grass with it.

Once you have your herbicide, there are a few other things to keep in mind about using it.

• Herbicides are toxic. They are, after all, chemicals formulated to kill something. Make sure to take safety precautions in the handling and applying of them. Make sure to keep animals and children off your lawn after applying it as well, as the herbicides can cause sickness.
• Only use herbicides on lawns that are established. If your lawn has weeds and hasn’t been established yet, you’re going to have to go old fashioned and yank them out.
• Be absolutely sure you are using the right herbicide. Read the label to make sure it will kill the kind of weed you have, and only that kind of weed.
• Follow the instructions carefully on the herbicide container for disposal.

Herbicides can be an excellent method of weed control, but care must be taken in applying them. They aren’t the only measure in weed control, and should not be relied on exclusively.

The scotts lawn care program is one of the more popular lawn care plans out there. It was developed to help lawn owners develop thick, green lawn that keeps out weeds, insects and pests. It is a program that you can start at any time of the year.

The benefit to Scotts is that they’ll potentially gain a customer for life. If you follow their free information, which naturally involves the use of their products, they’ll make money from your purchases for as long as you’re following the program. While some people have reported that there are some issues with the use of some of the products suggested by the program, it is by and large a successful program.

Starting a lawn care business can be a profitable, and scary, undertaking. These tips will help make this a reality. Note that this doesn’t deal with business formation or financing - you should speak with a CPA or your local bank on getting the startup funds to purchase the needed equipment and registering your business.

First, you should always keep the customer in mind. Without customers, you have no business. Basic customer service skills are an absolute must. For example, when answering the phone to your business, don’t just pick up and say, “Hello?” Answer with your name and the name of your business, and make your voice sound pleasant. You want potential customers to feel comftorable with you - you’d be surprised how much easier it is to get and keep customers if you just act friendly.

One of the best resources out there for those looking to start a new lawn care business is the lawn care directory. This has some great free tips on how to best get started with your business.

You should also take advantage of advertising if you can, and encourage referrals. Offer a discount to customers who either refer others to you, or who are referals themselves. For example, for every customer, let them know that if they refer 3 people to you, you’ll offer some of your services for free. By the same token, offer a 10% discount to customers who come from an existing customer. Pretty soon you’ll have a snowball effect. You might be getting paid slightly less, but typically if you get a customer, you get them for a long time. Over the course of your business dealings, you’ll more than make up that discount on bulk.

Could your lawn be your next source of heat? The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association seems to think so. Basically, instead of using fossil fuel to heat your home, you’ll use your lawn.

Now, I’m not talking about burning your grass (sod farms anyone?), but rather using your lawn as what in effect would be a giant heat pump. Heat pumps are obviously nothing new - take a look at your refrigerator for an easy example. But this is a heat pump on a slightly larger scale.

It works because the Earth itself (where the cold/hot comes from) is a relatively constant temperature. When it’s cold outside, the heat from beneath the Earth heats water that is circulated through a series of underground pipes. These pipes run through the building, providing both heat and hot water to the user. When the summer months come, things reverse - the water in the pipes takes the cold air OUT of the building and into the earth to cool. Think of your house as a giant refrigerator - heat is taken from it and dissipated into the Earth.

These systems are available for both residential and business owners - and the method is endorsed by the FDA and EPA. There’s even the possibility that you’ll qualify for incentives.

So the next time you look at your heating or cooling bill, just remember that there ARE alternates out there that can save you money and help the environment.

Purchasing software for your lawn care business is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make. While your lawn care equipment will take up a good portion of your purchasing budget, you should be sure to save some money for software.

Quality business software will save you time on all facets of your business. From keeping customer records, to keeping your schedule, to managing billing and taxes, lawn care software can cut your business management time by an exponential amount.

There are already quite a few lawn care software vendors out there - luckily most offer a free trial version for you to give it a “test drive.”

The top lawn care software products at the moment are groundskeeper, qxpress lawn care with quickbooks integration, CLIP, and serviceCEO lawn care software.

When choosing what product you use, make sure to try it out first. While it might require a bit of learning at first, if you put in the time to learn the system, you can greatly increase your productivity, and the software will pay for itself many times over in terms of how much time it saves you manaing your business.

So you’d like to take care of your lawn without the use of fertilizers or pesticides? No problem. There are a number of steps you can take that will help make the environment favorable for your grass, and unfavorable for weeds. The grass will then naturally choke out the weeds, keeping your lawn organically free of them.

First, you should set your mower to its highest setting - typically 3-4 inches. To do this, you also have to keep on top of mowing your lawn so it will still look nice. The reason this works is because the grass will shade the weeds from the sun, which causes them to die. No sun, no food for the weeds. If you end up chopping your grass down as low as you can, then the weeds will start to shade the grass, and that’s when you end up having dead grass spots and weeds that flourish.

You should also water only as often as the grass needs, and not anymore. The reason is that the grass roots will be forced to grow deeper into the soil - deeper than the competing weeds. As the top of layer of soil dries out, the weeds will die, but the grass will still have the water from its deeper roots.

Now, one more thing about watering - when you water, water deeply. This means that you should place a cup or container in the area you’re watering, and don’t stop watering until there is about an inch there. This may seem like overkill, but the soil will absorb the moisture eventually, and you won’t have to water as often.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can also fertilize the soil with an organic fertilizer. Don’t use chemical fertilizer. You can also test your soil’s pH level, either professionally or with a store bought kit. You ideally want it between 6 and 7. If it is too low, add lime - too high add gardener’s sulfur.

Caring for your lawn organiclly isn’t very difficult - it just requires a bit of planning ahead. Do this and you won’t have to spend the extra money on fertilizers or pesticides, and you’ll be helping the environment.

Many new home owner’s end up wondering what kind of lawn care equipment they need when spring time comes.

First up is what is probably the most important piece of lawn equipment you’ll buy, the lawnmower. This might seem like a simple choice, but in fact, there are quite a few options available for you to pick from. First, do you want gas or electric; riding or push; self-propelled or not? Budget can come in to play as well - it’s hard justifying spending a couple hundred on a lawn mower when you live in a townhouse and only have a few square feet of grass to mow.

A push reel mower is a great choice for a small yard if you don’t want to spend a lot. It is one of the “earlier” lawn mower types, that doesn’t usre gas or electric and cuts the grass through the rotating blades that form a scissor like action. It isn’t ideal if you have a large lawn, a bad back, or numerous hills.

Next up is gas or electric rotary mowers - these are the mowers you’re probably most familiar with. They are, in general, the type of mower you’ll be purchasing for a small-medium sized yard. Gas or electric is more of a judgement call - environment conerns may come in to play, as well as convienence. These usually come with bags attached as well, to take care of the clippings.

If you want to step up to a higher quality mower, you should take a look at a mulching mower. Instead of having to rake up the clippings, or deal with a bag, this type of mower shreds the clippings so finely that they are absorbed back into the soil. The upside is less work, and you are fertilizing your lawn as you mow. The downside is these are more expensive than the non-mulching variety.

Finaly, if you have a large yard, you may want to consider a riding mower. These are the most expensive, and tend to be overkill for small yards. But for large yards where you have a large amount of lawn to cover, these more than make up for the extra price with reducing the workload.

Another piece of equipment you may want to consider is a weed whacker. This is a tool that is ideal for trimming those hard to reach places - corners and right up against the fence or house. There is quite a variety of these as well, ranging from smaller, battery powered ones to full blown gas powered ones that will take out a small tree if you want to. If you have a small yard and want to keep things neat and tidy, you should be fine with picking up a battery powered one.

Leaf blowers are a tool to consider if you live in an area where leaves fall. This piece of lawn care equipment isn’t necassary for a large number of homes - if you don’t have a lot of trees, have a small yard, or are physically healthy, a good old fashioned rake will more than do the job. If you have a large volume of leaves however, you may want to look into getting one to save time and effort.

Taking care of a lawn can be intimidating for first time home owners - but with the right equipment, it’s not difficult at all.

For the most part, you can take care of your lawn yourself - but what happens in an extreme case, when you need to hire a professional lawn care service?

There are quite a few reasons that you may consider contracting a professional lawn care provider - maybe you’re going away for an extended period of time, your lawn may be a couple of acres, it may be in very poor shape, or you may just not have the time to take care of properly. How then, do you decide on a professional lawn care service?

The first thing you should check, as with any professional service of this variety, is for reputation. Do you have any friends or neighbors who have use a lawn care service? What are their thoughts and experiences on this. If you can find a friend who has hired a landscaper or lawn care service, then you have a great starting point.

You should also check for any required licenses and insurance. Some states require all lawn care companies to have licences (for pesticides) and liability insurance. Make sure that if you’re considering a professional, that they have any applicable licenses.

Check out lawn care associations, both national and regional, for local companies. You can start your search with the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA).

The last few things are more along the lines of customer service. When you speak to someone at the company, are they friendly and knowledgable? Will they work around your schedule, and are they flexible with theirs? Do they share their methods and offer tips for maintaining the lawn after they finish? You don’t really want an unfriendly service that won’t tell you anything, because then you may have to continue to deal with them in the future to maintain your lawn.

Hiring a professional lawn care service shouldn’t be a hassle - it should be something that makes your lawn care easier. Follow the above tips to get the most out of any lawn care service.

Treating and preventing lawn disease

Lawn disease can be one of the most frustrating problems facing you as you care for your lawn. It can creep up and surprise you if you’re not looking out for it, and it can be difficult to diagnose. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent lawn disease so you can make sure you reduce your chances of having to treat it.

The best way to prevent lawn disease is to make sure you maintain a healthy lawn. The first thing to make sure you do is mow your grass regularly, and correctly. By mowing your lawn at the correct height and frequency. If you cut the blades too low, you can create a strain on your lawn which can help usher in disease.

You also want to make sure you don’t over or underwater your lawn. Be sure your lawn is draining properly and you don’t have any areas of standing water after it rains, as many types of lawn disease thrive in extra moist environments. Underwatering your lawn can also cause problems since your lawn will not be healthy to fight off other diseases.

Over or under fertilizing can also allow diseases to gain a foothold and spread. Some diseases prefer nitrogen rich yards (caused by overfertilization) while others live in nitrogen-depleted environments (caused by underfertilization). Make certain to follow instructions on your fertilizer for how to spread it, and how often to spread it.

Treating disease

If you already suspect your lawn has a disease, the first step is to identify it. After you know what you are dealing with, you can start to take steps to treat it. The most popular solution is to use a fungicide to kill off the infected disease area. Make sure to follow the instructions on whatever fungicide you need so you don’t kill off anything other than the disease. Many broad spectrum fungicides (fungicides that kill off multiple diseases) can also hurt your lawn and any beneficial animals living in it. Start off by just treating the infected area, not your whole lawn and give the fungicide time to work before applying again.

By taking steps to prevent lawn disease, hopefully you won’t have to ever treat it. If you do end up getting a disease, be sure to follow any fungicide treatment instructions very carefully to avoid killing more than the disease.

Preventing lawn pests

Lawn pests are just another problem you should be aware of when caring for your lawn. Like diseases, the most effective way to battle lawn pests and insects is to prevent them from getting a foothold.

Preventing and identifying pests

The best way to prevent pests is to keep your lawn healthy. This means keep up watering, mowing, and fertilizing our lawn on a regular basis. If your lawn is healthy and thick, it is less likely to become a home and breeding ground for insects. It will also be better able to survive an occasional pest breakout should one occur.

Luckily, pests are easier to spot than lawn disease. Most are visible to the naked eye, so you can see if you have a pest problem long before the damage actually occurs to your lawn.

It is also helpful to know when to look for bugs that could be inhabiting your lawn. Ask around to see what kind of pests are usually prevalent in your climate and area, and research their breeding and feeding habits. By doing this, you will know what to look for on your lawn so you can spot a pest before the damage is too great. You should routinely look around your lawn for signs of leaves being chewed, or light spots on the blades of your grass in the case of sucking insects.

Even if you start noticing a few leaves being chewed, it does not necessarily mean you have a pest problem. If you only notice signs of pests occasionally, and you don’t see any insects actively moving about, you probably don’t need to take action.

While even the best lawn maintenance can’t always keep the pests away, it is your best defense against them. By doing what keeps your lawn healthy you will not only have a lush and green yard, but you will also be actively keeping pests at bay.