Residential Lawn Care Services
Custom organic and low impact lawn & plant care programs.
You work hard and deserve a great looking lawn to come home to enjoy. Our customized residential lawn care programs are built from the ground up. After a site analysis and soil test, we apply what your soil needs to give you a beautiful green lawn to enjoy. Your service program will ensure that no matter what has happened to your lawn in the past, our sensible services will improve your turf. We offer three main types of service programs that can be customized and combined to get you the results you want. If you want an organic lawn fertilization, but need to have grub control we have a custom program for you. If you have crabgrass issues, but prefer organic fertilization for the rest of the year, we have a custom program for you. If you want organic fertilization, but have held back due to the expense, let us show you the advantages of an organic based program that uses a blend of organic fertilizer.
Our lawn service programs are complete professional lawn care plans including soil testing, nutrient applications, lawn aeration and overseeding. If your soil test indicates a need for additional applications – we will let you know and you can easily add those services to your service program.
Soil Testing
The foundation of a lawn health care program is a soil test. A soil test should be performed every two to three years. For new customers, a soil test is essential. The results reveal the chemistry of the lawn. In our experience, the main issues in New England are acidic soil, low calcium and low phosphorous. Using your test results we adjust our service programs accordingly. Some amendments, such as lime and phosphorous, have additional charges and if your soil test shows a need, we will provide a quote for those lawn maintenance services. Learn More »
Lawn Services
Aeration and Overseeding
Aeration is done to keep air circulating in the soil and minimize the effect of soil compaction. Soil compaction restricts air, water and fertlizer in the soil. It can result in thin and stunted turf. Compaction can also allow invasion of certain weeds which are better adapted to those conditions. Core aeration will also alleviate problems from thatch development. Thatch is living part of the grass that is growing above the surface rather than roots growing below the surface. The best time to aerate is from August 15th to September 30th. That gives the lawn and the new seeds plenty of time to germinate and mature enough so the hardening off process can happen as winter approaches. Opening up holes in the spring will result in summer annual weeds like crabgrass showing up. The best way to control weeds is through healthy turf that is thick and dense. We use a plug aerator and always overseed after aeration with high quality grass seeds.
After aeration, please keep seed wet. Germination should occur in 21 to 28 days depending on soil temperature and adherence to watering recommendations. Seedlings will emerge from the aeration holes. The majority of seeding failures are the result of failure to keep the seed moist. Click here for a copy of of aeration and slice seeding follow up care.
Grubs
Grubs are a very destructive insect that eat the roots of turf grass. An area susceptible to grubs is a sunny and wet area. Any irrigated sunny lawn will do for grubs. The female beetle mates and lays her eggs in late July or early August. The eggs hatch and the feeding larva of the beetle (the grub) does its damage. The grub will feed until the following spring moving down into the soil as the frost line moves down staying just below the frost line. In late spring and early summer the larva will pupate and after the pupation an adult beetle emerges.
Grub damage is usually noticed in late August and September as dead areas that peel back easily like a toupee that isn’t secured or a carpet rolling up. Often animals including raccoons will roll back the grass to feed on the grubs beneath. If the activity is noted in the late summer or fall it is too late for a systemic treatment. The only treatment at that time is a curative material that will kill the grubs and be inactive 24 hours later.
Once you have had grubs, or if you have an area susceptible to grubs, a systemic treatment is a superior option. It is much more effective and environmentally friendly than a curative treatment It must be applied before mid-July. It is best applied with a fertilization application to the growing grass moves the material into the roots. It must be watered in after application. An area susceptible to grubs is a sunny and wet area. Any irrigated sunny lawn will do for grubs. The female beetle mates and lays her eggs in late July or early August. The eggs hatch and the feeding larva of the beetle (the grub) does its damage. The grub will feed until the following spring moving down into the soil as the frost line moves down staying just below the frost line. In late spring and early summer the larva will pupate and after the pupation an adult beetle emerges.
Grub control may be added to any fertilization program we offer. Preventative and curative grub control may be applied as a separate application or as part of a combined application. There is always a charge for grub control service.
Residential Weed Control
Weed control can be added to any fertilization program we offer. For reduced risk weed control we have options. One that we have used for years and have had good results with is called Tenacity. It offers weed control for a variety of weeds with an environmentally friendly profile. Like any material with an EPA registration number, we must post the application when it is performed. Stay off treated areas until they are dry. Some discoloration may occur, but the effect is temporary. For Tenacity, treated areas will become white. For Fiesta, the thatch in treated areas may become a dark brown or purple. We can tank mix other materials with Tenacity to minimize the bleaching effect.
Slice Seeding
For a beautiful lawn, slice seeding and dethatching is an excellent way to improve your turf appearance. When we leave, your turf will look rough, an effect of the mechanical action of the thatch being pulled up and the slicing of the grass and soil to get the seed, where it needs to be, in the dirt. The positive impact will be apparent after the seed germinates. We use high quality grass seeds from New England seed companies. This should not be done in the spring, unless the area is bare dirt. This is done on areas of weedy turf, dead areas and areas with exposed dirt. All other areas should be aerated and overseeded.
There is a process called lawn renovation that utilizes a slice seeder to introduce seed into the bed after areas that are weedy have been killed. This process kills perennial weeds and then leaves them there to serve as organic matter and cover for the seed after the area has been sliced. If space permits, we always slice in 2 directions, a method known as cross slicing, to achieve a fuller growth more rapidly.
After slice seeding, please keep seed wet. Germination should occur in 21 to 28 days depending on soil temperature and adherence to watering recommendations. Seedlings will emerge from the aeration holes. The majority of seeding failures are the result of failure to keep the seed moist. Click here for a copy of of aeration and slice seeding follow up care.
Soil Conditioner
Soil conditioner is used to help soil drain rapidly and hold water. It sounds impossible, but this interesting material does both very well. Soil conditioner is fired clay that has a lot of nooks and crannies in each piece. It is spread on ball fields after a rain storm to absorb water. The clay absorbs water quickly. If integrated into soils, the roots of grass near the clay, then draw out the water held by the nooks and crannies like a reservoir. This is how it helps wet areas dry out and dry areas retain moisture for plants. It can be added at each aeration and overseed at three different rates (and charges) of light, medium and heavy.