How To Tune Up Your Lawn Mower

Lawn Fertilizing Service in Elkhorn NE by EcoScapes
EcoScapes - Nebraska Lawn Mowing Service

Your lawn mower is an essential tool to maintaining the beauty of your lawn. While we provide lawn fertilizing in Omaha and other lawn health options, lawns still need maintenance, and most people choose to mow their lawns themselves to keep them looking great.

Unfortunately, lawn mowers can also have problems if they are not maintained properly. Here are the steps you need to take to give your lawn mower a tune up and keep it in ideal working condition:

If you decide you would rather hire a professional lawn service to mow your lawn, give us a call at (402) 671-0453

Tuning Up a Mower

Keep in mind that lawn mowers are all built differently. If your lawn mower is aging, consider the following very basic steps for a quick tune up:

FIRST: Remove the Spark plug

First things first, you will want to disconnect the spark plug. While you are working on the lawn mower, you do not want any possibility of the motor starting. Removing the spark plug will prevent this disaster from happening. If the spark plug is old, consider replacing it with a new one after you’re done with the tune up.

Oil

Next you will want to drain the oil from the engine. Usually this is a straight-forward task once you have checked your lawn mower’s owner’s manual. If you have misplaced the owner’s manual, you can usually find the information online, by searching for the lawn mower’s manufacturer and model. When you have completed the other tasks below, you will want to replace the oil and the gas.

Filter

The air filter’s job is to filter out the unnecessary debris, and so in the process the air filter can get clogged with a lot of different dirt, grime, and other such particles. Simply remove the old air filter and replace it with a new one, or clean out the filter of grime if it looks salvageable and remember to pick up a filter next time.

Blade

The best way to keep your lawn mower doing its job is to ensure that the blade is sharp. A sharp blade cuts grass cleanly, and in a way that won’t hurt your lawn’s health. You also have the option of taking the blade into a shop to have it sharpened, or sharpening the lawnmower blade yourself with a blade sharpening tool available at the hardware store. Whichever method you choose, make sure you handle the blade with care and gloved hands.

You Can Tune Up the Mower Yourself

It is definitely less expensive to do the lawn mower tune up yourself, but you should also take into consideration the time it takes to gather the supplies and to sit down and do the work. Sometimes taking it to a professional will cost you a bit more in cash, but will save you in valuable time.

If you need any lawn care help, EcoScapes will be able to chat with you and see if our services match up with your needs. Feel free to give us a call at (402) 671-0453.

The Advantages of Sustainable Landscaping

 

 

What is Sustainable Landscaping?

 

 

Sustainable landscaping is making full use of the environment to provide natural key elements that landscapes require. Meaning the landscape is self-sustaining and no additional outside support is needed. The purpose of this is to reserve our natural resources and to help protect the environment. If detrimental weather hits such as storms and droughts, your landscape can recover itself quickly, with no need for human help.

 

To identify how sustainable your landscape is, it’s essential to investigate the three primary laws of sustainable landscaping. Ecological, economic, and socio-cultural.

 

Ecological: This is looking at how well your design matches the local ecology. Making sure plants are being utilized to provide shade and housing to wildlife as well as humans.

 

Economical: This is looking at how much your landscape maintenance is costing you. It is making full use of natural resources instead of purchasing chemicals to make it look presentable.

 

Socio-cultural: This is examining how well your landscape reflects you and your neighbors views on your local environment.

 

 

The Benefits of Sustainable Landscaping

 

 

Apart from becoming environmentally aware, sustainable landscaping has many advantages for owners.

 

  • Cost-effective: Once your landscape can look after itself off its own accord, there is no need to purchase chemicals and maintenance equipment for it. This can save you bundles of money in the long term.

 

  • Fewer pesticides: Utilizing your plants and trees defenses against pests, sustainable landscapes don’t require potent pesticides to survive. This can improve the overall health of your landscaping in Omaha and increase its longevity.

 

  • Less watering: Thanks to the power of a self-sufficient landscape, there is no more need for you to have to water your plants. This is because the garden is designed to provide itself with enough natural water.

 

  • Less laboring: Sustainable landscaping requires little to no extra maintenance, meaning you don’t have to pay anywhere near as much for someone to properly maintain your garden.

 

  • Less exposure: There is less exposure to workers’ claims resulting from the heavy lifting of soil and plant material.

 

  • Grass-cycling or Mulching: Composting and mulching can reinvigorate your lawn by returning organic compounds and nutrients into your grass and soil. This also increases your ground water-holding ability, which in turn conserves water.

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

Sustainable landscaping is an incredible way to allow mother nature to flourish in all its beauty. It may cost more in the beginning; however, you will be saving money on labor costs and pesticide maintenance. Not only that, but your landscape will become the healthiest it’s been. So why not spend more time enjoying it and less time working on it.

 

Working with landscaping experts will help you design your dream idea for your landscape in the most cost-effective way. They can also run through the long-term benefits you’ll receive from your garden.

 

While there is much more to creating a sustainable landscape, the benefits listed here should get you motivated and ready to start.

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Lawn Care Service in Omaha

Lawn aeration in Omaha, Nebraska by EcoScapes Lawn Care
5 things to consider when choosing a lawn care professional

Considering Hiring a Lawn Care Company? Read this First!

All lawn care services are the same, right? I can’t even begin to tell you how many times we get asked that question. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Of course, the services offered are similar, but the people, quality, professionalism, and how they go about performing their services are what really makes the difference. So, what should you consider when you’re trying to choose the right lawn care company in Omaha? Keep reading…

Local Business or Franchise

Believe it or not but many of the lawn care companies in Omaha are actually franchised businesses operating nation-wide. While this may not always be a bad thing, such franchised based companies are sometimes focused more on marketing rather than providing the best service. I can tell you for certain that one such franchise even has a customer retention rate of 40% built into their marketing budget. In other words, they can remain profitable by retaining only 4 out of every 10 customers they sign up. Amazing what large marketing budgets can do isn’t it? You’re not usually going to run into these issues with a reputable local small business. Local businesses have much smaller marketing budgets, so they need to focus on providing excellent service and results to keep their existing customers happy. I wish I could say that all local lawn care companies thought this way, but unfortunately in this industry, there will always be those companies that provide a bad customer service experience, are non-professional, or do not provide satisfactory results. Which leads us into the second thing you should consider.

Reputation

Gone are the days where all you had to verify the reputation of a business was word of mouth referrals from friends, neighbors, or family, and the Better Business Bureau “BBB”. A companies’ social proof is everything in today’s review driven society. Online reviews are everywhere including Google, Facebook, and Yelp which are the more popular social review sites. This is a great way to sort through and eliminate the sub-par lawn care services. It doesn’t take long to look up a company online and view its reputation. Can’t find the company online? Well, maybe there’s a reason for that. Does the company have bad reviews? Definitely something you should consider. I wouldn’t say that referrals from your friends and family aren’t important though as they are up next in our list of things to consider.

Referrals

Ask your neighbors, your friends, and your family. Well, ask the one’s with nice eco-friendly lawns at least. We are proud to say that most of our business comes from referrals because we the take the time to assure our lawns are healthy, green, and safe. Ask around and chances are you’ll hear our name brought up. Why? Because we we stand by our work and our reputation.

Quality

Quality lawn care isn’t always easy to spot. Sure, someone’s lawn may look nice, but do you have any idea how many chemicals are being used to artificially get the grass that green? When we think of quality lawn care, we consider more than just how green the grass is. We consider the condition of the soil, how safe the lawn is for those that play in it, and of course how lush green and weed free it is. We recondition your turf for long lasting results rather than deplete its natural resources with harsh chemicals. There are other more subtle things to look for as well such as, does the lawn look freshly edged? Are there rut marks in the turf? Are there grass clippings on any of the hard surfaces? Was there debris chopped up in the lawn while mowing? These are just a few of the things to keep an eye out for.

Professionalism

Admit it, sometimes when you think of Omaha lawn care companies, the first thing that comes to mind is a junky old pickup pulling up with some mowers in back and 2 guys jumping out with no shirts, both with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. Who wants this pulling up in front of their home and working on their lawn? Unfortunately, this is a real issue in our industry and all we can do is do our part in changing that. When you choose EcoScapes you are choosing professionalism. From our branded vehicles and trailers and no smoking policy, to our trained, certified and uniformed “Green” professionals, we do our best to assure we are not an embarrassment to the neighborhood when we pull up.

Bonus #6 to Consider

Be sure that the lawn care company you choose is insured before hiring them. If a non-insured lawn service provider gets hurt on your property, there’s a good chance you will be liable. Or if they damage your property, guess who has to pick up the tab since they don’t have insurance to cover it.

If applying any kind of fertilizer, pesticide, fungicide, or weed control, you will also want to make sure they are licensed by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. This ensures they have studied and passed an exam in order to apply such products. Keep in mind though, being licensed does not mean your lawn care provider is doing their part in protecting you, your loved ones, and the environment.

Eco-Friendly Fall Lawn Care Tips

Benefits of Lawn Aeration in Omaha NE by EcoScapes Lawn Care

IT’S ALL ABOUT FERTILIZING, AERATING, WEEDING, COMPOSTING, MOWING & PLANTING.

As the days become short and crisp, you might think that your lawn care chores are done. While the grass appears to be dying off and your flowers have wilted, don’t be fooled into thinking that your work is over. There are plenty of chores that must be done before the first frost in order to keep your lawn in tip-top shape for next year.

This can be tough to do if you’re trying to approach your lawn care tasks with an environmentally conscious mindset. Taking care of your lawn often means spending hundreds of dollars on chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to get the job done. Luckily, there are some easy steps you can take to ensure your lawn is healthy–without damaging the health of the rest of the planet in the process. Rather not take on the tasks? You can hire a professional lawn service in Omaha that specializes in eco-friendly lawn services

Fertilize

Fall is the most important time to fertilize because it will help sustain your lawn throughout the winter and produce lush growth come spring. The most environmentally friendly way to produce a healthy lawn is to simply leave grass clippings on the lawn after mowing. This will provide a natural source of nitrogen to your soil.

Similarly, you can mow over fallen leaves with your mulching mower and leave them on the ground to decompose. The small pieces produced with a mulcher will make it tough for mold or other debris to settle, and the leaves will act as a natural fertilizer for your lawn.

Other easy, natural lawn fertilizers include aquarium fresh water (which has high levels of phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen), fireplace ash, pine needles, and wood shavings.

Aerate

Lawn aeration should be done at least once a year, and fall is the best time to do it, as it will give grass access to much-needed nutrients throughout the year. Over the summer months, as your lawn receives more foot, vehicle, and other traffic, the soil becomes compacted. This makes it more difficult for plants to reach vital nutrients, water, and air. Aerating your soil helps to loosen the soil and is especially important in Omaha where lawns are prone to having dense, waterlogged clay soils.

Work on Those Weeds

Don’t bother with dangerous herbicides, which often kill the desired grass along with weeds. By using a chemical herbicide, you risk burning your grass and reducing the viability of its root systems. Instead, weed the lawn by hand for a fun, eco-friendly exercise. You can also use white vinegar as a natural herbicide, but be careful, as this can kill any plant it comes into contact within the same way a chemical herbicide might.

Another option to control weeds? Make sure you take the time to overseed any bare areas in the fall. Each year perform a quick inventory of your lawn to look for areas that may have been damaged by neglected lawn furniture, vehicle tracks, or pet waste, and add some seed to help encourage growth. Overseeding will protect the lawn for the winter months and also make it more difficult for unwanted weeds to develop.

Compost Your Leaves

If you choose not to allow your leaves to remain on the grass to decompose, your other option to get rid of them is to compost them. Many people waste time and energy raking and bagging their leaves to be picked up by the trash collection agency. However, this is inefficient, as it creates an extra step for you and more waste that needs to be taken care of.

Don’t Stop Mowing

You should not stop mowing your lawn just because it isn’t growing as quickly. Keep your grass no longer than two and a half to three inches tall. Long grass will be more susceptible to cold snaps and may be more likely to grow snow mold. This will make it more difficult to control in the spring, often requiring the use of chemical fertilizers or herbicides. Instead, do the work now by keeping your lawn nice and trimmed and come Spring you can focus on the 5 Steps to a Greener Lawn.

Use Plants that Drive Away Pests

Rather than resort to chemical forms of pest control, consider planting insect repelling plants in your garden and flowerbeds.  There are a number of insect repelling plants, including Petunias, Lavender, Mint and Chrysanthemum.

By treating your lawn naturally, you increase the likelihood that it will be healthy and verdant in years to come. With a little extra forethought and elbow grease, your former environmentally damaging lawn care practices will be a forgotten, unneeded notion from the past.

Why Hire a Professional Lawn Care Service in Omaha NE?

EcoScapes Lawn Care Professional

Why Hiring a Professional Lawn Care Service May be a Good Idea

Leave the lawn care to a pro

Hiring a professional lawn care company will save you time, money, aggravation and a possible trip to the doctor. But be aware there are many fly-by-night companies out there claiming they are “professional” and your experience with them may be anything but that. Do some research before you hire.

Hiring a professional lawn service in Omaha will save you a lot of aggravation not to mention time and money. But before hiring a lawn care company be sure to do your research. There are many fly-by night lawn companies in Omaha claiming to be “professionals” but are really anything but. Spend the time and make sure you are hiring the right company before hiring. Following are a few of the benefits to hiring a professional.

Why it pays to hire a lawn care professional.

Your lawn and landscaping are the first impression of your home and let’s be honest, opinions can be formed quickly. A beautiful outdoor space brings pride and peace whereas an unsightly lawn can bring stress and embarrassment.

Investing in your lawn & landscape increases the value and curb appeal of your home. Did you know that a well-maintained lawn and landscape can add an additional 15% to the value of your property?

It takes a lot of time, knowledge, and physical work to produce a beautiful, healthy lawn and landscape.

Hiring the right professional lawn care service can take the worry out of lawn care not to mention the countless hours it will save you.

Improperly applied fertilizers and pesticides can be dangerous to the environment as well as the homeowner, loved ones, and pets.

There are a lot of different products out there. How are you supposed to know what to apply or when to apply it? Eliminate the trial and error and dangers associated with locating the right products for your lawn and landscape.

Think of all the extra room you’ll have. No more needing to store mowers, trimmers, blowers, edgers, pruners, etc.  

Eliminate the risk associated with applying fertilizers with dangerous pesticides. EcoScapes professionals are trained and licensed to apply both fertilizers and pesticides.

Your home is your most prized asset. You can’t go wrong by hiring a professional to care for your Lawn & Landscape needs. 

At EcoScapes, we offer an environmentally friendly solution to lawn and landscape care. We start with a lawn analysis to first assess the condition of your turf. A licensed, trained professional then delivers carefully timed applications that are specifically designed for Nebraska’s climate and turf types. Our Earth Friendly products are designed to build a strong root system while enhancing the color of your lawn. Take it to the next level and take advantage of our aeration and over seeding services to further enhance the health and appearance of your lawn.  

If you’re located in Omaha, Bennington, Elkhorn or Gretna give us a call at (402) 671-0453, where Quality and your Satisfaction are Guaranteed!

How to Prepare Your Lawn for the Cold Nebraska Winter

Fall Lawn Care Services by ecoScapes Lawn Care 402-671-0453

Nebraska Winters Can be Brutally Cold. Here’s How to Prepare Your Lawn.

The Fall and Winter months are the most critical seasons for your Omaha NE lawn.

Homeowners and commercial property owners alike should be thinking about next spring as they prepare their lawns for the upcoming cold Nebraska winter months.

To help you prepare your lawn from the coming frost and freezing temperatures, we’ve put together a list of fall lawn care tips that every lawn owner should know. By taking these precautionary measures, you can help give your grass the best chance possible at surviving the colder months, so that it’s lush and healthy come springtime. 

Mulch Your Leaves

At EcoScapes, we recommend that you mulch up all those leaves on the ground before the first frost. Mulching the leaves and evenly dispersing them can help reduce the number of brown patches and prevent parts of your yard from falling victim to winter kill. Any leaves left on the ground can become wet and form a barrier that makes it impossible for the turf to breathe.

Instead of raking the leaves up, run over them with your lawnmower a few times until they are ground into mulch and evenly dispersed throughout the lawn. These mulched leaves can help protect your lawn from drought and wind. You can purchase a mulching blade for your lawn mower which helps to chop the leaves into very fine particles. As an added bonus, when mulched leaves decompose, they create an organic matter that is absorbed into the soil which helps feed the roots.

Don’t Stop Mowing Too Early

One of many unknown fall lawn care tips is to continue mowing, even when the cold autumn months begin rolling in. We recommend that you follow a semi-regular schedule and continue mowing until you see the growth slow.

It is good practice to keep your grass between 2 to 2.5 inches tall throughout the late autumn months. If the grass starts to grow longer than 3 inches, it may begin to mat. Once matting starts, it is possible for your lawn to start suffering from various issues, such as disease and mold. On the other hand, if you cut the grass too short, then its ability to store nutrients can be hindered.

Make Sure to Water if Needed

Although the temperatures may be cooler, it is still vitally important that you continue to water your lawn as needed. Because the grass continues to grow into the autumn months, you’ll want to sustain and encourage this growth by following a consistent watering schedule. Continue to water, as needed, until the ground begins to freeze. If you have an automatic irrigation system, avoid damage by having it winterized before it freezes.

Broadleaf Weed Control

Fall is the perfect time of year to control perennial broadleaf weeds such as clover, dandelions creeping charlie. Some of these weeds can be pulled by hand, but many are scattered throughout your lawn making manual weed control a very difficult chore. As an alternative, an efficient method of removing these weeds is to spot-treat them with an environmentally friendly broadleaf weed killer.

Chart used to emphasize the benefits of core aeration by ecoScapes Lawn Care Service

Aerate Once per Year

It is important to make sure that your lawn gets the air it needs in autumn and winter. Aeration is done to break up compacted turf and pull-up plugs of soil and grass. This is usually done with a gas-powered machine called an aerator. Aerator are roughly the size of a mower and are great for larger yards.

Aerating is the process of creating holes in the soil which will allow much-needed oxygen, nutrients and water to reach deeper into the soil and reach the roots. This not only helps the roots establish deeper into the soil but prevents compaction. Aeration gives your lawn the best chance at surviving the winter months.

The aerating process provides room in your lawn for seeds to sprout, and new grass to grow and spread, without competing with annoying broadleaf weeds or compacted soil.

Over seed Your Lawn in the Fall

Autumn is typically the season when the soil temperature reaches 55℉ in Omaha. Since grass roots grow extensively in the fall and winter, this is the best time to over seed your lawn.

Don’t skimp here, cheap seed often contains weed seed and annual rye grass seed. If you want a lush, green lawn come spring, it is best to spend the extra money and buy the more expensive seed, which is more likely to resist insects, disease and drought.

After you plant the seed, water it lightly several times each day until it germinates. Typically, this takes approximately 10 to 20 days.

Apply Fall Fertilizer Before the First Frost

Applying fertilizer in late fall before the first frost occurs can provide your lawn with essential nutrients that it can absorb and store for the winter. This in turn can help the grass survive the harsh winter months and encourage it to grow as the warmer temperatures of Spring begin to arrive. This should also be your last lawn treatment of the year.

Lawns that are fertilized late-season are typically the first to green up and grow in the spring. Make sure to choose a fertilizer that is high in phosphorous (10-15% is best). Or better yet an Organic product such as fish bone meal. This is crucial for healthy root growth.

Lawn Irrigation Sprinkler System Winterization by ecoScapes Lawn Care 402-671-0453

Prepare Plants & Outdoor Spigots for the Freeze

As a resident of Omaha which experiences very cold winters, be sure to put away watering systems and hoses for the season. It is also important to turn off water to any outdoor spigots. You may even want to protect the spigots with insulated foam covers.

Be sure to bring any outdoor plants or flowers into your home before temperatures approach freezing protect them. This is also a good time to remove and/or cut-back plants from your flowerbeds that are no longer in season.

Conclusion

With temperatures dropping and leaves changing colors and falling, it’s not uncommon to forget about the lawn, and focus on football, staying warm, and getting through the holidays. But, if you follow just a few of the tips in this Fall lawn care guide, you’ll be giving your lawn what it needs to survive the (cold) season.

How Much Does Lawn Mowing Cost in Omaha?

EcoScapes | (402) 671-0453 | Lawn Mowing Service in Omaha

Lawn mowing service in Omaha costs anywhere from $35.00 and $75 per week on average. This is of course dependent on the overall size of the lawn. There are other elements that influence the overall cost such as how many obstacles there are like fences and swing sets, etc., and landscape design just to name a couple.

You have to admit there is nothing that compares to a recently cut lawn to leave the facade of your home or business looking its very best. But it’s also not everyone’s favorite job. Lucky for you, lawn service professionals such as EcoScapes can help you.

Most lawn care companies would rather give you an on-site estimate rather than having a set price because there are so many variables that influence the cost. This article will attempt to break down some of these variable and how each affect the overall price to have an Omaha lawn care service maintain your lawn.

What is Included in the Price of Lawn Mowing in Omaha?

Lawn services often have packaged lawn mowing pricing that includes lawn mowing, trimming, edging, and blowing. Lawn clippings are usually mulched but some lawn care companies do offer bagging as an additional add on. Full-service lawn care companies give you the chance to choose other lawn services such fertilizing and broadleaf weed control.

If all you are looking for is a lawn mowing service, most companies do offer it as a stand-alone service.

EcoScapes | (402) 671-0453 | Overgrown Lawn in Omaha

What Elements Affect the Price of Lawn Mowing?

While the overall size of the yard plays the biggest part in the price, it is not the only element to consider. Here are some other things that may affect just how much money you are paying to have your lawn mowed..

One-time mow or will it be a weekly service?

A regularly mowed lawn takes far less time to cut than one that is overgrown. Because of this, a one-time mowing can cost quite a bit more money than a cut that is part of a weekly maintenance program.

This is why signing on for regular lawn maintenance instead of waiting until it’s overgrown to hire a company can save you money in the long run. Your yard will look much better and you will have a lower price per mow as well.

Does Your Backyard Have a Fence?

Having a fenced in backyard can play a role in pricing as it can increase the amount of trimming and also may limit the size of mower the company can use.

Is Your Lawn Heavily Landscaped?

Having a lot of landscaping means more trimming and can also alter the way the operator mows the lawn. Care should be given to keep grass clippings out of the landscape beds.

Each of these factors plays a role in the overall price to mow your lawn. By hiring a professional lawn care company you can rest assured your lawn will get the treatment and attention to detail it needs to flourish.

What Benefits Can You Expect from Hiring a Professional?

There aren’t many things more gratifying than a well-manicured yard. Fortunately, a beautiful lawn doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend countless hours pushing the mower and string trimming. Hiring a lawn care company can help relieve you of these tasks and you’d be amazed at what a professional company can do for your lawn and landscape.

One thing to keep in mind is lawn care companies in Omaha possess their own equipment such as mowers and trimmers. This can save you quite a bit of money because you will no longer need the mower, trimmer, blower, etc.. Another benefit is the room you’ll get back in your garage by not having to store the lawn tools anymore. No need to keep the gas can filled anymore or making sure the batteries are charged.

A professional lawn service can also care for your yard beyond just the simple lawn mowing. They can provide other services such as lawn fertilizing, aerating weed control to name a few. They should also be able to put together a plan to renovate your lawn if it’s been ignored for a while. It doesn’t matter how bad of condition your yard may be, a good lawn care service can bring it back to health and looking better than ever.

Eco-friendly Lawn Service in Omaha Nebraska by EcoScapes

How You Can Save Some Cash on Lawn Care in Omaha

If your plan is to become a weekly mowing customer, ask your Omaha lawn care provider about package pricing and whether or not bundling lawn mowing with other lawn care services such as fertilizing, and aeration may lower your per visit cost. Everyone wins in this situation. Lawn companies benefit by booking more services and your budget benefits from the discounted price. And what matters most… your lawn will benefit from the professional care it will now receive.

Advantages of Mulching Your Leaves in the Fall

Mulched Leaves Provide Many Benefits for Your Lawn

The fall months bring cooler temperatures, falling leaves and many beautiful colors around your landscape. Many could also associate fall with the need to clean the yard and rake the leaves, which can be a chore. However, there are alternatives that can help your lawn and landscape thrive along with eliminating the need to rake your leaves. Mulching your leaves is an eco-friendly lawn care practice and has many benefits for your lawn and the process is also easy to accomplish. Let’s go over some of the advantages to be had from mulching.

What is Mulching?

In short, mulching is the process of mincing and dicing your leaves with a lawnmower. Before you begin, make sure to even out your leaves throughout your yard to create an even surface. Be sure not to leave any thick piles of leaves because it could be too much for your mower. Also, if the piles are too thick they can suffocate your grass, even after mulching, so a thin layer is always preferable. A good rule of thumb is if your mower deck is pushing large piles of leaves in front of it, or the engine on your mower is bogging down, there are too many to mulch. If this is the case, you will need to either rake or blow some of the leaves into piles and bag them up to be removed from the property. Mulch them often and you won’t have to worry about there being too many. By mulching your leaves, you will get a healthier and better-looking lawn.

The Benefits are Plentiful

The biggest benefit from mulched leaves is that they will decompose into an organic fertilizer. This process is done by earthworms and microorganisms that turn the mulch into organic plant matter. Since winter quickly follows the fall, the mulched leaves can provide additional nutrients during the harsh months ahead. Mulched leaves can also do wonders for the soil however, you can’t let the leaves do all the work. If you don’t have healthy soil in your lawn to begin with, you may have trouble seeing the benefits of mulching your leaves.

Benefits for Your Landscape

Mulched leaves are not just for the grass. Your landscaping and garden can also reap the many benefits from mulching. Decomposing leaves provide nutrients to the soil and plants. It can also give your plants more protection from the cold months ahead. You may even notice brighter and more vibrant colors coming from your flowers next Spring. Another benefit can include moisture that comes from the rain or watering, the mulch helps to retain the moisture within for a longer time.

An Organic Process

Another advantage that comes from mulching is a better environment for everyone. Mulching your leaves, as opposed to putting them in the trash, will keep them out of landfills where the valuable nutrients are put to waste. The overall effect that comes from mulching is more plant food for your lawn and landscape without the need for additional fertilizers. Mulching is organic in every sense of the word, so take advantage of this process that will give you a gorgeous garden layout.

5 Steps to a Greener Lawn

If you are watering often and for short periods of time, the grass’ roots have no reason to grow deeper down into the soil. Those shallow roots can’t reach deep soil nutrients and don’t have the ability to supply much needed water when you skip a watering. Instead, water deep enough to penetrate the soil 4 to 6 inches. Here’s a little test you can use for a few watering’s. You’ll get a sense of just how long and often you should be watering. Of course, this depends entirely on weather conditions and your soil type.

Water for 30 minutes. When done plunge a spade into the soil and pry out a chunk to see how far the water has penetrated. Try to keep in the soil intact when removing so you can get a good idea exactly how far down the water penetrated. Four to 6 inches deep is ideal. Not deep enough? Then you need to water longer. After doing this a couple of times you’ll know how long you should be watering your lawn for. Once you know how long to water, you can set your sprinkler system times accordingly or use a water timer to set the duration if using a hose.

Heavy clay type soils should be watered less frequently and less heavily but for longer durations of time. You want to water lightly as the clay-based soil most frequently found in Omaha is not as permeable as other soil types and is slow to absorb the water.

Combat Broadleaf Weeds in Mild Weather

You need to neutralize weeds when they are growing. This is because the herbicide is absorbed through the leaves of the weed and then travel throughout the rest of the plant. When the weather outside is too cool, the weed is not growing and the herbicide can’t be absorbed. Too hot outside and the herbicide will certainly stress the grass. The product directions will give you the best temperature range to use the product. Make sure to apply herbicides when rain is not in the forecast, a soaking will only rinse off the herbicide before it has a chance to be absorbed.

Learn how to neutralize broadleaf weeds the eco-friendly way.

Neutralize Crabgrass Before it has a Chance to Spread

Crabgrass preventers, also known as pre-emergent, do one thing and one thing only. They prevent crabgrass, and any other form of seed, from sprouting. Once crabgrass germinates, it’s too late. Here’s the key to preventing crabgrass. Applying pre-emergent between the second and the third mowing’s greatly increases its effectiveness. Because crabgrass starts sprouting a few weeks after the grass greens up, that’s generally the perfect time. This of course is considering you start mowing early enough in the Spring.   

Don’t Skip the Fall Fertilizer Application

Before the lawn goes dormant for the winter, it should be fed well. Even after the grass appears to go dormant, the roots are still absorbing nutrients and storing energy for the upcoming winter and the growing season ahead. Believe it or not but it is much more important to fertilize in the fall than it is in the spring, when most people do it. Like watering, this is one of the most beneficial lawn care services you can do for your lawn.

Test the Soils pH Level

Lawns grow best when they’re growing in the “pH happy zone.” Omaha grasses like a pH level between 6 and 7.2. If the soil is either too acidic or too alkaline, the yard can’t thrive even if you do everything else right. So here is what you do, collect one tablespoon-size soil sample a couple of inches under the turf in three different areas in your lawn and take the three samples in for testing. Some garden centers offer the service or you can search the Internet for “soil testing service” to find a place you can send it into.

You’re after a pH between 6 and 7.2. If it’s too high, you’ll want to treat the lawn with iron sulfate or sulfur, too low and you will want to use pelletized limestone. Whoever does the testing will tell you what and how much to use to fix the pH level. Applying the treatment is as easy as walking around the yard with a spreader.