Seasonal Advice
Plant Care Guidelines
New Sod Care Instructions
Newly Seeded Lawn Care Instructions

Horticulture

Seasonal Advice

Spring

• Spread granular, slow-acting fertilizer. (This is optional if you fertilized in the fall or winter)
  
  
• Aerate the lawn to treat compacted soil.
  
  
• Mulch with organic matter, if necessary.
  
  
• Sharpen your mower blades at the start of the season.

Summer

• Learn the signs of bug infestation, and head them off before they get settled in.
  
  
• Water your lawn weekly if rain is scarce or your soil is poor. Otherwise, water only when rainfall is delayed more than 10 days.
  
  
• Treat weeds and bare spots as soon as you see them.
  
  
• Sharpen your mower blade again halfway through the season.

Autumn

• Water trees and shrubs thoroughly mulched before the first frost.
  
  
• But don’t over water! Plants and shrubs should be expected to look a little brown in September and October.
  
  
• Mulch with organic material, or mow a layer of fallen leaves into the lawn.
  
  
• Fertilize your lawn around Thanksgiving to promote strong root growth during winter.
  
  
• Cutting the grass a bit shorter just before winter to prevent its matting under snow.

Winter

• Put burlap windscreens around less hardy plants if they’re in exposed areas.
  
  
• Use a broom to brush snow away from evergreen trees gently, to keep the weight from breaking the limbs.
  
  
• If ice or snow does break tree limbs, have the limbs removed as soon as weather permits – damaged trees are prone to disease.
  
  
• Putting markers at the edge of your lawn will help you avoid damaging it when you’re shoveling snow.
  
  
• Avoid walking on frosted or snow-covered lawns.
  
  
• Use only non-salt de-ices for sidewalks and driveways, so the runoff doesn’t harm plants.
  
  
• Salt will damage grass, perennials, and shrubs, and will keep the plants from absorbing much-needed water.
  
  
• Check any perennial plants during periods of thawing soil to see if roots popping out of the ground. If they have, gently push them back into place, and add mulch.

Plant Care Guidelines

Proper Maintenance is important for the success of you landscape plantings. These guidelines will help you maintain your investment and keep your guarantee intact.

Watering
Watering is the most important factor in establishing your new plantings.

During the first year after planting, check all plants weekly by inserting your finger into the soil to a depth of 2-3 inches. Water when the soil is no longer moist. Slow deep watering is preferred. A slow trickle of water from a garden hose for 45-60 minutes is adequate for trees and larger shrubs.  For small shrubs, perennials, and annuals, running a sprinkler or a soaker hose over the area for the same amount of time should be adequate.  Over watering is as bad as no water, so check your soil before watering.

With shallow root systems, perennials react more quickly to drought, so monitor the soil conditions more regularly than with other plantings.

Mulching
We recommend that a maximum of 3 inches of mulch be maintained on shrub or perennial beds that do not have established ground cover plantings. Mulching helps to prevent weeds, stabilizes ground temperature, and retains moisture. As the mulch decomposes, gently rake it into the top layer of soil.

Fertilization
We fertilize at planting so no fertilizer is necessary for the first year. For established plantings, fall and early spring are the recommended times to fertilize. Use good quality fertilizer and apply at the recommended rate following the directions carefully.

Pruning
Your plantings should require very little pruning. Good plant health is maintained by minimizing pruning. Pruning should be restricted to light shaping and the removal of dead and broken branches. Always make clean cuts with a sharp tool.

Shrubs which bear blossoms on new growth in late spring or summer should be pruned in early spring or during the last weeks of winter. Prune evergreens just before new growth starts in spring.

To keep perennials bushy and to promote flowering, pinch off old blossoms. After frost has discolored to foliage of your perennials, cut them back to the ground.

We hope these general guidelines will help you maintain your new landscaping.

New Sod - Care Instructions

IMMEDIATELY after installation, water your new turf-sod to the point that the soil under is wet to a depth of approximately 3 inches ("spongy" to walk on). This should be maintained for 10- 14 days.

• Approximately 14 days after installation, you should be able to mow. Check by trying to pull up a roll of sod- If it is sticking to the soil... you should be safe. Remember to mow the first few times higher than you normally would, and gradually work to the height you prefer. Do not cut more than a third (1/3) off otherwise you will stress and possibly damage your turf-sod.
  
  
• Keep your turf-sod watered. Do not rely on Mother Nature exclusively. You should have about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water on your lawn per week, under normal conditions, to keep your sod healthy.

To keep your lawn healthy and green you will need to establish a program to feed your lawn and control weeds, maintaining the care provided while the turf-sod was grown. We suggest the following schedule:

Early Spring (Late March to mid-April)
Use a weed and feed type fertilizer, available at most home and garden centers. This fertilizer should include a broadleaf and pre-emergent crabgrass control.

Summer (late June, early July)
You can apply a light application of fertilizer with a high Nitrogen content ( the first number on the bag), and if your crabgrass was not controlled in the early spring use a post-emergent control for crabgrass. This will help maintain a deep green color.

Fall (late September, early October)
Apply an application of fertilizer and weed control. This should have a broadleaf and dandelion control to help prevent spring weeds.

Winter (late November, early December)
Apply fertilizer high in Nitrogen (i.e. 46-0-0). This will help promote vigorous root activity throughout the winter which will strengthen your root zone and promote a healthy and early spring green up. As an extra measure, this can be done again in January.

To keep your Turf- Sod looking Great, proper watering, feeding and weed control are a must!

This information is for general maintenance, Specific types of turf-sod will vary a little.

 

 

 

WATERING: Plenty of water is a must! Moisture is probably the most important consideration immediately after planting. If weather is hot and windy, one or two light irrigations per day may be needed until germination is complete. Keep the soil moist for two to three weeks. We recommend 45 minutes per cycle. If you notice excessive runoff, back this off to 30 minutes per cycle.

We also suggest watering in the morning hours. This will cause less evaporation and also let the new seedlings dry off during the day. This will decrease the chances of developing diseases. If the soil is dry and it needs 2 cycles per day, we recommend 2-3 hours before nightfall so the leaves can dry.
After the lawn is established the very best way to determine if irrigation is needed is to probe the surface soil and determine if the surface inch or two is visibly dry.

MOWING: Don't be afraid to mow a new lawn. After the turf begins to grow, mow at recommended heights: 2 ¾ to 3 ½ inches for bluegrass and fescue and about ¾ inch for bermudagrass and zoysiagrass. By mowing early and not letting excessive grass accumulate, the texture will be finer, many upright weeds will be killed, the turf will become more dense, and lateral spread will increase.
Mow as frequently as needed to keep the old grass or weeds from shading the new seedlings. As the new seedlings develop, continue mowing at the height intended for the entire turf area. Do not let the seedlings grow tall before mowing.

FERTILIZING: It is often best to apply the nitrogen soon after germination. Apply about 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet (40 pounds of nitrogen per acre), which is equivalent to about 3 pounds ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) or 10 pounds of 10-10-10 per 1,000 square feet. If using these farm-type fertilizers, be sure to apply them to dry foliage. Also, to prevent leaf burn, either apply them when the weather is cool or water the turf immediately after fertilizing. If you use the specialty organic turf fertilizers that are normally sold through garden centers, immediate irrigation is usually not necessary.

WEED CONTROL: Weed control can usually begin, if needed, after the new seedlings have grown enough to have been mowed one or two times. During germination and shortly thereafter, most herbicides will damage young grass seedlings.

Folllow these guidelines to a thick and beautiful lawn.