The last we spoke, our topic was Calcitic Lime and how it can help to balance the pH in your soil along with the benefits it will provide your lawn. This week, we will broaden our chat to see what else could be causing weeds and moss to take over your lawn, as well as how to fix those issues.
Before we get into the what, let’s begin our story with a picture. You walk out of your home early one May morning stretching your legs and grabbing the morning paper (or taking the dog for a walk in case you are more of a digital reader, maybe it’s your morning walk that beckons you outside, but you are at your front door). The sun has just started to come through the trees and is hitting your face. The gentle warm breeze carries the sound of birds chirping, creating a melody that is right out of Merrie Melodies.
As you take that first step outside, you look to your lawn. The lawn you just spent that weekend last month spraying weeds and raking moss out. The lawn that cost you all that money. The one that caught your sweat - now has weeds, again!
A major lawn pest in the Greater Vancouver area is the European Crane Fly, or more accurately – their larvae called leatherjackets. A native of Eurasia, the European Crane Fly will lay between 200 and 500 eggs every fall. Yikes! And the larvae that hatch are hungry!
These pests are harmless as adults. They look like gangly mosquitoes but they don’t bite or sting and are pretty terrible at flying. You’ll find them congregating on the sides of houses, barns, fences, window and door screens, etc. It’s their larvae, that look like grey or greenish maggots, that cause all the trouble. The larvae grow to 1.5 to 2 inches long and taper at both ends.
Vancouver lawns face a tough battle to stay weed-free and healthy. Between the coniferous trees, the rocky and acidic soil, abundant cloud cover and subsequent rainfall keeping everything extremely moist, the odds are not in favour of your lawn.
Our lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn Vancouver have put together a short list of quick tips to help you get your lawn looking lush and healthy this season. Remember to call our team for a free quote whether you simply want to relax and enjoy a vibrant lawn or if your lawn has persistent problems.
White grubs are round, white or yellowish in colour, and will eat your lawn to death. The larvae of the native June bug or June beetle are the most common culprits infesting your lawn. Japanese beetles and the European chafer have invaded eastern Ontario, but are not typically found in western Canada. Because of the warmer temperatures in Vancouver, it is necessary to treat your lawn earlier than in other parts of the country. Nutri-Lawn Vancouver’s lawn care experts are able to quickly diagnose a larvae problem and prescribe effective treatment to save your lawn.
The foundation of any building needs to be sound or the entire structure is compromised. Ever consider how solid the soil foundation is under your lawn? Poor soil will mean a scraggly or thin lawn and can lead to other chronic problems. If you have a soil problem, your lawn care efforts may be sabotaged from beneath.
The Vancouver climate provides the optimal growing conditions for moss. Not what you wanted to hear if it’s in your lawn, right? Moss looks pretty in a garden or container, fair enough, but not in your lawn. So, how do you get rid of it? The biggest problem with moss is that often no matter how many times a homeowner gets rid of it, it keeps coming back.
Moss thrives in conditions that grass doesn’t like, so any areas of your lawn where grass struggles to thrive may be providing the perfect conditions for moss growth. While we look at moss as a weed, it doesn’t have a root system or take up nutrients the way your grass or other weeds do, so that makes eradication difficult. The best way to keep moss away after you’ve gotten rid of the initial infestation, is to correct the conditions it thrives in and tip the scales in favour of your grass.
Farmers have long known that nutrients in the soil can be depleted and they will sometimes leave a field fallow to allow the soil time to rejuvenate and restore its fertility. Your lawn is no different. After a time, the essential nutrients found in the soil can deplete or dissipate leaving your grass starving. A stressed lawn won’t grow as well and will be more vulnerable to drought, insects and weeds.
Sometimes we do things with the best of intentions, but the results don’t always turn out how we envisioned them. There are lots of lawn care maintenance tasks that will really help your lawn, if you do them at the right time, in the right amount and under the right conditions. Don’t waste any more time and effort on a good idea that ends up sabotaging your lawn care efforts.
Our Nutri-Lawn Vancouver lawn care experts have put together a short list of the most harmful lawn care tasks homeowners undertake that cause the most damage. Our professional team is always ready to offer advice and give a free quote if things don’t turn out, or you want it done right the first time.
Overseeding is one of those mundane spring lawn care tasks that you really shouldn’t over look. At Nutri-Lawn Vancouver, we love being able to return to our client’s properties year after year. Seeing lawns that not only improve that first season, but to see the growth and maturity in the plants and knowing how disease resistant a thick healthy lawn can be is very satisfying for us and it also keeps our customers happy too!
Overseeding a lawn should be done in spring ideally, though it can be done in the fall as well. Overseeding scatters grass seed over an existing lawn to fill in gaps and provide new growth each season. Even grass plants get old and grow thin, so introducing new seeds each year ensures your lawn will never look tired or worn out.
