Talking Turf Preemergents

With a good enough defense, you won't need any offense. That may not be true for sports, but it helps avoid fights and is ideal in landscaping. Pulling weeds is not at the top of anyone's list of enjoyable summer tasks, so anything we can do to limit it and increase our beach (or AC) time is a beautiful thing. That's why we offer lawn treatments, specifically regarding today's blog, turf preemergents. So you want to keep your Oshawa lawn green, trimmed, and healthy, and doesn't it have enough to worry about without weeds? Let's discuss how Mr. Trim can help! Lawn Maintenance vs. Lawn Care We'll begin with a primer. There are two things every lawn needs, lawn maintenance, and lawn care. Each of those broad categories is full of its own landscaping tasks. Taken together, you get a happy, healthy property! Lawn Mowing, Etc Lawn maintenance is the category of lawn service that most homeowners are more familiar with. Specifically, we've all had at least a little experience with lawn mowing. But lawns also need edging, trimming, and blowout to look their best. It's worth noting that maintenance is primarily focused on your lawn's appearance. You'll also need lawn care to get to the root of grass health. How We Care So now we get into lawn care, everything beyond general maintenance. This is what separates gorgeous lawns from merely acceptable ones. We've touched on one aspect of lawn care in our blog before aeration and overseeding. Keeping your soil loose is one of the ways to keep your grass healthy. The other ways involve lawn treatments like preemergents and other additives, where we'll focus today. Lawn Treatment Lawn treatments are what we apply to our lawns to give them the healthy nutrients they need and to keep away what they don't. Lawn treatment comes in solid form as pellets, or in liquid forms we spray. Fertilizer One of the main lawn treatments is fertilizer. We use fertilizer to replenish the nutrients in the soil. Though plants make their own food through photosynthesis, they get the ingredients from that food from the ground. Unfortunately, because lawns are a permanent feature of our yards, grass will eventually use all the nutrients in the soil if it is not replenished, resulting in yellow or otherwise unhealthy grass. Weeding While there is a lawn spray for nearly every lawn need, weed spray is the most common lawn treatment other than fertilizer. Weeds want what your grass wants: water, sunlight, and soil. That means it will compete with your grass for space. There are a few ways to handle that. Of course, one of the best weed prevention tools is to have a lush, healthy lawn that leaves no room for weeds! But often, we supplement this with weeding and weed preemergents and post-emergents. Pre vs. Post The two divisions of weed treatments are pre and post-emergents. Most weed sprays you can buy at the big hardware store are post-emergents. You use these to kill weeds that have appeared in your lawn, gardens, and hardscaping. Post-emergents are how you kill weeds that have already reared their ugly heads. Their alternative is preemergents which prevent weeds from ever popping up in the first place. So we treat grass with preemergence at this time of the year. Pros and Cons of Preemergents The best part about preemergents is when used correctly, you can avoid having a weed in your lawn or garden. Another advantage is it prevents you from having to take the time to locate weeds and spray them. However, post-emergents can be dangerous to some of your friendly flowers and fauna, and spraying with them should be limited to as little as possible. But there is a downside too, or at least contraindications. As their name implies, they target weeds before they emerge. But they target a growth stage rather than a particular species. That means you should never use them somewhere where you are attempting to grow something new. They will prevent flowers and grass from growing, as well as weeds! So the place to use this helpful lawn treatment is in an already established lawn or garden. Let's Keep That Lawn Lush! If you're ready to take your lawn to the next level of health and beauty, then you're ready to sign up for lawn treatments! Call Mr. Trim so we can add lawn care to your landscaping routine, and soon you'll be the envy of your neighborhood!