Lawn care

Landscape Issues and Recommendations

Submitted by: Meticulous Landscaping, Inc.

Linda S. Kraft

Meticulous Landscaping, Inc.

Vice-President

Phone: 609-971-8551

Mobile: 609-548-2631

As time marches on those fine small ornamental trees located in your front lawns are now maturing and wreaking havoc on many of the front lawns. We are seeing a lot of tree roots now running across the lawn surfaces disrupting healthy grass growth and causing sporadic grass growth and bare areas.

Those maturing trees are not only disrupting the root system of your lawn but they are also robbing your lawn of vital water and nutrients. The maturing tree canopy is now blocking out the sunlight that your lawn requires to remain vital and healthy.

Solutions??…the aggressive solution is to remove the tree and its root system but that would also require a full renovation of your front lawn area. A temporary solution is to apply approximately 2-3 inches of topsoil to the root affected areas and reseed with a quality Ocean County Blend grass seed. This method will probably provide a solution for approximately several seasons. As for providing more sunlight to the area, it is recommended to thin out the tree canopy by cutting away a portion of the tree’s secondary branches.

At this point all irrigation systems should be opened for the season. During the spring season, limited use of the irrigation system is recommended. When summer arrives and temperatures increase and rainfall decreases (typically) it becomes important to manage your system. Always keep in mind the weather conditions.

Some basic recommendations:

Full Sun Lawn Areas; 20 minutes every other day

Shaded Lawn Areas: 10 minutes every other day

Side Areas between houses:2 minutes every other day

Side Areas in Full Sun: 15 minutes every other day

Again, these are basic recommendations but the management of these systems is up to you as the homeowner. If lawn areas appear to be stressing from lack of water increase your irrigation times. If you find that the irrigated areas are becoming soft and boggy and are at risk for damage from mowers, decrease your irrigation times or turn it off for several days. Unfortunately, proper irrigation is not just “set it and forget it”, it requires involvement and adjustment

If you have any questions regarding either of these topics please call our office at 609-971-8551 or email [email protected].