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To maintain the health and appearance of your lawn, it is important
that
your home maintenance program
include the proper care for your lawn.
Maintaining a healthy and attractive lawn requires
proper maintenance during each season of the year. See
also: Automatic
Sprinkler Systems, Decking,
Patio
Furniture, and Barbeque
Grill.
Shown in the "Maintenance" tab above are the recommended routine
maintenance tasks for your lawn. The "Questions / Answers" tab above shows
our answers to related questions. And the "Articles" tab above provides links
to related informational articles and sources.
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Maintenance
Task #1:
Spring clean-up |
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How do you do a Spring lawn clean-up? |
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In early spring, rake
and remove fallen debris from lawn. Add mulch around the
bases of trees and shrubs. Do not mulch around the trunk
higher than ground level or you can damage the health of the
tree. |
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Why is it important to do a Spring
lawn clean-up? |
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Cleans out debris
that has accumulated over the winter. Mulch helps prevent
weeds, and helps keeps moisture around your trees and shrubs. |
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When
should you do a Spring lawn clean-up? |
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Perform
in early spring (April). |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is moderately high, depending on the
size of your yard and the number and types of trees on it. |
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The
benefits of this task are the improved usability of your
yard. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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Maintenance
Task #2:
Early Spring fertilizer and
crab-grass control |
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How do you do an early Spring lawn
fertilizer and crab-grass control? |
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In the spring, before temperatures
are regularly in the 80's, apply fertilizer and crab grass control
to your lawn. Before application, the lawn should be thoroughly
raked to remove debris that has settled on the lawn over the winter. |
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Why is it important to do an early
Spring lawn fertilizer and crab-grass control? |
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Helps grass to grow
thicker and greener, and helps reduce outbreaks of crab grass. |
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When
should you do an early Spring lawn fertilizer and crab-grass control? |
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Perform
in early spring (April). |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is moderately low, depending on the
size of your yard. You will need to purchase the appropriate
spring fertilizer and crab-grass control application for your
lawn. |
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The
benefits of this task are the health and appearance of
your lawn. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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Maintenance
Task #3:
Late Spring fertilizer and
weed control |
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How do you do a late Spring lawn
fertilizer and weed control? |
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Apply fertilizer with weed control
at a time in late spring when rain is not forecast for at least
24 hours. |
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Why is it important to do a late
Spring lawn fertilizer and weed control? |
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Helps grass grow thicker
and greener, and helps to control outbreaks of weeds. |
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When
should you do a late Spring lawn fertilizer and weed control? |
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Late
spring (June) when rain is not forecast for at least 24
hours. |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is relatively low, depending on the
size of your yard. You will need to purchase the appropriate
late spring fertilizer and weed control application for your lawn. |
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The
benefits of this task are the health and appearance of
your lawn. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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Maintenance
Task #4:
Summer fertilizer and insect
control |
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How do you do a Summer lawn fertilizer
and insect control? |
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During mid-summer,
apply fertilizer and insect control. |
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Why is it important to do a Summer
lawn fertilizer and insect control? |
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Helps your grass thrive
in hot weather, and helps control insects that can damage your
lawn. |
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When
should you do a Summer lawn fertilizer and insect control? |
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Mid-summer
(August). |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is relatively low, depending on the
size of your yard. You will need to purchase the appropriate
summer fertilizer and insect control application for your lawn. |
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The
benefits of this task are the health and appearance of
your lawn. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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Maintenance
Task #5:
Early Autumn fertilizer treatment |
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How do you do an early Autumn lawn
fertilizer treatment? |
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Apply a fertilizer that is specifically
designed to be applied in the early. |
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Why is it important to do
an early Autumn lawn fertilizer treatment? |
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Helps grass to stay
green longer, and green up earlier next spring. |
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When
do you do an early Autumn lawn fertilizer treatment? |
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Early
autumn (October). |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is relatively low, depending on the
size of your yard. You will need to purchase the appropriate
autumn fertilizer application for your lawn. |
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The
benefits of this task are the health and appearance of
your lawn. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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Maintenance
Task #6:
Autumn pruning and raking |
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How do you do an Autumn lawn pruning
and raking? |
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Remove dead or damaged
branches from shrubs and other lawn plants. Fallen leaves
should be raked. Raked leaves can be shredded to reduce
the number of bags that must be disposed, or the leaves can
be mulched to a dust with a mulching mower and left on the lawn.
You need to be careful
pruning your shrubs and trees in the fall, since the wounds
may not have time to adequately heal before the cold weather
arrives. Also, pruning can stimulate growth which won’t have
time to develop properly before it gets cold.
Here are the general guidelines for routine pruning:
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Prune evergreens
in winter and early spring.
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Prune leaf-bearing
trees, including fruit trees, in late winter.
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Prune late-flowering
shrubs (those that bloom in mid to late summer) in late
winter or early spring.
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Prune late-flowering
shrubs (those that bloom in mid to late summer) in late
winter or early spring.
During the fall, its
alright to remove diseased, dead or broken branches. Allowing
diseased parts to linger on a tree over the winter can cause
more problems in the spring. You may want to prune heavy bleeders
like birches and maples in the fall if their sap would fall
on sidewalks and patios. Also, you should remove branches that
could, if laden with snow or ice, interfere with power lines
or structures. |
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Why is it important to do an Autumn
lawn pruning and raking? |
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Improves the health
and appearance of shrubs and lawn. |
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When
should you do an Autumn lawn pruning and raking? |
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Late
fall (November). |
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How
does Home-Wizard rate the costs and benefits for this task? |
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The
cost of this task is moderately high, depending on the
size of your yard and the number and types of trees on it. |
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The
benefits of this task are the health and appearance of
your lawn. |
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Overall
Home-Wizard benefit-versus-cost rating (one 'hat' = low and
four 'hats' = high): |
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| QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS from "Ask-a-Wizard":
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QUESTION from pst
on 5/27/2008
My lawn has a lot of seed heads in it.Will this cause lawn
to become thin & sparse & will I have to replace with
sod or seed.Lawn care specialist wants to apply fungicide &
also is talking about a POSSIBLE brown spot disease.What can
I do to have a nice lawn.
ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM on 5/27/2008
Dear PST:
It is very difficult to diagnose a lawn problem without actually
seeing the lawn, but let me provide you the best thoughts that
I can.
First, regarding your seed head problem, I am assuming that
the seed heads that you are referring to are WEED seed heads,
not grass seed heads? If they are indeed weed seed heads, then
yes, you will want to remove them by mowing them down.
Regarding the need for a fungicide treatment, I am assuming
that you are seeing some moldy spots on your lawn? In the spring,
where there has been snow compacted on the lawn from the winter
(or areas of high moisture from standing water), the grass underneath
can die due to lack of air, light, etc. These areas should be
raked vigorously to remove all of the dead areas. Depending
on the size of the area, the surround lawn should be able to
fill it in. However, if it is too large of an area, then you
would need to add topsoil and re-seed.
Regarding your issue with brown spots, and again, its very difficult
to diagnose without actually seeing your lawn, but one question
is whether these areas could have been caused by urination from
a female dog.
It sounds like you have a number of issues occurring with your
lawn. One suggestion is that you might want to get a second
opinion from a different local specialist, who can physically
examine your lawn, test the soil, and is familiar with the specific
climate and growing issues of your region of the country.
Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from Hammerhead46
on 1/11/2010
What is a good homemade WEED KILLER?
I need something to kill "Russian Thistle" AKA "Tumbleweeds".
My yard is over grown every year with them and I can not pull
them as I am disabled and on Oxygen 24/7.
I do not have the funds to buy "Roundup" ETC: that only works
for 90 days, my yard is 15,000 SQ FT so the cost is prohibitive
on a disability income.
ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM on 1/11/2010
Dear Hammerhead46:
Here is a webpage from the University of California that describes
all about Russian Thistle ("tumbleweeds"):
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7486.html
And if you scroll down the page, there is a section about "Management
in the Home Landscape" that describes your options for eliminating
Russian Thistle from your yard. As you will read, chemical agents
are not recommended.
Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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