Monday, January 23, 2012

Lawn Fertilization Service Needs Differ

Often times where a customer is seeking a ”better" lawn fertilization service company there are similar complaints that I hear and the grass is often literally greener on the other side.  I think the #1 complaint is “they are feeding my weeds”.  Another one is the more general statement that “there have been no improvements in my grass”.  The question then is why can’t the more commonly known treatment services in Columbia, S.C. address these issues with every customer?  This question boils down to suitability where one service might be fine for one customer but not for another.  In addition, I believe the answer is that the more commercial treatment services in many cases:

·         Are not the correct fit for every customer’s lawn or every customer’s personality or style of communication.  Some accounts call for a more personalized, unique approach.

·         Have become “Price” driven in the minds of the customer and not quality driven.  The current market cost of service is roughly half of what it should cost for an effective long term program. 

·         They have a better marketing program than the actual physical service.  If they were to effectively go over the laundry list of items below it would result in less sales.

·         Are employing low paid, unskilled workers who do not take stock in the outcome.

·         Have caused the customer base in general to lower their expectations as to the definition of high quality service and outcome. 

·         Taken true personalization of service to you and your lawn out of the equation.  Timely, constructive, thoughtful consultations are needed (and that costs more money, which is a tough sale).

·         Fallen short in advising of the necessary, comprehensive regimen that is needed for any plant to grow.  It takes more than just a sprinkle of chemicals.

An effective lawn fertilization schedule and weed control treatment program should include the treatments that these companies provide, but equally as important, should advise of the need for proper lawn mowing service, a regular fall cleanup schedule, serious consideration to the type of grass that you are trying to maintain, core aeration, and a routine lawn sprinkler system watering regimen.

Fit, suitability and communication are other important fine points – Some yards are so personalized and unique that some treatments will work in some places, but not in others.  Take the slopey yard that is shady in some areas but sunny in others where the dog is allowed in the back yard but not the front for instance…here is an example of how anything short of the resident taking care of the yard on a highly personalized level would almost always be ineffective.  It is nearly impossible to delegate this out to any service other than a grounds keeper.  Suitability where one company’s cookie cutter approach works on the standard lawn but not on the more garden-like grounds is a consideration…does the service suit your unique needs?  Sometimes, retaining a service that will communicate with you on the level that you and your yard require should cost you more.  Sometimes, the company should refer you to another company that would fit your specific need better instead of accepting your business, knowing logically it will probably end up in failure…but hey, they’re not worried about it because you just signed a contract with them and you’re on the hook to pay them for the duration.

Maintaining a lawn properly requires attention to the plant as a living breathing organism.  Treatments do matter, but of equal importance are the intricacies of how the lawn is being mowed, how often, with what type of equipment and at what height.  Does your landscape maintenance service mulch mow or do they bag?  Often times, bagging the clippings is literally the same as taking a little of your lawn’s health away every time they mow.  It robs the ground of micronutrients and will eventually lead to the declination of the turf.  Bagging is necessary sometimes, especially when you are planning an event where it needs to “look” its best, but definitely not on every mowing.  Of equal importance is the height of mow, which should not be any more than 1/3 of the height of the grass.  This is a price driven item...most people here in South Carolina opt for bi-weekly service which often times causes that 1/3rd cut rule to be broken.  To achieve the goal of optimal turf grass, you must consider whether to have your service done weekly or bi-weekly.  Refraining from cutting at all is also a consideration.  Here in South Carolina, we tend to have droughts for 5-7 week periods of time.  It is during those dry/hot times that your service should refrain from cutting in some cases.  This is another money driven item – if your service is being paid a flat monthly fee, then they are going to try to mow no matter what on a set schedule to “make their showing” and earn their keep.  This is often the case where the person doing the work is the owner of the company who’s income is directly affected.  Alternately, some companies employ hourly paid workers who are trained to “pass” on the mowing.  The company then does not charge for that particular day’s service.  The company owner’s income is affected by this non-mowing, but the worker’s pay is not as affected.  In the end, the goal is to look out for the grass as a living organism, not a commodity.

At about the time that everyone is putting their lawn mower away around October 15th, it is actually time to switch gears and think about the fall cleanup schedule.  This applies to your yard if you have deciduous trees or pine trees, gumball trees, or any other tree that will lose its leaves or sticks in the fall.  All this debris coming down on the ground can wreak havoc on the root systems of the turf.  Instead of waiting until all the debris has fallen, it is best to have this fall cleanup on a regimen just like the mowing schedule. 

Some plants grow well in some places, but not so well in others.  The biggest problem I see is where people expect the chemicals to remedy situations where there is very little sunlight or too much shade.  This would call for a different type of grass altogether, not a different treatment service.  This is a tough pill to swallow for most people because its one of those situations where the building contractor threw down a general type of grass, often centipede or Bermuda, in an area that called for Zoysia.  Or in the case where initially, the type of grass they used was great because the trees were new and small, but over time the trees grew large and shaded out the ground below.  The hard and fast truth of the matter is that you would then need to either cut down the trees or rip up the sod and start with a new type of lawn.  No treatment in the world will do this.

Core aeration is another costly item that is needed to complete the circle.  This applies mostly to areas that have high traffic or the underlying topsoil area is thin.  It also applies if you use heavy riding mowers as opposed to push mowers which are light and don’t affect the compaction of the soil.  If your yard needs core aeration badly enough, you would be completely wasting your money if you were to treat it and expect a positive outcome.  Aeration is another extremely labor intensive item that has fallen victim to recessionary lowballing trends.  For the labor and equipment involved, an effective aeration service should be in the hundreds of dollars for the average yard.   

Do you have a sprinkler system?  If not, there’s a fly in the ointment.  Modern grasses require controlled irrigation on a set schedule unless it is raining for us.  If you want a positive outcome from your lawn fertilization service, it is absolutely necessary that you water your lawn regularly.  Not only regularly but effectively – is that water reaching the necessary root system depth?  If not, you need to saturate it more.  If you have sandy soil, you may need to water more often.  All of these things should be addressed on a professional level.  The end result of your watering in most cases should be that the dirt, to the touch, is ever so slightly moist and seldom let to dry out completely.  Its an art though!  At times, especially when fungus is a threat, you should let it dry out a bit more than usual. 

So, in defense of the more widely known treatment services out there, don’t hold it all against them if your yard doesn’t look any better.  Do consider, though, that they should be advising you on all levels (and charging you) and that you get what you pay for.  Comprehensive lawn care overall (unless you have some really intricate chemical balance issues) is done by companies that not only treat the yard but also do the physical maintenance on the yard. 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Managing Crape Murder

A while back, I did an article on how to prune crape myrtles.  Since here in Columbia and Lexington South Carolina it is best to take care of these tree like bushes in February, before they begin to bud for the spring, I thought I'd post an update and some fresh thoughts on how to manage crapes...particularly, crapes that have been previously hacked on improperly.

One finer point that goes deeper on the subject than the usual "prune to train, prune off the spent pods only, don't hack on the large limbs" is what to do if the tree has simply gotten too big for the area or for your taste.  These things grow very fast and before you know it you do have a big tree to deal with.  Even if your crape myrtles have been perfectly manicured every February and it is now just too big, then what?  No level of perfect cut is going to remedy the fact that you are now forced to either remove the tree altogether (gasp!) or go against all principles and commit crape murder (egad!).  This situation is similar to camellias, where the bush has gotten so large that it is starting to look like a popsicle.  So how to make the best of the situation. 

I propose that you consider taking the whole tree down to the quick.  Leaving a stump about 2" high...high enough to clear mulch but low enough to where it is not obvious.  After you chainsaw it down, you then keep it watered and hope for the best.  If you have any shooters with leaves you might want to leave those on until you get more shooters out of the stump.  Then when those remaining shooters are no longer needed for their sunlight intake, you cull them to the quick.  What were hoping for here is that the robust root system of your precious family heirloom firecracker red crape myrtle will quickly send up new shoots out of what is now a stump.  The likeliness of this happening is quite high as, again, crapes are like weeds. 

After a season or two, you then pick the shoots (4+ feet tall by now) that you like the most.  You cultivate them to go in the direction you want and prune off the rest.  It depends upon the situation but I recommend cultivating no more than 5 shoots which will one day be large (keep that in mind).  So there's a potential solution to crape myrtles that have gotten too large and messy...

Another fine point of crape myrtle management is what to do with the large unsightly knots that have formed on the ends of the limbs as a result of previous crape murder.  Speaking as one who's eyes practically burn when I see something like this, I propose that instead of paying somebody an hourly rate to tediously cut off every shoot from last year's growth, that, since you've already entered into the improper management cycle of crape murder, you cut  this time just under the large knot area into fresh stump.  This leaves a cleaner look; as clean as it can get.  And sure, year after year of this will lower that precious, smooth trunk, but it does look better than leaving the knots and eventually it'll be down to the ground as previously proposed as an initial cut.

As always, if I can be of assistance, let me know!
-ash, Busy Bee Lawn Care & Sprinkler Repair

Saturday, January 14, 2012

How to install a lawn sprinkler irrigation system

If you have a large enough yard to where it impractical to water the lawn with a traditional hose and portable sprinkler you may want to consider installing an automatic underground sprinkler system.  Sprinkler System Installation in Columbia S.C. includes many steps to take which are outlined below. Generally, these steps include:

Calling PUPS before you dig - especially when you are planning on running pvc pipes near utility junctions, you must call this free service (PUPS) to have them mark the area for gas lines, power lines, etc. Once you have called them, they will mark the site within 3 days or so of your order. Once marked, you will have a more clear idea of where and where not to install your pipes, valves, etc. One tip for locating your water meter is to look on the street curb for a blue marking. Sometimes there is a blue mark that lines up with where the main from the street runs.

Evaluating the areas in your yard that you want to be watered - Some yards have heavy slopes, which need to be taken into account in regards to the layout of the zone. If, for instance, you install a 4 head zone in a straight line going downhill, you will have problems with leak down issues. A better setup on this slope would be a side to side setup where all heads are pretty much at the same level. Another consideration specific to each yard is drip irrigation for the flower beds where careful planning is taken to isolate the beds as a unique zone rather than tapping into what was intended to be a lawn spraying zone. In short, every yard is different and the design of each yard should be unique, not cookie cutter.

Marking the ground where you want the heads installed - careful consideration should be given as to where to place a sprinkler head and exactly what kind of head to install in that spot. You should mark each spot with a flag. Once each zone head location has been planned, you should choose the type of head and decide what you want that head to do. Basically, you need to choose either a rotary head or a popup head. With each head, you then need to choose what type of nozzle to use. Nozzles vary in spray pattern, in gallons per minute output, in adjustability, and in spray angle.

Purchasing the appropriate parts and accurate amounts of piping - This comes with experience in regards to commercial sprinkler repair and installation. The advantage that the contractor has in this regard is #1 it saves time (which is money) if they can go by feel and #2 the contractor gets a discount on the parts. In the case of the do it yourselfer, there is a very good solution though...draw up a general plan of your yard to scale, get a GPM reading of the water main output, then mail that information to your favorite sprinkler parts provider (like Rain Bird). Manufacturers will often professionally draw up a parts list and a blueprint for you to use. You would then take that parts list to your favorite hardware store and begin purchasing. Again, keep in mind that you are paying retail for those irrigation parts where the contractor is buying at a discount (that can be passed on to you at least in part).

Choosing a water main tap-in spot - this is often a deciding factor for do it yourselfers as to whether they will proceed with the installation on their own. Basically, you need to install a "tee" in your water main line that leads to #1 a shutoff ball valve and #2 a backflow control valve (then on to supply the sprinkler system zone valves). Where you decide to tap in is up to you, but optimally it should be at the largest diameter pvc spot and close to the water meter. If you are faced with tapping into a galvanized water main pipe as opposed to the more simple pvc (modern) pipe, then you may want to consider either having a plumber come in and tap in OR tap in in an alternate spot. This is another task that you may want to have a professional do for you.

The items mentioned here are only a few of the many steps you eed to take when considering how to install a lawn sprinkler irrigation system. If you are the do it yourseler type and you are trying to save some money, you may want to call on a paid consultant to at least help you get started and make the initial recommendations such as layout, water main tap-in, water pressure issues, parts needed, where to get the right parts, etc. Either way, you should be careful for your safety, you should consider the environment, and you should practice only the best standard methods in plumbing.