Lawn Treatment

Living in a home that has a natural lawn comes with great responsibilities. That is, if the way your lawn looks is important to you. There are a host of things you need to consider such as ensuring the lawn receives sufficient natural light, watering the lawn regularly, mowing, trimming and distributing the right fertilizer. Sometimes when you think you have all the basics covered, your lawn still experiences problems and end up looking unhealthy and maybe even downright nasty.

In such a case, proper lawn treatment will likely help. Educating yourself in this area is important. In this hub, I’ll discuss some of the common lawn problems you might face so that you may notice the signs early on and have a better chance of rectifying the situation.

This is something we all dread from happening but is quite often unavoidable. There are various types of weeds which may require different methods to kill. The types you encounter will depend on factors associated with your geographical location such as level of humidity. Common examples include the daisy (also called Bellis Perennis) which is a tufted perennial with flowers, and Dandelion (also called Taraxacum Officinale) which has a yellow flower that sits on the end of a hollow, weak stalk.

How does this problem arise? Here is one possible and common scenario. When the soil is compacted too much such as from walking over them constantly, this makes nutrients and moisture difficult to reach the roots of the grass. At this point, two things happen. Firstly, without nutrients, the grass becomes weak and is prone to diseases just like a person’s body. Secondly, the nutrients and moisture ends up just sitting on the surface of the lawn. This environment is ideal for moss to grow.

Over time during the life of a lawn, it tends to accumulate dead organic material and in significant quantities such as grass clippings. What happens then is that there is this dense layer over the soil surface which acts as a barrier for water, oxygen and nutrients from penetrating into the soil. And without all those things grass needs to grow and stay healthy, the lawn will deteriorate. This layer is called thatch.

A very common pest found in the soil of lawns is the chafer grub, whose scientific name is Phyllopertha Horticola. A grub is essentially the May Bug in the larvae stage of development. They attack the roots of lawns and when the infestation is bad enough, you can have pieces of lawn that will lift straight off the ground like carpet.

To add to this problem, animals that feed on grubs would be attract to your lawn such as birds or raccoons (depending on where you live). These animals will dig up your lawn trying to find the grubs and any other pests causing greater damage.

Knowing the cause behind fungus growth will help in the right selection of lawn fungus treatment. There are generally two causes – either weather condition related or poor soil conditions. They result in different kinds of fungus and hence need different treatment. Inappropriate weather condition could lead to fungus such as red thread, which would require granular lawn fungicide treatment. If fungus is because of the soil condition like the fusarium blight, then aeration is more suitable.

If you own an animal of some kind such as a dog then you know they have a habit of urinating or excreting waste on your lawn. Even if you clean up the visible mess, traces of it could be absorbed into the lawn and without proper treatment, this can result in lawn diseases developing.

This is something that is fairly straight forward that you can deal with yourself. A popular organic lawn treatment product that you can look for is the Dogonit Lawn Repair Treatment. It is a probiotic soil treatment product that basically flushes salts from the roots and allows the lawn turf to repair itself naturally. It is biodegradable and not a harsh form of chemical.

If you are debating whether to carry out the lawn treatment yourself or hiring help from a lawn treatment company, the answer will depend on your knowledge of the process. For example, would you know what type of fertilizer to use? How much of it should you use? How you should apply it (e.g. by hand, use a spreader)? When you try to get rid of weeds, why do some die while others still remain?

If you’re not feeling confident, then I would strongly recommend getting professional assistance. A good lawn expert is trained to analyze your lawn, identify the root of the problems (excuse the pun) and apply appropriate treatment. Without knowing exactly what you need to do to achieve the exact results you desire, you are very likely to waste money (such as on ineffective treatment products), waste time and worst of all, add unnecessary frustration for yourself.

Researching for the right lawn treatment service is important. So as a reference guide, I’ll list out two very popular services that you can compare your local treatment company against. In the US, there is the Scotts Lawn Treatment Service. In the UK, they have a Green Thumb Law Treatment Service.