Lawn care businesses provide a valuable service to their clients. However, starting a lawn care business can be expensive.

Residential lawns occupy vast expanses of land across diverse climatic regions and can substantially alter water, nutrient, and hydrologic cycles and overall ecosystem structure and function. Contact LTP Property Maintenance now!

A beautiful lawn makes your home more attractive from the curb and adds to property value. Whether you’re looking to sell or want a yard that impresses guests, family and neighbors, enhancing your curb appeal with the right landscaping can be an affordable investment in your home.

Curb appeal is more than just a nice lawn and tidy plants, though. It gives potential buyers a sense that the entire property has been well-maintained, and it shows them that your house is in good hands. A lush and healthy lawn is a major selling point, and it can even boost your home’s value by up to 27%.

In addition to a clean and manicured lawn, you can add color and interest with well-placed flowers and shrubs. Brightly colored flowers can draw attention to your home, and pairing them with the right plants can complement the colors of your home’s paint. For example, a blue house with red trim can be made to stand out with purple, yellow, white and other brightly colored blooms.

Your front yard is also the first thing that people see when they visit or pass by, so it’s important to keep up with your lawn care. It’s possible to boost curb appeal with relatively inexpensive projects, and most don’t require professional assistance. A fresh coat of paint, new window treatments and trimming bushes are just a few things you can do to give your home that extra bit of appeal.

Aside from improving your home’s appearance, the right lawn maintenance can help to protect your property from insects and diseases. An insect-free and disease-free lawn is a safe and sanitary environment for your children and pets to play in, and it will also make your property more valuable. For example, you can use a lawn repair product like Pennington One Step Complete to fill in bare spots, which is fast-acting and easy to apply. This lawn repair product contains all-in-one fertilizer, weed control and fungicide to restore your landscape. Plus, it works above and below the ground to fight insects including fleas, ticks, ants, chinch bugs and more.

Health

Lawn care is the general term for a range of treatments to help keep grass healthy and free of issues like lawn diseases and weeds. This can include mowing and raking the yard, chemical spraying, fertilizing, organic weed control and trimming trees, shrubs and flowers. Some companies also offer aeration, mulching and more.

One of the most important factors in a healthy lawn is the health of the soil. To make sure your lawn has the proper nutrients, you should get a lawn soil test. A soil test can tell you how much of each nutrient your lawn needs to be healthy. It can also reveal underlying issues that may be the cause of other problems.

For example, if your lawn has an acidic pH level, it could be preventing turfgrass from getting the nutrients it needs to thrive. A soil test can also indicate if your soil is compacted, which could affect root growth and nutrient uptake.

Another service often provided by lawn care specialists is fungicide applications. This helps prevent and treat various grass diseases such as leaf spot, brown patch and summer patch. They can also be used to fight grubs and other pests that can damage or even kill turfgrass.

Mulching is a great way to add both curb appeal and nutrient value to your lawn. A layer of organic mulch moderates soil temperature, retains moisture and suppresses weed growth. It can also add nutrients as it decomposes.

If you have a large property or want to maintain the quality of your landscaping, you should consider working with a professional lawn care company. You can sign up for recurring services, ensuring that your lawn is receiving the best treatment possible all year round. You can also choose to add or remove services as needed. The goal is to create a beautiful, functional outdoor space that will add to your home or business’s curb appeal. For the best results, use a lawn care company that is licensed and insured. This will ensure that the work is performed properly and safely.

Weed Control

Weeds compete with grass for nutrients, water and sunlight. They choke out healthy turf and prevent new plants from establishing. They can also become hosts for plant diseases and pests. Weed control aims to reduce weed populations so desirable vegetation can grow more easily. It is often accomplished through prevention, cultivation and spot treatments.

The first step is to keep weeds from going to seed. Annual weeds reproduce by seed, biennials by vegetative growth and perennials by root and rhizome. Annual weeds only live for one growing season, so preventing their seed set is key. Biennials can be controlled by cutting the weed before it flowers and perennials by digging out the root or using herbicides.

It is important to know the weeds you are dealing with, as each has its own preferred conditions and requires a unique treatment plan. Most weeds are either grassy or broadleaf and fall into one of the following categories:

Preventive techniques include planting high quality, weed-free seeds, cultivating the soil prior to planting with tools that remove all weeds and roots, and applying pre-emergent and post-emergent treatments throughout the year. These products prevent weeds from sprouting and kill existing weeds.

Cultivation methods include tilling, hoeing, hand-pulling and mowing (mechanical control). Weeds can be averted with proper soil preparation and regular mulch applications.

Herbicides are powerful and sometimes necessary, but must be used judiciously and in conjunction with other control strategies. Lawn care experts understand all the fine print on product labels and carefully follow specific application rates, as well as safety precautions.

A well-prepared, integrated weed management system will require diligent scouting throughout the growing season to identify potential problems and take action. Keep in mind that noxious weeds often require multiple herbicide applications over several seasons to be eradicated. For this reason, prevention and early detection is the best strategy for controlling noxious weeds. Checking for weeds in areas of new disturbance, along roads or field boundaries and near previous weed infestations is key. Always consult your local agricultural fieldmen, neighbors, weed identification books or the internet for help in identifying unknown weed species.

Water

Lawn care is a complex process that involves soil amendments, fertilization, disease management, appropriate irrigation, dethatching and aeration. These services help create a thriving lawn that is healthy, resilient and provides an attractive landscape.

Grass cutting or mowing to the correct height contributes to turfgrass density and promotes deep root growth which makes your lawn stronger and more resistant to stress, weeds and environmental conditions. Incorporating a lawn maintenance program that includes the use of organic weed control will also increase the health and beauty of your yard.

A well-designed sprinkler system delivers water directly to the roots of the grass, minimizing evaporation and ensuring that each blade receives the amount of moisture it needs. In addition, using a smart irrigation system that adjusts the watering schedule based on weather conditions ensures that your lawn is only receiving water when it’s needed, avoiding overwatering and helping conserve water. Water conservation isn’t just about saving money; it’s also about protecting our limited water supplies for future generations.

The use of best practices to prevent pollution from lawn care activities, such as proper application of pesticides and fertilizers, also helps preserve the environment. For example, excess nitrogen in the form of nitrates can be carried by rainwater into surface waters (lakes and ponds) where it may encourage algae blooms and cause hypoxia, a lack of oxygen in the water that can lead to blue baby syndrome in babies and young children.

Most lawn diseases are caused by fungi that thrive in environments where the grass is over-fertilized, improperly watered or cut too short. Fungicides are used to manage and prevent these diseases, preventing the spread of disease to other areas of the landscape.

Lawn care professionals look beyond the surface, identifying potential problems and developing programs to address them before they escalate. For instance, a lawn that is unhealthy due to an overgrowth of insect pests will be treated to eliminate them before they cause further damage. These treatments are usually conducted with a reduced-spray insecticide that minimizes exposure to family and pets. In addition, most lawn care companies offer fertilization services to ensure that your trees, shrubs and ground covers are healthy as well.