We know that as you take care of your lawn, you begin to ask yourself some questions about why it needs nutrients, what soil conditions are optimum for its growth, why weeds crop up when they do, and how to best care for your lawn.
In fact, asking questions is an important part of learning about what your lawn needs.
We expect you to have questions about lawn care services in Maryland, so we’re always prepared to take time to talk to you and answer your inquiries. We love lawns, after all, so we can’t help but continue to educate ourselves on how to best grow them in our state.
Let’s take some time now to go over some of the questions we get asked most often so you can boost your lawn care knowledge, too.
8 Frequently Asked Questions About Lawn Care Services in Central and Southern Maryland
First, it’s important to note that an amazing lawn in Maryland usually doesn’t happen all by itself. A little care goes a long way in ensuring a healthy-looking, green lawn.
There are a few elements combined together that create this green, thriving grass. And you probably have some questions about what they are and why they matter.
These regular lawn care service questions and answers should give you some great guidance as you care for your lawn.
1. What Do Lawn Care Services Typically Include?
If you have questions about lawn care services in Maryland, at the top of your list might be what typical lawn care programs include.
While many may look similar, you will notice variations between companies.
Usually, standard lawn care service packages include the following:
- Lawn fertilization, which is the use of a professional grade fertilizer applied at certain intervals in the proper amounts and using the proper nutrients necessary. This usually means fertilizing your lawn four times per year in early spring, late spring, summer, and fall – roughly 6 to 8 weeks apart. Sometimes a fifth application will happen if the season starts earlier.
- Customized weed control, which uses preventive and curative tactics to battle weeds in your lawn.
- A soil test, which will give your lawn care service professional information about your soil and tell them whether lime applications are necessary for improving soil pH and helping your lawn better take in nutrients.
- Lime applications to improve your soil. If your soil is very unbalanced, however, corrective lime applications that are more intense may be an additional service.
- Turf insect and disease inspections, which can alert you if you have an infestation.
In addition to this basic package, there are additions that can include preventive grub control, core aeration and overseeding, as well as surface-feeding insect control.
2. Why is a Soil Test an Important Part of Lawn Care Services?
Conducting a soil test can help guide your lawn care procedures, which is why it comes up as a regular lawn care service question.
A soil test reveals your lawn’s pH, and proper pH is essential to a lawn being able to absorb fertilizer properly. If your soil pH is too low, your fertilizer applications won’t get to your lawn’s roots, so it risks being wasted.
Lime applications help raise your soil pH to the correct levels.
3. How Often Should I Water My Lawn?
We get this lawn care service question quite a bit.
The optimum watering frequency for your lawn is a couple of times each week for approximately one hour in each zone. This ensures water gets down to your lawn’s roots, encouraging a stronger growing plant.
Your lawn only needs about 1.5 inches of water per week, including rain.
4. What is the Correct Way to Mow My Lawn?
For cool season grass like the kind we have in Maryland, you should always mow to a height of 3 to 4 inches tall, particularly during the summer months.
You should never remove more than one-third of the grass blade at any one time, which means you’ll be mowing once a week during the growing season.
5. How Long Will It Take to See Lawn Care Results?
After each lawn care service, you can usually see results in as few as one or two days to about one week after application.
If your lawn care service questions begin to probe further into this timing, that’s not unusual. Quick visual changes may depend on your lawn’s condition and the type of fertilizer you used. A great lawn care program will include a soil test to determine your soil’s deficiencies and then match your needs with a solid, customized program.
6. How Long Should You Stay Off Of Your Grass After Lawn Care Services?
A good rule to follow is to stay off of your lawn – children and pets included – roughly 24 hours after lawn care service applications.
If you received a liquid application, waiting until it is dry is usually enough time before walking on your lawn.
7. Are Lawn Care Services Worth the Cost?
Having a healthier, thicker lawn brings so many benefits to your home landscape.
Great gress helps clean the air, reduce erosion, improve soil quality, reduce surrounding temperatures, and decrease pollution.
But to provide these benefits, your lawn needs some maintenance.
Then, you can look at the options of DIY lawn care versus professional lawn care.
As you walk through a home improvement store, you’ll find lawn care products you can buy. Then you have to buy a decent granular spreader and sprayer. Remember to calibrate your equipment before each use as directed by the labels on the products you’re using. After you have the products and equipment, you have to learn some lawn care basics and put that all together with proper timing to ensure success.
While you will learn a new skill, DIY lawn care usually doesn’t save you money once you add everything together, particularly your valuable time.
This can make the answer to the lawn care service question on whether or not it’s worth the cost a resounding, “Yes.” You don’t need to buy expensive products or equipment or spend time learning about lawn care. You can hire someone you trust to take care of these things for you so you can spend your quality time out there enjoying your lawn and the many benefits it provides.
8. Are Lawn Care Services Safe for Waterways and the Chesapeake Bay?
We all want to protect our beloved Chesapeake Bay here in Maryland.
A regular question about lawn care services we get is if they are safe for waterways. We have some good news pertaining to this one. A properly fertilized and maintained lawn actually filters out nutrients and other particles from water and rainfall runoff, preventing it from getting into local waterways.
When products are properly applied at the right times, frequencies and amounts, as well as using the proper techniques, this ensures your lawn grows thick and green and becomes a great filter.
Learn More About Professional Lawn Care Services in Central and Southern Maryland
You want a lawn that looks great. We understand that goal.
We hope these questions about lawn care services help you better understand your lawn’s specific needs.
If you want to learn more about professional lawn care services, give Natural Green a call. We can help you see what your lawn is missing and provide suggestions on what it needs to look its best.
Looking to improve the look of your lawn in Central or Southern Maryland? We’d love to help. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we’ll prepare a customized plan so you can have the kind of lawn you love.
Image Source: Lawn Mower, Sprinkler heads
