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Install a New Lawn

STEP 1 - Soil Preparation

If the old lawn has not been removed, we recomend using a sod cutter to remove the existing lawn. Run a rototiller over the area, loosening the soil 4 to 6 inches deep. If the soil has a high clay content, we recommend rototilling in Turface Soil Amendment, at the rate of about 1 bag per 300 square feet.

Optional: spread a weed-free compost, 1 inch thick over the area to help improve the fertility of the soil. Add lime at this time to alter the pH. Then mix these soil amendments into your dirt with a rototiller to a depth of 3-4 inches.

Renovate an Existing Lawn

When a poor lawn has the proper grade and a well-drained soil, it can be more easily improved through renovation, rather than complete reconstruction. Using professional quality tools and top-grade products available at Hobbs & Hopkins, allows most residential lawn renovation projects to be accomplished in a single week-end. We have developed this no-till method to provide the do-it-yourselfer an easier, faster, less expensive way to replace a tired old lawn. Since the resulting new lawn is in and established usually within 4 weeks or so, it can be an ideal way to quickly improve the appearance and value of any property.

Spot Repair

 

When the whole lawn doesn’t need overhauling and problems are localized, spot repairs can eliminate problem areas and prevent further trouble. Getting good seed-to-soil contact is a key to successful spot repair.

Broadleaf weeds like dandelion and clover and weedy grasses like Johnson grass and crabgrass can be controlled using a proper herbicide. Ask your Lawn Center advisor if you are not sure what to use. After killing the weeds fill in the void spots with Pro-Time grass seed to be sure the weeds don’t return to fill in the bare spot. Choose the right ProTime mix for your lawn.

Soil Enrichment: The Key to a Beautiful Lawn

Remember to treat your lawn as you would your vegetable garden, with yearly soil enrichment from organic fertilizers and soil modifiers made possible through core-aeration.

The most important key to a beautiful, healthy green lawn lies hidden just below the surface. Often ignored and abused, the soil itself plays an important role in the success or failure of the lawn it supports. A fertile, live soil will take the frustration out of maintaining a great lawn and will decrease the amount of time you put into it.

Problems:

Moss in the Lawn: Solve the Real Problem

Moss grows in the lawn because conditions are not suitable for a dense, healthy turf. Moss is usually associated with factors such as low fertility, poor drainage, soil compaction, heavy shade and wet conditions. Any one of these can inhibit lawn grass vigor and create an environment that heavily favors moss growth. To win the battle against moss, a vigorous stand of turfgrass must be established and maintained.

• Control Existing Moss

1. Remove it with a hand rake or power dethatcher
2. Overseed the lawn with the proper mix of seed. This ensures that desirable grasses fill the empty or thin areas.

Fertilizing Made Easy

All fertilizers are not created equal.

The two basic types of fertilizers are water-soluble and slow release.

Water soluble fertilizers disappear like sugar in hot coffee as they travel rapidly out of the root zone, completely dissolved in the water that runs through it. This type of fertilizer causes a rapid flush of growth and must be reapplied often in order to keep the lawn green.

Slow-release or water insoluble fertilizers are derived either from organic sources such as blood meal or bone meal, or chemical fertilizers encapsulated or compressed to slow down their nutrient release. These fertilizers reduce fluctuations in the green coloration of lawns.

Managing Your Wildflowers

Wildflowers are an ever-changing display of nature’s most beautiful flowers participating in the inevitable cycle of the seasons.

During the first year, the annuals in the mixture offer a spectacular display of colors, along with green growth of the biennials and perennials. Many of the annuals will reseed and bloom the second year, if allowed to form seed heads before mowing or trimming.

SEEDING:

• Prepare soil by removing all existing vegetation. A sod cutter works well to remove existing lawn.
• Rototill soil to a depth of 3″ or scratch up the surface with a hard-rake.