Fairlawn Ohio

Why are winterizer applications important for Fairlawn Ohio?

Winterizer

A winter fertilizer application is considered to be the second most important, or sometimes the most important treatment for your lawn. This application is done in  fall, typically Late October through early December. A winter fertilizer application should be a mix of slow release and fast release nitrogen. A fast release fertilizer will help to build carbohydrates into the lawn now to promote repair work on summer damage that occurred, while a slow release will continue to assist the lawn throughout winter to help feed in the harsh months. Winter fertilization applications will also promote a quicker green up in spring when you have the Winter blues.

 

Protect the lawn from harsh winter conditions.

As the weather gets colder, the lawn goes into a protective mode against the temperatures, frost and frozen precipitation so the blades grow very slow, can turn brown and get a little hardier as it prepare for dormancy. Under the soil, it is a different story. The root system keeps growing and becomes thicker, stronger, and deeper into the soil. Some of the best root growth your lawn will experience will be during the winter months. The better the root system the turf has, the better the chances it will withstand drought, stress and disease during next years summer months in Fairlawn.

A winter fertilizer assists and strengthens the continuously growing root system during the winter. The lawn will try to repair itself from damage done during the summer during the fall season. Drought, heat and disease take quite a toll on the lawn and cause serious damage to the turf, so it is important to get extra carbohydrates to the root system. Carbohydrates help protect the lawn from damage and disease that can be done in the winter months.

To sum it up, a winter fertilizer application is one of the most important things you can do for your lawn. Whether it is to help rebuild after a long hot Fairlawn Ohio summer or just to prepare for a quicker green up in the spring, carbohydrate building winter fertilization is always the answer.

 

Interested in a Winterizer Application?

Call Akron Canton Lawn Care Now for your Free Estimate on any of our lawn care services (330) 933-2222 or click the Contact Us button to send us an email.

Mountains or Mole Hills? Identifying moles and voles in Akron, Ohio.

Moles and Voles in The Lawn

 

Moles and voles are indeed a pest that cause many problems when they live in our lawns in Akron OH and gardens with their tunnels.

They makes tunnels all through out your landscape very quickly once they are established. You will also see mounds of dirt where they exit. Many times you will only feel lumps and the lump is actually a tunnel. In mulched beds they can be extremely destructive, the tunnels will actually raise up the soil under a plant as the pest passes through, making an unsightly bed. Sometimes young plants in a flower bed will literally disappear below the soil surface. In the lawn other than the obvious ridges and hill mounds that make the lawn unsightly and kill the lawn. Even deeper tunnels can kill the roots of the turf to make quite the design in your lawn.

Other than having similar names, voles and moles have very little in common. They are two entirely different pests, yet very often confused. Moles are better known pest, but it may actually be a vole causing the damage especially in your gardens and flower beds.

Appearance: Is it a mole or a vole?

Moles are generally 5 to 7 inches in length, gray to dark brown in color. They are not rodents and have a long, naked snout, no external ears and can tunnel 1 foot per minute. Their eyes are buried in their fur to protect them. They are often seen because they live and feed underground and like moist or loose soil. Since they do not eat plants, their landscape carnage is really the incidental damage of tunnels  dug in lawns searching for food. However, tunnels may cause damage to plants when they create paths around root systems. Another objection from homeowners when mowing the lawn is dirt that is mounded up in a rounded volcanic shape known as a molehill.

Voles are indeed a rodent looking much like mice with shorter tails. Voles are usually 5 to 7 inches long also and may be black, gray or brown. Voles have eyes and ears that can be easily seen. They can either burrow or use old mole tunnels. Between burrow openings, they will create surface runways about the size of a broomstick that you can see. They stay in nests above ground, coming out to eat day and night.

 

Diet and Habits

The mole’s diet is almost exclusively earthworms and grubs, with very few insects. Voles are plant eaters or herbivores. They feed on grasses, flowers, vegetables, bulbs and seeds. In the winter when food is hard to come by, they may eat bark from trees and shrubs.

Moles are not social mammals, seeking each other out at only mating time. There are generally 4 to 7 per litter and their life span is 2 to 3 years.

Voles are prolific reproducers that can quickly colonize your entire yard. Their life span is only about 16 months, so they have to make up for it by having 3 to 6 young at a time with only a 21 day gestation period. Because they reproduce so very quickly, eat so many different things, and are good at hiding, they can do much damage before you figure out the problem.

The only beneficial thing someone could say about a mole that they consume large numbers of grubs. Although in the quest for those grubs they do severe damage to the lawn which is just counter productive. A vole has zero arguments on any benefits.

The methods of control in Akron Ohio for both moles and voles is quite similar, but there is no one & done solution.

 

Problems with Moles or Voles?

Call Akron Canton Lawn Care Now for your Free Estimate on any of our lawn care services
(330) 933-2222 or click the Contact Us button to send us an email.

Tip for Fairlawn, Ohio residents on growing grass in shaded areas

Growing Grass in Shady Areas in Fairlawn Ohio

Shade Lawns

If you have a lawn with shady areas in Fairlawn OH, you may find it very difficult to grow grass in those areas. This is one of the most common problems with lawns in Fairlawn OH. Grass needs at the very least 4 hours of sunlight a day to be able to grow. The shortage of sun on the lawn will impact on the photosynthesis process. The grass cannot get enough energy it needs to grow. This will result in reduce of vigor and the grasses cannot resist disease, stress, insects or weather condition that change.

You can improve the situation by trimming some of nearby shrubs and trees to let in more sun into the grass. Cut down tree branches as much as possible, as long as it does not destroy the beauty of the tree and the landscape. Before planting new trees, consider the number of existing trees, the density of those trees, and the light intensity decreased by the new trees planted. Keep in mind that shade trees should be planted 50 to 100 feet apart. This will also assist in getting water to the grass which is obviously another important part of its health.

Shade Tolerant Grass

Fine fescue and bluegrass are very tolerant shade species of grass. Fine fescue can grow good in shaded areas that are dry. Bluegrass prefers a constantly wet soil. For moderately shady areas, tall fescue may tolerate the conditions also.

Growing grass in shady areas is very possible if the basic requirements for its growth is known and clearly understood. The competition of the 3 factors being water, nutrients, and light. The fundamental cause of grass growing failure under shady conditions. To improve grass in shaded areas, please follow all the guidelines above because they are all important and have a critical role in keeping the grass in shaded areas looking good and healthy.

If there are areas that are just too challenging to get sun and water to, they could always be turned into a flower bed. Then plant drought resistant plants that enjoy shade or even go with a shade loving ground cover plant..

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