It is that time of the year again here in Raleigh. Time to get outside and spruce up the yard if you have not already done so. I have written in detail about lawn care in previous posts so I will not repeat myself.  We will just go over what we need to get done!

Check over your lawn and rake up any leaves and twigs from the fall. You want to make sure that the leaves are not going to choke out the lawn. You may even need to mow at this point. I will make the first cut of the season a bit lower than I typically mow to remove some of the older growth of grass.

This is also a great time to check your lawn mower over and sharpen or replace the blade, replace the spark plug, oil and clean or replace your air filter. Hopefully when you stored your lawn mower last year you drained the fuel tank or added a fuel stabilizer so your fuel system is not junked up.

OK let’s get back to the lawn! The first thing you need to do is purchase a quality lawn fertilizer from your favorite garden center. I use the well know national brand and have found that it has given me great results. If you can find a product with iron pick that one. The iron will help the lawn green up quickly. As always follow the instructions on the bag for the fertilizer. More fertilizer is not better. If you were thinking about using a product with a crab grass preventative it might be too late. We have already seen a few warm days and this has given the crab grass seed some time to germinate. They do have a number of products you can use to get rid of the weeds and crab grass in your lawn without harming the healthy grass. These need to be applied while the weed is in a growth stage and before the temperatures reach 90 degrees.

Take a look at your planting beds and freshen up your mulch. Nothing makes a home stand out like a green lawn and fresh mulch.

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Ok here we are it is not even summer yet but it feels like it outside. You have worked really hard to make your lawn the best looking one in Raleigh. Do not stop now. We have had a very wet spring and that has really helped to get the lawns green and looking nice. If you have been reading my blog and following my advice I think you should be seeing the results of your efforts. Now you just need to keep up on the watering. Make sure you apply between 1 and 1.25 inches of water per week to your lawn. If you see a lot of runoff stop watering in that area and move to another area. If you are using an irrigation system and see runoff have the duration changed and water that area at the start and end of a cycle. Water running down the street will not help your lawn.

It is best to water in the morning to avoid the growth of fungus. If you see your lawn developing a grey / blue cast on the lawn then your lawn is under stress. Make sure you get the water going to help it recover.

Make sure you follow the local water restrictions for your area.

Wake County Water Restrictions

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If you did not put any crabgrass prevention on your lawn it is most likely too late. We have a few days in the upper 70’s to mid 80’s a few weeks ago and it may have been enough to allow the seeds to germinate. Crabgrass prevention works by preventing the seed from germinating. This could also prevent grass seed from germinating that is another reason why it is better to seed in the fall.

I am not here to do product endorsements so I suggest that you visit your local hardware or home improvement store and ask what they recommend. All of the large companies in the crop sciences business have a product. The important thing to do is use the product as directed and do not use the more is better approach. Give it time to work and you should be happy with the results.

If you are buying or selling a home in the area we can help. Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston services the Cary, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham Real Estate markets and all of the areas in between! Search our site for all of the listings in the MLS FREE! We are the place to find homes for sale and to list your house if you are looking to sell.

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It is that time of year again. Time to go and wake up the lawn and get it ready for the rigors of summer. Hopefully you took care of over seeding and regenerating your lawn in the fall. Tall Fescue does most of it growing when the temperature cools to below 75 degrees. So if you did not plant seed this fall you will most likely have a tough time getting a new lawn to successfully establish it’s self this spring.

Make sure you rake up any leaves and twigs on the lawn. Attend to any bear spots and trim up any ornamental grasses. It would also be a good time to get your mower serviced. Change the oil, replace the air filter and spark plug and have the blade sharpened or replaced.

If you have been following this blog you will know how important lime and fertilizer are to your lawn. Most lawns do best with a pH in the 6.2 to 6.5 range. It follows that most of us will need lime for our lawns. Please check with your local cooperative extension or your home improvement for a test kit to check the soil pH. It is important to check your soil before you add lime. Too much lime can also be an issue.

A quality fertilizer should also be applied to your lawn at this time with one caveat do not apply urea fertilizer at the same time as the lime. Apply it several weeks prior to the urea fertilizer. The increase in pH will cause the nitrogen to be lost in urea fertilizer because of the increased pH.


If you are buying or selling a home in the area we can help. Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston services the Cary, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham Real Estate markets and all of the areas in between! Search our site for all of the listings in the MLS FREE! We are the place to find homes for sale and to list your house if you are looking to sell.

Be sure and visit our Open House Website to see all of the weekly open houses in the Triangle.

Fall is here and it is time to regenerate your lawn. The hot summer, drought conditions and insects have damaged and thinned out parts of your lawn. Not to worry a few steps will have it looking great again.

The first thing you need to do is mow the lawn a little shorter than you normally would. Typically I keep Tall Fescue at 3.5 – 4 inches. When I am going to reseed and aerate I would mow the lawn to 2.5 inches. This will help with seed germination and composting of the grass clippings. Some suggest that you gradually lower the lawn height over a few weeks as to not stress the lawn.

Next you will need to aerate your lawn. What is aeration you ask? It is the process of poking hundreds of holes in your lawn and removing a core of earth. What this does is open up the soil and help to break up the compacted top layers. The small cores allow a nice home for the seed to germinate and form a root structure. It also allows water and nutrients to penetrate deeper into the soil. You can rent a core aerator at your local tool rental or home improvement store or simply contact a landscaper in the area to do it for you. You will get the best results if you aerate when the soil is wet. This will allow for better penetration of the tines.

Top dressing the soil is an option here. The more you do the better the results. Top dressing is the process of spreading a thin layer of organic material on top of the soil. Peat Moss is a great option for top dressing your lawn. It will hold moisture and help the grass seed to germinate. Top dress the lawn after aeration and before seeding for best results. You can also follow the seed with a quality starter fertilizer.

Hopefully you have been enjoying this blog and the information provide here. We welcome your comments. If you are looking to buy or sell a home www.HPW.com is the place to search all of the mls listings. We have all of the homes for sale in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill and the Triangle all in one place. We are the home for Raleigh Real Estate!

A properly feed lawn will be stronger and more likely to survive through the hot summer months in North Carolina. A great looking lawn will help your home stand out from other homes in the neighborhood. Your home is in competition with other homes in the real estate market. Regardless of the market conditions you want you home to show better than other homes. You want your home sell faster than other homes. Ask any real estate professional and they will tell you that curb appeal matters. Thinking about lawn care starts before you decide to sell your home. A lawn that is properly maintained is a lot easier to care for than a lawn that has suffered years of neglect

So lets talk about the feeding your lawn. Fertilizer is a combination of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K).  Nitrogen will take care of the intensity of the green color. Phosphorus helps to build a strong root system and Potassium help with the overall vitality of the grass. So how do you read a bag of fertilizer?

Here is an example of what you might see a fertilizer label: 24-5-11 in the order of N-P-K. This bag is 24% Nitrogen, 5% Phosphorus and 11% Potassium. To determine the weight of the nutrients simply multiply the percentage X the weight of the bag. For example a 50LB bag of fertilizer that is 24% Nitrogen would have 12LBS of Nitrogen.

50LBS bag weight X .24 = 12LBS of nitrogen.

Understanding how the fertilizer works helps you choose the right fertilizer.

•    Nitrogen (N) helps with leaf development and vivid green color.
•    Phosphorous (P) is for root growth.
•    Potassium (K) is for root development and disease resistance.


So now you understand a little more about fertilizer and how to read a bag what do I do with this information?

In the spring when you want a quick green up and accelerated growth you would use a fertilizer with a high nitrogen to potassium ratio (2:1 or higher). In the fall or winter you would use a more balanced approach and use a fertilizer that has an equal nitrogen to potassium ratio (1:1).  It is also important to have your soil tested to determine what nutrients you need and how much of them you should use.

Please take a look at the following links.
The first is for the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Turffiles site. They have a great Tall Fescue Lawn Maintenance Calendar.

Lawn Care Turffiles


The second link for the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. Publications for Commercial Horticulture, Nursery, and Turf. This site has more than you ever wanted to know about anything that can grow.

Publications for Commercial Horticulture

Please be sure and follow the application instructions that came with your fertilizer and use an appropriate spreader for the fertilizer. Using more fertilizer than recommended will not give you better results and may harm the environment. Organic fertilizers are available and will be discussed in a later blog.   


Hopefully you have been enjoying this blog and the information provide here. We welcome your comments. If you are looking to buy or sell a home www.HPW.com is the place to search all of the mls listings. We have all of the homes for sale in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill and the Triangle all in one place. We are the home for Raleigh Real Estate!

When watering you lawn please keep in mind your local water restrictions. It is better to give your lawn a good soaking than it is to lightly water it. The deeper watering helps to get the water deeper in the soil and encourages the roots to go deeper as well helping the lawn tolerate a drought better. The best time to water is early in the morning. Watering a lawn in the evening or late at night may promote the growth of fungus.

In the Triangle area or Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Wake Forest and Chapel Hill you will need to apply about 1 to 1.25 inches of water each week in the spring and fall and about .5 inches of water every third day. This summer watering almost follows the current Raleigh water restrictions.

Please use the following link to the Wake County North Carolina Environmental Services Water Quality Division webpage to learn more about the water restrictions in your area.

Wake County Water Restrictions

 

 

Hopefully you have been enjoying this blog and the information provide here. We welcome your comments. If you are looking to buy or sell a home www.HPW.com is the place to search all of the mls listings. We have all of the homes for sale in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill and the Triangle all in one place. We are the home for Raleigh Real Estate!