How To Care for Your Lawn At Lawn King we not only provide the highest quality of service available, but we also work with our customers to maximize the health and appearance of your lawn. Fertilizing Our granular fertilizing programs offer the necessary nutrients to meet the demands of your lawn at all times of the season. The result: a thick, healthy, green lawn making it difficult for weeds to compete. CORE AERATION What is Aeration? Core Aeration is a service in which we use a machine to poke holes in your lawn and remove a core in order to alleviate soil compaction, remove excess thatch layers, and provide a "channel" for oxygen, water, and nutrients to reach the root zone where they are best utilized. What is Thatch? Thatch is a tight layer of dead grass and other vegetation found where the grass plant meets the soil surface. A certain amount of thatch is good as it provides both thermal and moisture barriers to protect the roots from heat damage, and to retain moisture levels. Excess thatch however, becomes a barrier in itself, limiting the amounts of oxygen, water, and nutrients from penetrating the root zone where they are best utilized. What are the Benefits? - Removes excess thatch, and soil compaction. - Promotes new root growth. Stronger and deeper roots result in a thicker, healthier lawn. - You can expect to see your lawn covered in the small cores that were removed. It is important to leave them there, and let them break down and go back in to the soil. These cores have a high nutrient value when they break down. This process will take approximately 2 weeks with regular mowing, and watering. Mowing Your mowing practices are a very important factor towards your lawns overall health. Your lawn should always be maintained at a height of 2-3". Cutting your lawn too short decreases the surface area of the plant making it more susceptible to heat damage and other environmental stress. - It is very important for the health and appearance of your lawn to maintain a sharp mower blade. A dull blade will result in a tearing as opposed to a clean cut. This tear causes damage to the plant resulting in a slight browning of the grass tips. This browning will draw away from the dark green appearance of the rest of your lawn. A torn grass plant is also highly susceptible to disease. - It is important never to cut more that 1/3 of the plant in one mowing. This puts a lot of stress on your lawn and impedes on its overall health. - It is not necessary to bag lawn clippings, in fact it is very beneficial to mulch them. With a regular fertilizing program your lawn clippings are loaded with nutrients. Mulching will introduce these nutrients back into the soil. Watering Grass is not much different from us in that it also requires regular nutrients (food) and regular water. Water is the majority of the make up of the grass plant. Without maintaining water levels it is impossible to stay healthy. In order to maintain these moisture levels, it is necessary to water each area of you lawn for 1 hour, 1-2 times per week.