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Category Archives: Lawn Care Tips

Ants are nightmare pests!

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Among the many threats to your lawn, some of the worst can be insects. The variety of bugs that can cause damage to your lawn is amazing. VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Salt Lake City Utah can help with pest control so you can keep your lawn lush and beautiful throughout the summer months.

Being informed is critical to identifying, controlling, and preventing insect infestations.  Following is information on a common lawn pest – ants.

In small numbers, ants are harmless although perhaps still unwanted. They can even be helpful in aerating the soil and aiding in decomposition which are both beneficial to grass health. Large numbers of ants are where problems arise.

Large infestations can cause bare areas or thinning grass. Often, large dirt mounds can crop up in these areas.  Besides being unsightly, this can expose grass roots and kill grass that becomes covered with the excavated dirt. Partial to pathway areas, ants can eventually cause enough soil erosion that pavers and sidewalks can collapse, becoming uneven or unsafe.

Controlling ants is often easier than removing them once they’ve settled. Insure that food and water is not easily available to them. This could be a leaky hose, pet food and water, or compost piles or garden areas. Enriching sandy soils will also help control the ant population.  They prefer building their homes in loose, bare, sandy soil. Thick, lush lawns are more difficult for ants to begin building a nest in. The healthier your lawn, the less likely ants will encroach.

Once they have moved in, there are few things you can do to remove them. Insecticides have proven very effective but rarely kill all ants on the property.  Doing this alone will likely result in lower numbers for a time but increasing your lawn’s overall health and removing available food and water sources will encourage the ants to relocate somewhere more hospitable.

VIRIDIS Lawn Care can help you with your pest control. Our professionals can diagnose and treat your lawn at the first sign of an ant infestation to help prevent unsightly mounds or paving damage from becoming a problem in your landscaping.

Do the math on your fertilizer

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VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Salt Lake City wants you to have the most beautiful, healthy lawn possible. Fertilizing is an important part of lawn maintenance. Hiring a professional to fertilize for you is an easy option that insures it will be done correctly but doing it yourself is often more cost effective and some people enjoy being more involved in their lawn’s care. Here are some tips to help you understand fertilizer so you can apply it correctly should you chose to do it yourself.

Fertilizer made for lawn care will include three main ingredients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Three large numbers will appear on the package which represent the percentage of each of these components. They are always listed in this order.  The remaining percentage is made up of fillers to help disperse the fertilizer more evenly.

Nitrogen helps grass with above ground growth and greenery.  This is often a higher number or percentage on fertilizer specifically made for lawns.  Nitrogen leaches out of the soil quickly so the higher percentage helps replenish this important nutrient. However, over use of nitrogen or under watering a recently fertilized lawn can lead to stressed, burned grass.  Also, with a new lawn, nitrogen should be a lower percentage than phosphorus because the young roots can’t support a lot of rapid green growth.

Phosphorus aids in growing strong root systems and producing fruits. In lawn fertilizers, this number is generally lower than nitrogen but can be high in lawn starting fertilizers.  It typically stays in the soil well so doesn’t need to be high in application to a previously fertilized, established lawn.

Potassium builds strong plant tissue and cells which help the grass withstand temperature changes and other stressors.  This number may be high in fertilizer applied in the fall to help the lawn handle the stress of winter better.

A typical bag of lawn fertilizer for a normal lawn should have the highest amount of nitrogen and low amounts of phosphorus and potassium but different situations call for different percentages of each nutrient. Using the correct blend can save you time, headache, expense in the long run.

Helping high traffic areas

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VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Salt Lake City, Utah knows that landscaping isn’t just for beauty but for is also for fun. Children and pets love having a lush lawn to play on. Barbequing or just relaxing is always better surrounded by a soft, beautiful lawn. Unfortunately, all this activity wears on grass. Some high traffic areas can begin looking trampled and bare or even start dying. Here are some tips to help you maintain high traffic areas on your lawn or perhaps even set up landscaping to avoid them in the first place!dead lawn

Here are two ways to help these overused areas. The first is to plant a variety of grass that is hardy and can withstand more traffic. Hardy grass types include Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and perennial ryegrass.  Newly sodded lawns also seem to hold up better than newly seeded lawns with excessive use, once the roots are established.  The lawn needs to be protected. Moving an animal on a tether from one area to another can give the grass a chance at growth and recovery.  If the animal causing problems doesn’t belong to you, repellants can be applied to encourage it to stay away but should be used with caution.

The second way is to replace the grass with some other landscaping choice. Typically, this is the choice that will be easier in the long run and produce better results immediately. Trying to continue growing the grass can be a hard process of seeding, aerating, and tending. Replacing the area with pavers, mulch, gravel or some other choice that fits with your landscaping can be done once and will require little to no maintenance.  beautiful lawn

Making these small changes can have a big impact in your landscape’s overall appearance and health, not to mention, the amount of work for you!

 

 

Mammal Pests

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Lawns and gardens can take a beating. Foot traffic, insects, climate, and even some other critters can wreak havoc on once beautiful landscaping.  Many mammals can cause significant damage to plants as well as bring fleas and diseases to an area. A few of these mammals in the Salt Lake City area include deer, rabbits, gophers, skunks, mice, and raccoons.

Deer can cause some of the most significant damage to your landscaping because they not only feed on a variety of plants but also rub their antlers against tree trunks and trample vegetation.

Rabbits are exceptionally damaging to vegetables and grasses as well as shrubs and berry bushes. They also gnaw on smooth barked branches and plastic irrigation lines. They feed mostly at night, making it difficult to catch them but leaving a trail of destruction to find the next morning.

Ground squirrels or gophers inflict much the same damage as rabbits but also create mounds when burrowing underground. These mounds can not only make a beautiful lawn look terrible but can cause root damage and problems when mowing.

Skunks can cause a lot more problems than just their terrible scent! They will roll back sod or dig small indentations looking for grubs. They also will eat berries or even pet food. They will often make their home under porches or decks. These animals carry some pretty nasty diseases as well, including rabies.

Mice in all their varieties can be a nuisance. Because of their small size, they can get into and out practically anywhere. They eat and store a variety of food. They also cause destruction to other materials such as paper, clothing, and upholstery that they find desirable for building a nest. Gardening can become difficult with a strong mouse population because they feed on both seeds and grown plants including grass and even trees.

Raccoons often destroy buildings to acquire shingles, insulation, or boards for building their home. Like skunks, they will also nest beneath porches or decks. They typically eat foods from the garden just before harvest time but will also roll up sod to find insects. They can carry many diseases which can be spread to humans.

There are different ways to help prevent these animals from causing problems in your home. Insure garbage is placed in a container that closes securely. Place bird feeders where only birds can get to. Water sources can attract pests, especially during drought conditions. Be mindful of fountains, ponds, and even pet water. Certain fences can keep out many of these animals but not all. Repellents are also an option but can cause problems with pets and often have an undesirable odor. Insure you choose the appropriate repellent and follow any instructions.

VIRIDIS Lawn Care in Salt Lake City, UT wants to insure that you have the very best landscaping you can have. Learning common pests and ways to control them can help you prevent much of the damage these animals can cause, leaving you with the beautiful lawn and garden you deserve.

 

Utah Lawn Care of Lawn Pests

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Few things can ruin a beautiful lawn and garden faster than bugs. Many seemingly harmless insects feed on the beautiful plants you care for. VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Salt Lake City Utah wants to help you prevent destruction to your beautiful lawn from these harmful pests.

 

  • Aphids

Aphids come in many varieties and colors ranging from green to red to brown and black. They are less than ½ inch long. They can cause stress to plants as well as perpetuate the growth of mold with excessive feedings.

  • Armyworms, Cutworms, and Earworms

These larvae stay hidden just below the soil or near the bases of plants and in the thatch of lawns. They are particularly active at night. Allowed to mature, they become moths.

  • Longhorned/Roundheaded Wood Boring Beetles

The larvae of these beetles can cause damage to stressed trees. They feed from underneath the bark to deeper within the tree. Once matured, they leave the tree, leaving large holes in the bark, to reproduce in a new tree.

  • Clearwing Moth Borers

These wasp looking moths can cause serious damage to fruit and ornamental plants but are often overlooked as pests. They prefer young or stressed trees.

  • Thrips

These tiny bugs can do much more damage than their size would imply. Wilting plants, scarring on fuits, yellow spots and dropping of leaves are all symptoms of infestation. They are difficult to control because they feed from within curled leaves or petals.

  • Hard Scales

These common pests are difficult to control because of the hard shell they secrete. Spring is the best time for treatment because the eggs have hatched but haven’t yet formed a shell.

  • Flathead/Metallic Wood Boring Beetles (Buprestidae)

These beetles are similar to Longhorned beetles in that they lay eggs in bark which, when hatched, bore into the tree.

 

Prevention, of course, is the best treatment method. Good lawn and garden care can minimize or eliminate many pests, especially those who prefer stressed or damaged plants or trees. Once an infestation has begun, treatment is necessary to remove these pests in order to restore your plants to their healthiest, most beautiful state.

Mower Maintenance

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Mowing grass is one of the most important things you can do to improve your landscape’s appearance and doing it correctly can even help it stay healthier. VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Salt Lake City has some tips for keeping your mower in optimal condition to keep it from damaging your grass. Storing and maintaining your mower properly can help it last longer and cut better throughout the summer months resulting in a more beautiful, healthy lawn.

The most obvious tip is to read and follow instructions in the mowers owner’s manual. Each machine operates a little differently and the manual will help ensure you keep your machine in the best condition. However, not everyone keeps their owner’s manual or some have bought a used machine that came without one. Following are some standard hints that work for most machines to help keep them in good condition.

Always run out or drain the gasoline tank in the fall. Use fresh gasoline each spring. Old gasoline often causes problems with the mower starting.

Cleaning the machine throughout the year can prevent clogging and caking. Spraying undercarriage with a hose or using a brush or scraper to clean out already stuck on grass can help the blades run smoother.

Check oil and filters. Oil that is dark or has debris should be replaced immediately. Remove the drain plug beneath the mower and drain into pan or bucket. Replace the plug and refill with the correct type of oil for your specific machine. Filters that are clogged should be replaced immediately. Otherwise, replace yearly to help the mower use gasoline more effectively.Mower blades

Spark plugs can also be replaced yearly. Simply unhook the wire and remove the plug with a socket wrench. When replacing the spark plug, be sure not to over tighten or the mower may not start.

One of the best tips to keep the mower cutting its best is to keep the blade sharp. Mowing over sticks, rocks and even just grass can wear on a blade causing it to rip the grass rather than cut it smoothly. This opens the lawn up to disease and pests. Keeping a sharp blade will also provide a more even appearance without damaged, yellowed tops on the blades of grass.mower

All of these things can be done yourself or by getting a professional tune-up. Most or all are part of a standard tune-up by a mower repair shop. A professional can also provide additional diagnostics for problems you may be having or hints for your specific machine to keep it running its best. Insuring that your mower is in peak condition will, in turn, insure that your lawn can be in peak condition.

Quality Lawn Care Utah

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At VIRIDIS Lawn Care Utah we want to help you have a beautiful, lush, show quality lawn. Here are some handy tips and hints to help you have the best lawn in your neighborhood. Doing these things will help prevent weeds and disease; create greener, healthier grass; and even save you money in watering and fertilizing.

One of the most important ways to help improve your lawn quality and appearance is mowing properly. Mow height set around 3 inches is ideal for blocking weeds from the sunlight, shading grass roots and even looking uniform in color. Cutting too short can cause much of the crown and thatch to show, creating an illusion of dry or yellowing grass.  Mowing with a dull blade can also create a yellowing appearance as it tears the grass.  This can also stress the grass which makes it easy for weeds, pests or diseases to move in. Never cut more than 1/3 of the height off your grass and leave the clippings to self-fertilize the lawn. Mowing in different patterns and directions will encourage grass to grow straight rather than at a slant.

Feeding your lawn appropriately is also important. Over fertilizing can burn grass and cause it to look dry, discolored, and dull. Use a spreader or hire a professional to apply fertilizer to insure proper distribution and decrease chances of burning or stressing your lawn.  Applying fertilizer at the right time is also important. Spring fertilizing can help prevent crabgrass growth but it can also create fungus problems if followed by too much rain and applied too heavily.  Using organic fertilizers helps eliminate some of these problems. Manure and compost are good examples of organic fertilizers. It works more slowly than synthetic fertilizer but it improves the lawn over time with less possible stress if applied more heavily.

Repairs are often necessary to maintain that beautiful lawn. Areas brown or die. Reseeding those areas can help prevent weeds from finding a place to root. Check sprinkler rotations to make sure no areas are left under watered.

Weeds can also crop up among the grass. The best thing to do in this situation is remove weeds by the roots as soon as they appear. Herbicides are also effective against many types of weeds but can cause toxic runoff or harm to animals.

Having a show quality lawn can be more work initially but once the lawn is established, well fertilized with nutrients often made available, and growing thickly to help block weeds, the amount of maintenance required decreases drastically.  Call us today to let us help you get your lawn to where you want it to be.

Should you use Weed Whackers?

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Weed eaters or weed whackers can vastly improve the neatness of your lawn. Mowers can’t always get into tight corners, near fences, or around trees and shrubs. Weed eaters can. Here, VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Utah will explain more about using weed eaters to give you a professionally groomed appearance on your landscape.

Weed eaters are best suited for smaller areas such as edges where lawns meet sidewalk or gravel; around poles, decks or trees; and in small or tight corners. They don’t offer a height guidance so using them to cut a large patch of lawn, rather than using a lawn mower, could create a choppy, uneven appearance.

Weed eaters can also be used to edge around sidewalks or flowerbeds by turning it sideways. Line it up with the edge needing trimmed before pulling the throttle. Lower the weed eater until it cuts the correct amount off the edge and move slowly down the line, keeping the edge in line with the weed eater.  Use caution and appropriate safety gear including safety glasses.

Don’t use weed eaters in rocks as the nylon string could snap and need to be replaced when it comes in contact with hard objects. Also, don’t weed eat before mowing. Achieving a uniform height would be much more difficult. Instead, mow first, then use the weed eater to match the height, starting higher than the mow height to insure you don’t accidentally cut the grass too low. For best results, hold the weed eater at about a thirty degree angle from your body.

When replacing the string, be sure to use the correct size and follow the instructions for your specific weed eater. Otherwise, you could end up with a very tangled mess or a damaged machine.

These small machines are generally easy to operate and can vastly improve the quality of your lawn’s appearance. Weed eating requires a little more work than simply mowing but can increase the professionalism of your landscape enough to be worth the extra effort.

 

Lawn Pests in Utah

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Lawns and gardens can take a beating. Foot traffic, insects, climate, and even some other critters can wreak havoc on once beautiful landscaping.  Many mammals can cause significant damage to plants as well as bring fleas and diseases to an area. A few of these mammals in the Salt Lake City area include deer, rabbits, gophers, skunks, mice, and raccoons.

Deer can cause some of the most significant damage to your landscaping because they not only feed on a variety of plants but also rub their antlers against tree trunks and trample vegetation.

Rabbits are exceptionally damaging to vegetables and grasses as well as shrubs and berry bushes. They also gnaw on smooth barked branches and plastic irrigation lines. They feed mostly at night, making it difficult to catch them but leaving a trail of destruction to find the next morning.

Ground squirrels or gophers inflict much the same damage as rabbits but also create mounds when burrowing underground. These mounds can not only make a beautiful lawn look terrible but can cause root damage and problems when mowing.

Skunks can cause a lot more problems than just their terrible scent! They will roll back sod or dig small indentations looking for grubs. They also will eat berries or even pet food. They will often make their home under porches or decks. These animals carry some pretty nasty diseases as well, including rabies.

Mice in all their varieties can be a nuisance. Because of their small size, they can get into and out practically anywhere. They eat and store a variety of food. They also cause destruction to other materials such as paper, clothing, and upholstery that they find desirable for building a nest. Gardening can become difficult with a strong mouse population because they feed on both seeds and grown plants including grass and even trees.

Raccoons often destroy buildings to acquire shingles, insulation, or boards for building their home. Like skunks, they will also nest beneath porches or decks. They typically eat foods from the garden just before harvest time but will also roll up sod to find insects. They can carry many diseases which can be spread to humans.

There are different ways to help prevent these animals from causing problems in your home. Insure garbage is placed in a container that closes securely. Place bird feeders where only birds can get to. Water sources can attract pests, especially during drought conditions. Be mindful of fountains, ponds, and even pet water. Certain fences can keep out many of these animals but not all. Repellents are also an option but can cause problems with pets and often have an undesirable odor. Insure you choose the appropriate repellent and follow any instructions.

VIRIDIS Lawn Care in Utah wants to insure that you have the very best landscaping you can have. Learning common pests and ways to control them can help you prevent much of the damage these animals can cause, leaving you with the beautiful lawn and garden you deserve.

Call VIRIDIS Lawns Today!

Fertilizing your lawn

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Grasses need nourishment just as animals or humans do. It’s not enough to simply water your lawn; fertilizer is important to provide the nutrients grass needs to grow healthy and thick.  VIRIDIS Lawn Care of Utah wants to help you understand lawn fertilization so you have the healthiest, greenest lawn you can.

Fertilizing your lawn is important because it causes grass to grow thicker which can help reduce runoff, and increases grass’ drought tolerance and ability to combat weeds.

Lawns vary on how often they will need fertilized. Grass types and soil composition, as well as mowing, watering and other care practices can change the amount and frequency of fertilization needs.  Thick, green lawns are receiving enough nutrients from clippings, soil or previous fertilization and don’t require more.  Lawns with bare areas, excessive weeds and discolored areas would benefit from fertilization.

One fabulous source of fertilizer for a lawn is its own clippings. These clippings contain nutrients that the grass needs to grow and, if left on the lawn after mowing, will decompose, providing not only nutrients but also helping to shade and cool grass roots.  Soil testing can help determine the lacking nutrients and fertilizer can then be more customized to meet the needs of your particular lawn. Three types of nutrients are common for lawn fertilizers. The first, and one of the most important is nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes growth and dark green coloration.  Phosphorus is another important nutrient that promotes root growth and is especially useful for seeding. Potassium is the third common nutrient included in fertilizers.  It helps the grass use water more efficiently and helps it withstand stress better. Often phosphorus and potassium are present in the soil in high enough quantities that little or no application of them is necessary.

Early fall is the ideal time for fertilizing. Once the growth stops, when temperatures average below 50°F, fertilizer should be applied.  Don’t apply fertilizer if heavy rain is expected within 2 days as this can wash away the application. However, the lawn should be lightly watered (about ¼ inch of water) immediately following application to help the fertilizer reach the soil and roots.  If fertilized during the summer, without adequate irrigation, grass can stall and stress. Some lawns will require multiple applications however, and may need one during mid-summer.  Fertilizing in the winter is nearly impossible as frozen ground cannot absorb the nutrients. Doing this could even lead to runoff into water sources.

Some fertilizers can actually burn plants if used in excess.  Nitrogen fertilizers should have no more than 1 lb per 1,000 square feet. Hiring a professional such as VIRIDIS Lawn Care helps insure that fertilizers are applied in proper amounts and at the best times to give you the most beautiful lawn.