6 Lawn Mowing Tips For Your St. Louis Lawn

Lawn mowing sounds easy, right? You just have to turn on the mower and push it over the lawn. But if you want to have a healthy and better looking lawn, you need to follow these quick and easy lawn mowing tips as shared by St. Louis lawn care.

Make a plan. Every yard is unique and so the best way to tackle this task of mowing is to create a plan. Walk around your lawn or yard and try to figure out the best route to follow when using your mower. Prepare the site; remove all debris such as sticks, rocks, and other foreign objects that may cause injury such as slippage. Additionally, your mower will remain sharp since it does not hit any hard object scattered around the yard.

Choose your mower. The key in choosing the right mower is knowing the kind of machine that your lawn really needs. So take a tour of your lawn and ask yourself: How big is my lawn? Do I need to mow around objects such as trees, patio or driveway? If your lawn is less than an acre, then you can choose a walk-behind mower to do the job. If it is less than 500 square feet, a reel mower, or what they call manual push lawn mower, can do the trick.

Know your mower. It is recommended to learn on how to operate the mower first before going into the lawn. Check if the blades are sharp or needs sharpening.  A dull blade will waste your precious time and will cause stress on the grass since it will rip and tear the grass instead of actually cutting it. A lawn mowed with a dull blade looks brown on top.

Mow on a dry lawn. Why do you need to mow on a dry lawn? Although mowing on a wet lawn does not hurt the grass, it results to inefficient mowing. Why? Wet grass tend to stick together and could clog the mower deck. Also, the blades of the grass bend due to the weight of the dew that makes a straight cut very difficult. Moreover, fungus and disease carrying microorganisms spread quickly on a wet grass. Most gardeners agree that the best time to do mowing is between 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock in the morning. Before 8 o’clock, the grass may still be wet from dew or rain. And after 10 in the morning, the temperature is too high—which is bad for your grass and for you as well.

Follow the one-third rule. What is this rule all about? It refers to the length of the leaf that is ideal to cut. The rule says that you should not cut more than a third of the grass’ length. If you do, it may cause injury to the crown of the grass where new leaves grow. Also, it lessens the stress on the grass and reduces vulnerability to pests and diseases. Scalping your lawn makes it susceptible to weeds.

Always vary your mowing pattern. Each time you mow your lawn, do not repeat the same direction or pattern. Why? Each time you do the same pattern, your mowing wheels compact the soil, thus leaving deep tracks or ruts in the lawn. Aside from that, when the grass eventually grows, it tends to follow the direction it was cut. Hence, switching your mowing pattern helps the grass grow upright and stay healthy.

These are just a few of the many ways to keep your lawn healthy. By heeding these simple yet helpful lawn mowing tips, you will be able to always keep your lawn healthy and perfect.

How To Choose the Right Flowers for Your Garden

Almost nothing can lift our spirits up better than a garden full of beautiful flowers in bloom. Of course, no one can deny the positivity they bring especially during the summer season. They are among many of the reasons that make hot summer days more bearable. However, taking care of them is not as easy as it may seem. Gardeners have to carefully plan everything from choosing what kind of flowers would bloom best during the warmer days, to how they should be cultivated to keep their beauty. Why can’t they just freely choose whatever flower they have in mind?

Growing a garden is a complex process and there are standards and procedures to follow. One of them is carefully choosing the kind of flowers that best suit the summer season. Want to know what flowers grow best under the hot summer sun? Take a look at the list below to find out.

  1. Coneflowers

These are among the top choice of flowers to plant during the month of June. These flowers are perfect for wide flower beds and are attractive to look at when there’s a bunch of them growing together. They are easy to grow and often attract butterflies in your garden so it becomes more fascinating to look at. Let it spread into a wide space since they grow easily. They can last for a long time as long as they are being pruned regularly.

  1. Daisies

They might look a lot like the coneflowers but if you look closely, daisies have more petals and their centers are less spiky. They grow as early as spring and bloom until the early fall. Many people use daisies as ornaments as they give a fresh look and are used to symbolize innocence.

  1. Purslane

This flower is a succulent kind so you will not find it hard to look for water or water-accessible locations to have them survive. They grow beautiful flowers in varying colors that match the cheerful feeling every summer.

  1. Asters

These flowers are not just all about beauty because they can also be tough despite their delicate appearance. They can endure up to three season changes, namely spring, summer, and fall. Though the most common color of this flower is purple, there are also varieties that come in white and pink colors.

  1. Black Eyed Susans

These flowers are often mistaken with sunflowers but they are actually smaller than the latter. They usually grow wild but there are people who would like to cultivate lots of them in their own garden and add some touch of a welcoming sight to the visitors. They have been cultivated because they are good additions to a bouquet or just a centerpiece on a table.

Those are just some of the flowers that we can see blooming not only during the summer seasons but also way past them. All of them are low-maintenance despite the scorching heat of the season. Try creating a garden of your own by applying these suggestions.

Common Weeds and How To Kill Them

For every homeowner that takes great pride of his lawn, weed control is one of the most significant skills to master. Weeds as we all know, rob our plants of necessary nutrients from the soil. On top of that, they are also unsightly and consume space intended for our desired vegetation.   

While it may seem easy to just grab some shears and cut away the pests, it is best for the yard owner to step back and identify first what weeds are being dealt with. Only then can he take the correct steps to prevent them from reproducing.

Here are some of the most common weeds to populate our yards and the proper ways to prevent them.

Lambsquarters

Any lawn owner has had his fair share of Lambsquarters in his lifetime. It is no wonder that the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) lists it as the most common among all weed.

If you’re growing vegetable and pulse crops, beans, or chickpeas, then expect to be greeted by this weed during your lawn activities. Their ability to suck moisture from soil makes them an immediate threat for your plants, so proceed to remove them upon sight!

You can safely remove the weed using a sharp hoe without any danger of spreading seeds. If the shoots are still young, they can also be tossed onto a fine salad.

Crabgrass

A gardener’s summer days won’t pass without greeting from this annual weed that spreads through seeds and can grow up to a foot in height. Not surprisingly, the crabgrass can thrive even without moisture, making them quite hardy weeds to get rid of.

The key to their reproduction is its seeds since they can maintain viability for three years when placed on soil.  Because of this, the gardener must ensure control of this grass before it can spread them. While the grass is young, you can seize their growth through regular mowing, hoeing, or hand pulling.

Chickweed

The secret to the rampant reproduction of weeds in our gardens is their effortless seed propagation. The chickweed is a testament of such advantage – producing as much as 700 seeds which can take almost a decade to eradicate completely. Not to mention the short amount of time the weed needs to bloom upon germination.

Due to the chickweed’s heightened reproduction advantages, it is best to remove the plant upon sight to save your crops. Having only shallow roots, hand-pulling these plants are no sweat. However, you must ensure that no rootstocks are left behind during pulling since new plants can stem from even the smallest root pieces.  

Creeping Charlie

Tucked away from sight in shady areas of your yard is the ground ivy, better known as the Creeping Charlie. Due to its obscure location when germinating, it has become one of the most invasive lawn weeds in the US.

When controlling this weed’s growth, keep in mind that it can spread through its seeds and stems. If it is hand-pulled without caution, it can leave behind pieces of root through which new plants can sprout from.

There are several ways to keep this weed at bay from causing more damage to your lawn. You can mow at regular intervals shaded areas. With careful hands, you can also remove them by pulling but make sure that its roots do not break during the procedure.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Brevard website. We hope to get the website content up quickly for your enjoyment. Please check back in the next few weeks as we have lots we want to share! Thanks for visiting!