FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
LAWN CARE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Below are some of the more frequent questions that our expert team has heard over the last years while serving the St. Charles County area.
LAWN MOWING FAQS
No, we will not mow your lawn while it is raining or if your lawn is extremely wet. Cutting a lawn in these conditions can damage your yard and leave tire tracks.
Yes, we can schedule our landscaping services around a time that works best for you. Have a big family get-together or birthday party coming up? No problem. Greenside Lawn Care can ensure your lawn is looking its best the day before a big event.
We offer same day service and can be there within 24 hours most of the time, weather permitting.
LANDSCAPING FAQS
An invasive plant is any plant that is not native to the environment in which it is found. Invasive plants act in a manner that is not compatible with other plant species present and can often harm native species. These non-native plant species come into our environment from a number of origins, including arriving in the bilge waters of ships from other countries, being intentionally planted for decorative purposes, or arriving through a number of “accidental” means.
In most cases, invasive plants will try to take over the environment in which they have become established by crowding and pushing out the native species. Invasive plants can also corrupt the soil so other native plants are unable to grow in those locations in the future. Additionally, taller invasive plants can even keep native plants from growing by shading the area with their foliage and keeping the sunlight from providing normal growth patterns.
The most effective method for controlling invasive plant species is by using a multi-step approach. In most cases, a combination of burning, mowing and herbicide application will provide the most effective management and control of invasive plants. However, individual situations and specific plant materials will dictate the best approach for a given control program. An inspection of the property must be made in order to determine the best management practice to be employed.
LAWN MAINTENANCE FAQS
Your family (and pets) should wait a minimum of 2 hours before walking on the lawn. This is the recommended amount of time needed for our products to properly soak in and dry. This holds true for both liquid and granular lawn treatment applications because even though you may have had a granular (dry) fertilizer, your lawn still gets a spot treatment of liquid weed control on existing weeds.
At Greenside Lawn Care, our trained technicians are always aware of the weather conditions and use their best judgment when applying lawn treatments. In general, all technicians will stop applying treatments 2 hours prior to any anticipated rainfall to ensure maximum results. That being said, there are some applications that benefit from rainfall. If you have any questions or concerns about whether your treatment will be affected, please feel free to call us.
Aeration helps improve the health of your lawn by breaking up the thatch layer and also helps reduce soil compaction. Aeration creates holes in the soil, allowing oxygen and water to get deep into the soil, which promotes healthy growth. Learn more about aeration.
The best time to aerate lawns in St. Charles and O’Fallon is in September once the summer heat simmers a bit. Lawns should be aerated whenever the soil is compacted when the yard’s thatch layer is more than 3/4 inch thick, or before overseeding turf. For most homeowners, once a year is fine, however, you may find that your lawn needs to be serviced two or more times a year.
Lawn grubs are small, c-shaped white or gray insect larvae that feast on the roots of your grasses. Grub populations averaging five or more per square foot can damage your lawn’s root system and cause damaged turf that will readily “roll-up” like a rug. Grassroots typically grow faster in the spring and fall, and slowly during the hotter summer months. For this reason, grub damage typically shows up during the months of August and early September, although grubs may have been feeding earlier in the summer depending on the grub species. There are two approaches to controlling grubs: preventative (before the damage occurs) and curative (when lawns show damage). And in certain situations, both approaches are needed to properly control grubs.
Preventative treatments must be applied before the larvae hatch from their eggs. This can control up to 95% of your lawn’s white grubs. Curative treatments provide effective control of young white grubs (larger grubs are more difficult to control). Curative insecticides can control up to 50-75% of your lawn’s white grubs. If you are interested in more information on grubs and pest control services, please contact our office. A quote for the preventative application can be given over the phone. If you are interested in scheduling this service, be sure to contact the office before the end of June. The technicians will be applying the preventative application from the end of June through mid-July.
At Greenside Lawn Care, we recommend that lawns be fertilized every 4-5 weeks to keep them healthy and green. This generally works out to be about 7 applications per season, which can be scheduled at a time most convenient for you.
At Greenside Lawn Care, we recommend watering your lawn in the mornings between 5 am and 10 am for 20 – 30 minutes per zone. It’s best to water in the mornings because water evaporates less quickly than later in the day.
While we all love our pets, their urine can create unsightly brown spots that may not recover on their own. When this happens, you can try seeding and watering the spots yourself. If that doesn’t work, you can contact Greenside Lawn Care. We’ll have a technician evaluate your lawn and determine the best course of action.
GRASS TYPES FAQS
Crabgrass is a widely distributed annual grass type that germinates throughout the summer. Its seedlings sprout quickly, forming a clump with extensive roots where the soil is moist. Once established, it is difficult to weed out because of the plant roots at the nodes. The large crabgrass seedling is pale green and covered with coarse hairs. Plants can form open clumps that can grow up to 2 feet tall. Smooth crabgrass can be distinguished from large crabgrass by its shorter, wider leaf, and lack of hairs. This is the crabgrass most commonly found in turfgrass. The best time to control crabgrass is in spring, generally before May 15th. At that time, a pre-emergent is put down that sets a barrier on the soil to prevent crabgrass from germinating.
Tall Fescue is a perennial bunchgrass that forms unsightly, typically with coarse clumps in lawns. Tall Fescue can be used as lawn grass but will cause a weedy appearance when mixed with Bluegrass or Ryegrass, which is most common in St. Charles County. It is also used in agriculture where it can invade home lawns from agricultural lands, ditches, or when lawns are planted on former agricultural land. Contaminated sod may introduce it, and it is often planted by the unwary homeowner by using low-quality seed.
If your lawn is thin or patchy, which means more room for unwanted weeds or undesirable grasses, you will want to overseed your lawn. By overseeding an existing lawn, it will become denser, leaving less room for weeds or undesirable grasses such as quack grass to grow. Additionally, you may want to overseed if your lawn has bare or damaged spots due to grub or insect damage. Similar to a thin lawn, bare spots leave room for weeds to grow and rapidly spread. Overseeding is also useful when trying to introduce new species of grass into your lawn. Greenside Lawn Care can customize an overseeding package to your lawn’s needs.
For the best results, overseeding should be done in the fall. September is generally the best time of the year because the weather conditions are most favorable.
ABOUT GREENSIDE
Greenside Lawn Care has provided lawn care and landscaping services throughout St. Charles, O’Fallon, St. Peters, and Wentzville since 2009.
Greenside Lawn Care offers residential and commercial lawn mowing, landscaping, dethatching, aeration, and snow removal throughout St. Charles County.