Denver lawn care services
Denver lawn care
Lawn care in Denver can be challenging at times with all the wild changes in weather. One day it's sunny and hot, and the next day it's snowing and cold. It's either too dry or too much rain. Then there's the wind, which can dry a lawn out in minutes. It is not easy to maintain a beautiful lawn with such crazy weather. Proper Denver lawn care takes knowledge of local weather ups and downs, and the types of grass that grow best. With the right Denver lawn service, you can have a lush green lawn all summer.
Types of Denver grass
You have several choices of grass seed to choose from for your Denver lawn. Each type of grass has its advantages and you can use different seeds in different parts of your yard.
The most popular type of lawn grass in the Denver metro area is Kentucky bluegrass. The fact that it can spread rapidly and is resistant to drought damage makes it a good choice for lawns in Denver. It can turn brown and dormant during prolonged dry spells, and it will bounce back with watering.
Kentucky bluegrass requires raking each season since it forms a lot of thatch. But this shouldn't deter you from choosing this hardy grass since a good Denver lawn service can aerate and rake it properly each season. It is more prone to usual fungus diseases like fairy rings, so it takes more maintenance and proper watering.
Another popular Denver grass is fine fescue. This grass seed is popular because it germinates quicker than most other grass seeds. It requires less maintenance such as fertilizer and watering.
Fine fescue does better in shaded areas than Kentucky bluegrass does. So it is popular to use under large pine trees that are found all over Denver. It is common to see bare areas under the constant shade of a large pine tree, and fescue grass can take care of that.
Perennial ryegrass is a tough grass that can handle high-traffic areas while staying a beautiful green all season. It can grow in poorly drained soil and doesn't accumulate as much thatch as Kentucky bluegrass does, requiring less maintenance.
It is similar to Kentucky bluegrass in that it is more prone to disease, and its appearance looks like Kentucky bluegrass with very narrow leaves.
Watering your Denver lawn
Watering your lawn in Denver can be tricky. Most summers there are watering restrictions. These restrictions vary from town to town in the metro area. Usually, the watering restrictions are three hours per day, every other day, you can only water between the hours of 6pm and 10am.
This is because the air in Denver is so dry, with humidity levels usually around 10% during the middle of the day. The best time to water is early morning between 4am and 10am before it gets too hot. Some like to water late at night, but that can promote fungus disease of the lawn.
You don't want your sprinklers in one area too long as the clay soil can cause the water to run off. A general rule of thumb is one inch of water per week. You can get a small rain gauge and measure to be precise.
Denver lawn mowing
The most important thing about mowing the lawn in Denver is not to cut it too short. Denver's high elevation, hot sun, low humidity, and hot winds can dry out the lawn and soil in no time. The shorter the lawn, the quicker it will dry out.
You can keep in mind the one-third rule when it comes to Denver lawn mowing. This means you should not mow more than one-third of the grass blade during a mowing. For Kentucky bluegrass, the most common grass in Colorado, you should keep the lawn at two inches. So if your lawn is three inches, cut an inch per mowing.
Make sure the mower blades are sharp. Dull blades will tear the grass instead of cutting the grass blades. Torn or shred grass blades will appear white and dull in color and can invite bugs and diseases that can damage the lawn. A good Denver lawn care company should always have sharp blades in their mowers for this reason.
Popular Denver plants
Xeriscaping is popular in Denver to save water. Popular plants that thrive in Denver are mainly plants native to the area. Flowers, ornamental grasses, and small shrubs include:
- Spanish gold broom
- Granita raspberry ice plant
- Korean feather reed grass
- Bridges' penstemon
Trees that do well in Denver include:
- Colorado blue spruce, the state tree
- Scrub (gambel) oak
- Limber pine
- Wasatch maple
- Ponderosa pine
Denver lawn tips
Hiring a Denver gardening or Denver lawn service can be of great help whether you have an established yard or just starting a new yard. A Denver gardening or Denver lawn service can mow, edge, fertilize, aerate, prune, and rid your lawn of disease and pests.
If you are in an established home, chances are there are big trees in your yard, which shed their leaves every fall. You will also need a Denver gutter cleaning service since leaves can clog the gutters of the roof.
Leaves that clog the rain gutters can cause big problems during the winter when the ice builds up. This causes the water to back up causing damage to the exterior and interior of the home. Hiring a Denver gutter cleaning company to clean the gutters in the fall or early winter will save you trouble during the winter.
Lawn care in Denver is not always easy, but with a little work and a good Denver lawn care service, you can have the nicest yard on the block.
Commonly asked questions
Are there any water restrictions in Denver?
Following Denver Water, the summer watering rules is the right thing to do in our dry climate and helps preserve reservoir levels, reducing the risk of water restrictions in the future. The watering rules incorporate best practices for efficient outdoor water use that will help keep your landscape healthy.
- Water during cooler times of the day. Lawn watering is not allowed between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Water no more than three days per week.
- Do not allow water to pool in gutters, streets and alleys.
- Do not waste water by letting it spray on concrete and asphalt.
- Repair leaking sprinkler systems within 10 days.
- Do not irrigate while it is raining or during high winds.
- Use a hose nozzle with a shut-off valve when washing your car.
Can I be fined for not maintaining my landscape?
Sec. 57-41. Maintenance of landscaping.
(a)It shall be the duty of the owner, agent, or lessee of any real property located within the city to provide for regular weeding, pruning, and other maintenance of all plantings located on said private property. Plant materials which exhibit evidence of pests, disease, or damage shall be appropriately treated, and dead plant materials shall be removed or replaced.
(b)It shall be the duty of the owner, agent, or lessee of any real property abutting a public right-of-way located within the city to provide for landscaping and maintenance of any right-of-way area between his property line and the curb line or the edge of the roadway and between the property line and the centerline of any alley.
(c)Failure to perform these duties so that a violation exists on private property as proscribed by this article and by applicable rules and regulations shall constitute a nuisance for which reasonable means to abate are hereby authorized.
Am I required to have a turf lawn?
Sec. 57-100. Prohibition on restrictive covenants requiring turf grasses.
(a)Legislative purpose. The water demand of traditional landscaping can result in an extraordinary burden on the future water resources of the City and County of Denver. Traditional landscapes, improperly installed and maintained over unimproved soils and requiring irrigation systems that are often inefficient and poorly managed, have been documented as using between twenty (20) and fifty (50) gallons of water per square foot each year. This is far beyond the recommended eighteen (18) gallons of water per square foot of landscaping (or twenty-nine (29) inches of applied irrigation water) each growing season. By using water-wise principles in landscaping, Denver customers could reduce water use by at least twenty (20) percent. Any restrictive covenant or any amendment to a restrictive covenant that becomes effective on or after May 1, 2002, and that requires cultivated vegetation on property maintained by an individual property owner, shall not specify that any portion of the vegetation must be turf grass.
What are the laws for providing tree services in Denver?
Sec. 57-61. - Name and address to be displayed on vehicles and equipment.
All automobiles, trucks, trailers or other vehicles operated by any licensee for the transportation of the equipment used by the licensee in its business, and all self-propelled, drawn or towed equipment used by any licensee in its business, shall have the name and telephone number of the licensee or the business of the licensee displayed on both sides thereof in plain and legible figures and letters not less than two (2) inches in height, which shall be kept in a condition that permits the same to be readily distinguished and read at a distance of at least sixty (60) feet, and it shall be unlawful and a ground of revocation of the license for any licensee to operate any such vehicle or cause any such equipment to be operated or drawn or towed upon the street, alleys or other public ways or places within the city unless or without the name and telephone number being so displayed thereon.
