Powell lawn care services
Pests/Mold control: The underground lawn pests common to Powell like armyworm and grubs love leaf piles to live in. Even worse, Powell gets up to 23 inches of snow in winter and an average of 39 inches of rainfall. These weather conditions not only support pests but make your lawn a breeding ground for fungus.
Molds bring their fair share of trouble. When large leaves are left to decay on your turf during winter or fall, there is a high probability that snow molds and brown patches will develop. Both of these diseases cause adverse effects like poor growth and, ultimately, grass death.
More food for your turf: Grasses manufacture their food using sunlight. If a layer of leaves prevents your grasses from getting direct sunlight, they will struggle to feed. Even more, specific cool-season grasses that suit Powell lawns like Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass aren't particularly shade resistant and can't cope with being covered.
Furthermore, your turf needs water from precipitation alongside regular watering to survive. If there are leaves on your grasses, this will prevent rain and dew from getting to the roots. This will lead to dehydration and lower nutrient supply and storage.
Improved growth: Don't misunderstand us, leaf removal doesn't foster fast turf growth like fertilization. If you want your grasses to develop quickly, you should hire fertilization experts through Powell lawn care for the right selection and application of these chemicals. Think of it this way, leaf removal allows your grasses to consume adequate nutrients essential for their growth.
Control fungus: Most lawn diseases common to Powell are caused by fungi. Diseases need three conditions (the disease triangle) to attack your turf. First, there must be a disease pathogen in the form of fungi, viruses, and more. Next, your turf must be susceptible to this pathogen. Thirdly, the right environmental conditions must be in place.
Not removing leaves from your lawn ticks the first and third factors. However, other factors like bad mowing techniques and excessive fertilization can further aggravate the third determinant. You should consider Powell lawn service for professional craftsmanship.
Put another way, fungus thrives when your lawn is wet and there are leaves on it. This is what exposes your grass to disease.
What to do with leaves collected from your lawn?
You absolutely must collect leaves from your yard. But you may not be sure what to do with them. Drop them at a local waste collection site? No, those fallen leaves could be a treasure! Let's see how.
Compost Pile: If you don't already have a compost bin in your home, you should get one. Composting does a whole lot of good to your lawn. Firstly, it enriches the soil, helping it to retain moisture and suppress diseases. It also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. Finally, not all fungi and bacteria are harmful to your turf; composting encourages the production of harmless microorganisms that break down organic matter in the soil, creating more rich and nutrient-filled soil.
Add those fallen leaves to your compost bin. You will want to make sure that they're dry and you're willing to mix them with green materials like fresh grass clippings for quick decomposition.
Mulch: You could use those collected leaves to mulch your lawn. Mulching means covering your soil surface with a layer of material to conserve moisture, improve fertility, and increase overall health. It may sound ridiculous to rake weeds only to put them back, but the overall importance is quite impressive.
The leaves' sizes and the thickness of the layer are significant determinants in the results of mulching or just leaving grasses on your turf. Mulching requires small leaves, forming a thin layer that acts as a soil conditioner. In contrast, untouched leaves will only be a thick, large blockage to soil nutrients.
Garden bed use: Another good use of collected leaves will be on your garden beds. There are two techniques to this approach: either chop the leaves, spread them over the soil, or dig your topsoil by a few inches and bury the leaves. Either way, the leaves will foster a quick recovery of nutrients.
If you don't particularly enjoy lawn maintenance, you could give the leaves to Powell lawn service when your provider has finished with seeding.
Leaf removal tips for Powell Lawns
Mow the leaves. There are three stress-free options for leaf removal. The first is to get Powel lawn care for an affordable yard cleanup service. You could also consider using a leaf blower rather than a rake, but that'll add to the cost of maintaining your lawn. Otherwise, increase your mower's blade to the highest setting, and run over the fallen leaves, shredding them into very tiny pieces suitable for mulching soils.
Only rake dry leaves. It's harder and inefficient to remove wet leaves. This is because wet leaves are heavier and will stick to the ground, clumping together. The best practice is to allow the leaves to dry, even if you want to mow over them.
Get help from the kids. You could have many exciting adventures with your kids, and an unpopular but potentially fun one is raking. Kids have a lot of energy and do sometimes enjoy helping out.
Clear gutters. Don't forget to take out those leaves that might clog your gutters. In fact, sometimes, your best bet would be to flush the entire gutter system. The easiest approach? Get help from Lawn Love's Powell lawn care service.
