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Tips for Spring

Your Spring Plantings

Spring is the best time to install new flowers and hardy perennials. In order to maintain healthy, beautiful flowers it is essential to care for them. An adequate water supply is essential for plant and flower survival. Not only does it allow the plant to cool itself in the heat of summer, but it is also a critical component in the plant?s ability to feed itself. Without a consistent water supply, growth stops.
We provide watering service for newly planted annual flowers, hardy perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as newly installed sod and grass seed.

We also provide this service when drought conditions persist, or water for you while you are on vacation or just too busy working, golfing or swimming at the pool or just relaxing.

Bark Mulch Installation

April is the ideal time to install bark mulch. You can improve the overall appearance of your property with new mulch or you can freshen up exsiting beds and tree rings. Barnes, Inc. can either deliver the mulch to your residence or place of business or Barnes, Inc. can save you time by installing the mulch with our personel

 

Barnes, Inc. 4-Step Program

The Barnes 4-step turf care program uses phosphorus-free fertilizer applications with weed control to create a beautiful, lush, green lawn, while minimizing the damaging effects that over-fertilizing can cause to our area lakes.

The Barnes 4-step program is all that you need for a healthy, green lawn. Call us today, and one of our certified professionals will provide you with a free 12- point lawn analysis.

 

Best Time to Begin Thinking about Landscaping

Now is a great time to start thinking about your summer landscaping needs. If you are looking to have work done in April or May, call now. Our early schedule fills up quickly, so call to make an appointment with one of our landscape architects or designers. This will give you the time you need to get the perfect design for your new and improved landscape, from ponds to brick pavers to plantings to rain gardens.

Call to schedule rejuvenation pruning of your deciduous shrubs before they bud out, as well as barking, stone mulching, spring cleanups, dethatching, and fertilizing for scheduling in early spring.

If you have work you want done on oak and elm trees, call now. There is a moratorium on trimming or removal of these trees from April 15th through October 15th due to potential for spread of oak wilt and other diseases.

 

Best Time to Prune

Spring and summer are good times to have your trees and shrubs pruned. Pruning is not simply for appearance purposes. Pruning promotes plant health, corrects structural deformities and prevents disease.

 

Best Time to Seed Lawn

The best times to seed your lawn are from March 20th-June 1st or August 15th-September 15th. Remember, lawns that are seeded in the spring should not get any crabgrass preventer as this will kill any newly sprouted grass seedlings.

 

Conserving Water with Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are an inexpensive way of conserving, reducing and cleaning storm water runoff. Rain gardens are low maintenance landscaped areas, usually planted with native wildflowers species that capture run off from roofs and paved surfaces on your property. The water is partially taken up by the plants and allowed to seep into the soil, where nutrients and chemicals are absorbed before the water slowly seeps into the groundwater. Gardens like this can play an important role in maintaining and even improving the quality of the water in our rivers, streams and especially lakes.

 

Crabgrass Preventer

Applying a crabgrass preventer between March 15th and May 20th will keep crabgrass from germinating in your lawn.

 

Design Your Landscape

Early spring is a great time to get started on your annual and perennial gardening plans. A well-planned garden will provide your landscape with a variety of colors and textures throughout the year.
Our professional landscape designers and architects can help you create and install the garden you have always wanted, taking into consideration soil conditions, amount of direct sunlight, color preferences and amount of time you can commit to maintenance.
For those of you who wouls prefer to enjoy your garden instead of spending your nights and weekends on its upkeep, we can also do the pruning, weeding, bark and stone installation, flower maintenance, watering and fertilizing.

 

Dethatching

Dethatching reduces the excess buildup of dead and decaying grass and plant material in your lawn. Dethatching should be done every 2 or 3 years. Spring or fall is the best times to dethatch, from early April through the end of May and from mid-August through the end of September. Make sure that there have been 1 or more soaking rains in the last week prior to dethatching, or water heavily 2 or more times prior to dethatching. The most effective way to dethatch is to use a power rake. After power raking, rake or vacuum up all the dead material that has been removed from the turf.

 

Dethatching Your Lawn

Dethatching is beneficial at any time, but best done in the spring due to the buildup of dead and undecayed organic matter that forms on your turf during the late fall and winter months. This can impede the movement of water and nutrients into the root zone and it can create conditions where insects and disease can form. It is best done in conjunction with your spring clean up so you get the benefit for the entire season.

 

Fertilizer and Herbicide Applications

You may apply a starter fertilizer after the first mowing. DO NOT apply any herbicides until after at least the fourth mowing, and follow all label directions for newly seeded or sodded lawns prior to applying any chemicals to your lawn.

 

Mowing Your New Seed or Sod

When your new seed and/or sod reaches 3 1/2″, it is time for the first mowing. (This also applies to lawns that have been slit-seeded or over-seeded.) Allow the lawn to dry out so the soil is somewhat firm. Mow at a height of at least 3″, bagging or carefully removing the clippings. Never remove more than 1/3 of the total grass length with any one mowing. After the fourth mowing it is no longer necessary to bag or rake the clippings as long as a cutting height of at least 3″ is maintained.

 

Pruning Your Trees and Shrubs

Spring and Summer is a great time to have your trees and shrubs pruned. Having your trees and shrubs pruned is not simply just for appearance purposes. Pruning your trees and shrubs is important for promoting plant health and prevention of disease for your trees and shrubs.

 

Spring Broadleaf Weed Control

Spring is an excellent time to tackle broadleaf weeds. Right now weeds are actively growing and have used a lot of their stored food reserves to begin flowering. Weeds such as dandelions, creeping charlie, and clover are very easy to control during active growth stages in the spring, especially during flowering. Weeds sprayed now will quickly disappear from your lawn, sometimes within a few days!

 

Watering Your New Seed

After seeding, water as frequently as necessary to keep the soil moist to a depth of 4″. When it rains or is cool, watering may not be necessary, but when it is warm or windy, watering may be necessary several times daily to keep the soil from drying out. The soil should remain moist, but should not be so wet that there is puddling or run off. Water your new seed like this until after the fourth mowing.

 

Watering Your New Sod

Newly sodded areas must remain moist at all times. The soil below the sod should be moist to a depth of at least 2″. To check, lift a corner of the sod and be sure the soil below is wet. If not watered enough, the sod will dry out at the edges first, and become brown. When rooted, you will not be able to pull the sod away from the soil base below it. Water your new sod like this until after the fourth mowing.

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