There are several studies that show the negative health effects from using a lawnmower. Among those are: air pollution, breathing problems, exposure to alarming amounts of cancer-causing chemicals, extended exposure and close proximity to the noise etc.
Having said that, here are some tips on how to reduce them:
Buy an electric lawn mower
Buy a push reel lawn mower. A push reel mower is described as a grass-cutting tool with no inner power source.
Get a reel mower. That is – a self-pushed, non-motorized one. Silent, no gas fumes, and you’re getting exercise.
A fine dust mask can reduce this danger from inhaling into the lungs particles of dust, mold and fungi raised by the lawnmower’s blades
Of course you can choose to cut your grass infrequently which will definitely cut down the effects of mower. Most people can cut their yards every other week during warmer months rather than weekly. While your yard may be a touch less “beautiful” then your neighbour’s, you’ll reduce the mount of pollutants that you put into the atmosphere (and your lungs) by doing this.
It’s a really a hustle struggling to keep a natural grass lawn lush and healthy. But the reality is that without any boundaries or protection measures in place, grass will grow through natural mulch and even through the wood placed in carefully landscaped garden beds.
The question we often ask ourselves is how does grass grow through mulch? The answer is simple – grass seeds, as well as the seeds of other types of weeds, can germinate and grow roots easily in the climate created by the mulch. Mulch, even in layers, is still a permeable material which leaves small spaces (or holes) for grass to grow through.
If you are struggling with trying to stop the grass from growing through the mulch of your home’s landscape here are some tips to try and stop this:
Try to set a fabric (maybe even newspaper or cardboard) under the mulch, it will kill off the existing grass absorb rainfall and block out most of the sunlight.
If you weed regularly, try to pull out weeds and grasses before they form seeds. That way you will at least cut down on the number of seeds that fall into the mulch.
Create trenches around the garden beds to keep grass in your lawn from sending roots into the garden bed.
If keeping grass out of your garden beds has proven a persistent problem for you, even after trying the three hacks we’ve outlined here, we recommend consulting our landscaping professionals. They can fully assess the situation and help you develop the right solution for your yard.
Now that the summer days have arrived and the hot sun is inviting, everyone is bound to increase their time spent outdoors, whether on doing landscape work, playing with a pet or taking a walk. But we, the humans, are not the only ones that find the sun’s rays so beneficial to our health and mood; plants too enjoy the summer sun as many of them blossom all summer long. Since spending time in the yard is bound to become one of your favorite activities, it is of utmost importance to learn which plants can represent a threat to you, your family, your lawn or your pet.
With many unwanted plants growing in a hot sun, it means poisonous plants such as poison ivy and poison oak are due to appear in your garden. In the US and Canada, there are over 700 plants that are considered poisonous, so the odds of keeping your yard poisonous-plants-free without any professional lawn care service are not in your favor. If you think you’re not allergic to any plant, just think about it; over 85% of the world’s population has an allergic reaction when coming into contact with one.
The obvious solution is to avoid these dangerous plants. To do so, first you need to learn what do they look like so you can identify them if they suddenly appear in your yard. Here are 5 poisonous plants you might wanna avoid this summer to keep your yard healthy and safe.
Poison Ivy
Symptoms: blisters, serious itching, rash
The distinguishable three-leaf plant is the number one plant you need to avoid this summer. When you get in touch with a leaf of poison ivy, rest assured you’re getting a blistering rash and serious itching time. Whether as a vine or a shrub growing close to the ground or to a tree, each of those three shiny, toothed leaves is loaded with an oily resin known as urushiol and may cause an allergic reaction. In spring, the leaves are reddish, but in summer, their color is green. One important tip is to NOT scratch the area where you’ve got in contact with poison ivy but instead, use a wet compress.
Poison Oak
Symptoms: serious itching, red blisters, rash
Poison oak, commonly mistaken for poison ivy because of their similar three-leaf look, is also one of the worst enemies you can have in your yard. This tenacious plant can grow both as a vine in the shade or as a shrub exposed to the sunlight. Getting in direct contact with poison oak will immediately result in itchy red blisters on the infected area. Similarly, you should not scratch that area and use wet compress or cold water to ease the itching. When you see a green three-leaf plant with shiny, curved edges in summer, keep your hands off of it, no matter how inviting it may seem.
Poison Sumac
Symptoms: swelling, burning sensation, red blisters, rash
Those who have had a poison sumac rash are familiar with the uncomfortable allergic reaction this seemingly harmless plant can cause. While its appearance may hint that it is a plant that comes straight from Rivendell, the poison sumac can cause a lot of harm. It usually grows in the wild, but it is not as uncommon as one may think for it to appear in a garden. To identify a poison sumac, look for a plant that looks like a tall shrub and which leaves have clusters of seven to thirteen leaflets. Compared to poison oak and poison ivy, this one can cause a lot more severe rash. Interestingly, though, the most effective treatment is also wet compress or cold water.
Wild Parsnips
Symptoms: itching, discomfort, rash
Wild parsnip is a perennial plant that usually grows in dry areas, such as by the side of roads, inhabited fields or pastures. Although not very likely to find it in your landscape, it is important to know how to identify it, because it can give you a blistering rash. The chemicals this plant’s sap contains can cause discomfort and itching and if you expose the infected area on sunlight, it’ll double the pain. In summer, each wild parsnip produces a plenty of tiny yellow flowers. Once you see it, you can never forget it. Applying water on the area is a great relief method.
Stinging Nettle
Symptoms: discomfort, stinging, burning
While it is undoubtedly the least harmless plant on any list of plants to avoid in summer, the stinging nettle is one of the most annoying and most uncomfortable plants your skin could ever get in touch with. The stinging nettle is tall, thin and weedy plants with leaves that are green of color and have tiny, sharp stinging hair. When you rub your hand against this hair, this plant will inject the irritating chemical into your skin and immediately make it turn red and cause itching. What you can do to relieve the pain is wash the area with cold water. Aloe vera moisturizer may further help to ease the itching.
With the days getting longer, homeowners will increasingly start spending more time outdoors, handling all sorts of landscaping chores. One of those chores you should not overlook is to watch out for one of these five poisonous plants. If you think you’re unable to identify them or you’re never too sure of their presence, you can contact a professional lawn care service provider to inspect your yard thoroughly and ensure if it’s all safe and sound.
Performing the routine lawn maintenance check up at the beginning and the end of every season with a pet in your yard can be just as rough for your furry friend as much as for you. The very thought of preparing your grass for the upcoming season on a casual Sunday morning may be a thrilling activity you’ve been looking forward to for some time, but have you considered how will you keep your pet off eating weeds that may contain chemical products, as well as away from all your equipment?
While for some difficult tasks like fertilizing keeping your pet at home is inevitable, this is not a permanent solution, especially if your pet is big and not a fan of indoors life. So the obvious solution is to take some precautions in your yard and ensure that is safe and healthy for your pet. And in case you think it’s the fear in you making you look for ways to save your pet’s life, you should know that two out of the ten culprits in accidental poisonings are found in the garden, just where your pets are supposed to live. Here’s how you can protect your pet while doing yard work in 5 easy steps.
Prepare Your Yard
Before you hire a professional grass cutting service provider to mow your lawn and let your pet off leash, it is of utmost importance to thoroughly inspect your property. Remove any sticks, pebbles, sharp objects and other objects that may hurt your pet during his/her tireless runs around the garden. These sort of objects can also become projectiles once the mowing begins and injure your pet. Also, make sure there are none of your pet’s toys in your lawn so that the lawnmower can do the job flawlessly.
Turn All Equipment Off
When not in use, all the running equipment in your backyard is doing nothing beneficial but wasting electricity and threatening your pet’s life. It is a serious threat for your pet, especially if it’s off leash. Equipment such as lawnmower, weed-eater or bulldozer can easily injure your pet should your pet perceive the equipment as new toys. Also, keep in mind to never take your pet on a ride on a piece of equipment with you. They may be skilled at keeping their 4 legs firm on the mower, but a small bump could do more harm than you can think of.
Use Pet-Friendly Mulch
As every pet likes to sniff and dig around, it is very important to use mulch that cannot do any harm to them when consumed. Pets are attracted by strong odors, so they’re very likely to put their nose in the new mulch as soon as you add it. Mulches that contain cocoa or caffeine are particularly attractive to them, both ingredients that can be lethal for dogs and cats. Therefore, you must look for pet-friendly mulch and let them sniff as much as they want. All you have to do is read the label when in store – it must be included.
Don’t Over-fertilize
This is one of the most common mistakes that many rookie-gardeners make. Besides being bad for your lawn and your environment, fertilizing more than 3 times a year can be harmful to your pet too. As with anything else they find in your garden, pets have a tendency to eat fertilizers, especially organic types. However, the chances of ingesting these toxic compounds are not on their side. When shopping for fertilizers, it would be great if you go for pet-safe fertilizers. Even fertilizers with only a small percentage of toxins are a threat for your pet.
Make Sure Potentially-Dangerous Materials are Kept Away
Paint, gas, pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides and other chemicals you have need to be kept away from the reach of your pet. Curiosity always gets the best of the pets and they cannot help it but sniff, chew and play with everything within reach. If there are some of these materials out in the open, it’s a sure thing that your pet will find it and consume it.
If you truly consider your pet to be a part of your family, these 5 steps should be a part of your regular yard maintenance check up. Before starting any sort of yard work, ensuring that your 4-legged companion is in a safe environment is your first step.
Regardless of whether you’ve decided to sell your place or just want to give it a makeover without spending a fortune, what you need to know is that it is not as expensive and impossible as the very idea may seem. The first impression is the single most important factor when it comes to selling your home. Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer: would you buy a house that is not well maintained and doesn’t excite you with anything but its price tag over a house that has your wows after the first glance?
Since first impressions are tricky and you get no second chance, it is of utmost importance to do everything within your power to boost your curb appeal and turn your home into the attraction of your neighborhood so your house’s first impression will count. Not only will your house get more attention by potential buyers, but your pictures for your online ad of your house will also look more attractive and will double the visits of interested new home-seekers. When they drop by to see if the house is really that beautiful and well-maintained, you need to have ensured that your home’s exterior – including the front entry, your yard, the home path, the driveway – are at their finest.
The best thing is that adding an extra oomph to your home doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a lot of money to get it in top shape. Here are 10 tips we recommend to add curb appeal and increase the value of your home that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Renew or Add a Home Path
If your home has been missing a pathway that leads right to your door or it got old over time, it’s time to make sure your home path is on point. Make a statement by giving your home path a new style and make a warm welcoming entrance to your home. Clean off all the dirty spots on the pathway and splash a new color.
Do a Paint Job on Your Front Door
A simple paint job of your front door can draw a lot of attention to your home. Your front door can immediately make an impression that the interior of your home is also neat and well maintained. Painting your front door is probably the cheapest and easiest way to refresh your curb appeal. If you don’t want any paint job done, at least make sure to clean it thoroughly and make it shine. Keep in mind that, your entry reflects the home interior.
Manicure the Lawn
Feeding, watering, mowing and other typical lawn maintenance chores should of course be a part of your routine landscape maintenance check up. When it comes to selling your house, though, you will need to take extra caution and manicure the lawn so it will look like an emerald-green carpet. Get rid of the weeds, cut the grass to a proper size accordingly to the season and create clean edges. Unless you hire professionals like us at Sunset Landscaping to do magic with your lawn through lawn fertilization services, this is an absolutely free way to add an oomph to your landscape.
Pressure Wash the House
There’s more dirt than meets the eye, but there’s no dirt that can get away from the strong stream of a pressure washer. Pressure washing can boost your curb appeal by cleaning your house of grime, dirt, mold and dust that has been accumulating over the years without you ever noticing it. Renting a pressure washing if you don’t own one is relatively inexpensive and cleaning your exterior won’t take you more than a couple of hours. The results? A neat and clean looking garden that can capture everyone’s eye.
Clean Up the Driveway
Basic clean up of your driveway is another free tip, but it goes a long way in improving your landscape appearance. Take your garbage containers aside from your driveway (preferably where they are not visible) and make sure there are no cracks or visible damage anywhere on the driveway. If you can see these damages repaired by yourself, this won’t cost you as much as it would by hiring professionals.
Clean the Windows
Cleaning your windows is one of those tasks that may easily slip off your to-do list, while it can leave an impression of a home that sparkles. Wash out the windows both from the inside and the outside with products that can clean them off any dirt that may have been stuck on them for years and give them a shiny mirror-like look. This will, of course, cost you almost nothing, maybe even nothing if you use do-it-yourself cleaning products, like soda and vinegar.
Trim the Hedges
If you like your yard to be symmetrical and neat, then what better way than to trim the hedges. The hedges in your garden can easily go out of control and trimming is the only way to keep them in good-looking order. All you need is a hedge trimmer and if you don’t have one, don’t worry – it is both inexpensive to rent and purchase. Just grab it and shape up those hedges to boost your home’s appearance.
Add Some Path Lights
Adding some lighting around your garden or illuminating your pathway can make your property look much more desirable. Low-voltage, inexpensive lighting can not only make a huge impact on your curb appeal, but it will also make your outside space more secure and safer. You can also try installing lights on your trees to highlight some of your best landscape features at night. However, it is important not to overdo it and avoid drawing attention to some external flaws.
Get a New Mailbox or Do a Makeover of Your Old One
If your mailbox got old and rusty, then it’s finally time to do something about it. Your mailbox should complement your home and your personality, so it is kind of a big deal. Dress up your old one if you’re feeling really attached to it or get a new mailbox that perfectly meets your landscape and your home style. You don’t need to be an experienced designer or an exceptionally crafty houseowner – you just need a keen eye for detail and know what feels and looks best for your home.
Renew Your Planter Beds
Renewing your planter beds can greatly improve your curb appeal by giving your garden a fresh, colorful and stylish look. Pull out the excessive weeds, plant some new flowers and add vast amounts of mulch to create a beautiful contrast, as well as boost your plants’ health. You may also consider if your borders are adding onto the style of your landscape or are only wasting your outdoors space. If so, upgrade your borders by adding some decorative stones.
A green yard is the landscapers’ dream and is almost as welcoming as a friendly dog. Besides boosting your landscape visual appearance, lawn that is green in color means it is healthy and strong enough to keep any weeds, pests and diseases at bay. Regardless of the season, your lawn requires your attention more than anything else in your yard, simply because it takes the largest part of it. Properly watering, regular fertilizing and weekly mowing are surely big musts, but they’re not enough.
Growing and maintaining a healthy and beautiful lawn does not require a lot of hours of landscaping work as much as it requires wise management. One great way to ensure your lawn is properly taken care of every week is to create a lawn maintenance checklist. The idea may sound a bit childish rather than efficient to you, but rest assured it will help you keep all things neat in your yard. Not only it is efficient and keeps you moving forward, but checking off the does you set for yourself can give you a sense of accomplishment too. If you decided to give it a try, here are 6 dos your weekly lawn maintenance must contain.
Watering: Watering is undoubtedly the most essential care tip for your lawn. Although it’s an obvious one, properly watering can be a bit tricky, as for how often and how much depends on multiple factors, such as your geographic location, your climate, type of grass and type of soil. If you live where the temperature goes beyond 100 Fahrenheit quite often, more frequent watering is of course required. The best time of the day to water an emerald-green lawn is early in the morning when the sun is still rising.
Mowing: Mowing is just as essential as watering and it is also known as a classical weekend activity. There are many different ways you can mow your grass, but usually it depends on the season. The ideal height also varies with each season. Over summer or during drought, you should allow any type of grass to grow taller, yet you should mow it once a week on a high setting. Over fall and spring, mowing once a week is also a must and over winter, weekly mowing is not necessary.
Eliminating weeds: Regardless of the type of grass, trees and shrubs you have in your yard, having a good control over weeds does a plenty of good for your lawn. A brief weekly walk around your landscape should be enough for you to identify any weeds that must go. Make sure to pull the weed off their root, because otherwise it will grow back. For the sneaky ones that hide among your lawn, you can apply a weed control product and wave them goodbye as well.
Edging Inspection: Any type of lawn starts showing some signs of wear when the summertime begins and that can certainly impact the curb appeal of your yard. The more often you maintain your yard’s edges, the better looking it will be. Look for any grass damage every week and take care of it right away. By putting the theory “Work smarter, not harder” into practice, you can greatly reduce the time you spend on landscape work per week.
Fixing Repairs: If you use to throw garden parties or gatherings often or you own a pet that enjoys digging spots of soil and grass, there must be some repairs that need to be taken care of. Remove the damaged patches of grass and reseed the area with the same type of grass. Although weekly check up for repairs and sorting them out immediately is efficient, you should think about reducing those lawn damages in a long run. For example, you could install stepping stones to prevent too much stepping on the lawn or choose a specific area for your pet’s playtime.
Insect Control: Chinch bugs, fire ants, fleas, mosquitoes, cutworms and similar types of pests could attack your lawn at anytime. What better and easier way to save your lawn than simply performing an insect control every week. Although in most cases grass can fight off these insects by itself, some can cause severe damages and affect your landscape’s visual appearance. A strong stream of water can help, chemicals too. The key is to take care of them on time.
While we do not say that your finger is brown, sometimes it’s better to let green-thumb-professionals handle the chores you’re not skilled at and help you have and maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn.
Just like you carefully choose your clothing and cut your hair in a way that reflects your personality, the way you treat your lawn and your yard speaks volumes about the person who is responsible for it. But if you want your landscape to truly reflect your personality and say what kind of person you are straight away, well, you will need to put some extra hours of landscaping work out there. And if you’re like most Naperville homeowners, your busy lifestyle probably doesn’t leave you a lot of free time for lawn care and maintenance.
A beautiful yard starts with careful planning and thorough preparation, but proper and regular care and maintenance is what keeps it looking at its finest. Since lawn is one of the biggest and most important features of your landscape and potentially a big source of pride, it requires your attention the most. Patience, ongoing care, love and a pair of skillful hands is all that it takes to achieve a shiny, healthy lawn that will turn your garden into a real place where you can relax.
Since you’re very unlikely to have the time on your side or the knowledge to plant, grow and maintain yawn properly, hiring a lawn service company is the best you can do for the good of your lawn. Aside from regular landscape chores like mowing, watering, fertilizing and aeration, there are some chores you cannot simply complete all by yourself or as successfully as lawn experts, such as steep removal or weed control. Certified lawn specialists are well-trained and experienced in maintaining healthy lawn, as they understand the science behind any type of lawn you may have.
If you’re not sure how can a professional lawn care service provider benefit you and your lawn, we got you covered. Whatever your reason may be for hiring lawn assistance, following are the benefits that are bound to happen to your lawn if you decide to let the professionals handle the task.
Experienced with All Types of Grass
Whether you have Kentucky bluegrass for mowing or Wheatgrass for aeration, the best lawn service providers in Naperville are familiar with all the grass varieties. Maintaining a beautiful and healthy lawn requires a lot more knowledge than one may think. However, lawn pros know how lawn types differ from one region to another along with climate conditions, which means they will treat grass in Aurora completely different than grass in Wheaton. The lawn care service providers know when and how to take a good care of your lawn and ensure it’s insects- and diseases-free for its optimal health.
Save you Time
If you too believe that time is money, you should know that professional lawn care services save you a plenty of valuable time you can use for far more important matters. Lawn maintenance requires a lot of time and serious commitment. But you should not give up on your hobby just so you can keep up to your regular lawn tasks. Not when you can hire professionals at competitive prices and let them handle the chores you haven’t completed or even all of them. Planning and researching on proper lawn maintenance and all the physical work can take up a lot of hours, hours you could devote to your family or your hobby instead. Not to mention that, the time experienced lawn professionals need to complete a single chore is a fraction of the time it would take for you to do the same chore.
Save you Money
In addition to saving you time, hiring professionals to take care of your lawn can save you money too. How? Well, let’s say you’re new in landscaping. What are the odds of buying wrong fertilizers few times in a row until you finally find the right one for your grass type? Or if you forget to water your lawn on schedule, which would eventually turn brown and die? How many tools and equipment that you will need on a daily basis are you required to buy? The odds are definitely not in your favor and you shouldn’t take your chances with your lawn when there’s this cost-effective option of hiring experts. The lawn maintenance service providers have all the resources and the cost of their professional services are definitely lower than purchasing all the resources by yourself.
Bigger Chances of Making Your Lawn a Standout
Due to their vast of experience and knowledgeable hands, experts can give you the perfect lawn you’ve been longing for and make it a standout in your landscape. They not only know how to push a mower, but they know everything that’s best for your exact type of grass. In addition to their experience, lawn care pros are also full of ideas and clear vision for all types of landscapes. Therefore, they can take your lawn a step further than just a healthy and beautiful lawn – they can help make your landscape a little place of heaven on Earth.
You know you haven’t paid much attention to your lawn when you see your neighbor’s healthy, shiny grass that looks like a green carpet. Then you start wondering where did you go wrong and why your lawn doesn’t look like that, while it’s rather simple – you haven’t been maintaining your lawn properly or not maintaining it at all.
With the temperature rising and the sun sticking around longer in spring, your lawn is actively growing and starts requiring a lot more care than in any other season. Lawn maintenance may not be the most attractive activity you can do on a sunny day, but it is a must for those of you who want to do their part in turning your neighborhood into the Shire. You don’t need a green thumb to keep all things in your garden neat, but you surely need the stubbornness, the will and the wisdom of Bilbo Baggins. I can help you with the latter by providing you 4 great tips on how to properly maintain your lawn. So let’s get started.
Read some of our other articles about landscaping & lawn maintenance tips:
As moving is vital for our optimal health, mowing is the key to good-looking and healthy lawn. Just because it is simple, many gardeners underestimate the importance of mowing. Mowing incorrectly, not mowing regularly and mowing too often are common mistakes. To get your lawn healthy and attractive, first you will need to find out how often should you mow it. Next, do a little research to find out the right height at each season, which heavily depends on your grass type. Also, make sure your mower blade is sharp, because otherwise, you may tear the grass, not cut it, and make it more prone to diseases. The height of cut is also very important and it varies depending on few factors: grass type, time of year and weather conditions.
Water Your Lawn the Right Way
Another essential factor in growing a healthy and gorgeous lawn is proper watering. It is yet another obvious tip, especially for experienced gardeners, but its importance goes beyond their pride. By proper watering, you will not only benefit your grass, but you will also save yourself some time and some cash. If you feed and mow your grass properly, you will water it less, as it is much more likely to have strong deep roots that can find water better. Also, grass doesn’t need a lot of water, as it takes advantage of rains. When Mother Nature doesn’t provide enough rain, however, just wait for your grass to dull in color. Make sure you water early in the morning when the sun is not so hot and cannot cause water loses to evaporation. If you’re not a morning person, find a water timer at your local store or online and set it to water your grass automatically at the best time in the morning. Convenience at its finest!
Check and Adjust Your Soil pH for Healthy Grass
Lawn maintenance does not only include taking care of the grass, but of the soil too. Soil pH affects the availability of nutrients to your grass. Your grass heavily depends on the soil acidity level (pH), which is why you must check it regularly and adjust it accordingly as well. One common mistake is assuming that the soil has the right pH just by looking black and rich. To check your soil pH, take an example from your garden and take it to your local extension service for testing. If the testing discovers too much acidity, add lime to increase alkalinity and reach the ideal pH for lawn, which ranges from 6.0 to 7.2. If the testing finds too much alkalinity, then add sulfur to increase the acidity and so adjust the pH according to the target. After 3 months, take an example for testing again to check if your soil needs to be treated once again.
Aerate Your Lawn Annually
Aerating is also important, as it is the most efficient way to refresh your grass when it gets too compacted. Over time, the soil becomes compacted and so reduces the air holes in it, which are the only way the roots of your grass can get nutrients and water. Needless to say, this can affect your lawn’s health, so it must be prevented. There are many ways you can aerate your lawn, but the very essence is to poke holes in your lawn and let the air do the job. But before you start poking holes, make sure the soil has enough moist. Growing season is the best time for aeration, because it’s when the grass can heal best and fill in those open areas quickly.
We do not claim that these 4 tips will allow you to make your garden look like it belongs in the Shire, but if you want to achieve something like that, they can surely give you a great start!
Allow our professional teams take care of your lawn and make it look green and shiny like you’ve always wanted. Use our preseason discount – 20% OFF first month on any weekly lawn maintenance service. Claim offer here!
