The days are getting shorter and temperatures are finally starting to cool down. While you’re pulling out winter clothes and holiday decorations, have you thought about preparing your lawn for cold weather? Now is the time! With proper care now, your lawn will come back strong in the spring. Check out these tips from Alternative Environments in Villa Rica, GA.

• • Mow Smart. The trick here is to keep mowing your lawn through the fall, but lower the blade so that more sunlight can reach your grass.
  • Plant Perennials. If you plant these now, they will have time to establish themselves before spring, when they’ll burst into colorful life! Check out some of our favorites.
  • Control Invaders. Weeds and fallen leaves can cause havoc in your yard anytime, but especially if left unchecked in the winter. Leaves can cause mold and fungus and provide a home for pests. The fewer weeds you allow to get established now, the fewer weeds you’ll have to deal with in the spring.
  • The Most Important Words. Three words apply in the fall: aerate, seed, fertilize! Fertilizing is especially important. While the stems of grass won’t grow much during the winter, the roots will! Fertilizing now means that the roots get the bulk of nutrients, so they can become well-established.

When you’re ready to prepare your lawn for cold weather, give the lawn care experts at Alternative Environments a call. We’ve been doing this a long time, and we know how to do it well! Contact us now for a great yard in the spring.

September is upon us! Now is the best time to core aerate and over-seed your fescue lawn, when the grass is growing most rapidly. At Alternative Environments in Villa Rica, GA, we offer core aeration and great customer service. But why is this service so important for your lawn?  Fescue grass is comparatively low-maintenance: it needs less watering, less mowing, and less fertilizing. On the other hand, it doesn’t germinate automatically, so it must be reseeded each year. Before you can do that, you need to prep the soil with extra water and nutrients. Especially after a summer of hot weather, rain and lots of time spent playing on the lawn, soil can get very compact and hard. Since Georgia soil tends to be hard and contain a lot of clay, aeration is vital! If it’s not loosened, water, fertilizer, and new seeds won’t reach the right depths to do any good–they will just sit on the surface and get washed away. Loosening soil also makes it easier for roots to reach down deep. That’s where aeration comes in! Core aeration is the process of poking hundreds of holes in soil to loosen it. Aerating in the fall allows your cool-weather grass to establish roots and flourish in the spring, thus lessening the harsh effects of hot summer weather on your lawn.  At Alternative Environments, we take pride in all our services and products. Contact us today to set up your aeration appointment and let’s get to work on your lawn!

With fall just around the corner, the armyworm invasion is imminent. Each year as summer wanes, these turfgrass pests go on the march, destroying lawns with their voracious appetites. Armyworms cause significant damage to newly planted sod and sprigged grass. While the damage caused to establish turf is mostly aesthetic, it can destroy a summer of careful landscaping. Are you prepared for the armyworm invasion?

Everything You Need to Know about Armyworms

• Adult armyworm moths are most active at night. Female armyworms lay a minimum of 50 eggs and can lay as many as a few hundred. Within several days these eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the best leaves available: your lawn.
• Larvae feed for 2 to three weeks before pupating, during which time they consume huge swatches of grass.
• Heat drives off armyworms. They’re most active in late summer and early fall, resting during the day and becoming active in early mornings and evenings. Cooler weather causes armyworms to become more active during the day.
• According to some UGA Cooperative Extension agents, this summer may bring the worst armyworm infestation in 25 years.
• The best way to spot armyworm damage is to pay close attention to the lawn. Young armyworms often eat leaves in areas that aren’t immediately apparent, causing significant lawn damage before they’re found. It’s especially easy to overlook armyworms in thick, healthy grass.

Stop the armyworm invasion in its tracks. Alternative Environments offers a fast-acting, effective armyworm treatment that kills both active armyworms and grubs that aren’t yet active. Call our offices for the best armyworm prevention in Villa Rica.

We’re in that sweet spot when all your lawn needs to thrive is regular mowing and a whole lot of water. Summer is the time to enjoy your yard. It’s the perfect season for backyard cookouts, lawn games with the kids, and evenings of relaxation. But to enjoy your yard in high summer, you have to put in the work during the rest of the year. Ensure your yard stays lush and healthy with Alternative Environments’ seasonal lawn care guide.

Summer

• Watch out for grubs. They go after your plants’ tender root systems in early summer.
• Adjust your mower blades to 3 inches and mow frequently.
• Manually remove any weeds that have slipped past your pre-emergent herbicides.
• Water deeply and infrequently to allow water to reach your lawn’s roots. Healthy lawns need about 1 inch of water per week. Water early in the morning or at sunset to minimize evaporation.
• Look for pooling water after summer storms. These indicate irrigation issues you’ll need to address in the future.
• Clean underneath your lawn mower once a month to prevent diseases from spreading.

Fall

• Patch any dead or bare areas in the yard.
• Keep the yard clear of debris.
• Aerate and overseed the lawn if you didn’t do so in the spring.
• Only fertilize the lawn early in the season. Fertilizing in late autumn jumpstarts growth just as the grass enters dormancy, which increases the risk of winter injury.

Winter

• Keep the lawn clean of debris.
• Minimize lawn traffic, which damages dormant grass.
• Don’t forget to water your lawn in the winter. It needs less moisture than it does in the summer, but the grass still needs adequate hydration.

Spring

• Sharpen mower blades. Dull blades will tear the grass, opening it up to further damage and disease.
• Tune your mower to ensure it runs smoothly all summer. Check your spark plug and air filter.
• Refill the gas. First drain old gas, which can get watered down and damage your mower’s engine.
• Clean up winter debris. This will help your lawn grow without dead patches.
• Apply pre-emergent herbicides to stop weeds before they sprout.
• Fertilize your lawn just before the start of growing season.
• Aerate and overseed your grass to keep it in peak health.

Keeping your lawn healthy can take up a lot of time. If you’re too busy to care for your lawn, call Alternative Environments. We’ll schedule regular lawn service to keep your yard in great health all year.

Keeping your yard lush and green through the hot Georgia summer can seem like an uphill battle, but it doesn’t have to be. With a little bit of work and a few handy tricks, you can keep your lawn lush, green and beautiful all summer long.

Watering

Watering seems straight forward, but you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of the water you give your grass. Avoid watering during peak sun hours. Watering early in the day and before it gets too hot allows the water to get down into the soil and root system. If you have an irrigation system with a timer, make sure you set the start time between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and let it run for 30 minutes.

Mowing

Mowing is an essential part of keeping your grass healthy, but it can also be mildly stressful for your lawn. Mowing during the hours of peak heat can compound the stress and effect the overall health of your lawn. It’s also important to make sure you don’t cut your grass too short. St. Augustine grass and other similar species commonly found in Georgia should never be cut lower than 3-4 inches. Your best bet is to set your mower blade to the highest possible setting and mow your grass once a week at most.

Insecticide

Insects kill more lawns than possibly anything else. And while insecticides are an important factor in keeping your yard green, there are a lot of different options to choose from. At Alternative Environments, we can help you find the perfect solution for your yard, whether you want an organic method, eco-friendly sprays, or pellets. For more information on how to keep your grass vibrant and beautiful all year long, give us a call today!