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Even though your lawn may look great now with all of the rain and cool weather we have been having, keeping that fresh green look going strong for next season requires proper fall care and maintenance now. Looks can be deceiving, and while your yard may appear healthy, heavy and wet soils are especially prone to compaction, which is one of the main causes of most common lawn problems. Fortunately, routine maintenance and care for your lawn, whether done yourself or with a lawn care professional, can prepare the lawn for winter and the coming spring.

Thin spots and compaction

• Thin spots in the lawn are often the result of soil compaction, which in itself, is a leading cause of just about every major lawn problem found in our area, including weed infestation and discoloration. Your best defense against weeds of all types is a full, lush lawn. This means keeping the mower setting high — 3 to 4 inches is ideal. Often people tend to scalp their lawns by mowing at a height of 1 to 2 inches. This allows weed infestation, soil compaction, and other lawn related problems. Thin sports form quick when the lawn is mowed to short.  Lawn Aeration is a simple way to get more air into the soil to reduce soil compaction and strengthen the root system for your grass (Beautiful Blooms offers lawn aeration in the fall) 

Overseeding, Reseeding, fertilizing

• Fall is a good time to do overseeding in your lawn, this is the time to try and help...

As summer heat conditions begin to set in here in Wisconsin, you may be concerned about what effect this could have on your lawn. During extreme heat and droughts, it's normal for a lawn to go dormant this time of year, here are some tips to help get a head start on summer lawn maintenance. 

1.Be sure to repair any pathy or bald spots in your grass. Before the heat of summer sets in, you’ll want your lawn to be filled in well. Repair your lawn by sprinkling seed in the late spring and thoroughly watering until they begin to sprout. This will help keep the roots from getting scorched by the summer sun. If there are many pathy spots in your lawn, or spots that are rather large, overseeding may be a better solution.

2.Overseeding is the process of sprinkling grass seed over your entire lawn. The benefits of this include, creating a denser, fuller lawn, evening out the color of your grass, preventing weeds from germinating within the lawn, and is an efficient way to fill in bare or patchy spots. This process of overseeding should be done in the fall to give grass seeds time to germinate and take root before winter arrives.

3.Raise the height of your mower blades. Leaving your lawn a little longer in the Summer will help it survive heat and drought conditions. Longer grass will shelter the soil, helping keep it cool and moist for longer. Especially during the warm summer months, you should keep the lawn at a height of about 3.5-4...

Summer is an important time of year for both your lawn and landscape, so make sure you do not neglect them during this season. At Beautiful Blooms, LLC, we tend to yards across Wauwatosa, Brookfield, Elm Grove, Pewaukee, and more throughout Wisconsin.

Learn more about four of the must-have services for your lawn and landscape this summer.

1. Consistent lawn mowing is absolutely vital.

Your grass needs to be mowed consistently throughout the entire growing season. Without a proper mowing schedule, it may grow to be too tall and you could end up cutting off more of it than is recommended. Especially during the warm summer months, you should keep the lawn at a height of about 3.5-4 inches so that the grass can protect the soil and its roots from the heat of the summer sun. This is vital, otherwise the soil and roots can end up getting scorched.

2. Install mulch to keep plants protected.

Many appreciate mulch for its aesthetic appeal in a landscape bed, but it also has many other benefits. If you did not get mulch installed in the spring, then you need to have it put in during the summer for a few reasons:

• The mulch will insulate the plants, keeping the roots cooler from the sun.
• It will also help to retain moisture so that water does not evaporate away before the plants can absorb that much needed moisture.
• Mulch works to prevent weed growth, and those plants can sap up nutrients that your landscape plants need.

When you invest time and money into your lawn, it’s important to keep that investment maintained. Not keeping up with regular lawn maintenance leads to several health issues for your lawn and surrounding plants. One of the best ways you can ensure your lawn stays maintained is with a full-service lawn maintenance package.

Full-service lawn maintenance packages save you time and money, keep your lawn healthy, and prevent diseases and pest infestation. Here are some ways your lawn can benefit from full-service lawn maintenance packages in Brookfield, Elm Grove, Wauwatosa, Pewaukee, and the surrounding areas.

Our Full-Service Lawn Maintenance Package Saves You Time & Money

Yard cleanups can be pricey, and when you pay money to have your yard renovated but don’t follow up with routine lawn maintenance, your yard slowly reverts back to its disheveled and unhealthy state. Infrequent lawn maintenance can cause serious damage to your yard, costing you more money in the long run to repair the damage. When your lawn doesn’t receive routine maintenance it becomes prone to disease, starvation, pest infestation, drought, nutrient loss, and many other health risks. With a full-service lawn maintenance package, your lawn will continue to stay healthy and look great while saving you time and money.

Fertilizer and weed control application step #3

The third step of the fertilizer and weed control program will be starting next week.  For most lawns, due to the amount of natural rainfall that we have experienced, the grass is still actively growing.  As long as the lawn is growing and not showing signs of going dormant then this application is important and will be made. 

IF by the time we come to your property to make this application the weather pattern has changed significantly (too hot, or too dry) we may adjust or skip the amount of fertilizer applied.  Mike and Justin will only apply product to your lawn if it is the right thing to do—based on current and forecasted conditions, not just because your name is on the list.

Before I started working with Beautiful Blooms, I had never really paid attention to frost, I just knew that my lavender plants would get fussy after a harsh winter. During the beginning of spring, we typically start an hour later than we would during the summer. The crews come in on time, load up their trucks, and are eager to head out to fulfill their tasks for the day. One morning, after our daily “morning meeting”, Loriena gave a little lecture on frost. She explained to the crew why it’s important to stay off our client’s grass until the sun has come up and melted the frost. She explained how frost can form and how to avoid damaging lawns and other plant material. Continue Reading…

Post to blog article on website: The temperature can be perfect for frost, she explained, but if it’s overcast and windy, frost either won’t occur or it will be light. But this doesn’t mean the grass cannot freeze, or form ice. It is important to keep off grass that has a heavy frost, especially when the height is kept short.
Here’s the easiest way I can describe why it’s best to keep off frozen lawns. When you walk on frost or frozen grass, you can literally break the grass blades. It is no different than if you dropped a full glass of water on a hard floor. The glass breaks and all the contents leak out. In the case of turf we break the cell membranes which causes internal damage to the plant. This typically results in...

Does a warmer winter mean more pests to manage during spring and summer?  Actually, there are a few other factors to consider before concluding this theory.

1. Insects that overwinter below ground (Japanese beetle grubs) might not be affected by a mild winter because soil temperatures tend to be more constant. If the frost layer is deep, the survival rate may be lower.  If the frost line is shallow, there may be more survivors.
    
2. Temperature is the key to all insect development. Have you seen a slow moving fly a few weeks ago, on a warm winter day? The higher winter temperatures “wake up” and activate the insects such as the common house fly, or woolly bear (caterpillar). They are using up stored fats they depend on to survive until the spring. Without access to food, these active insects could starve to death before food becomes available.
    
3. Most insects adapt to cold winters by slowly preparing in the fall and staying dormant until the spring. Therefore, large temperature swings can be detrimental to insects… (There was at least one day this winter, from what I remember, where the temperature dropped a total of 50 degrees within just two days!).  We could expect some insect mortality due to cold intolerance when regularly fluctuating from 0-50 degrees.

Who should have aeration done on their home lawns?

You are probably wondering to yourself, “Do I need to have lawn aeration performed on my lawn?”. As a general rule, I recommend aeration to all of my customers whose lawns I manage.  Some lawns are in greater need of aeration than others, but it will be beneficial for all lawns. I feel it is part of a complete lawn management program and should be done on an annual basis for most lawns.

What is aeration?

For people that do not know what lawn aeration is, I always mention golf course greens. If you have ever played golf in the fall on most golf courses, you might see all the half-inch diameter holes in the green. These holes are from an aerator, where they have removed the plug of turf and soil from the green. On a golf course these cores need to be picked up because obviously putting would be impossible if the cores were left on the green. Here is an example of what the aerator and the cores look like.

Aeration is basically the process of removing plugs of soil and turf from the lawn. An aerator operates much like a walk behind mower. It travels across the surface of the lawn with 3-4” long hollow tines spaced a few inches apart that pull the soil core out of the ground. Those cores are left on the surface of the lawn to naturally break down. Unlike on a golf green, picking up the cores is not necessary in a home lawn and we actually want the cores to break down and fall back into the...

Brewer’s opening day, snow mounds are vanishing, song birds in the morning, & your landscape reveals animal damage from the brutal winter.  You have been patiently waiting all winter for your tulips, daffodils, shrubs and trees to flower.  Guess what?  So have the deer and rabbits!

Beautiful Blooms encourages BOBBEX applications early in spring, so the tender new growth in your landscape won’t be the midnight snack for the Easter Bunny!  It’s a repellent who’s ingredients are safe and natural for humans AND pets; but still disrupts the foraging patterns of deer, rabbits, and other herbivores.   BOBBEX will not wash off in the rain, but throughout the spring, it needs to be applied every 10-14 days because of accelerated plant growth.

New growth is delicious!

If you are concerned about animal pressure in your yard this spring, please feel free to contact us, and we can discuss application options, made by yourself, or Beautiful Blooms Landscape & Design, LLC. 

BOBBEX Retail Pricing 2014 BBLD / MSRP

2014 Retail
32 oz RTU spray bottle $ 15.00 /$ 20.00
48 oz RTU pump spray $ 24.50 /$ 30.00
32 oz concentrate $ 24.50/ $ 30.00
64 oz concentrate $ 42.00 /$ 50.00
2.5 gallon concentrate $ 160.00 /$ 170.00

We are presenting 3 distinct options for all of our clients this year when it comes to lawn care.  In past years, the request for an “Organic” program has increased dramatically and for various other reasons Loriena has adopted the belief that there are better ways to manage our client’s landscapes rather than just ‘dump chemicals’ on them.  However…you will not hear us refer to our programs as “ORGANIC”.  The reason is because in the age we live in, that word — “ORGANIC” –now is a legal term defined by our government in such a way that it is highly regulated and therefore limiting.  We will be using the words “sustainable”, “moderate”, and “conventional” to refer to various programs.  When appropriate, we may use the word “organic” to describe a particular product.  For any program that we refer to as “SUSTAINABLE”, we will follow the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care.  If you have questions about this, please contact Loriena.

Take a peak at the chart of information below.  Please contact us if you are interested in having us provide a quote for one of our lawn health and care management options.  Once the spring weather arrives, we will schedule a time to review your property and proceed accordingly.