Lawn Care

As many of you I am a homeowner as well and have the same issues all of you have with finding quality contractors and knowing when and how to do things you want to tackle by yourself. I typically like to do my own fertilizer program instead of opting for a company to do so. Since I am the "sprinkler guy" on the street my yard should look the part, right? I decided when I put the yard in to sod the backyard and side of drive and to hydroseed my frontyard.

There were two main reasons for the sod:
I have a dog
I was planning a party and needed the backyard to look finished asap

The front I knew which seed mix I wanted so I had the front sprayed with hydroseed

And of course all of this was in the middle of the summer, but hey I am a sprinkler guy so the middle of the summer should not affect anything, right? Long story short, don't seed your lawn in the middle of the summer and don't sod your lawn in any shaded area and don't sod your lawn if you don't plan on being aware of the higher level of long term care that it needs along with the additional water it needs to look perfect. I am going on 4 years since I put my lawn in and the seeded part looks picture perfect and the sodded lawn looks average and the sod did not make it were the lawn got majority shade throughout the day. Anyway my fertilizer program consists of 8 applications plus one or two extra applications of iron strictly for color. I have also started to aerate twice a year which is more then what is recommended. Anyone else that takes pride in doing their own lawn, feel free to share any tips or suggestions.

So today Thursday March 26th 2009 I am starting with my first fertilizer application.