Hiring A Lawn Care Company
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Maintaining an attractive, healthy lawn can be a time consuming job. Many people choose to forego this work and hire a professional lawn care company. If you choose this option, it is very important to hire them for their lawn care expertise and not a specific treatment or application program. Avoid lawn care programs that regularly apply pesticides whether or not pests or weeds are present.
It's smart to hire an expert
By retaining the services of an experienced, informed and knowledgeable lawn care expert you are assured that your lawn will benefit from an overall strategy that focuses on prevention, monitoring, best practices, the integration of a number of different treatment techniques and follow up. Your lawn will be healthier and stronger because of a combination of strategies rather than a reliance on a single strategy.
Find out about the services they offer
Lawn care companies offer a wide range of services including fertilizer application, de-thatching, core aeration, over-seeding, mowing, trimming, weed control and insect control. These services can be purchased individually or combined in a lawn care program.
A number of firms in Niagara Region provide pesticide-free services or follow the Integrated Pest Management standard, so inquire about these programs.
Integrated Pest Management works best in the long term
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) stresses pest prevention as its first principle and manages pest problems by the following principles:
- Good soil, with ample depth and organic matter, and improved drainage in wet areas will help prevent problems
- Regular inspections will give you early warning of potential problems. Be sure you correctly identify a pest or problem since beneficial insects may be mistaken for pests. Identifying the pest will help you decide if and when you need to apply a treatment.
- Accept that a few weeds or insect pests won't noticeably harm a healthy lawn. Don't be alarmed at the first sign of a pest. It is not necessarily a threat to your lawn.
- Attacking pest problems from several fronts is often more effective. For example, if chinch bugs are a problem, you can de-thatch the lawn with stiff rake, keep it well watered, increase the mowing height, keep nitrogen fertilization to a minimum, and overseed with grass varieties that are resistant to chinch bugs. Such a combination of tactics will make it difficult for this pest to thrive.
- Pesticides may be used in an Ip.m. program but only when inspection of the lawn reveals that there is a problem and only use a treatment as a last resort. If pesticides are used, they should only be applied to the area of the lawn that is being affected by the pest.
Ask questions
Find out as much as you can about the lawn care companies you are considering. The more you know about their experience, services and track record, the more confident you will be in your final decision.
Aside from basic questions about cost, ask the following as well:
SOURCE: Region of Waterloo