Revitalize your property and allow Olympic Landscape Maintenance to manage and care for your turf and planting needs. Our professionals would like to help your landscape maintain a stately appearance. It is important to get a jump on the maintenance of your property before the seasonal rush. Our Maintenance Divisions will maintain and enhance your residence or commercial property all year long. We now provide many new services!

Steps to Maintaining a Weed-Free Lawn

Weeds are defined as a plant growing where it is not desired. We tend to think of weeds as the plants growing in our flowerbed and lawn. Weed management can seem like a never-ending task, but with proper knowledge, your lawn could become virtually weed-free. 

One of the simplest ways to combat weed invasion is with a healthy, vigorous lawn. In a healthy, dense turf, little light reaches the soil surface and weed seedlings do not obtain enough light for photosynthesis. Persistent weed problems are a clear sign of turf health problems.

In order to achieve a healthy lawn, there are several factors involved. First is site conditions. Site conditions include soil quality, depth, drainage and compaction. 

Soil quality has to deal with composition of your soil. Some types of soil include sandy, silty and clay. These conditions have direct impact on water penetration, oxygen availability and organic matter content. Maintenance schedules such as watering, mowing and fertilization are also affected by soil quality.

Soil depth is also a factor in lawn health. A minimum of 6 inches of soil is needed for proper turfgrass development and growth. Twelve inches of soil is recommended for efficient water use. 

Proper drainage in your lawn is very important when preparing you site for seeding. Good drainage decreases plant stress, therefore increasing the plants competitiveness with other weeds. Drainage is also helpful in decreasing fungus and disease from forming with excess water.

Compacted soils allow little water or air penetration, therefore restricting strong rooting. One way to increase water and oxygen penetration is done  by aeration. Aeration is mechanically opening the soil to air movement. This is done by a motorized machine with spikes that poke holes or pull plugs of soil out of your lawn. It is difficult to maintain healthy turf when soil is compacted.

The second factor in achieving a healthy lawn is proper maintenance practices.

Maintenance practices includes mowing, watering and fertilization. After reading the below information, select the Mowing, Watering and Fertilizing buttons above to learn more about each of the subjects.

Mowing affects weed invasion in turf more than any other cultural practice. The two main factors in maintaining healthy turf include:

1) Mowing at the correct height and 
2) Mowing at the correct frequency.

Grass species determines proper growing height. Here in the Pacific Northwest, most lawn are composed of Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue, Ryegrass or a combination of these. These grass types grown the best in this climate, being somewhat wetter and cooler than other areas of the country. Golf courses use a different type of grass, usually bent grass, due to its ability to withstand high traffic and it's fine blades for extremely low mowing heights. With commercial and residential lawns, the recommended mowing height is between 2 and 4 inches. Three inches works well in most cases, but you must be sure not to cut more than 1/3 of the grass blade. Cutting more than this could cause shock to the grass, disrupting it's health and increasing water loss. This is why it is very important to maintain a frequent mowing schedule. Weekly mowing is usually sufficient, but mowing twice a week is not uncommon during peak growing periods. 

Grass height plays an important role in weed maintenance. Cutting grass too low could result in a less competitive and weaker grass, therefore allowing weeds to become established. Infrequent mowing could result in scalping, or cutting too much of the blade at one time, and could result in root dieback, decreasing stand density. 

Watering or irrigation is necessary for both the establishment and the maintenance of your lawn. Lack of watering during establishment is a common cause for weak and dead turf, resulting in weed infestation. On the other hand, over-watering can be just as detrimental and as serious a problem during establishment, as it can promote disease development.

If established turf does not receive adequate water during dry periods (1 to 1-1/2 inches per week), it will become dormant and turn brown. In extreme drought conditions, some grasses will die and must be reseeded or resodded. Once moisture and temperatures reach favorable levels for growth, dormant turf will break dormancy and green up again. The best watering technique to use is once or twice per week, watering enough to penetrate 4 to 6 inches deep. This will help turf roots to grow deep, resulting in a healthier lawn. If you are establishing a lawn, frequent, shallow watering should be implemented in order to keep the grass properly hydrated for initial root growth.

Fertilizing is another important step to building and maintaining a strong, healthy lawn. Most soils just do not have the nutrients needed to produce a thick, green lawn, so manual nutrient application must be done. We use only Scotts Brand Products on our clients lawns, ensuring proper distribution and a calculated time release of essential nutrients. Their patented fertilizers produce a long lasting, green and healthy lawn.

Give us a call to schedule an estimate for your Annual Maintenance Program!
 

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