When it comes to your home lawn in Northern Virginia, you might wonder what kind of care it needs to thrive each year, so it can grace your home with thick, green grass that boosts your curb appeal and outdoor fun.
How many lawn care treatments should you receive? What treatments should those lawn care visits include? What, specifically, does your lawn need, and how do these products help?
While you may know your grass could benefit from regular maintenance, you might not know exactly what various lawn care applications do and how they benefit your lawn.
In fact, if you are thinking about hiring a professional lawn care service provider in Northern Virginia, you might be curious about the lawn care products professionals use.
We get it. It can be confusing. We’re here to help you eliminate the guesswork so you can get a better idea of what lawn chemicals do and which ones should be a part of your lawn care program.
Explaining Lawn Care Services
What do lawn care services in Northern Virginia do?
Lawn care services and lawn care programs refer to the fertilization, weed control, insect control, and aeration or soil amendment services that are all meant to improve the quality of your home lawn.
Lawn care services are those individual applications or care approaches, such as fertilization, that a service technician performs on your property. A lawn care program is a collection of these services that are grouped into a package that is best suited to your specific needs.
What you really want for your lawn is a lawn care program, which can get you the best all-around care. This way you are learning what your lawn needs throughout the year versus just picking and choosing random services when you remember that you might need them.
Since your lawn requires regular and consistent care, opting for a package can help you save time and money and get professional eyes on your property on a frequent basis. This can help you stay ahead of any problems or issues and keep your lawn healthy and growing strong.
Also, the reasons packages make sense is because many lawn care services complement each other. For instance, adjusting your soil pH with lime applications can enable your lawn to better absorb fertilizer, so those fertilization applications become more effective.
What is Included in Lawn Care Services in Northern Virginia?
As we said above, lawn care programs are groups of services strategically offered together to benefit you and your lawn.
And while many lawn care packages may seem similar, you will notice some variation between different programs as you review offerings from one company to another.
So if you’re comparing a few companies offering lawn care services in Northern Virginia, you’ll need to take time to look at their websites and ask them what their programs include. Then you can compare those companies’ offerings side by side.
Many companies will offer a few different packages so you can choose what kind of program works best for your lawn.
A Look Inside Standard Lawn Care Service Packages
What do lawn care companies spray on lawns? At a minimum, standard lawn care services will include:
- Lawn fertilization, which is the application of professional grade fertilizer at the right times with the correct amount of nutrients to improve your lawn.
- Customized weed control, which uses preventive and curative herbicides to tackle different weeds at specific times of the year, including pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide applications from spring through fall.
- A soil test, which will give your lawn care provider insight into the soil your lawn is growing in and tell them whether lime applications are necessary for improving your soil pH and therefore enabling your lawn to actually better absorb nutrients, water, and oxygen.
- Maintenance lime applications to improve your soil. However, if your soil is extremely poor in quality and requires a more corrective lime application, that can sometimes be offered as an additional service.
- Turf disease and insect inspections, where your lawn care service provider will survey your lawn during each visit and make sure he or she doesn’t find any signs of problems that might need additional attention.
Beyond these package basics, there will be lawn care programs with additions, such as preventive grub control, surface-feeding insect control, core aeration, overseeding, and topdressing.
What Chemicals Do Lawn Care Companies Use: Fertilizer
Lawn care is a science. As such, it takes the use of scientific principles to get the job of fertilization done.
You can’t make guesses or apply random lawn chemicals and get great results. The work needs to be guided by soil test results, and then the right products must be applied in the proper way and at the correct times to ensure fertilization is successful.
Fertilizer timing is important. Throughout the year, you might receive quite a few fertilizer applications – and you can’t miss a timing window just because you don’t feel like it or because you’re busy.
Lawn care professionals apply only the exact amount of fertilizer that lawns need each time, using specialized equipment to get the job done. They are trained to use them properly and receive a license to do the job using best practices. This maximizes lawn fertilization results.
What Chemicals Do Lawn Care Companies Use: Weed Control
Your lawn will receive a mix of pre-emergent and post-emergent weed control applications among the lawn care products that professionals use.
Pre-emergent products tend to be used at certain times of the year to keep specific weeds from emerging. Post-emergent products are used after weeds emerge to stop them in their tracks and eliminate them from your lawn.
When used properly and according to label directions, as well as applied by a trained and experienced hand, these products are very targeted and safe for use on your lawn.
What Chemicals Do Lawn Care Companies Use: Grub Control
Receiving a preventive grub control treatment as part of your lawn care services in Northern Virginia in early summer is the best time to target white grubs when they are young enough to control and before they damage your grass.
Since grubs can be a problem in this area, this service might be necessary on local lawns with grub problems.
Looking For the Best Lawn Care Services in Northern Virginia? Try Turf’s Up
You want to feel confident that your lawn is getting what it needs to thrive, and the lawn care products professional use can certainly help.
When companies don’t package various services into one program, you might feel like you’re in more control because you can pick and choose what you want, but how do you know what you need? Your time is valuable. Do you have the time to learn every scientific nuance that is involved in proper lawn care?
You want to work with a company that can help educate you so you feel in control of what lawn chemicals are being used on your grass. If you find yourself wondering what products are being applied and how your lawn is responding, you should be able to talk to your lawn care service provider and learn more.
When you adopt a lawn care program, trained technicians are looking at your grass at regular intervals, so you have expert eyes on your property to alert you to any issues.
You want to hire a company in Northern Virginia that makes you confident you’re doing the right things for your lawn and that you’re getting the results you want. Your service provider should be doing this for you so you can focus on spending time on your lawn.
Not receiving this type of service? Let Turf’s Up help. We want to ensure you make the most informed and best decision for you. We are happy to take the time to assist you in comparing programs so you can see what a professional lawn care program includes and how it can help your lawn.
Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for lawn care services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn.
Image Source: Grub
