Proudly Serving Cumberland County NJ and the Surrounding Areas                     

Accepting new clients Both Private and Commerical for the 2020 season! 

908-614-3845  or email uridgeway@sparrowlandscapes.com

NJ CERTIFIED FERTILIZER APPLICATOR   ID# C0051330

                             Both Private and Commerical. 

  


 


 

Making Your Yard Beautiful!

Landscaping Tips

Let's remember... this is your lawn, your home and in some ways it's an extension of you and your personality. Most of us want to look our best and so should your lawn. Here are a few suggestions to truly make your lawn look beautiful.


 

 

  

 

Rock Gardens

Tired of your mulch bed? Worried about conserving water and sick of weeding flower beds? Rock gardens provide visual and textural contrast to your lawn and existing mulch beds. They require little water or maintenance.

Rain Gardens

Unlike traditional flower beds, these gardens utilize rain water runoff from your roof to naturally water your plants and help reduce erosion by allowing water to slowly seep into the ground.

Using select plants these gardens make a unique landscape setting and attract many birds and butterflies. Best of all it helps the environment by reducing water consumption and in return saving you money. We all like that!

Flowers and Shrubs

Adding flowers and shrubs to any lawn is an automatic upgrade an can provide color all season long.

Landscape Walls

Building Stone or wooden landscape walls can provide a dramatic contrast between your lawn and beds. Walls can also aid against erosion and hold mulch in place.  

Renovating Your Old Lawn

 

Most lawns will have a long and healthy life if properly cared for. However, some older lawns will start to show wear from people, pets, weeds, and the elements. Lawn renovation is the process of repairing your lawn from simple repairs such as dead spots, to more complex problems that may require replanting.

Lawn Renovating can be broken down into several types:

- Total Renovation

- Aerating 

- Dethatching

- Dead-Spot Replacement

- Leveling Bumps and Depressions

The amount of renovation you require will depend on your needs.  

 

 

 

 Total Renovation

If your lawn is beyond minor repairs or is simply not what you want it to be, you may want to replace it. Total renovation is the process of killing-off any existing grass and weeds in your lawn and starting over.

Aerating

The need for aerating a lawn generally stems from soil compaction from heavy use such as foot traffic, automobiles, etc.. Typically, the more clay you have in your soil, the more susceptible your lawn is to compacting. If you are having trouble growing your lawn in high traffic areas where people often play/walk, etc., then you may need to simply aerate your lawn once or twice a year.

Dethatching


Dethatching is the process of removing thatch from your lawn. Thatch is a layer of grass stems, roots, clippings, and debris that settle on the ground and either slowly decompose and/or accumulate over time. Thatch buildup is commonly found in lawns where grass has grown tall, mulch is frequently left, and lawns that have never been aerated. If your lawn seems unusually slow in responding to waterings, fertilizing, and reseeding, then dethatching may be needed. Thatch is most common in warm-season and with creeping grasses such as Bermuda, Zoyia, Bent grass, and Kentucky Bluegrass.

Dead-Spot Replacement


If your lawn has a few dead spots that don't seem to respond to watering, mowing, etc. any more, then it may be time to replace them. Most spots are caused by simple wear and tear for people, pets, cars, etc.. However, in some cases it could be the cause of a pest or a lawn disease. The first step in answering this question is to simply put two and two together. If the spots are where your kids play, you accidentally spilled fertilizer, people walk, your pet urinates, or cars pass over, then your answer is pretty clear. However, if spots seem to appear for no logical reason, then you could have a problem with pests or diseases.

Leveling Bumps and Depressions


If your lawn has a few bumps or depressions that seem to take away from the beauty of your lawn, then may want to level them out. Most bumps are caused by poor planting and grading, poor settling, and/or wood that has decomposed below the lawn surface. However, if you have a new lawn and the bumps are everywhere, then you may need to have it rolled to better even it out.

When to Consider Overseeding Your Lawn

 

There are many good reasons to consider overseeding your lawn. It is an excellent natural way to reduce the number of weeds in your lawn. It is a good solution for thin lawns, to make them fuller and more lush looking. Overseeding your lawn can fill in any bare patches, and provide a soft green background for all the landscaping around your house.

Overseeding to reduce weeds:

Overseeding to reduce weeds is one of the easiest and most natural ways to reduce weeds in your lawn. Grass seeds germinate and grow earlier than most of the weeds do in the spring. If you overseed your lawn in the fall the new grass will crowd out most of the weeds attempting to grow in your lawn. This means that you no longer need to worry about pre-emergent weed killers or other weed removal methods. Simply apply a new layer of grass seed in the fall and spring will find you with a fuller, greener, weed free lawn.

Overseeding your lawn to reduce thin spots:

Seeding your lawn in the spring or fall can help to fill in any areas where the grass is thin. If you fertilize your lawn and apply a plant food such as Soil Booster Blend a week before you overseed it will allow time for the soil to absorb the nutrients without burning the new grass as it emerges. Some people recommend overseeding in the fall as this also reduces the weeds in your lawn, but it is just as effective if you overseed in the spring. Plus you get to enjoy the fuller, thicker lawn immediately instead of having to wait for spring to see the result. Just be sure to allow grass to remain at least 3 inches long after mowing, this allows the new grass to develop a nice deep root systems that will ensure healthy grass for years to come.

Overseeding your lawn to fill in bare patches:

Seeding your lawn to fill in bare patches can be done in two ways. Some people prefer to overseed only the area where bare patches have occurred. Other people see this as a good time to go over the whole yard with a new layer of seed. Either method can benefit your lawn. If the rest of your lawn is full and weed free then you may want to consider just filling in the bare area with a patch kit like, Lawn Patch Repair Kit. However, if you have noticed a general thinning of your lawn in general you may want to overseed the whole lawn.

This process can have many benefits from fewer weeds to a more lush appearance. It is a fairly inexpensive method to repair bare patches and thinning areas in your lawn and provides a beautiful background for the rest of your landscaping. Even the most beautifully done hardscaping needs a background to stand out against to allow it to show to the best advantage.