Lawn-Less Front or Back Yard

Do you love your green grass, but wish you had less to maintain or something additional in the landscape to enjoy? Many homeowners have this feeling but are stuck in the rut of the traditional landscape that is dominated by turf. The good news is that you can have your cake and eat it too by being intentional about where the turf is and where something else could or should be.

Pre and Post Emergence Herbicides – A Key Lawn Maintenance Tool

The best weed control in a lawn is to create a thick, dense turf that naturally outcompetes and prevents weed invasion. There are many steps involved, including proper fertilization, irrigation, species selection, mowing and cultivation. Another useful tool is the use of herbicides.

2025 Gardening Resolutions

Since January in the Midwest is usually not all that favorable for outdoor activities, we can grab the trowel by the handle and think ahead and backwards. Asking the question, “what didn’t go so well last year?” is a good one to springboard forward, or to borrow from the world of personal finance or fitness, to make new gardening resolutions.

Renovate Your Lawn in 10 Steps

Many blog readers like Step-by-Step cookbook instructions. If your lawn is suffering from disease, grubs, weeds, drought, cats, etc., read on. Here’s the prescription:

Dormant Seeding for Lawns

With dormant seeding, the main objective is to get the seeds into the soil when it physically can be done and then remain in a holding pattern until the first rays of the April sun warm the soil and encourage growth. Sure, mid to late April might turn out to be a conducive time as well, but what if it isn’t?

Overseeding Your Lawn

According to our garden calendars, fall is time to overseed our cool-season lawns. Homeowners have been asking a lot of good questions:
• Why overseed and how to do it?
• What about the heat, drought, and water restrictions?
Let’s dig in to overseeding—no shovel required.

Summer Lawn Fertilization

With the often-used phrase of “timing is everything” in mind, early summer lawn fertilization is a key landscape management step.

Watering New Plants

One of the most important factors in getting plants off to a good start is watering.  Overall, the best guidance is to water to the bottom of the roots and to keep the roots of new plants moist, not soggy or dry.  Inserting a screwdriver into the soil will help with determining the moisture content…

Seeing Spots?  Could be the Lawn…

If you’re seeing spots before your eyes, it could be some sort of dizziness syndrome, or it could be that you’re looking at your lawn, and it’s got a particular fungus disease…which shows up as spots. Actually, there are several lawn maladies that show up as spots, but one in particular, especially at this time of year – Dollar Spot.