Frequently Asked Question

  • What type of grass seed should I buy?

    Choose a grass seed brand that contains a mixture of named patented grass varieties. If your lawn is in the shade, use a mixture formulated for the shade. Areas that will get heavy use should be seeded with a playground mix. The important point is that the mix contain several grass varieties – such as a perennial rye/fine fescue mixture and that the mix is specific for your area. Planting a lawn of all bluegrass or all bent grass is not a good idea.

  • When is the best time of day to water?

    In the Pacific Northwest, morning is the best time to water your lawn. Our cool summer nights invite disease problems on lawns that are watered in the evening or at night.

  • How often do I really need to water my lawn?

    Your lawn would like to get at least one inch of water each week. Just wait until the soil is actually dry before you water. On the rainy coast, this means you may need to water only once a week during the dry months of August and September, and let the rain do the job the rest of the year. Inland, or on the East Side of the coastal mountain range, hot, dry summers mean you may need to water every three to four days. Hand watering with a hose is never effective. You need to soak the top 6 inches of the soil. A good way to check this is to crack open the soil with a shovel and see how far down the water has penetrated.

    You can always decide to let your lawn go dormant during the driest time of the year. It may look brown, but will green up again when the rains return.

  • What can I do about moss in my lawn?

    Moss is an opportunist. It moves in when there is too much shade, poor fertility or too much moisture for the grass to grow thick and healthy. Limb up shade casting tree branches to let in more light, aerate, then add a thin (half inch) sand layer to improve drainage. Fertilize your lawn in the fall and again in the spring using a lawn food containing moss control. Remember that some deeply shaded or moist areas just won’t be able to support a lawn. Give up and enjoy a moss lawn or plant shade tolerant groundcovers such as ajuga, lamium or pachysandra instead. On the coast, plentiful rainfall means the soil is naturally acid which encourages moss. Apply dolomite lime once a year to help sweeten the soil.

  • What can I do about the dandelions in my lawn?

    Well, you could have them for dinner. All parts of the dandelion are edible, as long as they have not been treated with any chemicals. This common lawn weed is actually easy to control. You can dig them out with a screwdriver, sprinkling a handful of lawn seed in the bare spot left behind. Broad leaf weed killers made especially for the lawn are also effective against dandelions. If you use a chemical control, try to treat just the weeds in certain spots rather than spreading weed killer over the entire lawn. This way you will be using less herbicide and minimize the risk of damage to your other plants.

  • What can I do to keep the weeds out of my lawn?

    If you don’t want to use chemical weed killers such as the stuff found in weed and feed, a thick, healthy lawn can crowd out weeds. Avoid scalping the lawn, as mowing too short allows weeds to wiggle in. Aim to keep your grass blades between two and three inches tall, mowing regularly so that you cut the blades, not the stems of the grass. Water deeply, but infrequently. Let the soil dry out between watering so that shallow rooted weeds will die out.

    Overseed a thin lawn to thicken it up and crowd out weeds. Aerate or poke holes into your turf. Clover and dandelions are just two of the weeds that grow in compacted soil. Fertilize each fall and spring with a slow release organic based fertilizer that will improve your soil. Finally, hand dig the worst of the weeds but learn to accept a little variety in the lawn.

  • How often do I need to fertilize my lawn?

    Twice a year is perfect if you choose a slow-release or organic lawn food. Fertilize in September and in mid May. Over fertilized lawns may be dark green, but this a sign of weaker growth that is more prone to disease. If you prefer to fertilize just once a year, feed in the fall.

  • What should I do if I miss a few mowings?

    If it always seems to rain on your day off and you find it difficult to mow as often as you should, don’t go on the warpath and scalp your lawn just because you had to skip a few mowings. Raise the height of the mower instead so that you still remove only one third of the grass blade. Then in a few days try to mow again so that you gradually shorten the grass blades.

  • How often should I mow my lawn?

    Mow once every five to six days depending on the weather. The goal is to never remove more than one third of the grass blade. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we can allow the grass grow three inches tall before mowing. Just say “No” to the low mow. A taller cut helps shade out weeds and also shades the soil to conserve moisture.

  • Why do we use pesticides?

    Pesticides (the generic term for insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) control weeds, insect pests and fungal and other diseases. The benefi t of pesticides lies in their ability to manage a pest (weed, insect or disease) problem that potentially could become out of control and could endanger your health or the health of your family, pets and plants, or threaten the quality of your home, lawn, school or business.

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