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Spring Aerating And Overseeding In Eastern Pennsylvania

Spring Aerating And Overseeding In Eastern Pennsylvania

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How important is aeration for your property? The difference in vibrant, healthy grass could sometimes be whether or not you are letting your turf breathe.

What is Aeration and Overseeding?

Aeration is a procedure that uses a machine to remove plugs or soil and then places them on top of the soil surface. By eliminating these plugs, you have all the oxygen to fill in the holes relieving compaction. It is during this time that you should overseed your lawn with beneficial blends of turfgrass. By using newer strands of seed, your lawn will have higher resistance to disease, more exceptional ability to withstand drought, and in most situations, a much healthier and vibrant appearance. Low fertility, in combination with the extreme constant heat of the summer, potential diseases and compaction affect the ability of turf grass to thicken your lawn. All of these stresses will make a lot of sparse areas; some may be small and some big. The overseeding process thickens the lawn by placing new seed, and ultimately new grass plants, into these bare areas.

Spring or Fall Aeration: Which is better?

Traditional thinking has been that fall is the best season to aerate cool season turf, while spring is the season of choice for contractors working warm season turf. In reality, aeration can be beneficial when performed in either season, and that’s the key to integrating it into your service for your customers. Aeration is best performed just before or during periods of high growth, but not immediately preceding or during periods of stress to the lawn, whether from heat or drought. The type of grasses that make up your garden will determine the best time of year to aerate.

In the spring, wait until you’ve mowed the lawn a few times before aerating. This will ensure the grass is growing fast enough to recover and take advantage of the increased pore space and air exchange at the root zone that aeration creates. You can reduce the potential for weed competition and increase the hardiness of the grasses by applying fertilizer and a pre-emergent weed killer following aeration. But don’t use a weed killer if you plan to overseed following aeration, as it will prevent germination of the seed you put down. As for frequency, aeration should be performed at least once per year on most lawns, while twice annually is best for lawns with compacted soil or soil with high clay content.

What To Do Before or After Aeration

Once your lawn is aerated, there are many tips you can follow to encourage the best results for your lawn. These include:

  • Watering after aeration is always a good idea, aeration should never be performed when turf is wet, or the dirt contains enough moisture to be muddy.
  • As mentioned earlier, the application of fertilizer and weed killer is beneficial shortly following aeration, but be sure to skip the weed killer if you’re going to overseed following aeration.
  • Overseeding following aeration makes sense because seeds can take advantage of the disturbed surface to create better seed-to-soil contact.
  • Better seed-to-soil contact means better conditions for successful germination.

For more information on Green Machine Lawn Care‘s Spring Aeration and Overseeding service contact us today!

How To Repair Your Lawn From Grubs

How To Repair Your Lawn From Grubs

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As most people in the Eastern and North Eastern Counties of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bucks, and Montgomery know, grubs are a frequent and often severe problem in Pennsylvania lawns. In Pennsylvania, these grubs are most often the larva of Japanese beetles or Northern masked chafer grubs. Affected gardens become spongy in patches as their roots are gnawed away, and layers of sod can be easily peeled away. The most visible signs of grub damage are patches of dead or dying grass that crop up in early summer or fall. The most extensive grub damage in Pennsylvania lawns takes place between May and June, which is also the best time to treat a lawn for grubs.

Residents and business owners have seen a lot of grub damage this past fall in the Eastern and Northeastern Pennsylvania areas. These grubs feed on grass roots cutting them 1 to 2 inches below the soil surface. This type of injury is most likely to occur during late summer, particularly in August and September and in mid to late spring. Newly damaged grass wilts quickly on hot days. In some cases, a quick, thorough watering will enable the soil or turf to reroot and to survive.

Lawn Grub Control & Treatment

Once you detect Japanese beetle grubs, your method of attack is to use an insecticide. Today, you have a choice of several excellent products to use to prevent grub infestations and damage. They include chlorantraniliproe (Acelepryn), clothianidin (Arena), imidacloprid (Merit), halofenozide (MACH2) and thiamethoxam (Meridian). But not all lawns suffer from grubs, at least not in sufficient numbers to cause noticeable lawn damage. While some lawns are historically more prone to grub damage than others (and clients’ are glad to pay for a preventative chemical application), infestations that result in lawn damage in many cases can be unpredictable and sporadic. They can also be severe, killing large sections of Eastern and Northeastern, PA lawns.

When Should I Treat Grubs?

This first-instar stage is the best time for curative control of grubs. The longer that grubs are allowed to feed, the larger they become, the more lawn damage they do and the more difficult they become to kill.

From first-instar grubs, they molt (shed their skins) and emerge as larger second-instar larvae within several weeks. As they grow, their appetites increase. They molt again in late summer or early fall to become larger, more robust third-instar grubs. At this stage of their development regardless of the product you select and use, grubs are very difficult to control. Green Machine Lawn Care suggests contacting a local lawn care professional to appropriately correct grub damage and rid your lawn of future infestations.

How To Prevent Grubs For A Healthy Lawn?

Tips to make sure grubs don’t ruin your lawn any longer can include:

How To Prevent Grubs For A Healthy Lawn?

In order for the grubs to get into the ground in the first place, the beetle’s need to lay its eggs. As it turns out, they don’t like to do that in long grass. Lawn grubs don’t like to lay eggs in the long grass!You can cut your grass of course, but keeping it relatively long can help you prevent the insects from looking at your property as an incubator. There are other ways of keeping the little lawn pests away, like:

Overseeding Your Lawn

Over-seeding by spring and early fall are much healthier than overeating, and in this case, it can be extremely beneficial for the general health of your lawn. Again, grubs aren’t just a problem; they attract problems. When these pests eat your plants’ roots only to end up as the food of an animal that will do equally big damage to your garden, well, that’s pretty much the worst case scenario as far as grub infestations go. By overseeding your lawn during the spring and early fall, the grass will merely be too dense and thick for the beetles to find it accommodating.

 

Fertilizing Your Lawn A Valuable Ally

When it comes to insect-related plant problems, fertilization can be a precious ally. People tend to fear this process these days, but in reality, it is still the most potent weapon against specific pests. The fertilization process itself should be done in two phases for maximal efficiency, the first phase during the fall months, and the second phase of the early spring lawn care season.

If possible, putting down a layer of dead leaves (leaf mulching) after the first phase is ideal, that way you will maximize the fertilizer’s effect during the winter months.

Water The Lawn Is Not Always Good

Lawn grub eggs have a dirty little secret, without enough water, they cannot hatch.

While it’s true that your lawn needs to be frequently watered during the hottest months, and coincidentally the grub eggs hatch around the same time (early August), you can circumvent this problem by changing your watering schedule. See, your lawn is utterly beautiful with getting a lot of water at once, instead of you spanning your watering activities over several days. If the eggs do not get constant moisture, their chances of ever hatching will reduce significantly.

Applying A Beetle Grub Poison

Fertilization can help you prevent the problem while poisoning is a measure of the times when you realize that the grub eggs have already been laid down. Certain garden chemicals contain potent – but to humans not dangerous – chemicals, like imidacloprid or halofenozide. Merit insecticide [amazon] is a product like that, and it will poison the grubs when they hatch. Make sure to educate yourself about the product though, as some can affect (or even kill) the birds that would eat the grubs. Penn State University also suggests using neem oil – “Another alternative is neem oil, a botanical pesticide. Neem tree oil contains insecticidal properties and can act as a repellent, deterring feeding, insect growth and egg laying. Mix the neem oil with water as directed on the label and spray the diluted solution generously on affected areas.”

Wasp attack

Despite their reputation, parasitic wasps can be beneficial insects for more than one reason. Certain types (ground hornets, which are wasps) hunt grubs and will, in fact, seek them out to take care of the problem for you. Okay, they’ll be more driven by their predatory instincts than your wishes and hopes, but it’s the result that counts, right?

Attract Birds To Eat Lawn Grubs

Another counterattack comes from Mother Nature herself, birds. Yes, birds can cause quite a ruckus themselves, but overall they are still beneficial to your garden.

You should take measures to protect your seeds from them, but they will also snack on the grubs which are ultimately something we want. How can you attract birds to your garden? It is easy. Just put up a bird feeder close to the problematic areas, and let them go to town on it. Putting up a bird feeder may be a more of a “solution” that is not very dependable and would be low on my list of remedies!

Apply Parasitic Nematodes To Your Yard

Sounds frightening, but parasitic nematodes will mostly affect the grubs, though not all types. Beneficial Nematodes are an organic and most efficient way to battle soil pests. Benefits can include:

  • Kills Over 200 different species of soil dwelling and wood boring insects.
  • Easy to apply and Harmless to humans and pets.
  • 10 million Nematodes are enough for the preventative control of soil-dwelling insects in approx. 2,000 – 3,000 sq.ft of the soil surface area.
  • For best results or high infestations. Multiple releases are recommended.

Professional Grub Control

If you have tried every tactic in the book and still cannot relinquish these pests, look to Green Machine Lawn Care for expert advice and grub control solutions. Our technicians service Eastern Pennsylvania and have been serving the community for 40 years now.

Treating Needlecast Diseases In Evergreens

Treating Needlecast Diseases In Evergreens

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Needle cast diseases occur when different fungi infect the new needles on pines, spruce, Douglas fir, and true fir. The needles become infected. The symptoms of needlecast disease are not always noticeable until the following winter or spring season. It is common to see yellowing or browning of the needles, with characteristic dark fungal fruiting structures. The infected interior needles are shed early leaving the tree with a sparse, thin appearance. The remaining needles are the current season’s new growth.

What Do I Need To Know About Needlecast Disease?

According to studies from Penn State University, “we have a lot to learn about when these fungi attack a tree”

  • How long the fungus must be in the tree before needles are shed.
  • When is the best time to apply a fungicide?
  • Which chemicals provide the best protection.

Needlecast fungus form small structures on the infected needle forming thousands of spores. The “fruiting structures” can be black, orange-red, or tan, depending upon the fungus. Finding a fungal fruiting structure on a dead needle is not immediately proof that the tree has a needlecast disease. Contact a professional to inspect the tree to find out the severity of the diesease.

Managing Needlecast Diseases

To avoid this disease from harboring your trees and letting them die off, there are a couple of tactics you can utilize which include:

  • Remove tall weeds that surround the tree to increase air movement to promote drying of the needles.
  • Thin out or remove shrubs and trees that are blocking sunlight and air movement.
  • Reduce disease pressure by removing and disposing of fallen (infected) needles.
  • Avoid pruning trees when branches are wet.
  • Reduce the spread of disease by sterilizing tools after pruning affected trees.

Evergreen Needle Cast Fungicides:

In addition to cultural practices, fungicides will prevent the spread of Needlecast Disease. Infections are going to be most efficiently managed when they are found and treated as early as possible, preferably before several years of defoliation have happened. Small trees can be sprayed with a product containing the active ingredient chlorothalonil. It is best applied when the fungus is most active during the springtime when needles are halfway elongated. Apply a second foliar application when needles are fully elongated, which would be 2 – 4 weeks later. It is recommended to apply the fungicide for two years for best results.

Trees that have a diameter of 2 inches or more should be treated with microinjection of Fungisol. Again, for best results the Fungisol should be injected in the early spring when there is evidence of new growth, indicating that the tree has emerged from winter dormancy. In this instance, it is also recommended two years of applications are performed for best results.

Professional Tree and Shrub Care

The good news is that there is progress being made in these areas. With the help of tree care specialists, like professionals at Green Machine Lawn Care, not all hope is lost. Our technicians have been providing services and treatment for Evergreen trees affected by the needlecast disease in the Northeastern PA area for over 37 years. There is a treatment to save the health of your trees and the privacy of your property.

Treating Mosquitoes Around Your Home

Treating Mosquitoes Around Your Home

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Sunshine, warmth, longer days, and family cookouts. All of these say spring is here, and summer is coming! One thing no one looks forward to is the pest known as mosquitos.The optimal method for controlling mosquitoes is to prevent the population eruption from ever happening. Mosquitos are not only annoying, but they can pose some pretty significant health risks as well. Again the key here is prevention. There is no need to spend your spring and summer holed up inside your home, nervously wielding a can of bug spray. Learn tips on how you can treat mosquitoes around your home and relinquish them for good.

Remove All Standing Water

Removing all standing water should be at the top of your “to-do” list. It is probably the most important thing you could do to keep the mosquito population down. Mosquitoes are attracted most to standing, still water. Shallow, stagnant water is the ideal place for mosquitoes to breed. Make sure to eliminate (or treat) any still water in your yard or around the home. Mosquitoes only need half an inch of water to breed. Treat these areas:

  • Landscape ponds
  • Lawn or yard ornaments with standing water features
  • Buckets that accumulate rainwater or runoff
  • Puddles
  • Bird baths
  • Ruts that hold standing water
  • Edges of lakes or ponds where dirty water pools
  • Clogged gutters and downspouts, leaving exposed, pooled water
  • Plant bowl saucers
  • Kids toys

For example, if you have a low spot in your yard that puddles frequently. You would want to build it up correctly for drainage and perhaps fill it in. If you live near a pond, work with your local municipality to keep the shoreline free of standing, shallow-pooled water

Other Ways To Prevent Mosquito Activity

Unfortunately, not all situations allow for the greener approach of eliminating stagnant water. In that case, you will want to treat those areas. Areas like drainage ponds, runoff drains, or some landscape features are designed to hold water. Although prevention is preferable, it is not always merely the case. In these circumstances, it is far better to treat these areas instead of letting an infestation of illness baring mosquitos to populate your lawn. Other methods to reduce mosquito activity can include:

Maintaining Your Grass: Mosquitoes like to rest in tall grass, plants, and shrubs. They often hide in tall grass during the daytime. Keep grass cut to a length of 5 inches or less to prevent mosquitoes from gathering there.

Acquire Mosquito Repelling Plants: As an organic and green way to deal with mosquitoes, there is no greener option than by using plants. Plants that the mosquitos do not like will help to reduce them but know that they will not eliminate them entirely.

Mosquito Repelling Plants Include:

Certain plants can deter mosquitoes from your property so you can enjoy your summer nights. These would include:

  • Basil: Basil is not only useful in many recipes, but believe it or not it also works as an excellent mosquito repellant. It is easy to grow in most parts of the country.
  • Lemon Balm: Note that it is considered invasive, so if you plant it you will need to keep it contained.

Inquire About Professional Mosquito Control

Green Machine lawn care has a successful program of 6 treatments per season to reduce mosquitos. Find a lawn care professional in your area and make a plan that works best for you and your yard. Our technicians are available to provide a free quote on all your lawn care needs. We serve Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bucks, Montgomery Counties. Contact us today to get your free quote

6 Tips To Revamp Your Lawn For Spring

6 Tips To Revamp Your Lawn For Spring

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Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bucks, Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania have been hit pretty hard this past week with winter storms. The end of winter Nor’Easters can cause quite a bit of damage to your lawn, shrubs, and trees. Luckily spring is right around the corner, which will allow you plenty of opportunities to get your lawn in tip-top shape with a well thought out spring clean up. Preparing your yard for the growing season is vital to ensure an eye-catching lawn and garden this summer.

Green Machine Lawn Care, of Kingston, PA, put together their top 6 tips for spring clean up this year:

Prepare Flower Beds

Flower beds can add a lot of appeal to your landscape. There are certain things you can do to make sure you are getting the most out of your plants:

  • Before planting any new flowers, first, rake out leaves that have fallen in the bed as well as dead foliage to stop the smothering of plants and avoid spreading disease.
  • If there is any remaining mulch from last year, it must be removed to create a precise palate for a new layer of mulch after completing spring planting.
  • Fasten loose drip irrigation lines with pins.
  • Tamp down lifted plants by foot or replant them using a shovel.
  • Layout pelletized fertilizer on top of the soil to let rain and water absorb the nutrients into the ground. Lastly, fertilize bulbs immediately after flowering to lengthen their bloom time and feed next season’s growth.

Fix Up Trellises and Fences

There are many different reasons to want to fix your trellises and fences:

  • Do a thorough check for shaky fence posts and replace the ones you need to.
  • Reinforce rotted sections of trellises with wood epoxy.
  • If any pickets or lattices have entirely deteriorated, replace them.
  • Clean wooden structures by scrubbing them with a solution made of part liquid soap, eight parts bleach and 32 parts water.
  • Peeling and old paint need to be scraped off, the surface then sanded and repainted/stained to reinvigorate your yard.

Prune Perennials, Shrubs, and Trees

Your trees and shrubs can make or break whether or not you have the curb appeal you deserve. With recent snow storms and Nor’Easters, hitting the Eastern and Northeastern Pa areas, it has caused much damage to branches. You can follow these tips to help revive this area of your lawn:

  • Damaged branches must be pruned back to the live stems to help heal and improve their appearance.
  • Cut overgrown evergreens back to a controllable size.
  • Prune flowering shrubs in the summer before their buds swell, however, hold off on pruning spring bloomers until their flowers have spent.
  • Trim back blooming perennials to 4 or 5 inches and ornamental grasses to 2 or 3 inches to allow new growth to grow quicker.

Begin a Compost Pile

Compost piles have many different benefits including the prevention of soil erosion, conserving water, reducing waste, and more:

  • Merely use last year’s mulch, pruned branches, and flower bed debris to build the foundation of a compost pile. A 3-foot by 3-foot corral made from wire fencing is an ideal place to store a compost pile.
  • Before adding them to the compost, shred branches and leaves to speed up decomposition. Also adding bagged compost to the starter pile will accelerate the process.
  • Ensure the compost pile is kept moist and aerate it by tilling with a pitchfork every two weeks.
  • Do NOT put weeds in your compost pile as they are likely to sprout.

Perform Lawn Care

Basic lawn care necessities can help your landscape thrive:

  • Begin by raking the lawn.
  • Next step is to aerate the soil. After aeration is complete, lay peat moss over the lawn with a rake.
  • Inspect the lawn for dead spots caused by grubs, salt, plows or disease and seed those specific areas once forsythia starts blooming.
  • Add the first dose of crabgrass treatment, fertilizer, and pre-emergent weed killer. Do not apply weed killer to newly seeded areas.
  • Perform maintenance on lawn mower blades by sharpening or replacing as necessary as well as other lawn care tools.

Clean Up The Surfaces of Hardscapes

Basic cleaning around your property can make a big difference in your landscape:

  • If there any gravel has migrated to unplanned locations make sure to shovel or rake it back into place.
  • Fill in any empty or depressed areas with more gravel.
  • Take out pavers that have lifted because of the freeze-thaw cycle.
  • Restore the base material and put the pavers back in place.
  • Pressure wash, on a low setting, to remove dust, leaf stains or debris from your walkways and patios.

Professional Lawn Care Technicians in Eastern Pennsylvania

Not every home or business owner has the equipment nor the time to perform spring clean up. Green Machine provides professional lawn, tree, and shrub care to customers throughout the Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bucks, Montgomery Counties. We are happy to offer a free estimate or quote for your spring clean up needs. Contact us Today!

Extend The Life Of Your Lawn Mower

Extend The Life Of Your Lawn Mower

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Whatever kind of lawn mower you have, proper maintenance should help keep it going a decade or more. Consumer Reports, working to improve the lives of consumers by driving marketplace change, offers the most common ways to have your machine humming. Gasoline degrades and gums up over time. Ethanol in the gas can compound the problem by degrading rubber and plastic parts and coating linkages. For starters, make sure to:

  • Add stabilizer, particularly one designed for ethanol, to gas before fueling.
  • Siphon extra fuel out of a walk mower, and run it dry at the end of the season.
  • For a tractor or rider, either run it dry or top off the gas tank so that there’s no room for condensation — but be sure to add stabilizer to gas first.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, tips to extend your lawn mower can include:

Changing The Oil

Using sufficient, clean oil is what keeps your mower or tractor engine from overheating and failing prematurely, Consumer Reports notes. For all lawn gear, consult your manual for how often to change the oil and what grade to use. With a walk mower, change oil when the fuel tank is empty to help prevent gas spills.

To change oil: Position an automotive-style drain pan beside the mower on the side of the dipstick cap. Remove the cap and tip the mower over the pan to drain the oil. Refill.

For a tractor or rider, the manual gives the oil-change schedule by the number of hours it’s in use, which the machine’s hour meter will provide. Most riding mowers have an easy-access drain plug. Drain the oil and replace the oil filter. Refill to the “full” mark.

Mind The Deck

Built-up clippings in your mower or tractor deck will obstruct airflow, leading to uneven cutting and corrosion. Dull blades make the machine rip, not slice, the grass. Many walk and riding mowers have a washout port for a hose; use it after every mowing, and let it dry before stowing. If you have to wash out a riding mower manually, drive the front of the tractor onto a set of automotive ramps to elevate it for easier access. A good tip to remember is If you’ve neglected the washouts, scrape clumps off with a plastic putty knife. Make sure to sharpen the blade three times per year. For a walk mower, having a spare lets you replace a dull blade with a sharpened one at the same time. To avoid injury when removing the blade, wear heavy leather gloves, remove the spark plug wire and jam in a short two-by-four to keep the blade from turning.

Keep Up Contacts

A spark plug needs changing about every 100 hours of operation; otherwise, engine startup and overall performance will be affected. Even electric mowers need attention to maximize battery life. With the mower off, remove the spark plug cap and use a socket wrench with a spark plug socket to remove the old plug. Take it to an auto parts store or outdoor gear dealer and get a new one. If you have an electric mower, Consumer Reports recommends periodically charging the battery throughout the winter. Otherwise, its ability to fully recharge will diminish gradually before failing altogether — sooner than you expected. Mowers should be brought indoors over the winter. For lawn tractors or riders, keep your battery fully charged, or at least periodically recharge it when it’s not in use. Even if you have to store the tractor outdoors, buy a trickle charger for this type of machine and keep just the battery indoors.

Don’t Forget About Filters

You’ll also need to replace your air filters to protect the engine. In addition to the oil filter, riding mowers have fuel filters. On most walk mowers, the air filter is paper and can be removed in seconds. Not sure which to get? Take the old one to your dealer. On riding mowers, if the air filter is paper, replace it. If it’s foam, wash it in soap and water. Rinse and squeeze dry.

For more helpful tips for your lawn and lawn tools, follow The Green Machine, serving the greater Northern Pennsylvania area for over 40 years

Guide to Flea and Tick Care

Guide to Flea and Tick Care

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As the warmer weather is approaching here in Northeastern Pa, Green Machine Lawn Care is gearing up toward treating lawns and yards for those dreaded and disease-ridden pests that are prevalent in our area. Fleas and ticks present a threat to pets not only in the warmer spring and summer months, but year round. They are especially more active beginning as soon as March in Northeastern and Eastern PA.

Pet owners know the absolute havoc that an infestation on your pets and in your home can cause. The sheer discomfort is enough to drive your beloved pets insane. Most pet owners will take action to prevent infestation by treating their animals with a monthly tick and flea medicine. Unfortunately if the problem continues, you will have to consider that there are other factors that exist in your home as well as your lawn. Green Machine Lawn Care’s program consists of three applications to control fleas and ticks during their most active times of the year. These three applications help to get the infestation under control to prevent the spread of illness, such as Lyme disease.

As a homeowner, Green Machine Lawn Care of Kingston, Pa, recommends following the easy tips to control fleas and ticks in your yard:

Lawn Maintenance

Do Not Overwater. Fleas and ticks thrive in moist environments. An improperly draining lawn can lead to overwatering and create the perfect hosting space for insects. Make sure that you are watering your lawn properly. If your lawn does have drainage issues, aeration can help. Moist and shady areas will attract the most fleas and ticks, so be sure to follow the tips below. A shorter lawn cut will greatly reduce the number of fleas and ticks by removing areas they are prone to hide. The lawn height needs to be not too long, nor too short as to avoid attracting spiders, and ants, as well as avoiding the disease-ridden fleas and ticks. If you’re not sure of the exact right length, contact your local lawn care professional to get a quote for your grass.

Proper Yard Cleanup

Focus on where your pets spend the majority of their time outdoors. The larvae from ticks and fleas will stay within 50 feet of your pet’s usual resting place. Treating around cool, and shady spots as well as cleaning those areas, such as low-hanging shrubs or along fence lines will help eliminate larvae, fleas, and ticks from that area. Do not neglect dog runs or kennels.

Clean is key. Cleanliness is important when removing habitats for fleas and ticks to hide and lay eggs. Take away yard debris, like excess wood, bricks, and stones. Remove discarded pots and various gardening tools; stack them neatly to lessen hiding spaces. Toward the end of the growing season, make time to clean up your lawn and garden as well as storage places in crawl spaces and under the patio.

Keep An Eye On Wildlife

Try to keep out errant animals and rodents. There are many urban animals that carry fleas and ticks. This includes squirrels, deer, rabbits, raccoons, mice and feral cats. In fact, any warm-blooded wild animal is most likely carrying some sort of blood-sucking insect. If you have an excess of wild animals visiting your lawn take steps to limit your lawn’s appeal. For those animals that love your trash, keep your trash in a contained space that is not easy to “break in”, for those animals that are looking for grubs in your lawn to snack on, treating our lawn for grubs will eliminate your problems. Keep birdseed far away from the home to avoid squirrels, and limit shrub berries to avoid mice. Do the best you can to avoid attracting wild animals to your yard.

Create Barriers

Create a no-migrate zone. If your area is known for ticks, establish a barrier between your lawn and surrounding woods or properties. Remove weeds, brush and leaf litter. Create a barrier to your home. Protect your home by creating a barrier around your home with a pesticide perimeter treatment. The treatment can prevent fleas and ticks from moving into your home, although they can still hitch a ride on you or your pet. Take away all brush, plants and leaf litter around your home, shoot for at least a 6-inch-wide clean area. It will remove the hiding places for fleas and ticks. Allow the “bad guys” to come in. By making your landscape appealing to flea and tick predators, keeping your grass mowed to the right height, and incorporating native plants and ground covers you will attract birds that eat these insects. Avoid those bird feeders and allow those birds to “hunt” their natural resources. Cedar mulch can also repel fleas and ticks. Use it to border areas where your pet likes to play or rest to keep insects from migrating into those areas. Place cedar mulch along the edges of your yard to form a barrier.

Professional Flea and Tick Control

Sometimes you can follow every DIY tip in the book and still see no results of getting rid of these pests. If you have more questions about fleas and ticks in your yard or you are interested in receiving treatment for ticks and fleas, contact Green Machine Lawn Care today to set up a free quote. We currently serve the Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bucks, and Montgomery Counties.

Gardening for City Lovers

Gardening for City Lovers

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City living certainly has its advantages: short commute, restaurants at your doorstep, and shopping on every corner. But if you find yourself amidst the concrete longing for a space that will give you a taste of greenery and still allow you to enjoy living downtown, we’ve got the perfect solution for you.

Types Of Gardens To Grow In The City

Urban gardening has become one of the hottest trends in the last decade, and it’s a lot easier than you may think. Rooftop gardens have become extremely popular, particularly in larger cities, and there’s nothing stopping you from creating a beautiful outdoor garden of your very own. Many different types of gardens to grow in the city include:

  • Balcony
  • Windowsill
  • Rooftop
  • Vertical
  • Indoor
  • Container

Many city dwellers wish they could plant a vegetable garden but are worried it won’t thrive in city conditions. You may be surprised to find out that most types of vegetables grow extremely well in containers if they are planted and cared for properly. We suggest selecting shallow rooted plants including radishes, spinach, lettuce, and a wide variety of herbs. These types of plants usually only need about six to eight inches of soil to prosper, and are relatively easy to care for.

Other types of vegetables that grow well in containers, you just need to make the best selections. For example, the Window Box Roma tomato is an excellent choice, and responds to pots very well. You can also try squash, beans, and peas that will flourish if provided with a climbing trellis.

Where to Plant

Another important thing to remember is that finding the ideal place for your pots will give your garden the best possible environment in which to thrive. Look for an area that gets a minimum of six to eight hours of sun each day. Window boxes, patios, doorways, and roof tops are all great locations as long as they are receiving the recommended amount of sunlight.

Whether you decide to plant traditional vegetables or shallow rooting florals and greens, you can easily create a beautiful haven that you and your other tenants will enjoy.

With numerous possibilities for planting locations and vegetation, your building community will definitely appreciate and hopefully volunteer to bring a little bit of country living to your modern city style.

Why Should I Aerate My Lawn?

Why Should I Aerate My Lawn?

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How important is aeration for your property? The difference in vibrant, healthy grass could sometimes be whether or not you are letting your turf breathe. 

Even the most well-maintained lawns can occasionally suffer from fatigue and overuse. Over the summer, our yards become our playgrounds. Excessive foot traffic, tons of lawn mowing, and even vehicles parked on your lawn can compact your turf’s soil. Soil compaction prevents vital nutrients, oxygen, water, and sunlight from getting down to your roots, weakening them over time and resulting in brown spots and spongy turf. When this happens, it may be time for a lawn boost. Green Machine offers a process called lawn aeration that can help.

What is Lawn Aeration?

Lawn aeration uses a machine that perforates small holes throughout your lawn approximately three inches deep and then places them sporadically on top of your lawn. These holes once again allow those much-needed nutrients, sunlight, oxygen, and water to penetrate your roots.

Benefits of Lawn Aeration

But the benefits of lawn aeration don’t just stop there. Aeration helps to stop water run-off and puddling, reducing your chances of being infested by lawn surface pests and diseases, along with many others. A few more of the tremendous advantageous aeration provides your lawn include:

Prevent Thatch Build Up

Prevention of thatch build-up! Thatch is the outer layer of dead and living vegetation and debris that forms on top of your grass. A little thatch is ok and actually beneficial for your lawn. Excessive thatch, on the other hand, blocks nutrients and other essential elements from getting through, creating an environment ripe for pests and fungi. Having your grass aerated not only helps to break up soil compaction but also helps to break up and decompose thatch.

Have a Healthier Lawn

Think of your grassroots as the brain of the plant. They are the foundation for your entire lawn anchoring your grass in place. When your roots are weak and do not receive the critical elements they need, your entire yard will suffer. With lawn aeration, the process opens up your soil, allowing your roots to receive essential micronutrients along with more water, sunlight, and oxygen. The roots then transfer these components to the grass’s blades, producing a healthier, fuller, greener lawn.

Prevent Patchy Spots

No one wants patchy brown spots throughout their lawn. And while these unsightly areas can be a symptom of many different lawn ailments, aerating will help to improve air circulation and reduce humidity. A reduction in wet soil will help prevent various types of lawn fungi, including brown patch disease.

Professional Lawn Aeration Services

Revitalize your lawn today with the professional services at Green Machine. We offer a free inspection to determine the cost of aerating your grass. Our knowledgeable and experienced lawn care technicians use only the highest quality equipment and products when performing aeration or any other service. Get your free estimate today or call us at 570-669-8904.

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