Lawn Care

Having a healthy lawn is sometimes an expensive proposition. We recommend an organic lawn care program. Although this program might seem more expensive in the beginning, you will save time, money, and effort in the long run when you reap the benefit of a lawn that requires less water, fewer nutrients, and less frequent mowing. On top of that, following an organic lawn care program actually reduces weeds, with no chemicals and no pulling by hand! Your patience now will be well rewarded in the future.

**Organic Lawn Care Program Recommendations**
Sunshine Landscape and Garden Center
The best landscape is an organic one!
	Spring	Summer	Fall/Winter
Mowing	Mow every one or two weeks as necessary.	Mow every two weeks.	Mow every two to four weeks.
Fertilizing	Top-dress lawn with compost, and then in three to four weeks, apply an organic fertilizer (8-2-4)	Spray once a week with liquid seaweed.	Top-dress lawn with compost, and continue foliar feeding with liquid seaweed.
Watering	Water deeply when there is no rainfall.	Water deeply, in the morning or late evening, every five days.	Water deeply when there is no rainfall and before a freeze.
Other	Apply corn gluten to turf grasses to kill pre-emergent weeds.	Apply a soil activator to energize soil.	Prune oak trees and protect new plants from freezes.

We've identified some common lawn problems and their solutions below. If you need additional help, please bring a soil sample or a picture of the problem you're experiencing and one of our lawn experts will be glad to help.

**Common Lawn Problems and Solutions**
Sunshine Landscape and Garden Center
Come see us if you're having problems with your lawn!
Problem	Symptoms	Causes	Treatment
Brown Patch	Circular areas with brown centers and a yellow to light green outer edge.	Poor drainage soil compression, and overwatering.	Aerate lawn, improve drainage and soil fertility, and apply bacteria that will protect the roots from the fungus.
Take all Patch	Soil disease that is similar in appearance to brown patch, but occurs in the heat of the summer.	Imbalanced soil fertility, excessive herbicide use, and overwatering.	Remove thatch buildup, and improve drainage and soil fertility.
Chinch Bugs	Yellow grass that has been watered properly.	Infestation by adult chinch bugs.	Apply insecticides such as pyrethrums or soap sprays until gone.
Grub Worms	Brown grass with no roots that has been watered properly.	Infestation by grub worm larvae.	Apply beneficial nematodes to control infestation.
Fire Ants	Dirt mounds appearing in the turf.	Infestation by a fire ant colony.	Treat mounds immediately with an approved pesticide.