LAWN CARE SERVICES IN KEENE, NH

To seed or not to seed.

As spring arrives once again homeowners are faced with lawns in need of help. Not knowing what to do with bare spots in the lawn they inevitably buy some seed and lawn products and much like the Red Sox, hope for a better season.

Healthy green lawns provide a great benefit to the environment that include erosion and dust control, oxygen, co2 absorption, and summer cooling effects for homes and businesses as well as a safe cushion for sports and outdoor activities.

Most lawn problems noticed in the spring however are in large portion due to what happened last summer or in seasons prior. Insects, disease and lack of watering coupled with poor mowing practices will take lawns out in a very short time.

Homeowners will look at their dreadful lawns at the end of summer and will procrastinate through late summer and early fall and through the best time to seed your problem areas.

Unlike your vegetable garden, lawn seeding does best in the fall without the competition from annual spring weeds and summer drought and heat. Here in the Northeast we have "cool season grasses". They like it cool, not hot. Cool season grass plants germinate in cool air temperatures while soils are still warm and will overwinter just fine along with important fall fertilization to provide a healthy lawn right off the bat in spring.

If you need to seed in the spring, plan on watering as air temperatures increase and keep soil moist. Spring germinating weeds including crabgrass will also do well but do not get discouraged. As things grow, mow high to give grass plants a chance beneath the weeds. When fall temperatures and frost arrives, seed areas again as the annual weeds die back.

Another important factor for lawns is light. Grass plants need a minimum of 4-5 hours of direct sunlight or they will over time thin out and be overcome by moss or simply barren altogether. If light cannot be improved turn these shady areas into naturalized planting environments and focus efforts on the areas that will grow grass.

Care throughout the growing period is important and includes fertilizing every 8 weeks, keeping soil pH above 6.2 with calcium lime typically every year or two, mow high and above 2.5 inches, avoid mowing when it's hot and lawns are stressed and water appropriately to avoid stress. One inch of rainfall or manual watering is needed per week.

It's not easy being green. If in doubt... find out .... and get help before mistakes are made.

Matt Siano
MJS Lawn Care & Lawnscape

Serving and leading the area since 1982 with professional lawn care.

Another spring is upon us after a long somewhat typical New England winter, the Red Sox opening day has arrived, the birds are singing, and the last of the snow is melting and revealing the lawn and yard spring work we have to do.

As the snow piles melt, we now see; the missing lawn that was relocated by the plow guy, the littering of tree limbs, sticks, and pine cones dropped by your favorite neighbors tree, the load of leaves you forgot to pick up last fall from your other favorite neighbors tree, and last but certainly not least, a good majority of the dog food you bought all winter that now covers the back lawn in neat little piles. Amazing.

Here in the early spring we also notice how the landscape plantings have changed and the lawn in general isn’t as thick as it was last fall. There are thin and bare areas that certainly didn’t exist last year. Or did they?
As each year goes by, we sometimes may not notice the subtle changes that have occurred on the lawn until after several seasons have past. One particular change that occurs over time in the landscape, and with lawns especially, is the amount of sunlight. That neighbors tree dropping more leaves now than you can handle is also casting a bigger shadow on the lawn. Lawns will thin more and more quickly as light is diminished to less that 4-5 hours of direct light. The lawn that supported so much activity over the years is now looking old and worn out. The adjacent gardens and shrubs that once flourished, no longer bloom and now bend toward what little light that dapples through the aging tree canopy and lawn in these areas is sparse or non-existent.

So now is the time to get more light back into the area to help provide more growth again of the lawn and under story plants. Removing lower limbs that can easily be handled is a start and will buy some time but inevitably the landscape beneath needs to change or the tree needs to go. If the tree is valuable and removal isn’t an option, you will want an expert to get further up to get larger limbs and as well perform some thinning of the tree canopy. The benefit of the tree (especially if it is your neighbors tree) probably outweighs the loss of lawn area and poorly performing plants beneath.



If this is the case, the landscape can be adjusted into a shade environment planting and expanded into the old lawn area by use of shade tolerant plant material. Shade gardens can be very attractive and useful for wildlife.

Vinca and Pachysandra make for good shade ground covers as do the many varieties of Hosta to fill in your shade areas. As well, moss and fern that grow well in the shade are great plants to help create a shade garden and provide for erosion control of the soil. Add a few stepping stones and a stone bench or two for the finishing touch and you have a nice garden sitting area on summer days.

Management of a shade lawn that is on the edge of the minimum light requirement is much different than when it had been in full sun. Along with the amount of sunlight, we also need to consider grass types, fertilizer nutrient levels, water and mowing. Cool season grasses require a minimum four hours of sunlight in order to survive and flourish. Any light conditions under four hours will thin the turf stand significantly. There are many new cultivars of cool season grasses that have become available over the past few decades. The three main grass types for our New England cool season are Fescue, Ryegrass and Bluegrass. Fescues and Ryegrass will generally perform better in the shade environment. There are Bluegrass varieties that will also do well in shade such as Poa Supina.



When purchasing seed, you will notice blends will be available for either sun or shade. Keep in mind that even the shade tolerant blends require that four hours of direct light! If the area is not getting this amount of light, other considerations will need to be made.

Grass plants in shade areas do not require as much nutrients as plants growing more rapidly in full sun. Over fertilizing can actually weaken plants as they do not photosynthesize as much as in full sun and process nutrients and sugars less quickly. Shade areas are also more vulnerable to traffic and grass will damage easily. As areas become darker environments with less light, moss generally will take over as there is no longer competition with the grasses.

Sun lawn areas being more capable of more photosynthesis will grow more rapidly. But with that in mind, plants require more nutrients to feed on along with more water to keep up. The best conditions for lawn area are where there is just enough shadowing during the mid day time periods and more than four hours of direct light.

Another problem that can occur is where a lawn or landscape area has a large tree or multiple trees removed. Now the area that was accustomed to minimum sunlight is now in full sun. Plants will begin to suffer significantly and desiccate more quickly. Lawns accustomed to shade that become full sun environments will need to be provided more water and nutrients. Grass varieties that are more sun tolerant can be added through overseeding methods to get the lawn to flip back to liking the sun again.



As with all gardening and landscape planting, it’s about the “right plant in the right place”. Sunlight requirements is just one of the considerations when choosing plants for your landscape or grass seed for your lawn. Caring for your lawn as well requires more than just cutting it down every week. Knowing that shade and sun lawns need to be treated differently is a big start in getting good results and a lawn that will perform well and look good from season to season.

For more information on this topic or if you have other lawn questions feel free to contact us.