There is a common misconception that grass stops growing after the summer months, with the cooling weather. On the contrary, the vast majority of grass in Annapolis is in fact "cool season grass", mainly tall fescue, and will accelerate growth from September through November. With the recent warm weather and rainfall I have seen more growth in the last couple weeks that almost any other time this year. In addition to maintaining a healthy grass height, mowing in November is an easy way to keep your lawn clear of heavy wet leaves that can suffocate and in time kill your grass.  

Jon's Lawns will work with you to set up a mowing schedule to suit your needs and budget, but we always encourage our customers to choose to keep their grass at the ideal height depending on the season and to keep their yards clear of leaves and debris. Mow on!

Much of the work that Jon's Lawns of Annapolis does would fall into the "lawn maintenance" category, meaning taking care of what is already there. Maintenance can include proper mowing schedule and mowing heights, fertilizer and weed control applications, aeration and more.  Most of our established and healthy lawns that are on Lawn Health and Mowing Service programs only need these regular inputs over the course of the year to remain healthy and look great.

Occasionally we come across a lawn where a maintenance program is not enough. Often these are new customers that are fed up with their yard full of weeds, or a particularly harsh summer has taken its toll. Sometimes a new neighbor has just moved into their new home and is overwhelmed by the poor shape that their new yard is in. Regardless of how the lawn got to the state it is in, there comes a time when a lawn must be completely rebuilt from the roots up. 

The first step in rebuilding the lawn is "clearing the canvas". This is often a combination of chemicals to kill the deep rooted weeds and often mismatched grasses. Then mechanical means can be used to remove all of the excess, dead debris.

Next we will aerate the soil to loosen it and create a surface that is ideal for grass growth. The soil is then fertilized so that the seedling will be fed and the seed is then added.

Many lawns benefit from a layer of compost over the new seed. This will both help keep the seed damp so that it can germinate, as well as work its way into the soil adding an important organic element to the soil structure. Below piles are distributed before being spread uniformly across the surface.

One month later, we have a very nicely re-built tall fescue lawn that will look great for years to come. You may notice the sprinklers on either side of the yard. This customer did a great job keeping the surface wet which is the most critical step. We look forward to simply "maintaining" this new grass in 2016!