Now is the time to get your lawn into shape after winter but where to start?Old school lawn care was always about giving it a shot of fertilizer in the spring then spraying for grubs & weeds throughout the summer. Since the pesticide ban homeowners have had to rethink their methods. Stronger thicker grass leaves no space for weeds to even grow. A smart lawn care program executed properly can save you money and frustration over the years.
RAKE
Once the ground is dry enough it is important to give your lawn and good hard rake to loosen up all the thatched & dead grass. Also, rake up any remaining fall leaves and dead branches and twigs from trees that have fallen through winter.
CORN GLUTEN
With Weed and Feed now gone from all store shelves, gardeners are wondering how to control the weeds in their lawns. Corn Gluten which is a Weed Seed Inhibitor is a good choice. This organic based phosphate free product contains 90% corn gluten meal. It helps to prevent crab grass, dandelion, and white clover seed from germinating in residential lawns. Applied in mid April-early May it successfully smothers weed seeds before they begin to germinate in spring. Be sure not to overseed with grass seed at the same time as your Corn Gluten application as it will prevent grass seed from germinating as well.
TOPDRESS
Topdressing your lawn every spring with a rich compost helps feed the grass as well as giving back to the soil. This season we have brought in Viva Lawn Repair 
Mix for exactly this purpose. It is a soil mix specially formulated for the repair of wear and damaged lawns. Excellent for topdressing, Viva provides ideal germination conditions for grass seed with high water retention capacity in a rich compost.
Use this in combination with a high quality site specific grass seed for amazing results!
GRUBS
Grubs are an ever increasing problem in many homeowners lawns. Nematodes are the best environmental control available in today's pesticide free world. A naturally occurring microscopic organism they are completely harmless to people, animals and plants. Simply mix with water and spray on your lawn. They will continue to live and reproduce as long as there are grubs to feast on. Once the grub infestation is eradicated they die off. Check out our new Green Earth line of Beneficial nematodes this spring.
Best times to apply? Late April/Early May.
Grubs do not thrive in soil that has a higher PH therefore a yearly application of limeto 'sweeten' the soil is highly recommended.
FEED
After much research at all the fall landscape and garden shows we decided to carry Farfard's Phosphate Free Lawn Fertilizer Program. These organic based fertilizers deliver quick and impressive results with much higher numbers of nitrogen and potassium.
For SPRING we recommend one of two excellent fertilizers;
Spring Phosphate Free Fertilizer 22-0-8;
Step 1 in a 3- step program this fertilizer promotes fast green up with 40% slow release nitrogen for prolonged fertilization. Successfully increasing lawn density, this fertilizer can be used on waterfront properties safely as it is phosphate free. 9 kg bag covers 4,304 sq ft.
Buy the spring, summer and fall all together and save!
Seed Starter Fertilizer 12-24-8;
This is a great product for newly seeded areas or sodded lawns. An excellent source of phosphorus (the middle number) which helps to stimulate rapid root development.
At this point we have about 10% of the greenhouses left to fill. Most are full to overflowing. Did you see our picture in the Record News with 23 high school students that we had helping us during the March Break? We were able to get a lot done and are grateful for their help, we had a great bunch. 
Aside from Annuals and Perennials though, you can plant shrubs and trees now. In fact we just received 3 shipments yesterday of some amazing looking nursery stock. While it will take us a while to get things organized we do have them ready to go. So come and take an early peek and get your shrubs and trees in early before the planting season begins for annuals and perennials you will be all ready with flower beds laid out and prepared. No excuses this year!
