How Lawn Care Services Do Rye Grass Overseeding To Keep A Green Winter Lawn

Overseeding with rye grass is common in southwest Louisiana for people who like to keep their lawns with a green cover through the winter. Overseeding with rye grass is one of the many lawn care services that our lawn care company offers.

A dead lawn is an eyesore, even in winter. In any case, there is no reason why you should keep a dead lawn when you have an option to keep it green. Rye grass does not survive in the warm months and therefore you have to replant it every winter.

What is overseeding?

When you plant rye grass in your lawn, it is referred to as overseeding because you will be planting it in a lawn that already has other grass.

You can seed the rye grass on top of your regular lawn grass. That way, when the warm  season sets in, the rye, which is a cold season grass dies and the warm season grass starts growing.
When you overseed your lawn with rye grass, you will keep a green lawn throughout the year.

Why you need the assistance of lawn care services for overseeding

While rye grass overseeding sounds so simple, there are some very important things to consider. In fact, you should get assistance from a lawn and landscape maintenance services company lest you do something that will destroy your regular warm season grass.

When you overseed with rye grass for winter, it means you will have to water your lawn throughout winter.

Seeding could be detrimental to the health of your warm season grass. You have to do it just right. You do not need to worry though because part of our lawn care services is to eliminate all guesswork and get everything on your lawn … just right!

Rye grass needs fertilizer to thrive in winter. Again, applying fertilizer without knowledge could hurt your regular grass. This is another reason why you need to involve professional lawn maintenance services. There can be no guesswork when it comes to the health of your lawn.

How often should you apply the rye grass on your lawn? Most of our customers ask us this question. Too much overseeding with rye grass on the lawn can cause the annihilation – literary, of your warm season grass.

The best time to plant your rye grass

Rye grass is a cool season grass. Thus, it is best planted in October or, at least 30 days before the first frost, when the temperatures are not too low.
It is recommended that you seed with rye grass when temperatures are not any lower than 60° F at night. This grass is going to keep green until somewhere in the middle of May when it starts dying because of the high temperatures.

How do you plant rye grass?

The first thing that you have to do is mow the summer grass to create room for the new grass. You also want the rye grass seeds to get into the soil. The best way to prepare the ground for rye grass is to use a power rake to poke the soil.

You cannot plant just any type of rye grass. As we offer lawn care services to our customers, we advise them on the best type of rye grass seed to use. What is good for a desert climate such as you would find in Arizona is different from what you would use in Louisiana.

Another thing that you need to know is how much rye grass seed you should apply in the lawn. Of course, the more the rye grass seeds that you use per square feet, the greener your lawn will be in winter. However, too many rye grass seeds could bring some nasty competition in May as all the rye grass will not have died off.

The recommended seeding is between 5 and 10 pounds of rye grass seed for every 1000 square feet. At seeding time, apply the first fertilizer. You may also apply a second helping of fertilizer in February.

Why you should plant perennial rye grass instead of annual rye grass

It is best that you choose perennial rye grass seed instead of annual rye grass. When the warm season comes, you want your regular lawn grass to come out.

As any lawn maintenance services provider will tell you, rye grass is a serious competitor for soil nutrients and other resources. Your warm grass does not need this kind of competition for nutrients, sunlight and other resources.

Perennial rye grass grows faster, has more robust and greener leaves with a darker color as compared with the annual rye grass. If you get rye grass that is suited for your area, you shall have a green lawn throughout winter.

By the month of May, you should stop watering the lawn so that the rye grass can die. Wait two or three weeks and then start watering again so that your regular lawn grass can start growing.

Keep your rye grass mowed during winter. Overseeding with rye grass means doing some work. You should not worry because we offer grass cutting services to our customers throughout the year.

It is recommended that you keep the rye grass mowed to between 2 and 3 inches in winter. However, a couple of weeks before the last frost comes in Spring, mow down the rye grass to 1 inch.

This should give the warm season grass a  chance to start growing while you shock the rye grass to start dying. As soon as more than 50% of your summer grass attains green color, you can apply the first fertilizer for it.

As you can see, overseeding the lawn with rye grass can be daunting. There are so many things to take care of and to know about. These include knowing about watering, applying fertilizer and when to stop watering. That is why you need the help of landscape maintenance services.



Contact us:
Author :TenderCareLawnService
Address :1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663
Telephone: 337-313-3002

Landscaping Companies Tips To Prepare Plants For Cold Weather

Landscaping companies demonstrate the importance of preparing plants for winter. If you want your plants to enjoy robust growth when warm weather comes, prepare them amply for winter.

The biggest mistake you could make is to leave your plants at the mercy of the weather. Then you could find out just how merciless Mother Nature can be!

As one of the top landscape maintenance services in southwest Louisiana, TCLS has helped customers prepare their plants for years.

You can do several things to ensure that come spring, your shrubs, trees, perennial plants and lawn will be healthy and blooming.

Why prepare your plants for winter?

When it comes to the health of your lawn, trees and perennial plants, the “why” should always come before the “when.”

We are to help you. We offer grass cutting services to our customers in Southwest Louisiana. We also help them to preserve their plants through winter. The main reason for preparing plants for winter is so that their roots can establish themselves more firmly. Healthy roots mean a healthier bloom in spring.

When the soil freezes, it still needs to process the organic matter needed by the plants. Freezing is like insulating the soil and it encourages the processing of important organic matter.

Landscaping companies advice for preparing your plants for cold weather

This depends on the types of plants that you have. All plants, including the trees need to be prepared for winter. However, you should start with the preparation of the garden itself.

Here are a few things that lawn care services advice:

Continue watering during winter so that your plants have enough moisture to see them through the cold spell.

Pull out all the weeds. You do not want them seeding as that would cause a weed problem in spring.

Mulching is very important for the preservation of your plants through the cold weather. It is especially good for strawberry beds and perennial flowers so that it can help the plants from alternating between thawing and freezing.

It is best to consult landscaping companies for assistance before you start mulching. For example, we advise our customers to wait until after Thanksgiving to start mulching. The reason for waiting is so that the plants can go dormant and the soil can freeze. You will also find that some plants, for example, rose flowers need mounds of mulch at the bottom. Some plants need more mulch than others.

Preparing different plants for winter

1. Preparing Annuals for winter

An annual is a plant that will flower and then die. It is best to collect all the seeds that you need before winter. If you would like a bloom in spring, plant the seeds before the appearance of the first frost for springtime growth.

If you need cuttings, just cut them and bring them indoors before the onset of winter. You might also dig out bulbs and store them in a dark place.

Pull out all the dead plants and as we mentioned, apply a good layer of mulching.

2. Preparing trees for winter

Most people are of the notion that trees do not need any preparation for winter. Now, as lawn service companies will tell you, trees are plants and they have their needs too.

If you have young trees, you will need to wrap some wire netting around them to protect them against animals. If they are on exposed ground, you may have to erect wind and snow breakers around them.

You will also need paper tree wrap, which is best for protecting the thin-barked trees from cracking. When exposed to winter, the thin barks are likely to crack. The wrapping will prevent that.

Trees should be watered throughout winter. We advise our customers to water the evergreens frequently to enhance their growth. That green leafage needs nutrients from the roots to flourish.

If you live in an area is exposed to these cold and dry winds, your evergreen trees and shrubs are likely to dry fast. This is called winter desiccation. Water them when there is no wind so that the soil retains moisture. If your shrubs are in an exposed place, you may want to create a windbreak to protect them.

3. Preparing Perennials For Winter

Southwest Louisiana is home to perennials such as False Heather, Sage, Day Lily and others. The reason why these plants have earned themselves the name perennial is because they go into hibernation in winter. They bloom in the warm seasons.

Perennials are easy to prepare for winter. Just cut the dead stems, apply a layer of mulching and leave them to their tactics. However, no two perennial plants are the same. Different types of perennial plants may require different types of care.

Rake the old mulch and after the soil freezes after Thanksgiving, add a good layer of new mulch. The reason for waiting until the soil is frozen is so that rodents do not burrow in the soil under the mulch.

4. Preparing roses for winter – what landscaping companies say

No one likes to lose their roses. Perhaps it is the sentimental value behind their flowers. They are not too hard to prepare for winter. If you take good care of your roses to see them through winter, you are going to get a good bloom of lovely rose flowers in spring.

Trim the roses carefully. Get burlaps and stuff them with straw or dry leaves. Tie them around the rose flower from the bottom upwards. This will help protect the roses from the cold. However, note that pruning is only advisable for places that experience mild winters. If your area experiences extreme winters, do not prune the roses.

Do not apply fertilizer to the roses once summer is over. Remove the old mulch and apply new layer of mulch before the appearance of the first frost. After the first frost, add more mulch around the base of the plant.

During winter, there will be some warm days. Take advantage and water your roses then, taking care not to overwater them.

If you do this, you will have healthy roses in spring.

5. Preparing grass for winter

When offering lawn care services to our customers, they always ask us how they can prepare their lawn for winter.

Here are the most important things to do:

1. Cut the grass to 0.75 inches (cold winters) or 1.5 inches (warm winters). Ask a lawn care company because different grasses have different needs.
2. You will need to aerate the lawn. Use a lawn aerator that punches small holes in the ground, removing chunks of soil.
3. Apply a natural fertilizer without phosphate if you did not apply during summer.
4. Reduce irrigation if you experience mild winters or stop it completely for serious winters.

Author         : tclsadmin
Contact us  :Lawn care services
Address      :1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663
Telephone  : 337-313-3002