SIOUX CITY | Clouds hung over Sioux City on a gray Monday morning, otherwise warm, temperatures heading toward 70.
Not bad for mid-March.
Jim Miller, owner of Scotts Lawn Service, laughed. "For once, the ground hog was right," he said, referencing Punxatawney Phil's prediction of an early spring.
"My fear is that we'll get a late frost," Miller cautioned. "So far, though, the signs are good. Our phones are ringing like crazy."
Miller joins a number of Siouxland lawn professionals receiving calls this month while extending offers for on-site visits and seasonal lawn-care management plans. With Scotts, Miller said, options run the gamut, starting at $29.95.
The mode of attack, or, in this case, care, depends on what the resident or business owner seeks to achieve.
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"Traditionally, we have eight months of good weather and over that span we'll see you six times," Miller said. "That's every 30 to 45 days."
Miller and his crew visit a customer twice each spring, hitting the grass with a spring-starter application and crab-grass preventer, preparing one's lawn for the heat units that are sure to come.
"We also blanket-spray with weed control," he noted. "In the old days, maybe you got this done before you had weeds blowing (seeds) across the yard. With enhancements to products these days, that's not necessary."
Visits in June and July focus on weeds, while scouting for grubs, pests that lurk just beneath the surface, pests that can be disastrous for any lawn.
"In our area, I encourage grub control," Miller said. "We offer a preventative and the cost of re-doing a lawn versus the cost of a preventative is dramatic. Seventy-percent of our customers apply a preventative."
The pros at Scotts will make a site visit for free in this regard. Scouting for grubs, again, follows the old adage: An ounce of medicine is worth a pound of cure.
"We'd rather take the time to look than find out when it's too late," he said.
Visits in August and September center on building the turf, enhancing it as it grows into autumn. "We want to inspire the grass to grow and thicken as we get more fall moisture," Miller said. "We also spray for fall weed control."
A winter-izer helps grass maintain its green color late into the fall, a treatment that also helps the lawn get greener earlier come spring.
"Things are green right now," Miller said. "From last fall, lawns stayed pretty green. We're just now drying out a little as we thaw. There seems to be frost left, but it isn't deep."
As lawn-care professionals get their mowers and trimmers ready for the spring season, homeowners should do the same. Sometimes, Miller said, a lawn's brown tint has little to do with moisture or pests. It could be as easy as a dull mower blade.
"A dull blade can tear the blade of grass," Miller said. "When your tear the blade of grass, you get brown tips. And while those are easy to fix (sharpening the blade), they (brown tips) can cause other problems."
As can too much water, or water at the wrong time. Miller advises homeowners to refrain from watering a lawn from midnight to 5 a.m. The reason? A lawn that is wet all night, consistently, will develop a fungus.
Finally, lawn-care professionals are adept at counseling residents on the types of grasses to purchase for areas of their lawn. A certain type of grass may grow best in a shaded region, while another type might flourish in high-traffic areas used by pets and children.
