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Category Archives: Lawn Care Tips

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Properly Timing Your Spring Lawn Care in Winona, MN

Posted on May 31, 2019 - 4:05 pm by

Finally getting to spring is an arduous process for Winona, MN, residents. Often, the first thaw is quickly overthrown by the thousandth snowfall, and even moderate temperatures during the day can be followed by freezing temps overnight. Because of this, trying to judge when to start your lawn care when winter is still lingering can be a game of luck and an exercise in frustration. When it comes maintaining a healthy lawn, the lawn care professionals at Maier Tree and Lawn encourage homeowners to exercise patience, because managing your timing is the most important skill to master.

Acting too soon or too late can put unnecessary strain on an otherwise healthy lawn.

Watering is one of the simplest aspects of lawn care that’s the hardest to resist doing too early. Though it’s true that your lawn will likely need a little extra moisture heading into spring, watering too early can leave the water sitting on frozen ground instead of soaking into the soil. A great way to stress a healthy lawn after a tough winter is to turn it into a lake as soon as the temperature creeps above freezing.

It’s also important to remember that your lawn is likely coming out of its dormant state gradually. Treating it too aggressively right off the bat could cause side effects like growing delays. For instance, you should try to delay your lawn mowing until things perk up a little bit. If the grass is still dormant, frozen, or brittle, then mowing it won’t be doing it any favors. Once the growing season has begun, feel free to tackle your lawn with a bit more vigor.

It’s unlikely that you’ll kill your lawn if you make a minor misstep like watering or mowing a little early, but ensuring a healthy lawn year-round sometimes means easing off on the lawn care until your grass can fend for itself.

If you’re itching to do some lawn work or you’re worried about the state of your Winona, MN lawn, contact the lawn care professionals at Maier Tree and Lawn for a consultation or to set up a lawn care appointment. Call today at (507) 454-7000 or visit our website for healthy lawn tips and more information.

How to Spot Signs of Drought During Your Winona, MN Lawn Care

Posted on September 19, 2018 - 12:07 pm by

Summer lawn care can feel like an uphill battle for states with widely varying temperatures like Minnesota. Winona, MN residents dedicated to lawn care are likely used to fighting back against blistering summers and frigid winters with all the resources at their disposal, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if you’re helping or hurting your lawn in adverse weather conditions. The lawn care professionals here with Maier Tree & Lawn can spot healthy grass in every season, and with a careful eye you can learn to judge when your lawn is just playing it safe or when it’s really in danger from the elements.

 

Grass, like any other plant, goes through cycles of growth. There may be times of the year when your grass looks a little duller, feels a bit different, or grows at different rates. But even with minor variations, healthy grass is still usually pretty easy to spot with the naked eye. A vibrant green color, thick coverage, and no obvious signs of discoloration are great starting points for lawn care enthusiasts. But this game of I Spy gets a little tougher in the summer when everything is hotter and drier.

 

When it comes to healthy grass in the summer it can be difficult to differentiate between what is some unavoidable summer wear and tear and what’s an actual risk factor. Large brown spots are an obvious worry, but what about a little yellowness or a few brown patches here and there? If you’re having a tough time visually, don’t be afraid to test the soil by hand. If it feels dry with the grass rooted to it deeply, you may be dealing with drought conditions.

 

The obvious solution would be to water more, but maintaining healthy grass isn’t always that simple. You may need to devise a watering schedule that is more effective based upon the weather, or you may not be watering slowly and deeply enough on a regular basis. Ultimately, if you’ve already increased your watering amounts during your lawn care routine and are still finding trouble spots, it may be a great time to consult a professional.

 

Drought conditions can be a lawn killer in Winona, MN, especially if you don’t treat the symptoms when you see them. If you’re committed to keeping healthy grass and are interested in receiving professional lawn care assistance, call us today at (507) 454-7000 or by visiting our website here.

Should You Fertilize Your Rochester, MN Lawn in the Summer?

Posted on August 17, 2018 - 1:23 pm by

Fertilizing is one of those lawn care processes that seems like it should be simple but tends to conceal complex layers under the surface. For instance, for Rochester, MN lawn care novices, it may seem simplest to just fertilize your lawn every season to make sure it soaks up all the nutrients it possibly can! But unfortunately, it’s not quite that straightforward. Sure, nutrients are great, but if applied at an inopportune time, the fertilizer may not be helping as much as it could. The lawn care professionals here at Maier Tree & Lawn encourage personalizing the timing of your fertilizing to match your lawn and maximize your lawn care effectiveness.

Some property owners never make the effort to keep their lawns fertilized because they find it tedious, messy, or overly time-consuming. What they don’t realize is that they’re missing out on a very effective way to cut down how much care and repair your lawn will need over time.  Living in a harsh climate like Minnesota means that sometimes your lawn may need a little boost, and fertilizing is a great way to get a jump-start on year-round health.

Depending upon the type of grass you’re growing, it may benefit from early spring fertilizing, late spring fertilizing, summer fertilizing, or fall fertilizing. But it might not get the same boost from all of them. Generally, early spring and fall fertilizing are a great choice because they build the grass up after winter and prepare it for the freeze respectively.

It’s important to remember that when it comes to fertilizing, what works for your lawn care routine may not work for someone else’s. If you think you missed the perfect window to fertilize this spring, don’t fret! The lawn care professionals with Maier Tree & Lawn can help you analyze your Rochester, MN lawn and decide on a fertilizing routine that suits you perfectly. For questions about personalized lawn care or fertilizing techniques, call Maier Tree & Lawn at (507) 286-8733 or visit our website here for additional information.

Predicting your Plant’s Growth with Growing Degree Days in Winona, MN

Posted on June 27, 2018 - 11:13 am by

Winona, MN residents with a ‘green thumb’ are at least somewhat in tune with the growth of their plants year-round. The cyclical nature of familiar plants can be predicted merely with exposure. With a little experience, predicting their next stage of plant growth becomes fairly simple. However, living in a heavily varying climate means that plant growth doesn’t always go as expected. The horticultural experts at Maier Tree and Lawn don’t just understand the natural cycles of your plants, but they also utilize growing degree days in order to schedule and apply care whenever and however it’s most effective. This means happy plants, happy gardeners, and a beautiful looking lawn all throughout the growing season.

Growing degree days are a way to calculate the pace at which your plants will grow. GDDs are calculated using an equation that takes into account average temperatures, predicted temperatures, and the temperatures at which plants are most predisposed towards growth. This means that even if temperatures are different than predicted, or different from previous years, your plants’ growth can still be predicted and thus catered to appropriately.

Using growing degree days, our experts can determine when and how to best cultivate plant growth and sustain long term health for a variety of plant types. By predicting a plant’s next step, we can step away or give extra care as needed rather than relying solely on guesswork. For some plant life, this can be the difference between thriving and shriveling young.

Along with promoting general plant health, the horticultural experts with Maier Tree and Lawn utilize growing degree days in order to apply insecticides and other preventative measures and treatments. Since insect activity also related to the stage that your plants are currently in, growing degree days allow professionals to apply treatment at the right moment to maximize effectiveness.

If you’re interested in taking advantage of growing degree days in Winona, MN, or are looking for advice on sustaining consistent plant growth on your property, contact the horticultural professionals with Maier Tree and Lawn today at (507) 454-7000 or by visiting our website here for more information.

What is Fertilizer and How Does It Help in Rochester, MN?

Posted on May 1, 2018 - 11:50 am by

Most adults who have heard of basic lawn care are probably at least aware of what fertilizer can do. They may not know exactly what it’s made of, but they can probably describe it on its basic level. The most rudimentary explanation is that fertilizer is food for lawn and plants that help them grow. But why does this happen? And how do you know if your lawn needs fertilizer? Luckily for lawn care novices, the professional fertilizing experts with Maier Tree and Lawn in Rochester, MN won’t only help you understand what fertilizer is capable of, we’ll even assist with the entire fertilization process.

 

Just like humans, plants can suffer from nutritional deficiencies that impact their health. But unlike humans, plants can’t simply tell you when they’re feeling under the weather. The good news is that instead, they’ll do their best to show you when something is wrong. Discoloration, breakage, wilting, and halted growth are all signs that your plants may be suffering from a lack of essential nutrients. Once you see these signs, it’s possible that applying fertilizer may be the key to improving their condition. This is because using fertilizer is a process that allows you to manually introduce essential nutrients into the soil where they are needed when nature isn’t doing enough.

 

The nutritional value of soil depends on a wide variety of environmental factors, but no matter where in the Midwest you live, there’s a good chance that your plants can benefit from professional fertilizing services. Even at a basic level fertilizer may be giving your weaker plants a fighting chance. So even if you think your soil is in great shape you may still benefit from proper professional fertilizing.

 

If you’re a resident of Rochester, MN and your plants are suffering from nutritional deficiencies, or if you’d just like to help them grow to their highest potential, contact the professional fertilizing team with Maier Tree and Lawn today at (507) 286-8733 or by visiting our website here today.

Identifying Unhealthy Grass Throughout the Lawn Care Process in Rochester, MN

Posted on March 21, 2018 - 2:53 pm by

Keeping healthy grass is one of the best ways to make sure your yard looks its best in Rochester, MN. It’s also particularly impressive in a climate that swings wildly between extreme cold and sweltering heat. The lawn care professionals with Maier Tree and Lawn know that healthy grass can mean the difference between a lawn that looks like every other and one that looks exceptional. Keeping your turf health in mind means knowing how to see, touch, and sense trouble in the land of sod. Signs of grass health will vary slightly depending upon the type of grass you’re growing, but there are some universal signs that you can keep an eye out for during your lawn care process.

When it comes to turf health, sometimes all you need are a working pair of eyes to know there’s a problem. For instance, it’s pretty obvious that your grass is trying to tell you something if you notice brown spots, visible dirt, or prominent fungus while performing lawn care. All of these are clear signs that your grass needs a little extra TLC. But they aren’t the only signs.

Like most aspects of lawn care, what you see with the naked eye isn’t always all there is to see. If you’re trying to be thorough about the health of your grass, you may have to get up close and personal to understand whether or not your grass is in jeopardy. Occasionally, problems with grass health can be determined by touch. If your grass is dry or slimy to the touch, you could be dealing with an underlying health issue. During your normal lawn care routines, don’t be afraid to get close and check for inconsistencies.

If you have a feeling that something is off but can’t put your finger on it, more evidence may be hiding under the surface. The lawn care professionals with Maier Tree and Lawn can check for thatch build up and test the soil for other issues. If your Rochester, MN lawn is suffering from unhealthy patches, or if you’re concerned about your grass’ health in general, call Maier Tree and Lawn today at (507) 454-7000, or visit our website here for more information. Good turf health is the first step toward maintaining a comfortable, happy lawn for the long term.

Where will your trees be one year from now?

Posted on June 28, 2016 - 12:00 pm by

Maier Tree and Lawn - Life Of A Tree - Facebook

This might seem like a silly thing to ponder. It’s pretty obvious, if your tree is still living it will likely be right where it is now. However, that isn’t entirely true.

Trees are an amazing part of the ecosystem of this world. The tree that you see now in your front yard is part water and part CO2.  The cells would be hollow without air and/or water.  As the sunlight hits the leaves, and photosynthesis happens, trees take the CO2 from the air and the water it pulled up from the roots to create sugar and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air and is circulated in the atmosphere of our planet. Additionally, pollen is created and released each year, which accumulates on other plants, our soil, water and in the air.

So, that heavy, woody structure that sits in your front yard is dispersing itself, and impacting the entire planet. Some of the very form and mass that made your tree last year, is actually making its way around the globe to places like Europe, China or Australia this year.

The folks at Maier Tree & Lawn understand trees better than anyone in the Rochester, Minnesota area and can help you devise a plan to best care for our planet’s most wonderful asset.

Why Professional Tree Care IS Important.

Posted on June 21, 2016 - 12:00 pm by

Maier Tree and Lawn - Professional Tree Care - Facebook

We have all been duped into buying some sort of snake oil in our past and it leaves a pretty bad taste in our mouths. We would do nearly anything to avoid it. So when someone has something to offer (a.k.a. sell) that we don’t fully understand, our immediate reaction is to say, “No”.  Let’s take tree care for example. One “expert” may tell you that if you put this product on the roots or leaves, it will make your tree healthy. The next “expert” may tell you the exact opposite. This leaves you: a) confused and b) not sure who to believe.

A great place to start your research is from peer-reviewed sources. When an unbiased source gives you information on a particular subject or product, and that information was generated from research in accredited universities, rest assured you are on the right track. From there, good practitioners will build programs that are consistent with that information.

For arboriculture, many universities have programs in forestry, urban forestry, horticulture, biology, grounds maintenance, or others like that which work well as a foundation for the science.  There is new research every year from great scientists around the country. From there, an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist or Board Certified Master Arborist (the pinnacle of the profession), like the pros at Maier Tree & Lawn, will use this science and listen to your needs to come up with the very best recommendations for you and your trees.

If you sense that you are getting snake oil from your tree guy, ask him or her where they got their information. If it is from a credible source, you are well on your way to avoiding that bitter snake oil. Tree care skeptics beware, there are many things that your urban trees need that nature is not providing. Invest in the right company with the right arborists for your professional tree care needs, and you will come out the winner every single time.

5 Tree Laws You Should Know

Posted on June 14, 2016 - 12:00 pm by

Maier Tree and Lawn - 5 Tree Laws You Should Know About Tree Care

Believe it or not, there are several legal tree facts that are really useful to know. Hopefully it you are aware of these tree laws it’s not from first hand experience! Disclaimer: We are not attorneys so please don’t take these as legal advice, however we do know a few and they’d back us up.

Law #1 ::

Any part of your tree that goes over your neighbor’s fence is technically theirs. Property lines extend from the ground up into the sky. Your neighbor would technically have the right to prune any portion of your tree that passes over that imaginary line, so long as it does not damage your tree. You do not have the obligation to prune it for them.

Law #2 ::

Your tree has value and if damaged or destroyed by someone else, you have the right to collect damages from the person who caused the damage (or their insurance company).  The industry has standard ways to appraise the value of a tree based on their size, species, location on your property, and their condition. An average medium to large tree in your front yard likely adds thousands of dollars of value to your property.

Law #3 ::

Municipalities often have the right to condemn a tree that is diseased or dangerous on your property, and you would have to pay for that to be removed. Dutch Elm Disease and Oak Wilt are two such diseases that cities in the state of Minnesota have the right to condemn for the sake of managing those diseases. Trees that are unsafe can also be required to be removed for public safety. If you do not remove the tree, the City will have the tree removed and send you the bill.

Law #4 ::

You do not have the right to have a view. Trees that are on someone else’s property are not yours to prune or remove for any reason (unless it extends that imaginary property line in Law #1), including getting back a view that you once had. You may laugh, but we have seen this happen more than once and it rarely ends up well.

Law #5 ::

A city owns all trees in the right of way along roads. Most roadways extend beyond the curb and past the sidewalk by a few inches to a foot. Any tree in this area is not yours to prune or remove as you wish. Some cities will pretend that a tree in the “boulevard” strip is your responsibility and liability, but the reality is that they own the tree and responsibility to care for it or remove it. Check your local ordinances for specifics on this in your community.

These tree laws are in place because, we truly do care about the trees! We think this is pretty cool! The folks at Maier Tree & Lawn love trees and can help you with any tree issue you may come across. Call us today to set up your consultation!

Rochester, MN Lawns: Lush Lawn, Lazy Lawn?

Posted on June 18, 2015 - 1:36 pm by

Who doesn’t enjoy looking at a lush green lawn, especially if it’s yours? Here in the Rochester, Winona, and Southeast Minnesota area, we appreciate and value a nice, thick carpet of green. Maybe it’s because once spring and summer finally arrive, we’re all tired of looking at a six month blanket of snow! Whatever the reason, there’s something special about a nice thick, green, well-cared for lawn.

While driving around the area, if most people see a really great looking lawn, there are several thoughts that often come to mind:

  • To have a great looking lawn like that, they must be retired. How else could they spend the time to keep it looking like that?
  • That lawn must cost them a fortune to maintain.
  • I’ll bet they have an irrigation system.
  • Obviously they don’t have children or pets. If they did, their yard would be half dirt or brown patches.
  • They must have a green thumb.

The actual response to the above statements is, “Not necessarily.” In fact, by following a few guidelines, none of those statements have to be true to have a terrific looking lawn. The following tips can help you attain the lush, green lawn you desire:

  • Mow at higher height with a sharp blade, cutting off no more than one third the blades length. As discussed in a previous blog, how you mow makes a big difference in lawn health.
  • Mulch, don’t bag. This will not only save time, but the small grass clippings will return nitrogen to the soil.
  • Water less frequently for a longer time. Watering often for short periods of time, or watering by hand, is worse than not watering at all. Frequent light watering causes grass plants to have a shallow root system. This prevents the grass from being able to withstand hot, dry weather. Instead, water less often, perhaps only once a week or less, but for at least 30 minutes, to provide nearly 1 inch of water.
  • Time fertilization carefully. The most critical times for applying fertilizer is in early spring and in the fall. Fertilizing in the spring gives grass the boost it needs to promote growth and strong roots after grass has come out of its winter dormant state. Fall fertilizing feeds the roots even after grass has turned brown. If you are only able to fertilize twice, these are the times to do it.

You may not be able to have a lush lawn and be lazy, but it doesn’t require devoting every spare minute to caring for the grass. Summers in Southeast Minnesota are far too short to spend it slaving over your lawn. With some planning and basic lawn care practices, you can have the best of both worlds.

If you have any questions about the best practices to follow to care for your lawn, contact the lawn care professionals at Maier Tree and Lawn. Our specialists are trained in understanding how to care for your lawn.

For matters concerning your lawn, shrubberies, or trees, contact us at Maier Tree and Lawn at 507-286-8733 in Rochester, or 507-454-7000 in Winona.

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