Sutherlands Organic Solutions
“We are a lawn care company committed to helping your lawn look its best and our earth help itself.”
SOS Lawn Care Tips: Keeping Your Lawn Strong & Healthy
Longer days, rising temperatures, and rapid growth mean now is the perfect time to give your lawn the care it needs before summer stress arrives.
Proper watering, mowing, and staying on schedule with treatments will help keep your turf thick, green, and healthy all season long. Let’s get ahead of the heat and make this your lawn’s best season yet! 🌿💧
Here are some important lawn care tips and friendly reminders to help keep your lawn happy and healthy.
🌿 Maintain Proper Mowing Practice and Height. As temperatures rise, mowing practice and height become increasingly important. Taller grass helps shade the soil, conserve moisture, and reduce weed pressure. Avoid cutting more than one-third of the grass blade at any time; maintain your lawn at 3½ to 4 inches for optimal turf health and keep mower blades sharp to avoid tearing of the grass.
🌿 Watering for Root Health: Now is the time to turn on your irrigation system. Please do not delay — the heat is coming. If rainfall is limited, begin watering every other morning and water deeply, giving your lawn approximately 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week. This encourages deeper root growth and improves drought tolerance as summer approaches. Early morning watering is best to reduce evaporation and disease risk.
🌿 Watch for Weeds: Weed activity will continue throughout the season. While weed elimination is very difficult to fully achieve, addressing them with each scheduled treatment gradually reduces their presence and helps prevent their spread and competition for nutrients and water. Some weeds may still appear between treatment applications, which is normal, but keep an eye out for an unusual increase in activity.
🌿 Fertilization Supports Growth: Proper fertilization during active growth helps maintain lawn color and density. Balanced nutrient applications strengthen grass and support overall lawn health.
🌿 Reduce Lawn Stress: The heat is coming, and increased foot traffic, pets, and outdoor activities can place additional stress on turf. Rotating activity areas and limiting excessive wear can help maintain even growth and reduce stress from both heat and use.
🌿 Stay on Schedule with Treatments: Timely lawn care applications are essential for maintaining thick, healthy turf and preventing future issues. Even during periods of drought or extreme heat, our materials are designed not to burn the lawn. Our slow-release applications are specifically formulated to sustain and support the root system during stressful summer conditions. Staying on schedule is extremely important to maintain turf health, and skipping treatments due to heat or drought is not recommended.
Key Takeaway: Consistent care now will help prepare your lawn for the warmer months ahead. If you have any questions or would discuss a lawn care program, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Call SOS or visit our website to learn more about our lawn care programs!
SOS 401-764-0740 // http://soslawn.com
Understanding Crabgrass: Why It Appears, How Prevention Works, and Why Fall is Key to Control
Crabgrass is one of the most common and frustrating weeds homeowners face each year. It seems to appear suddenly, spread aggressively, and linger despite treatment. Understanding why crabgrass behaves the way it does can help you manage it more effectively—and even prevent it long-term.
Why Crabgrass Starts When It Does
Crabgrass is a warm-season annual weed, which means it germinates, grows, and dies all within a single year. Its life cycle is driven almost entirely by soil temperature, not the calendar.
- Crabgrass seeds begin to germinate when soil temperatures reach about 55–60°F for several consecutive days.
- This typically happens in mid-spring.
- Once conditions are right, thousands of dormant seeds in your soil begin to sprout rapidly.
This is why crabgrass can seem to “appear overnight”—it’s been waiting below the surface all along for the perfect conditions.
What Crabgrass Prevention Does in Early Spring
Crabgrass prevention, also known as a pre-emergent treatment, is applied in early spring before the seeds germinate.
Here’s how it works:
- It creates a protective barrier in the soil.
- As crabgrass seeds begin to sprout, the treatment stops the young seedlings from developing properly.
- The plant dies before it can break through the surface and become visible.
Timing is critical. If applied too early, the barrier may weaken before germination. If applied too late, some crabgrass may already be growing.
Why Crabgrass Can Still Appear Despite Treatment
Even with proper prevention or post-emergent treatments, it’s still possible to see crabgrass during the season.
This can be frustrating, but there are several valid reasons:
1. Timing and Weather Variability: Unpredictable weather can quickly shift soil temperatures, causing crabgrass to germinate earlier or later than expected.
2. Barrier Disruption: Heavy rain or soil disturbance can weaken the pre-emergent barrier, allowing some seeds to break through.
3. Existing Seeds in the Soil: Lawns often contain years’ worth of crabgrass seeds, and not all will be controlled in a single season.
4. Thin or Weak Lawn Areas: Crabgrass thrives in bare or stressed areas. If your lawn is thin, it creates ideal conditions for crabgrass to establish itself.
5. Post-Emergent Limitations: Post-emergent treatments can control visible crabgrass, but:
- They work best on young plants
- Mature crabgrass is harder to eliminate completely
- New seeds can still germinate later in the season
Why Fall Aeration & Overseeding is the Best Long-Term Solution
While spring treatments help manage crabgrass, fall is the most important time to truly reduce it.
Core Aeration and Over-Seeding in the fall provide long-term benefits:
1. Thickens Your Lawn: Overseeding introduces new grass that fills in bare spots, leaving less space for crabgrass to grow the following year.
2. Improves Soil Health: Aeration reduces soil compaction, allowing water, nutrients, and oxygen to reach the roots more effectively.
3. Interrupts the Crabgrass Cycle: Since crabgrass dies off after the first frost, fall is the perfect time to replace those areas with healthy turfgrass.
4. Builds Natural Resistance: A dense, healthy lawn is your best defense—grass naturally crowds out weeds, including crabgrass.
Key Takeaway
Crabgrass is persistent, but it’s not unbeatable. The key is understanding that control occurs across multiple seasons, not just with one treatment.
- Spring: Focus on prevention and early control
- Summer: Manage breakthrough and maintain lawn health
- Fall: Strengthen and repair your lawn to prevent future problems
If you take a long-term approach—especially with fall aeration and overseeding—you’ll see fewer crabgrass issues each year. A healthier lawn isn’t just about treating weeds—it’s about building strong turf that keeps them out for good.
Call SOS or visit our website to learn more about crabgrass prevention and/or spring lawn care!
SOS 401-764-0740 // http://soslawn.com
SOS April Lawn Care Tips: Spring Is in Full Swing
🌸 Happy Spring! It’s finally here—even if the temperatures haven’t quite gotten the memo yet. 😅
Everything is starting to wake up, and your lawn is officially back in growth mode! 👇 Check out a few helpful early-spring lawn tips to get the season off to a great start.
Early Spring Helpful Tips:
Below are some helpful spring lawn care tips to keep in mind this month. The care your lawn receives in April plays a major role in how it performs throughout the season.
🌷 Mowing Practices: As your lawn kicks into growth mode, mowing height matters! Start with a 2.5″ cut to clear out winter debris, then gradually raise the height to promote deeper roots and help keep weeds in check. It’s still early in the season, and growth is slow, so be sure to wait until your lawn is long enough before mowing. Please avoid spring scalping (anything under 2.5 inches)—ouch! 😬 Keeping your grass a little taller encourages stronger, healthier growth.
🌷 Fertilization Supports Healthy Growth: Spring fertilization provides essential nutrients that fuel growth and color. Timely applications help your lawn develop strong roots and recover from winter stress.
🌷 Weed Activity Increases in April: Broadleaf weeds like dandelions and clover will start to pop up this month. Treating early helps stop them from spreading and stealing nutrients, water, and sunlight from your lawn. Broadleaf weed control treatments are designed to tackle these seasonal weeds—but keep in mind, results take time. It may take several applications to significantly reduce their presence, especially if lawn maintenance isn’t consistent.
🌷 Water Only When Needed: April usually brings plenty of rain, but if we hit a dry stretch, switch to deep, infrequent watering—whether that’s firing up your irrigation or grabbing the hose. Although easy does it! Too much water can stress your lawn and lead to turf diseases.
🌷 Minimize Lawn Stress: Fresh spring grass is still finding its footing! Try to limit foot traffic, pets, and heavy equipment to avoid damage and help your lawn grow evenly and well.
🌷 Stay on Schedule with Services: April treatments are critical for maintaining lawn health and preventing future problems. Keeping your program on schedule ensures treatments are applied at the optimal time for the best results.
Key Takeaway:
April is one of the most important months of the season, as proper care now helps promote thicker grass, fewer weeds, and a healthier lawn throughout the year.
A little effort in April = less work, fewer weeds, and a healthier lawn all summer.
📞 Call SOS or visit our website to learn more about spring lawn care!
SOS 401-764-0740 // www.soslawn.com
Tiny Tunnels, Big Questions: What Happened to My Lawn?
If you’ve ever watched the snow melt away in early spring only to reveal a maze of winding trails across your lawn, you’re not alone. These curious surface tunnels are typically the work of moles and voles—small mammals that stay active all winter long, even beneath a blanket of snow.
While the damage might look alarming at first glance, the good news is that in most cases, your lawn will recover naturally with little to no intervention.
Why Do Moles and Voles Tunnel Under the Snow?
During winter, snow acts like an insulating layer over the ground. Beneath it, temperatures remain relatively stable compared to the freezing air above. This creates a surprisingly hospitable environment for small animals.
Moles and voles take advantage of this by creating tunnel systems in the narrow space between the soil and the snowpack. This zone allows them to:
- Move freely without exposure to predators
- Stay warmer than they would above the snow
- Access food sources like roots, bulbs, and insects
Because the ground is often too hard or frozen to dig deeply, especially during cold snaps, these animals shift their activity closer to the surface—right where you’ll eventually see the evidence.
Why Do the Tunnels Appear in Spring?
All winter long, these tunnels remain hidden under the snow. But as temperatures rise and the snow melts, the protective layer disappears—revealing the network of paths that were formed beneath it.
What looks like sudden damage is actually the result of months of activity that only just became visible.
Do These Tunnels Harm Your Lawn?
In most cases, the answer is: not significantly.
The tunnels may flatten grass and disrupt the surface slightly, but they typically do not kill the lawn outright. Grass roots often remain intact, and once sunlight, air, and warmth return, the grass begins to recover on its own.
What Should You Do About It?
For mild to moderate tunnel damage, a light touch is best, and given a little time, most lawns bounce back naturally.
- Gently rake the area to lift flattened grass
- Walk over raised tunnels to press them back into place
- Resume normal lawn care like watering and mowing as the season progresses
When Might You Need Extra Help?
In more severe cases—where tunneling has been extensive or patches of grass have died—you may need to step in a bit more, but even then, recovery is usually straightforward and doesn’t require major repair.
- Apply grass seed to bare or thinning areas
- Add a light layer of topsoil to improve seed contact
- Keep the area consistently moist to encourage regrowth
The Bottom Line
While mole and vole tunnels can make your lawn look messy after the snow melts, they’re rarely a long-term problem. These animals are simply taking advantage of winter conditions to survive, and the visible aftermath is more cosmetic than catastrophic.
With a little patience—and perhaps some light maintenance—your lawn should return to its healthy, green state before long.
📞 Call SOS or visit our website to learn more about spring lawn care or mole/vole tunnels this spring! SOS 401-764-0740 // www.soslawn.com
Is moss taking over your lawn after winter? You’re not alone!
As the snow melts, lawns stay cool, wet, and often shaded—perfect conditions for moss to thrive. Meanwhile, your grass is just waking up from dormancy, which gives moss the chance to spread, especially in thin or weak areas.
Moss thrives right after winter for a few key reasons—all of which come together perfectly when snow melts:
🌧️ 1. Excess Moisture
Snowmelt saturates the soil, creating consistently damp conditions. Moss loves moisture and doesn’t need much drainage to survive, unlike grass.
🌡️ 2. Cool Temperatures
Early spring temperatures are still cool, which slows down grass growth—but moss prefers these cooler conditions and can grow more actively.
🌤️ 3. Low Sunlight
In early spring, the sun is weaker, and trees may still be bare, but shaded areas (especially north-facing lawns) stay cool and damp—ideal for moss.
🌱 4. Weak or Dormant Grass
Grass is just emerging from winter dormancy and hasn’t started growing vigorously yet. This gives moss an opportunity to spread without much competition.
🧪 5. Soil Conditions
Moss often appears in:
- Compacted soil
- Poor drainage areas
- Low pH (acidic soil)
- Nutrient-deficient lawns
These conditions tend to worsen over winter, making early spring the perfect time for moss to take hold.
💡 Simple Way to Think About It:
Moss is opportunistic—it shows up when grass struggles. Early spring is basically the “perfect storm” where grass is weak, and moss conditions are ideal.
Combat Moss after Winter:
If you’re noticing more moss this time of year, it’s usually a sign your lawn could benefit from better drainage, soil health, or early-season care. Addressing shade will also help prevent moss from returning.
Have questions about your lawn? We’re here to help! 😊
Sutherlands Organic Solutions 