Now that the snow has melted and winter seems to finally be coming to an end, it’s time to get ready for spring and warmer weather – and that means getting your lawn ready too. Spring is the perfect time to do a bit of maintenance and preventative yard work to make sure your lawn is looking its healthy and full year round. Below are six of our top spring lawn tips to get your lawn is looking its best.

A little yard maintenance in the spring can help your lawn look good all summer.

Spring Lawn Tips

1. Clean-up debris

   After a winter of wind and snow, it’s common to see lawns littered with organic debris and occasionally garbage that has accumulated in the yard. Take an afternoon to pickup any sticks, branches or other debris that may have ended up in your yard, and rake any leaves that were missed last fall.

2. Prevent weed growth

   The best way to keep weeds out of your yard is to be proactive in the spring. There are numerous, organic, safe products on the market that will help control weed problems in your lawn. Of course, if you’d rather not buy an additional product for your lawn, a trowel, a pair of gloves, and a bit of patience will work just as well if you’d prefer to weed by hand.

3. Tune-up your lawn mower

   Before summer hits and your grass really starts to grow, take a couple hours to tune-up your lawn mower. Make sure the oil is fresh and the gasoline tank is full. Replace the air filter and the spark plugs, and sharpen your blades to make sure they are cutting the lawn cleaning.

4. Prune plants

   The ideal time to prune plants varies between plant families. However, there are many perennials that are best pruned in the spring before new growth has started.

5. Perform soil tests

   The acidity levels in soil can range from 4 to 10 pH. Each plant has a prefered pH level. To ensure the grass in your yard is growing in soil it will thrive in, it is helpful to determine the pH level. Once the pH level has been determined, steps can be taken to increase or decrease the acidity as needed.

6. Check your sprinkler

   Lawns thrive best when they are given slow, deep soaks of water rather than frequent short sprinkles. Check your sprinkler system to make sure everything is working properly. That includes checking for wear and tear on the system, debris on the sprinkler heads, the correct water pressure and ensuring the valves are working properly.

What homeowner hasn’t looked at a worn-out concrete patio and dreamed of replacing it? Patio upgrades top the list of our most-requested landscaping projects. Any of them pique your interest? Contact us today to get started on your next project!

1. Paver and Flagstone Patios

It’s on just about everyone’s wish list of things to do…a classic, beautiful, durable brick patio. It’s longer-lasting and prettier than concrete. No cracking!

Paver bricks have gone from a “high end” patio option to a more practical option, thanks to increased popularity, more competition among contractors who specialize in paver brick installation (like Great Goats), and lower prices for higher quality paver bricks than 5-10 years ago.

Flagstone patios have the same durability advantage as paver bricks, but with the random beauty of natural stone.

2. Front Landscapes

Everyone wants better curb appeal…for themselves, for the neighbors. This could include a new front walkway, a new design for the front entry, areas for new flowers and shrubs in the front yard. And everyone could use another shade tree.

3. Out With The Old!

One of our most high-demand and most gratifying projects. Your house is 15-20 years old. All the shrubs are overgrown, dead or dying. This “look” is dating your home. We start by tearing out the old foundation shrubs and often, removing the old landscape rock. Now we have a blank slate to create a new design, using plants, colors and textures that you love and that bring your house into the “now.”

4. Fire Pits/Fire Places

The addition of a fire feature is both fun and functional. It’s a natural place for family and friends to gather and create “warm” memories. Kids love to roast marshmallows and s’mores, and there’s no better way to keep teenagers close to home than a fire feature. Neighbors become friends as the smell of a backyard fire lures them through the gate, refreshments to share in hand!

5. Backyard Landscapes

Your private retreat, with a place to sit and relax, areas to entertain, a water feature to unwind whatever’s wound too tight. Landscape lighting, cool breeze, the smell of what’s blooming today. Why would you ever want to leave…home.

What’s on Your Checklist?

Let us know what you need, and get on our calendar:

• ☑ Spring Clean Up
• ☑ Mulching
• ☑ Pruning and Trimming
• ☑ Flower Planting

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Take advantage of special savings on spring cleanup.  This offer is only available for a limited time, so contact us today!

Look out the window. What do you see? White, gray and brown. That about sums it up.

Now, start thinking pink, yellow and blue. There’s no better way to escape winter than to start planning your summer landscape project.

Get Inspired on the Great Goats Website

You can browse the Great Goats Landscaping portfolio for photos to jump start ideas for a backyard escape or beautiful, new curb appeal for the front of your home.

Before you know it, you’ll get excited searching for ideas. And instead of the drab winter, you’ll be looking at photos of trees, shrubs and flowers…lawns, patios and gardens.

Expert Advice from a Design Pro

Planning a landscape project can be a simple process with our help. You contact us, and we’ll set up a meeting with Great Goats Landscaping owner/designer, Mike Olson (that’s me).

Meeting 1: I come to your home and we discuss your vision and goals. Or perhaps you have a problem to solve: poor drainage, car headlights glaring in your window, or old, outdated, dying trees and shrubs.

Next, I take your vision and merge it with my own vision and come up with an exciting, new design for your landscape. There’s no charge for the consultation, and design fees vary. We can completely transform and update the look of your home and the way your experience it with a landscape project.

Meeting 2: We’ll look at your new design and compare it to photos in the Great Goats Landscaping portfolio. Then, with your feedback, we can discuss costs of the project and any revisions that could be made to the design.

Meeting 3: Typically, either before or after our third meeting, we agree to work together and you secure a place on our calendar with a monetary deposit on your project.

Kick Back and Enjoy Your New Landscape!

And before you know it, you’ll be enjoying your new landscape…you’re relaxing, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it’s 80 degrees.

White, gray and brown? Or pink, yellow and blue? Contact us today…and let’s start planning now.

Hire Great Goats for Lawn Composting

If you want a beautiful, sustainable, healthy lawn, try spreading compost on your lawn. When you think of beautifully manicured lawns and landscapes, you may think of golf courses. Well, one of the same, basic practices that help golf courses maintain lush, green fairways and greens is Top Dressing. Specifically, top dressing the lawn with compost.

What is top dressing?

It’s the direct application of about ¼ inch layer of compost or compost blend to the surface of your lawn. For residential lawns, a blend of 75% compost and 25% topsoil is great. The compost should be screened, with a fine texture, allowing it to fall between the blades of grass.

Why is top dressing with compost so effective?

Compost significantly increases soil’s ability to retain water. Compost also improves the overall soil structure, stimulates microbial activity, breaks down thatch and neutralizes the soil’s ph. Simply stated, compost is the best, natural, slow releasing soil amendment containing everything turf needs to thrive. An added benefit of top dressing with compost is fewer weeds. As your grass grows thicker, fewer weeds can get started in your lawn. So you’ll spend less time and money getting rid of weeds.

We recommend three steps to achieve your best lawn ever!

• Step one: We’ll aerate your lawn which has multiple benefits of its own (see previous blog on spring services).
• Step two: We’ll over seed your lawn with quality grass seed.
• Step three: We spread the proper layer of compost on your lawn, using a walk behind spread specifically designed to top dress your lawn with compost.

How often should you top dress your lawn with compost?

Once per year is great. You can compost the lawn at any time during the growing season, although it’s not recommended during extreme hot spells. Give it a try. You deserve a lush, green, golf course-like lawn. We can help you get it.

Spring…probably the most awaited, celebrated season in Minnesota. Here’s what you want to focus on in your lawn and landscape this spring:

Spring Clean Up

Spring cleaning, it’s not just for your closets. We perform a thorough cleaning of your lawn and landscape, using rakes, clippers, blowers and mowers. We remove winter’s left-overs… leaves, sticks and debris. Then we haul it away, leaving you with a clean, beautiful property.

Dethatching

Dethatching your lawn is like brushing and flossing your teeth. We get rid of the compacted gunk that’s in your lawn. Metal tines loosen and thatch. Then we rake or vacuum the debris and haul it way. Your lawn can breathe again and it’s ready to get growing.

Core Aeration

Probably the best thing you can do for your lawn is aerate. Once per year is good. Aeration is simply creating thousands of 2” deep holes throughout your lawn.  Aeration reduces soil compaction, helps break down thatch, and helps water and nutrients to flow to the grass roots. (“The Grass Roots” remember that 60’s band?). In time, aeration loosens the topsoil of your lawn, enabling the roots to grow deeper and spread further.

Fertilization & Weed Control

A key element to a thick, healthy lawn is controlling weeds. Applying a pre-emergent herbicide prevents weeds from growing from seed. Other treatments kill established weeds.  But the best defense against weeds is a good offense: Let us fertilize your lawn, aerate it, over seed it, and top dress it with compost. The thicker, the lusher, and the more beautiful your lawn, the less opportunity there will be for weeds to grow. Good grass chokes out bad weeds.

Spring Gutter Cleaning

If you didn’t have your gutters cleaned last fall, let us do it this spring. A clogged gutter sends rain water spilling over the gutter, on to your home’s fascia, siding and ground. This causes messy splashing and worse, can cause stained and rotting wood. We can also repair bowed or loose gutters.