Care and How-To - Lawn and Turf
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Learn how to manage and repair lawn damage caused by skunks and raccoons searching for grubs. Explore effective strategies including grub control, exclusion methods, repellents, and lawn repair techniques.
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Effective methods to get rid of ground ivy in lawns and gardens. Discover non-chemical options, herbicide recommendations, and lawn care tips to manage this persistent weed and maintain a healthy landscape.
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Bumpy, rough, uneven lawns are annoying, difficult to mow, and potentially dangerous. Learn about the factors that cause rough, bumpy lawn and how to manage them.
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Tall fescue is a popular, low-maintenance grass choice in Iowa. It has the highest heat, traffic, and drought tolerance of the cool season grasses. It is well adapted to wet soils, partially shaded sites, and is often used where a low-maintenance lawn is desired. This type of grass turns green in mid-spring and maintains color into late fall.
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Overseeding improves lawn density by sowing grass seed into thin established turf. Best done in late summer or early fall, it involves good seed-to-soil contact and proper care post-seeding.
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There are many species of ants that occur in lawns or along and under sidewalks. Most ants are beneficial and do not require control. However, ants may become a nuisance by constructing mounds or small hills in the lawn, landscape, prairie planting, pasture, CRP field, roadside, or on the sidewalk or patio, or by invading the home in search of food.
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Learn effective weed management for your garden. Discover types of weeds, their impact, and tips for controlling them to maintain a healthy landscape.
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There are many things to do to the lawn starting in mid-August through October. To keep lawns healthy and thriving, adjust mowing height, aerate, seed or overseed new and thin lawns, remove fallen leaves, water as needed, and fertilize.
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While spring is the traditional planting season in Iowa, late summer and early fall (mid-August to early October) is an excellent time to plant many landscape plants. Below is advice on fall planting of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, sp
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When a summer heat wave arrives, it can be stressful for the plants and gardeners alike. The plants of your landscape will require a little more TLC to make it through periods of extreme heat. Below are a few tips to protect your lawn, garden, and landscape when temperatures soar.
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When Kentucky bluegrass and other cool-season grasses begin to green-up in spring, some home gardeners are dismayed to see brown spots in the lawn. In some cases, the brown spots are dead patch.
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A lush green lawn is a goal for many homeowners, but getting a lush green carpet of turfgrass requires a lot of money and time spent on chemicals, mowing, watering, seeding, weeding, and other chores. While a well-maintained lawn provides a great space for recreation as well as a perfect backdrop for your home and garden beds, turfgrass is not the only option. Beautiful landscapes can also include a lawn created from many other plants that can provide a more interesting mix of color and textures as well as food and habitat for pollinators. All of this while requiring fewer inputs!
Below are several alternative lawn options to consider.
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Establishing a new lawn requires careful planning and effort. Learn the best seeding times, turfgrass selection, site preparation, and maintenance tips for a thriving lawn!
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Pollinator Lawns, Bee Lawns, Freedom Lawns
All of these terms refer to the same idea - creating a lawn that is more friendly for insects. -
Core aeration is a great way to improve the health of your lawn. Aeration relieves soil compaction, improves water and nutrient movement in the soil, and prevents thatch accumulation. Aeration improves the growing conditions for the turfgrass plants and results in a healthier, more vigorous lawn.
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While winter is often considered a slow time in the garden, there are still several things that can be done from December through February to prepare for spring and keep yourself active in the garden even when there is snow on the ground! Below is a list of tasks to do for perennials, annuals, trees & shrubs, vegetables, lawns, and houseplants.
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Crabgrass is a warm-season annual weed that germinates from seed each spring and thrives throughout the summer if not controlled.
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Managing a lawn looks different than managing the plants in other parts of the landscape. Below are all the resources you need to grow a beautiful lawn.
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There are several options for creating a lawn using turf-like alternatives to the traditional grasses grown in lawns.
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Weed management requires persistence throughout the entire growing season removing weeds when they appear and preventing them from getting large, flowering, or setting seed.
There are many different techniques for weed management and effective control often comes from using a combination of different techniques.
Weeds can be divided into several major groups. Some species can be classified in one or more of these groups, and others cannot be classified in any of these groups. Understanding how the weed is classified will help with control as the management of weeds in each group looks similar.