WHAT DETERMINES THE HEALTH OF YOUR LANDSCAPE?

As we emerge into the early days of Spring, the focus of our crews and our clients turns from sidewalks and lots to the turf and plants. Everyone is taking stock of their plant and turf health wondering, ‘How did they fare this Winter during all the harsh weather?’

But in truth, the quality of your turf and plant health is indicative of the quality of your soil. And the health of your soil is much more heavily influenced by what happened last fall than by what happened this Winter. 

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What exactly are we talking about? 

Most property and facility managers have a solid understanding of what their turf should look like – weed free and thick. “What they often don’t think about,” says Business Unit Leader Erik Stewart, “are the long-term effects on the micro-nutrient side.” 

By micro-nutrients, Stewart is referring to the health of the micro-organisms that live in the soil. Micronutrients are essential for plant growth and play an important role in balanced plant and turf nutrition. They include boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and chloride (Cl), to name a few.

The only way you can know the health of the microorganisms in your soil is to do turf sampling, something True North Outdoor has been doing for years to assess the real health of a client’s landscape. 

“Good grass is a byproduct of great soil,” said Mark Nelson, Business Unit Leader who oversees the Nelson-Atkins Museum and other properties for True North Outdoor. 

That means, what services were performed last fall and what is being done now on soil ecosystems in the early days of Spring will be the heaviest hitter in terms of dictating landscape health later this Summer. 

True North began it’s preparations on properties last Fall in 2018. Prior to the Winter, True North clients received a winterizing fertilizer as well as a weed control treatment. 

“What we did 6 months ago is how your turf is going to look today. Fall is all about setting the turf up for the spring,” says Stewart. 

On some accounts, True North also performed a seeding service. The goal of all this preparatory work was to get the turf in the best position possible for the spring. 

To round out its treatments for commercial clients, True North is currently putting down a pre-emergent so clients can avoid the crabgrass come July and August. We’re also spraying weeds now to get good control of them before they get bigger. 

“It’s a process that can take even a couple years to get a bad looking plot to look its best,” Stewart says. “It is a time, effort and identification process. The right thing for the turf at the right time with the right products. A broad stroke program doesn’t work the same for every lawn nor should it.”

And yet, this cookie-cutter approach to landscape maintenance is what we see all across the industry. But when you understand the science behind what makes these landscapes healthy, the error of that thinking becomes self-evident.

“Paying attention to the ratio of elements in the soil will tell you exactly what the soil —  NOT THE GRASS — needs,” said Nelson.