Home & Garden Club

For all the work you put into mowing, fertilizing and other forms of landscape maintenance on the weekends, it’s what happens when you aren’t in your yard that determines whether it reaches its aesthetic potential. Proper watering is the key for any grass area, and Morris and Bergen County Irrigation offers residential irrigation and commercial irrigation systems that can make lawn care easy and affordable. With over 30 years of experience and more than 6,000 satisfied customers, we offer state of the art irrigation solutions that promise to keep your lawn in the pristine condition you aspire to.

The value of your landscape to the overall look and feel of your home cannot be underestimated. A lush looking lawn for our clients is our one and only mission, and one of our lawn irrigation systems are well qualified to make it possible. Everyone’s landscape is different, and we’ll work with you to customize a drip system or sprinkler system using top of the line products from the leading names in the industry. From small backyards to large parks and outdoor commercial areas, our professional installers will have your system up and running in a timely fashion, a pre-cursor to the days ahead when you’ll save on maintenance time due to your easy to use automatic system.

Irrigation systems from Morris and Bergen County Irrigation depend on the latest state of the art technology to do the job in a dependable fashion, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t easy to use. On the contrary, even the most technologically challenged among us will be able to work and program their new system at the touch of a button. And because you’re system will be dialed in to the exact water specifications your lawn requires to look great year round, you’ll cut down on wasted watering time and save water and money in the process. It all adds up to a drip or sprinkler irrigation system that defines dependability and affordability; the very reasons at the heart of our more than three decades of service to Morris and Bergen County residents.

Maintaining your lawn is a year-round job, but you don’t have to be the one doing the heavy lifting. With the right lawn and irrigation products in place, keeping your lawn at its pristine best becomes a much easier proposition. Make sure that your lawn is receiving the proper water dosage it needs on a regular basis, and in a fashion that is easy and affordable for you.

The modern lawn has fast become the status symbol of today’s suburban family - its health and vitality reflecting considerably on the homeowners. Millions are spent each year as more and more families fork over hefty fees to professional landscapers and lawn care services in an effort to maximize the potential of their property. But for some, the simple joy of working outside - and of achieving a beautiful lawn - can be an achievement not worth hiring out. For those ambitious do-it-yourselfers - or for those who find comfort and relaxation in working outside - a few basic lawn care tips will go a long way towards achieving a healthy and beautiful lawn.

One of the best lawn care tips is to go straight to the professionals to learn what will work for your specific lawn. Depending on your climate, your lawn will respond best to a myriad of different factors that must be considered when implementing a successful lawn care plan. Your local home and garden store is likely well-stocked with everything you will need to best care for your lawn. Additionally, the employees who work in these retail outlets are often vastly knowledgeable and can guide you in your purchases.

Other such lawn care tips include frequent and ample watering of your lawn during inevitable dry spells; the periodic aeration of soil to allow grass roots to receive the utmost sunlight and water; weekly mowing in season to ensure proper and continued growth; fertilization and seeding in fall and spring to lay the groundwork for future success; and the tackling of weeks that can strangle the roots of a growing lawn.

Lawn care tips are varied and numerous; do your part by reading as much information as you can about your specific species of grass, talk to professionals and even neighbors who have success with their own lawn maintenance; and visit the Internet where a vast amount of resources reside for lawn care enthusiasts. The time you dedicate to sorting through lawn care tips will pay off in the way of a beautiful lawn that can be enjoyed by all.

Now that the fall season is upon us and you’ve done all the damage control you can from summer’s unfriendly effects, what can you do for your lawn now that will keep it healthy and beautiful?

Lawn maintenance is key for the month of November, the focus should be on sprucing up your lawn and doing any necessary leaf cleanup from October’s leaf shedding.

Lawn Spruce Up

Last minute compost As recommended for September and October, it is a good idea to spread a layer of compost over your lawn. You can patch up and reseed bare spots by adding a layer of compost and spreading the same type of seeds you have in the area. The next steps include covering the layer of compost and seeds with an even spread of straw while watering the area consistently, which will allow the grass enough time to germinate before extremely cold temperatures occur. Just because winter is right around the corner doesn’t mean you can stop watering your lawn. Your lawn still needs some water action before the cold season settles in.

Cutting grass During the fall and winter, lawn experts recommend cutting your grass a little higher than usual in order to maintain a deeper root system, which contributes to a healthier lawn. Before you mow your lawn next time, raise the deck height of your mower to a height of at least two inches for warm season grasses and about three to four inches for cool-season grasses. In the more densely shaded areas of your lawn, you should allow the grass to reach an even taller height.

Avoid walking on new lawns New lawns can be very sensitive, especially if they are not carefully monitored to avoid being trampled and stepped on. New grass blades can be damaged so much that they may not be able to survive. Give your new grass every opportunity to grow by keeping people, especially children, off the lawn. Also, even if the lawn becomes iced over, avoid walking on it.

Leaf Clean-Up

The more trees you have on your lawn, the more fallen leaves you’ll have. It’s important not to dismiss fallen leaves and instead to take quick action to remove them, as they can disturb your turf grass, especially recently seeded lawns. Removing leaves quickly will also decrease the chance of insect and lawn disease problems since leaving leaves on your lawn can cause them to become matted down from rain and moisture, and is more prone to developing insect problems and lawn diseases.

To remove leaves from your lawn, a rake or leaf blower both work well. Be careful not to pull up any tender grass blades while using a rake. A bamboo rake can be useful because it does less damage than a plastic or steel rake. If you want to be extra careful with grass blades, a leaf blower will help, although you may want to make sure any and all new seeds have germinated and won’t be blown away by the leaf blower.

To avoid both the rake and blower, you have another option with the mulching mower, which can shred leaves into tiny pieces that decompose in the lawn while adding organic matter and nutrients back to the soil. Don’t let the name fool you, as the mulching mower does not actually make mulch, but leaves behind compost instead. The mulching mower can be quite beneficial since it leaves compost in the lawn directly as opposed to the trouble of creating a separate compost pile and using that to spread over the lawn.

Lawn Mower Maintenance

I have been in the lawn mowing industry for many years and am writing to share my experience on lawn mower maintenance and purchasing. For my personal/home mower, I do the following things:

1) Change the oil and filter at least on time per season (I always carefully read the owner’s manual and follow the factories recommendations. At the very minimum, I change the oil and filter at least one time per season.)

2) Replace the factory blade with a mulching blade (I have had best results with a product called gator blade. By changing to a mulching blade, I have been able to eliminate the need for bagging grass and improve the look of my yard)

3) replace the spark plug at the beginning of each season (spark plugs generally cost less than two dollars and often make the lawn mower easier to start, especially if the old spark plug is very worn)

4) Check and clean the air filter every 3 cuts (a dirty air filter can damage your engine and make your mower much harder to start. I highly recommend checking and cleaning your air filter on a regular basis)

Lawn Mower Repair

If you are uncomfortable repairing your lawn mower yourself or have a complicated problem with your lawn mower, you should consult a professional who works on lawnmowers on a regular basis. You may find a professional by typing your cities name lawn mower repair into Google (for example, you may type, “Downers Grove Lawn Mower Repair” into Google). Once you generate a list of people in your area who do Lawn Mower Repair, you should research the companies you find a bit to find out whether or not they are trustworthy and sufficiently knowledgeable to do the job. To do this, I often ask for the recommendations of my family, friends, and other people in the lawn mowing industry. Often times, personal recommendations are a great way to find a trustworthy business.

Furthermore, once you find a professional that you want to take your lawn mower to, I strongly recommend getting a clear estimate for the price to complete the work before authorizing them to fix your machine. Often time’s repairs can exceed the value of a lawn mower and it makes more sense, economically, and it makes more sense to dump an old lawn mower than it does to invest a $150 dollars into an old one.

In the case your lawn mower is old and not worth fixing, I strongly recommend investing either in a Honda Self Propelled Lawn Mower or Toro Personal Pace. In my opinion, Honda’s are the best lawn mower for someone that is willing to pay $400-$500 in order to get a great machine that lasts a long time. However, if you have a smaller budget, $250-$400, I strongly recommend the Toro Personal Pace because it is very reliable, well built, and features a very unique self propelled system that makes it very easy to use. The personal pace system actually varies its speed based on how hard you push, the harder you push, the faster it goes. I have owned several Honda’s and several Toro’s and recommend both to my family and friends depending on their budget and unique needs.

For more lawn maintenance and service tips visit

Downers Grove Lawn Service

Grass; I always thought it was just that short green stuff I played football on and rolled around in when I was a kid, but as it turns out, grass is a bigger deal than I’ve ever given it credit for. There are magazines, books, websites, clubs, and innumerable businesses that specialize specifically in grass: knowing and teaching how to make a lawn as green, thick, and healthy as it possibly can be. In fact, in 2003, it was an $11.6bil industry, but this industry is more than just grass, it’s called lawn care. If you’re an entrepreneur interested in starting a home based business that will be profitable and enjoyable, entering the lawn care world as a professional may be a good way to go, and here are some great lawn care franchises to get you there.

Lawn Maintenance

There are a few different angles from which to approach lawn care as a business. The most obvious side of the industry is the actual work of maintaining the lawn itself, and there are three businesses I would recommend for their excellence in the market.

Spring-Green Lawn Care is a longtime powerhouse in the lawn care world, providing top-notch service to homeowners in 24 states for the last 30 years. Franchisees with this mobile franchise receive a week of initial training and a few days of on-the-job training before starting out as owner/operators; fertilizing clients’ lawns, controlling diseases and insects, aerating, and maintaining trees and hedges around the lawn as well. And that simple beginning can quickly turn into a more profitable operation with the franchisee overseeing a larger group of employees actually doing the work.

Home lawns aren’t the only option in the business, though; there are also small business opportunities in the field of commercial lawn care. U.S. Lawns is a company that has been franchising successfully since 1986. Their goal is to provide the corporate professionalism necessary in commercial landscaping with the personal touch of a small business. Franchisees need no previous experience to succeed with the business, and overhead is low, while business is very constant, as commercial clients tend to be repeat customers for a long time.

Since its inception in 1991, NaturaLawn of America has been the nation’s leader in organic lawn care. Unlike their competition, NaturaLawn of America refuses to use harsh chemical treatments to rid lawns of weeds and insects; instead, they fight disease and promote growth with only natural solutions. Increasingly, this is the preferred method of care for many consumers, and thus demand for this kind of business is growing.

Lawn Cleanup

Not all problems in a person’s yard are threats to the lawn, though; sometimes, the threat is to the people walking across the lawn instead of the lawn itself. It may not be a danger, per se, but dog waste in the yard is definitely an eyesore and an inconvenience, and there is a special class of lawn care businesses that concentrate on getting rid of it.

Doody Calls and Pet Butler are the big names in the pet waste management industry, each providing professional waste pick-up and removal to innumerable clients around the country. Their systems are incredibly well-planned and brilliantly functional, orchestrating numerous mobile units that run their circuits around town while tracked by GPS to check progress. Marketing plans are made available to all franchisees through central computer systems, and communication between franchises is encouraged to maximize effectiveness. It may not be the most glamorous work in the world, but it is certainly profitable, sometimes turning up to a 49% profit margin, and running in a $40bil-and-climbing pet market, the prospect of future business growth is a definite possibility.

Lawn Boundaries

Another opportunity for working in lawn care without having to worry about the maintenance of grass is with a franchise business called Kwik Kerb. Today, it has become incredibly popular to have artistic concrete boundaries between the lawn and planters in the yard, and that is precisely the product and service that this work from home business provides. Aesthetically, the product is pleasing to the eye, but it provides a very functional purpose as well, drawing a clear boundary between yard and planter that doubles as a barricade, keeping any weeds and diseases from the lawn out of the flower bed, and visa versa. There are many benefits to this business, aside from high profit margin in the world of landscaping, and one of those is that this particular brand of landscaping doesn’t require continued service, so once the franchisee finishes the work for a client, the project is complete. Some business owners like the consistency of repeat business, but for those who like to get a job done and move on to another, this is a good choice.

If getting your hands dirty at work is important to you, and you really find satisfaction in growing a deep, emerald green lawn, lawn care may be just the business for you to get into. With any of these franchises, it could easily be the road to success and financial freedom.

One of the reasons people don’t bother to maintain their lawn (or have difficulty doing so) is that they believe there’s too much work involved. They might simply have a problem with figuring out how often to do each of the necessary tasks, when to do them, and when not to do them.

Like most lawn care issues, solving this problem is easy, once you know how: simply create a schedule takes all the guess-work out of maintaining the lawn, and allows you to follow a set routine that tells you exactly what to do and when to do it.

How to Start

The first step in creating a lawn maintenance schedule is writing down every lawn care task that you will need to do in a single year. That includes frequent tasks such as watering and mowing, semi-frequent tasks such as fertilizing, and those you’ll only do once or twice a year, such as de-thatching and aerating.

Once you’ve got your list, categorize them according to how often they need to be done. For example, create different categories for tasks that need to be completed more than once a week, once a week, once a month, twice a month, once per season, and once a year.

How often do you need to carry out each task? This depends partly on where you live, and partly on your lawn. Common wisdom says, for example, that lawns must be watered at least once a week during the summer. If you live in warmer part of the country, you may need to water twice-weekly. If you live in a cooler part where rain is frequent in the summer, you might need to water once every ten days, or even every two weeks. (Don’t forget that one deep soak is better than two lighter ones. Aim to give your lawn an inch of water per week, but remember that it’s usually better if that inch is given in one session.)

Creating the Schedule

With your categorized list completed, you can then start to create the schedule. This part requires you have something-such as a calendar, or a computer spreadsheet-that you can add your tasks to. If you prefer to do this on a computer or online, take advantage of free programs such as Google Calendar that provides you with a calendar that you can add tasks to and modify as you please (one particularly useful thing about Google Calendar is that you can set it to email you reminders when an appointment is coming up, so it’s very difficult to miss a scheduled task).

You can make the schedule as detailed or as simple as you like. For example, you can choose to schedule by noting down the activities you will do each month, or you can actually schedule specific tasks for specific dates. If you choose the latter style, try to schedule larger tasks for weekends (and really big ones for holiday weekends), and smaller tasks for weekdays.

Once you’ve decided how you’re going to make the schedule, simply go ahead and slot in each task as frequently as it needs to be done.

Make it Flexible

Flexibility is going to be an important part of any schedule you create. For example, your lawn’s water needs will change according to the amount of rain you get in any given week, so don’t forget to factor that into your schedule. That doesn’t mean you have to go crazy creating two or three different schedules, but it does mean that in an unexpectedly dry week or month, you’ll have to find time to give your lawn the extra water it will need.

If you want to create a highly detailed schedule, it might be worthwhile penciling in one or two “floating” hours each week that you can use for any unscheduled tasks that come up.

Follow It

Finally, the most important part of any schedule: the execution. Creating a lawn maintenance schedule is pointless if you don’t follow it, so make sure the schedule you make is one that you’re going to want to follow.

If you have a large lawn that you don’t enjoy watering, for example, consider investing in an automatic sprinkler system that takes care of that task for you. It might be expensive, but you’ll save yourself lots of time, and having that task taken care of might give you the motivation to keep up with the rest of your maintenance schedule!

Throughout the course of a growing season, taking care of the lawn requires more than simply running over it with a mower periodically. There are other tasks to be done to keep the grass green and growing and by using some of the available lawn maintenance equipment the job can be made easier. Those who are not fond of spending their free time with the lawn mower may not appreciate the need to keep the grass well maintained, but are finding it less labor-intensive when they use the right lawn maintenance equipment.

Starting in the fall, the grass is getting ready to hibernate for the winter. During this stage in a lawn’s life, the grass will need some extra nutrition to keep it healthy during its dormant state. Using a spreader to apply fall fertilizers evenly, gives the grass the food it needs to survive even the harshest winters. This lawn maintenance equipment is available in many sizes and styles, drop spreaders or broadcast spreaders and can be pushed around the yard or connected to a lawn tractor and pulled behind the,.

In the spring, the same spreaders can be used to add fertilizers to give the grass a good feeding in the early stages of coming back to life. Using lawn maintenance equipment such as spreaders gives a better chance of spreading the materials evenly, creating an even appearance in the lawn. Heavy rollers are also some of the most popular lawn maintenance equipment to help keep the lawn smooth and level after a rough winter.

Keeping Lawn Supplied With Food And Water

Keeping the lawn health requires food, water and air and there are numerous types of lawn maintenance equipment that make this possible. During the fall, aeration helps break through the thatch built up during the year to provide air to the roots of the grass. It also allows more water to get through to keep the roots moist before they go to sleep for the winter. Providing entry into the soil for air will help insure a quality lawn in the spring.

What some may consider commercial lawn care equipment, those that help remove the thatch from the lawn are needed to keep from blocking the sun, water and air from getting to the ground. Over the course of a summer, dead grass and twigs can build up on the ground, effectively blocking the growth of grass. Dethatchers are also available pieces of lawn maintenance equipment that help prevent that from stunting the lawn’s growth.

For most lawn aficionados, the color, height, and health of the lawn are all-important. Many people consider that edging isn’t necessary, but in fact it’s a finishing touch that can make all the difference between a good-looking lawn and a great one. Edging isn’t a crucial part of lawn maintenance, but it gives your lawn a well-manicured look that isn’t achievable by any other means.

A properly edged and trimmed lawn looks great, but there are other good reasons to edge, too. In conjunction with regular mowing, edging and trimming your lawn will help reduce weeds, and improve your lawn’s overall health. Edging gives you cleaner lawn lines, with tidy weed-free borders that don’t distort the shape and structure of your lawn’s edges, to keep both your lawn and your garden looking good in every season.

Edging and Trimming

The process of edging involves using an implement called an edger or trimmer to provide those smooth, neat lawn lines. Edgers are implements that provide a vertical cut to the grass being edged, while trimmers apply a horizontal cut. Each has a slightly different purpose in terms of lawn maintenance.

Edgers are used to create a neat, tidy edging to provide that well-manicured look to the edges of the lawn. It gives your lawn’s borders a more finely-groomed look by preventing grasses from growing outside the confines of the lawn’s edges. An edger cuts grass with a blade that is oriented in a vertical fashion, and the implement is used by running it in a straight or curved line along the borders of the lawn.

Trimmers, on the other hand, are used to level out any patches of grass where your mower cannot reach, or that are too tall to mow, so that these patches can be trimmed to the level of your mowed lawn. These implements traditionally use a nylon string to cut the grass, rather than a blade of the type used in an edger.

When using edgers and trimmers, it’s important to beware of being over-zealous with your grass cutting. Trimming your grass too closely will look almost as bad-or worse- as not trimming it at all, as you’ll end up with areas of lawn that are cut much closely than the areas where you mowed. Remember the same ‘one third’ rule that applies with mowing applies to cutting, too.

Similarly, be careful when edging your lawn that you don’t accidentally end up running your edger into the lawn itself-it’s important to ensure you stay flush with the edges of the lawn, so that you don’t cut out chunks of the lawn itself.

Choosing Edging and Trimming Equipment

Choosing the right equipment for the job is fairly simple, as the type of equipment you need depends mostly on your budget, the size of the lawn you’ll be using your equipment on, and how frequently you plan to edge and trim your lawn. For example, if your implements will see frequent use, or if you have a large lawn, the more powerful implements may suit you best.

If your lawn is small and does not require much time spent edging, a pair of vertical cutting shears will do a great job, at less expense. However, if you have more than a quarter acre of lawn or plan to edge frequently, you’ll benefit from purchasing an electrical or gas-powered edger.

One of the biggest budget-busting decisions you’ll make when purchasing these tools is choosing between electric and gas-powered models. If you’re able to reach all corners of your lawn using implements that you connect home electrical outlet, you’ll be able to use an electrical trimmer and edger. Most of these implements typically reach to a distance of 100 to 150 feet from an outlet.

However, if you’ll need to extend beyond that distance, you may need to invest a little more in a gas-powered tool. These are also good to use if you have a large lawn that requires a great deal of trimming, as gas-powered units tend to be smaller and more mobile than their electrical counterparts. The downside is that gas-powered tools require more maintenance, and are often more noisy than electrical models.

If you’re planning to buy both an edger and a trimmer, you may be able to save money by purchasing a horizontal trimmer that can be used for edging as well as trimming. This can be achieved simply by turning the trimmer at an angle that allows it to cut horizontally. You won’t achieve as clean an edge when you cut using a trimmer, but if you’re planning to buy gas-powered implements you’ll save anywhere from $100 to $300 by choosing a tool that can cover both tasks.

There are obstacles to generating wealth with a lawn maintenance business that can short-circuit your success.

One big obstacle you may face are incompetent people. You know what I mean? They can’t seem to carry out ordinary tasks or responsibilities. Some of them are lazy or uncreative. While others are just plain “dumb” or so they come across as such.

Dealing with these sorts of people is terribly draining to the lawn business owner and all to common in the industry. These people can be your friends, employees, vendors, or someone else.

Another obstacle quite similar to the first one are “time wasters”. These are people who waste or abuse your time. Often you leave spending time with them drained and having accomplished next to nothing.

Another obstacle are people who drain or divert your mental energy. You know those people who having nothing good to say. The “you’re never going to make it” type of person. They can also be whiners or complainers. Again, these people can be your friends, employees, vendors or someone else.

All of them must go. As soon as you identify them do what you must to rid them from your lawn mowing business, your life, and distance yourself from them. Start a “zero-tolerance” policy right now and enforce it. Not going through with this will always cost you more than whatever temporary trouble and disruption occurs from you making changes in your friends, your employees, vendors, or others around you and your lawn business.

Think of your success as electric current. One disruptive person laying a finger on it anywhere along the line shuts down the entire flow of success.

Yes, I practice what I preach. I do my best to operate in such a way with my lawn business and my life. I will not tolerate interference with the electric current of success.

The majority of lawn maintenance business owners tolerate others which causes them undue stress. And yet most continue on carrying out the same mistake without realizing how costly such tolerance is. It is very, very costly.

Do what you must to keep your electrical current of success flowing in your lawn mowing business and your life.

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If you’re after a gorgeous lawn for your backyard, you should read up on how to select the right type of grass for your plot. Then, by following a few maintenance tips, you will be well on your way to achieving the lawn you dream of.

Garden Design With Lawns

By picking up a few things about how to choose the right type of lawn for your backyard you can ensure a beautiful design that is both easy to keep up and doesn’t require unreasonable amount of energy to look its best.

The Color Of the Lawn

Though light and dark green are equally pleasing to the eye, most people prefer a darker shade of green for their yards. To ensure the newly planted darker turf doesn’t get overrun by the lighter color blades of the existing grass you should pick a type that mixes well, for a unified look.

Kinds of Grass Available

Grasses come in many shapes, shades and sizes and can originate from your area or much further locales. You should therefore be able to find a type of grass that suits the growing conditions of your plot, the level of sun exposition it receives and the kind of weather you get.

Back To Basics

It is essential that you establish what types of lawn are suitable for your plot, condition of the soil and size of the area: these elements are important for a great looking result and your local home improvement and garden store should be able to advise.

Turf or Seed?

Before you get planting you need to select whether you want to lay turf or sow seeds.

New Lawn Maintenance

It is essential that you look after your new lawn properly, by maintaining a regular care program: regular watering, mowing twice a week, tidying up the edges every 7 to 10 days, adding fertilizer four times a year, and also possibly applying lime and thatching on a yearly basis.

Fertilizing and watering

Watering and feeding will promote healthy growth, to keep your lawn looking great at all times. Once you’ve established what routine is most suitable you should aim to maintain it.

A lawn in good order will not only generate oxygen and help maintain a healthy environment for you and yours: it will also act as a fantastic erosion prevention tool and absorb both dangerous toxins and noise. Keep your grass happy and it will repay you in the long term!