At Yard Guard, our goal is the overall health of your lawn. While synthetic options may provide the illusion of a vibrant and thriving lawn, we believe in taking the necessary steps to ensure your lawn is receiving the foundational care that encourages sustainable health. In this blog, we’ll provide you with three essential tips that will give your lawn the fighting chance it deserves.

We hear it all the time, “we’ve been getting so much rain, I don’t need to turn my water on!” As much as we would love to agree, unfortunately, the rains that we were getting don’t always add up to the amount necessary for your lawn to thrive. Did you know that Southwest Montana gets an average of 11 inches of rain between April and October, according to the Western Regional Climate Center? In a week, your lawn needs at least an inch and a half of water (.5 inches three days a week) and this is considering that you have a healthy soil profile. That means that your lawn gets a quarter of what it needs in a week, in a full month, meaning that it’s constantly fighting drought.

So what can you take away from this? TURN YOUR WATER ON ASAP! Please be sure to adhere to the watering guidelines within your area, but please give those lawns a drink, they’re thirsty! The sooner you’ll be able to do so, the sooner your lawn will recover from drought and be well on its way to becoming healthier turf. 

Deep watering is great for your lawn. For MOST lawns, we recommend watering every other day, 30 minutes per zone and adjusting as necessary. This isn’t always the answer for every lawn so if you’re unsure on what you should do, text our team at 406.222.1152 and ask!

We don’t mean like that… but do your thing, we don’t judge!

Please take a moment while your reading this to walk out to your mower and put it on the highest setting that it can go to. We’ll wait….

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Okay welcome back, thanks for doing that!

Why is this important? The root depth mimics the blade length above the soil (think of this like an iceberg). The deeper the roots, the healthier and stronger your lawn will be and it will start to outcompete weeds on it’s own! Also a longer turf length means that it’s shading the soil. Most grasses in our area are a Kentucky Blue Grass, Fescue Blend which are cool season grasses. Plus, if you want your lawn to be a dark green color – there is more green on a longer leaf blade!

If you’re not sure what this means, wait for the months of July and August to roll around and take a look at lawns that are mowed very short – they will probably appear more yellow than green.

Soil is the literal foundation for your turf and feeding the soil properly is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems and plant growth. Just like when we feed our bodies the proper nutrients, your lawn is using those nutrients to outcompete disease and prevent unwanted invaders from creating chaos. 

By replenishing these nutrients, we ensure that your turf is able to access the essentials needed for optimal growth and health. Also, nutrient rich soil encourages biodiversity for an array of microorganisms and other beneficial organisms that contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem. By feeding the soil, we are looking at long-term sustainable solution and resilient lawns that may start to outcompete weeds on their own and not require weed control substances to be used.

This is the whole premise behind our blended organic program and compost tea application that we recommend to all of our customers. While we know the traditional programs gets you noticeable results quickly and can be cheaper, the blended organic program will give you long-term sustainable and beneficial results that also leads to a better looking lawn! 

While you’re driving around looking at short lawns take a look for our organic signs, you will also see they have less weeds and a better looking lawns. 

Cheers to happy and healthy lawns!