Garden Pond Waterfall

By introducing a garden pond waterfall in your back yard both elegance and ambience can be achieved to your overall landscaping. People love to hear the melody of water cascading by waterfall or streaming via fountains. A constant soothing background noise can ease stress and provide for a secluded escape. Visually there is no greater image than a fully rushing waterfall cascading down into a colorful garden pond. A garden pond waterfall can be installed in most back yards and additional features like fountains or pond aeration can be easily added. Think of the limitless beauty of a garden pond waterfall by including lilies, lotuses, irises, papyrus, water hyacinth, and water lettuce. Adding Koi fish to your garden pond waterfall will only enhance your back yard experience. A pump is required to activate your garden pond waterfall which will recycle the water through the pond to keep the water moving and prevent stagnant water. Through our links at ponds-and-waterfalls we offer kits including preformed ponds, electric pumps with filter, tubing, fittings, etc… These kits have gotten very creative and can even resemble rock like structures for a really cool look. Typically you can find both submerged fiberglass and plastic pond structures which will fit your needs. Preformed pond starter kits start out at about $100. The pond liner offers greater flexibility to fit in the ground over its fiberglass counterpart. The fiberglass preformed pond, however, offers greater strength and durability for long use. Adding fish to your garden pond waterfall is a great idea but keep in mind that you will need to maintain algae and bacteria levels. In addition to having add chemicals and nutrients to keep your fish healthy, you will also need to keep the water temperature right around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Improper temperature can often cause havoc to a new owner of Koi fish so hire a professional especially if this is your first approach to creating a garden pond waterfall. Pending cold weather climate in your region, you may also require a heater to keep the water warm in the colder months. In some cases a de-icer may be necessary. Ponds-and-waterfalls again suggests the use of a professional to handle the addition of fish. Keep in mind that although you have a closed system you still must account for birds of prey (hawks, eagles, etc.) which are exterior to your system. A rock overhand or floating log in the water is recommended so the fish can hide in the shade to adjust for potential predators.

Growing A Greener, Healthier And Weed Free Canadian Lawns

In the early spring dead leaves and litter should be removed from the lawn in the spring using either a broom or a light rake. Do not use a heavy steel rake. Aeration and liming, if necessary, may also be done at this time.

Dead spots in the lawn should be raked with a steel rake to loosen the soil. Re-seed and then tamp level with the back of a shovel to firm the seed into the soil.

An application of a turf fertilizer before active spring growth begins will provide a good start for the grass, and this can then be maintained by subsequent applications over the season. Fertilizers containing “slow release” nitrogen will nourish the grass for 1 to 2 months or longer following application.

After excess moisture has disappeared, the lawn should be rolled to press back any turf which was heaved by winter frost.

In late spring when the grass has reached a height of 2-1/4″ to 3″, it should be mowed. Mowing too early in the spring tends to be hard on the grass. Grass should not be cut closer than 1-1/4″. If weeds such as dandelions, plantain, etc. are present, spray with an approved weed-killer. Late spring, when the weeds are actively growing is the best time to apply, the recommended rate on the label. When applying and chemicals and especially weed killers, care should be taken not to allow spray drift to contact ornamental shrubs, flowers or vegetables.

If “Weed-N-Feed” is used, broad-leaf weeds are killed and the lawn is fertilized in one operation, saving time and assuring that bare patches where weeds were are filled in by rich turf.

During the summer, the grass should be cut at frequent intervals in order to maintain a height of 1-1/2 to 2 inches. The frequency of mowing will dependto a great extent on the weather, and the amount of sprinkler irrigation received.

During periods of rapid growth, it may be necessary to mow the lawn twice a week for best results. If the lawn is mowed frequently enough, the clippings will be short and will not require removal.

Water when the grass first shows signs of suffering from drought. Leave the lawn sprinkler in each position for an hour before moving, to soak the water well down to the root-zone.

For quick stimulation of “worn out” looking lawns in mid-season, apply a water-soluble fertilizer and plenty of water.

During the summer, the following pests may appear and you should ready you lawn sprayers:

1. White Grubs – This pest lives in the soil and feeds on the grass roots causing dead patches to appear in the lawn.

2. Earthworms – Small mounds of earth may appear on the lawn surface, being thrown there by earthworms traveling underneath.

3. Ants – Ants may become troublesome and annoying and may also build ant hills in the lawn.

The fall is an ideal time to treat the lawn for weeds which have invaded the grass during the summer. Fall treatment eliminates dandelion flowers from the lawn next spring. If clover as well as other weeds are to be eliminated.

Proper Lawn Aeration

Aerating the lawn adds air space to the soil allowing better water management and nutrients to reach the lawn roots. Better absorption of water and nutrients leads to a healthier, greener lawn. Soil content is important. Clay soil is very dense and difficult to break up causing less air space. Aeration helps this condition. Low lying areas also need stronger roots and should be aerated more often than other areas of the lawn.

Lawn aeration is key for high traffic foot areas and any low spots in the yard that hold water. These areas should be aerated frequently. For the majority of lawn care with normal conditions, lawn aeration should be done approximately once a year. Problem areas can benefit from aerating more often, even as frequently as every couple of months.

Three basic methods exist to aerate lawns. Tine, core, and liquid aeration. Tine aeration involves poking holes in the ground with a spike. This method is not recommend by experts and can actually increase compaction for problem areas.

Core aeration involves removing plugs of soil all over the lawn that are around an inch in diameter. This method is used by some, but leaves holes all over the lawn which is very unsightly.

Liquid lawn aeration is the best method of the three. A liquid solution is applied and then watered into the lawn. The depth reached by liquid aeration is roughly 4 times deeper than core aeration. Liquid aeration is beneficial in the fact there are no holes in the lawn from core aeration or tines. It is also safe to be used around sprinkler systems and tree roots.

Info You Might Need

DeThatching You Lawn Can Save It’s Life

Lawn de-thatching services are being offered more and more by lawn care professionals as homeowners become more aware of how detrimental thatch can be to their lawns and are looking for a reasonable cost solution.

Thatch can be a big problem for lawns. It is a tangled mass of living and dead organic matter consisting of roots, stems, and shoots that make it hard for water, air, and fertilizer nutrients to enter the soil and provide nourishment to your grass roots. If the thatch is not too deep, it’s probably not much of a problem. But thatching grows worse over time, not better. so it’s best to deal with the problem earlier rather than later.

If not taken care of, thatching can lead to the death of your lawn is a number of ways. It can cause drought stress, by creating runoffs and preventing water from seeping into the ground. The grass and plants will gradually die due to dehydration. Thatching can cause starvation, by preventing fertilizers and other nutrients from reaching the grass roots. And it can cause suffocation, as the layers of thatching become so dense that air cannot enter into the ground.

One excellent solution for thatching lawn is core aeration which simply involves poking lots of finger sized holes into your lawn and soil and making it porous enough so air, water, and nutrients can reach the roots. Usually this is done in the fall, just after the summer growing season, or in the spring – just prior to the growing season.

Core aeration is something that you can do yourself, with the right equipment such as an aerifier, aerator, or lawn dethatching machine. But with lawn companies offering their core aeration services at reasonable rates, it’s probably worth your while to get the best quote and have them do it instead.

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