Sulfur, We Promise It Won't Stink

Do you know that rotten egg smell? The one that stings the back of the throat it's so bad. That's what sulfur smells like. Except, not when we use it. Sulfur is smelly, real smelly but ours doesn't stink. Do you want to know why? It's simple really, our supplier makes it that way. Which is good because who wants their lawn to smell like a natural gas leak.

We use sulfur for a handful of things but primarily it's a late season fungicide and it's a great application to put your turf to bed for the winter. We've seen quite a bit of fungus this year and we'd highly recommend a late season application for any of our customers who've received notes from their techs about melt out, or red thread, it even helps necrotic ring spot. These fungi can tend to reappear. Obviously Necrotic Ring Spot tends to stay around year in and year out. Every extra sulfur application you can get on it will help move it along.

The other reason to order a late season sulfur application is it really helps your lawn go into dormancy healthy and in turn wake up in the spring healthy. Our customers who get the application in the fall not only see their grass come back quicker in the spring but usually there is very little if any of the early spring fungus we tend to see, fungus like snow mold.

It's a very inexpensive treatment and we will start applying it any day now. We usually do our sulfur treatments all the way through the end of the season. Check out our website for more details. Or email us for an estimate. You can always call us too at 1-800-LAWNCARE.

Overseeding, Not Just For The Grassless

Yes, I'm pretty sure grassless is a word. If it's not I will create a Wikapedia page for it just to avoid being wrong. I have issues. Not major issues, but issues none-the-less. I only eat corn if it's on the cobb in it's natural state, I only wear black socks, and I cannot be wrong when it comes to grammar. That's it. It's those three things. It could be so much worse, right?

Enough of my ramblings. Even if grassless isn't an actual word, the truth about overseeding remains. It is not just for barren patches of dirt. You see overseeding, if done correctly, does wonders for new and mature lawns as well. Our process is a little involved but as you can see by the photo it works.

If your lawn is sparse with lots of ground showing through the turf we can help. Overseeding would be a huge benefit to you and will help thicken the turf up. If your lawn is decades old and tall fescues and bent grasses are creeping in, we can help. It would help push out the grass variations and give the lawn a nice uniform look. If you have a nice established lawn that you are looking to take to the next level; again, we can help. Overseeding will give your lawn the kick in the pants it needs to be the envy of your neighbors.

Our process is involved but it's certainly not rocket science. First we aerate the lawn. This allows for faster root development and more seed to dirt contact. Next we spread a top of the line blue grass seed. Not all seed is created equal. We are looking for results so the seed we use needs to reflect our commitment to that end. Finally we spread a special blend of grannual fertilizer over the top. This helps the soil germinate a greater ratio of seeds. The results are undeniable. It works. It's more affordable than you might think and it's not too late to do it this year. We probably have another month or so of growing season left and seeds will winter if we have a cold snap.

Call the office, 1-800-LAWNCARE, to schedule an estimate.

More Than Backpacks

I've already written about our partnership with Willard Elementary, but I wanted to give you a few quick takeaways from the day. You see, at Living Water we're not new to community outreach events. It's in our DNA. Over the years God has poured out His blessings on us and we honestly believe that the more we honor Him with our finances the more he blesses and sustains us. So when it came to Willard it was a no brainer, it's in our wheel house. What we didn't realize is how deeply personal this relationship would become and how the backpack drive would affect a few or our employees.

Most of the time our outreach is done behind the scenes. We prefer to donate time and money anonymously but we knew that for some reason we were supposed to take the lead in regards to Willard. Lisa Fairburn, one of our owners, has worked countless hours with the principal and staff to get this backpack drive off the ground. When it came time to hand the backpacks filled with school supplies to the students and parents we wanted to include some of our employees to help them understand that this is part of our company culture. Here are few stories and takeaways from that evening.

Kaileen recalls; "I was giving out backpacks to 4th through 6th graders, and it was an amazing experience. Parents had such fantastic reactions when they realized that they didn't have to pay and the backpacks were filled with school supplies. I didn't see one unhappy child, they were all so excited. One little boy was almost in tears when he said 'I've never owned a new backpack before.' It was all I could do to hold back tears. Such a great experience."

Brenda said; "The children's faces were priceless. When they realized that they were getting new backpacks.... it was like Christmas for them. Several of the parents eyes welled up with tears because they weren't sure how they were going to afford either backpacks or supplies. Words can't describe how appreciative they were. Perhaps the icing on the cake for me was how welcoming and appreciative the staff was. Amazing all around!"

Christina echoed; "Something that I took away from the event, was when a mom broke down in tears because she couldn’t believe the backpacks had all the supplies in them. I was raised in a household that didn’t have a ton of money, so I thought this project was a great idea. It was cool to be able to give back to the community and I look forward to future opportunities to serve locally!"

These are just a few of the stories coming out of just that one night. We thought this might brighten some of your days. If you would like to get involved with our partnership with Willard Elementary please  go to our "contact us" page and put "Willard" in the comments section.