Month: June 2021

Mow The Lawn: Why Let the Professionals Mow Your Lawn?

Almost every homeowner aspires to have a beautiful, healthy lawn that’s trimmed to perfection. A well-groomed turf is a task that requires blood and sweat, but at the end of the day, mowing your lawn does pay off.

Regularly trimmed grass encourages healthy grass shoots, ensuring a stronger lawn with improved growth due to equal distribution of resources, including moisture, oxygen, and nutrients. An overgrown is the single most prominent reason for pest infestation, including rodents and bugs that spread diseases. A regularly mowed lawn is able to recover faster from any damages caused. Here’s why you must allow professional lawn services to mow your lawn:

Experienced in working with several grass types

You guessed it right; there are about 12,000 species of grass. It’s okay for you not to know this, but professional lawn mowers are trained to identify the different types of grass species and their needs as per the climatic conditions.

Save time and money

Lawn maintenance takes up a lot of time, and a well-maintained one requires some serious commitment. The chances are that you don’t have hours on end to allocate toward researching adequate lawn care measures, planning and planting, and the rest of the physical work. Professional lawn services can step in to save you valuable time. Moreover, you’re going to end up saving money in the long run by hiring professionals as they have all the resources required for achieving a healthy lawn. You never have to worry about purchasing the wrong fertilizer or spare a hefty amount on tools and equipment needed for lawn care.

Prevent accidental damage

Not having enough knowledge about the soil, plants, and other elements in your lawn could result in severe damages to your lawn or yourself. In the United States of America, nearly 6,395 people annually sustain injuries in lawnmower accidents, including cuts, burns, and broken bones. Professional lawn caregivers are experienced and have the knowledge to prevent several common hazards.

Providing consistent care

We understand that you have a hectic schedule, making it impossible for you to stay on top of your lawn care routine. But, unfortunately, your garden may be a bit more demanding in terms of attention. The ultimate solution is to hire professional lawn care experts that consistently take care of your garden.

At Cut & Trim, we are a team of professionals who show up without fail to take care of your lawn in Michigan — after all, it’s about maintaining your property’s aesthetics and value. We offer grass cutting, lawn care, lawn maintenance, and lawn mowing services to keep your lawn in Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, or Holland looking pretty perfect. We are available on-demand for one-time cuts as well; contact us today!

3 Best Shade Plants for Your Lawn

Paying a little bit of attention to your lawn goes a long way.

Not only does having a well-maintained lawn purify the air around and inside your house and beautifies the neighborhood, having trees and shade plants can even help cut down on energy bills. This is because planting trees around your home and windows can reduce the sun’s glare, especially during summer. This allows the interior and exterior of your home to remain cool, helping you save on cooling costs! However, some landscapes are less sunny than others— and require plants that grow in the shade.

If we’ve managed to convince you that buying plants is absolutely the best decision for your home, here are our recommendations for the finest shade plants for your lawn!

Hellebore

Hellebore comes in a wide variety of colors ranging from maroon and cream to pink and green. The flowers bloom from early winter until springtime and are ideal for those who love evergreen lawns and landscapes. As one of the rare plants that actually starts booming in the late winter, this plant provides a shaded slope where you can see the beautiful flowers from down below!

Hosta

Known as the queen of the shade garden, Hosta is grown for its attractive foliage that comes in numerous colors, shapes, and sizes! This plant has a long life, is super durable, and ideal for those living in a cold environment where nothing much can grow.

With so much diversity, this plant can bloom from teacup sizes to truck tire sizes and performs best with rich, well-amended soil that’s watered on the regular. Hostas can grow under trees and combine well with other woodland shade plants like coral bells and ferns.

Bleeding Hearts

The plant itself is as intriguing as its name, trust us. Typically planted in the spring, this plant has a dangling flower that’ll capture any flower lover’s heart at first sight. Only a few shade flowers can rival the romance of the bleeding heart, with its white, pink, and red heart-shaped flowers dangling from their fern-like leaves.

Bleeding hearts have a short lifespan, and the foliage dies within a few months— but the months that it blooms, it’s really a sight to see. Requiring little to no maintenance and care, bleeding hearts should ideally be in an environment that’s not too windy, with soil that’s rich and well-drained.

Adding shade plants to your home will only pay off if you’re able to regularly maintain your lawn. If you don’t have the time to mow and weed your lawn yourself, we suggest hiring the experts. At Cut and Trim, we’ve got affordable lawn care and mowing services in Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Holland, MI, since the beginning of the 21st century. From landscaping services and grass cutting services to lawn maintenance, you can count on our professionals to provide you with the best lawn care in all of MI!

Get in touch with us at 616-446-5711 for more info on our services.

Dethatch The Lawn: Why Remove Excessive Thatch?

Your lawn has three levels: the grass blades, the layer of thatch, and the soil. A healthy, green lawn is the result of good soil with a pH level of 6.5, sufficient nutrients, and good aeration. If any of these is disturbed, the effects are reflected in the grass blades.

What is Thatch Removal?

Thatch is the organic layer in the lawn that consists of grass stems, rhizomes, and stolons that are yet to break down and decompose. Dethatching is the act of removing this thatch with a rake.

When To Dethatch?

Half an inch of thatch works hand in hand with the soil requirements, much like a mulch that helps in the retention of moisture and moderates the soil’s temperatures. The microbes break down to release nutrients into the ground. However, when the organic matter accumulates faster than what can be broken down, it becomes problematic as it promotes pest infestation, gets diseased, and forms a barrier that deprives the roots of nutrients, water, and air.

Preventing Thatches

Avoiding practices that speed up the growth of grass (such as feeding it with nitrogen-filled fertilizer or watering it more than what’s required) can help counter a thatch problem, giving more time for organic matter to break down. Moreover, you’ll want to avoid any unnecessary pesticides that may kill worms as they help in the decomposition of thatch naturally.

How To Dethatch?

If prevention has failed, your solution is to dethatch: the mechanical removal of the thick thatch layer in your lawn. It can easily be done by pushing the rake tines several times through the grass. We recommend the use of a power ‘dethatching’ rake for optimal results. Dethatching works best for cool-season grasses during early fall or spring as they recover quicker from the stress of being thatched. On the other hand, warm-season grasses are best performed in late spring, allowing them to recuperate faster.

Many a time, dethatching is preferred over core aeration since the latter requires a mechanical device. However, dethatching is for milder cases, so if your grass doesn’t pick up on its health after the first round, you’re going to have to either buy or rent an aerator or call a professional lawn service to break down compact soil.

Cut &Trim is a professional lawn service provider that shows up to take care of your lawn in Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, or Holland, Michigan. We understand how important it’s to maintain your property’s aesthetics and value – which is why we offer the most affordable grass cutting, lawn care, lawn maintenance, and lawn mowing services. Shout out our name, and we’ll be there to save you from your troubles on-demand for one-time cuts; contact us today!

Eco-Friendly Ways to Kill Weeds in Your Lawn

There’s nothing more disheartening than walking out of your home, only to discover your precious lawn laden with weeds. All that time, money, and effort you spent in landscaping your lawn is now lost— everything has been destroyed.

Don’t lose hope just yet. We’re here to tell you that there’s actually a way to rid your lawn of those unsightly weeds— in an eco-friendly manner!

Sounds good? Let’s dive in!

Start Pulling

In need of some exercise? Start pulling your weeds away!

Granted that this isn’t as easy or effective as using herbicides, and it requires a lot of work— but, hey! At least nothing beats a day’s hard work, right? Plus, herbicides are super harmful to the environment and human and animal health. They can cause genetic damages, diverse physiological alterations, and can even kill wildlife! So, get on your hands and knees, grab a simple weeding tool, and start pulling. Honestly, even though it sounds pretty bad, it’s not— and you’ll learn to appreciate your lawn even more.

Pour Boiling Water

This may just sound too good to be true, but don’t discard it until you’ve tried it.

While you’re cooking some pasta or making some tea, you may find yourself with a leftover pot of boiling water. Pour this boiling hot water over those menacing weeds. This method will be able to kill off even the toughest of weeds, and your garden will be weed-free in just a couple of days!

Salt It Out

Pouring salt over your weeds is an affordable and easy way to get rid of them. Rock salt that’s used to melt snow can efficiently and effectively kill the weeds in your garden. Alternatively, you can also use table salt or water softener salt as well. Salt dehydrates weeds and is most effective when mixed with water since it makes it easier for the weeds to absorb.

However, using salt to kill your weeds can lead to some damage. It can make an area go barren if applied too much and can lead to issues with pavers, cement, and stepping stones. If used regularly, salt can cause these stones to break apart, costing you a lot more than time and effort.

Take Care of Your Lawn

The most effective and eco-friendly way to control weeds is to maintain your lawn regularly. Mowing your lawn frequently is a great way to prevent weeds from occurring, especially since seed heads develop pretty fast. Maintaining the borders of your lawn will ensure that the plants by the edge aren’t spreading seeds into the lawn itself, making it an effective means for weed control.

If you don’t have the time to mow and weed your lawn yourself, we suggest hiring the experts. At Cut and Trim, we’ve got affordable lawn care and mowing services in Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Holland, MI, since the beginning of the 21st century. From landscaping services and grass cutting services to lawn maintenance, you can count on our professionals to provide you with the best lawn care in all of MI!

Get in touch with us at 616-446-5711 for more info on our services.

The Ultimate Guide to Over-seeding

Over-seeding is possibly one of the best things you could be doing for your garden to keep it healthy, thick, and weed-free. In theory, over-seeding the lawn is nothing more than spreading grass seeds over an existing property to regulate turf quality. It doesn’t use any expensive tools, but the only way to do it is to do it correctly.

With that being said, you should know that not every grass species requires over-seeding. Landscape grass is only over-seeded if it has been damaged or diseased. So, for those of you who need it, this guide is for you:

Why Is Over-Seeding Needed?

Each blade of grass survives a total of 45 to 60 days; for this reason, the production of new tillers must consistently outpace older leaves. Since the reproduction rate of mature plants slows down significantly with the passage of time, your lawn needs younger grass to produce tillers faster to tackle the dieback of older grass. Over-seeding is, therefore, an essential process that keeps the grass young and helps maintain a healthy, thick lawn.

How To Prepare For Over-Seeding?

A seed must come in contact with the soil in order to germinate, which is why you must first mow your lawn to a height lower than two inches. For collecting the grass clippings, you can make use of a metal rake whose tine scratches the surface. Lastly, you can choose just about any method to distribute the seeds. You can divide the seeds in half and broadcast them over the entire area by walking in different directions or make use of a rotary spreader for more precision. Moreover, you should over-seed when the air is calm since the slightest breeze can cause the seed to rest on the grass or other surfaces that prevent germination.

What Follows Over-Seeding?

There’s a little work that goes into over-seeding after the seeds have been laid. Firstly, you’ll need to keep the soil moist by lightly sprinkling every two to three hours across the germination period. Secondly, in lawns with regions of exposed soil and dirt, you will need to rake the soil to cover the seed with a layer. Lastly, you will need to apply a fertilizer with higher amounts of phosphorus to facilitate the tiny roots. This process may also have to be conducted before seeding if your soil tests were relatively low for phosphorus.

Cut & Trim professionals address all your lawn care needs in Michigan— be it over-seeding, aeration, cleanups, detaching, fertilization, or trimming. We specialize in grass cutting, lawn care, lawn maintenance, and lawn mowing services to keep your lawn in Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, or Holland looking top-notch. Book one-time cuts to try out our service; contact us today!

The Importance of a Well-Maintained Lawn

Think lawn care and maintenance isn’t worth your time, money, or effort? Think again!

You may reason that your lawn is just an accessory that comes with your home, but it’s really not. In fact, the lawn is as important to the exterior of your home as the décor in your living room is vital to the interior of your home.

Here’s why having a well-maintained lawn is important for your home.

Green Lawns Purify Air Quality

Everyone knows that plants produce oxygen. Plants and trees are nature’s air purifiers and the best things to have around your home, especially if you live in an area full of air pollution. Well-maintained lawns are able to create a healthy environment for both humans and animals, reducing the impact of dust, noise, and air pollution. Healthy soil increases the production of oxygen, making air quality much better than before.

Having a well-maintained lawn will also reduce your carbon footprint and contribute towards a brighter, healthier, and more beautiful neighborhood.

They Lower Energy Bills

Not only does having a cared-for lawn provide you with oxygen, but it also lowers energy bills. Having trees and plants shading you from the sunlight during the warm summer months can significantly difference to the temperature inside your home.

Having a green lawn or garden reduces the temperature around your home, especially compared to asphalt and concrete areas, which increase the temperature. Since lawns help reduce the temperature inside and around your home during the summer months, it allows you to cut back on cooling costs over some time.

Well-Maintained Lawns Boost Curb Appeal

A well-maintained lawn boosts the curb appeal of your home. This is especially important if you’re thinking of selling your home off in the future since research shows that curb appeal boosts your property’s value significantly. Taking care of your lawn, adding some landscaping, greenery, and pops of colors through flowers is a relatively inexpensive means of boosting property value. It’s the first thing that buyers and visitors see when they enter your home, and it’s what makes your home stand out from the rest of the homes in the neighborhood— making it worthwhile to invest in. All you need to do is regularly water it, weed and mow it, and occasionally plant a couple more flowers here and there.

If you don’t have the time to mow and weed your lawn yourself, we suggest hiring the experts. At Cut and Trim, we’ve got affordable lawn care and mowing services in Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Holland, MI, since the beginning of the 21st century. From landscaping services and grass cutting services to lawn maintenance, you can count on our professionals to provide you with the best lawn care in all of MI!

Get in touch with us at 616-446-5711 for more info on our services.

3 Ways to Boost Your Curb Appeal

Boosting your curb appeal is a great way to increase your home’s property value.

Whether you plan on selling your home in the near future or just want it to stand out— boosting your curb appeal will go a long way.

Here are some simple tips to boost your home’s curb appeal.

Add Some Greenery

A simple and easy way to boost your curb appeal is by adding some greenery to your lawn. All you need to do is hang some planters and add some flower boxes to your windows. These plants and flowers can be used to accentuate the visual focal points of your home, like your entryways and windows.

Adding plants and flower boxes to your entryways will not only spice them up, but they’ll also take attention away from some of the grimier aspects of the exterior. A cheap and affordable way to add some spice and color to your home, flowers and plants require little everyday maintenance and care.

Paint It Fresh

Just a little bit of fresh paint can make a massive visual difference to your home.

We suggest picking a bold color like red or yellow to make your home stand out from the other homes in the neighborhood. If you live in a warmer area, you should consider painting your exterior something lighter or more pastel since white has the highest reflective value. Doing so will keep your house cooler on the inside while still looking fresh and appealing on the outside.

For some added visual appeal, paint your home’s trim, doors, and shutters with a contrasting shade. This way, you won’t have to spend so much money, time, effort— and your home will still be able to stand out!

Take Care of Your Lawn

When your walkways are clean and fences are freshly painted, but your yard is browning and full of weeds, there’s much left to be desired. The easiest and quickest way to boost your home’s curb appeal is by taking care of your lawn. Since your lawn is one of the first things visitors see, we suggest that you invest in regular maintenance, weeding, watering, and planting. Just doing a little bit of this every day will take you a long way— it’ll make the grass and landscaping look fresh, adding a finishing touch to the exterior of your home.

If you don’t have the time to mow and weed your lawn yourself, we suggest hiring the experts. At Cut and Trim, we’ve got affordable lawn care and mowing services in Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Holland, MI, since the beginning of the 21st century. From landscaping services and grass cutting services to lawn maintenance, you can count on our professionals to provide you with the best lawn care in all of MI!

Get in touch with us at 616-446-5711 for more info on our services.

Lawn Services: Is It Time For Overseeding Or Reseeding?

You may consider overseeding as a precautionary tactic we lawn experts use to improve thinning grass before it gets worse or even just staying ahead of possible issues before they can arise.

Reseeding, on the other hand, is carried out to treat dead spots, to make the grass grow anew, and just to start the whole interrupted cycle from scratch. Here’s how to go about overseeding or reseeding your lawn.

A Blow-by-Blow of Grass Overseeding

A lawn care service like this needs to have an elaborate setup.

• Buy Seeds
  Does your overseeding project aim to make the grass thicker or improve thinning traits? Once you know this, you can then get your hands on the appropriate seed from a nursery.
• Prep
  Make sure the soil and grass are in a condition to be overseeded. Check for alkalinity and take care of the bare spots. Aerating the grass is also an option you might want to try. Next, get a lawn mowing service to shave the grass to the lowest setting and clean up the mess.
• Main Event
  Spread seeds by hand or with a spreader to speed things along. Instead of overdoing the overseeding, follow instructions on the seed packaging.
• After the Fact
  Water your lawn right away. Keep things damp for at least a week to allow the seeds to dig in and do their thing.
  Wean off the watering over the next few weeks until it’s back on schedule, at which point, you’ll probably start to see some growth. This is when you can start mowing again.

A Step-by-Step of Reseeding
Here’s how to treat barren land.

• Buy Seeds
  Investigating the cause of dead spots is important if you want to get the seeds right. If want to get a high-resilience seed, we recommend taking a sample for testing before getting out your wallet if it’s a disease or fungus.
• Prep
  Weed out the problem area, and run a rake to work it up. Some like to pre-fertilize or lay a thin layer of soil to stimulate seeding.
• Main Event
  As with overseeding, you might want to read the packaging and following those instructions to the letter. Cover them with a layer of compost or mulch for protection. Run a rake over everything to make sure it stays put.
• After the Fact
  Like we suggested with overseeding, you should water the grounds right away and keep the soil damp thereafter. This time, the seeds might take more than a few weeks to germinate.

Once that happens, wean off the water until it’s back to normal. Start mowing again when you’re sure all the seeds have germinated and you won’t be removing any from the surface.

Revamp Your Courtyard with Affordable Lawn Carein Grand Rapids

Every lawn is unique, and it’s possible that some additional support might be on the cards before going ahead with either overseeding or reseeding. In some cases, repeated cycles might be required to get the desired result, which can be tiresome for someone who’s not used to it.

Our ground maintenance crew isn’t just running a grass cutting service. It deals in every aspect of lawn care.

Give us a call at 616-446-5711 to discuss specifics and quotes, or leave us an email.