Enviro Masters Lawn Care

Looking for a change? Like working outside? This opportunity could be just what you were looking for! Not for you? Send it to a friend who may be looking! Email your resume to [email protected] today! Full time work is available as soon as we can find the right person to join our lawn treatment task force. We offer competitive pay in a family owned work environment. **** Valid driver's license and clean driver's abstract 100% required. ****... . . . #kingstonjobs #nowhiring #jobs #hiring #ygk #ygkjobs #careerchange #goodjobs #cityofkingston See more

Dethatching: The Removal Of Thatch Accumulation Thatch is a loose layer of dead and living plant material on the soil surface composed of stems, leaves, crowns, and above ground roots. A small layer of thatch, less than 1 cm (1/4 inch) can actually be beneficial to your lawn. It cushions the crowns of the grass plants from foot traffic and reduces soil moisture from evaporation in the dryer, hotter months of the year. ... Thatch can build up quicklywhen it forms faster than microorganisms in the soil can break it down. Healthy soils have billions of these microorganisms per pound of soil that will attack accumulated thatch and feed on it. Soils that have little organic matter have low populations of these organisms and will not have the ability to break down thatch. Microorganisms destroy the habitat of surface and subsurface insects, thereby reducing the chance of a major infestation, like chinch bug. Abundant thatch acts as a barrier preventing the penetration of water, air and fertilizer. As well, a heavy thatch layer is a breeding ground for turf disease. Thatch can stunt root growth and cause mower scalping and once it has built up, mechanical removal through dethatching is the best solution. At Enviro Masters Kingston we remove thatch with dethatching machines that bring the material to the surface where it can be raked and removed. After we remove the thatch, watering and fertilization will be more effective. Additionally, sun and air will reach the crown of the plant encouraging new spring growth. #themoreyouknow #dethatching #lawnlessons #sciencefun #lawnsofinstagram

If you want a healthy lawn, you must first understand it. We get up close and personal with your lawn to learn what it's all about, including the soil, types of grasses, diseases, stressors, insects and weeds. This understanding is what allows us to create a program tailored specifically to your yard leading to a greener, healthier lawn. We make your lawn feel understood. . . . #understanding #lawnlove #closeup #growth #healthylifestyle #ygk

Turfgrass Damage Due To Road Salt As a homeowner in Ontario you may have noticed your lawn suffers in the spring and throughout the year along roadways and driveways. Each year during the winter the city comes by and deposits salt and sand on the roads to melt the snow ... and ice. Inevitably the salt and sand get pushed up into the first 5-7 feet of your lawn. Over the years the salinity of the soil increases as a result of the salt. Salt is a soil sterilizer that can destroy soil structure, and limit or eradicate turf grass growth. In other words, your desirable grasses do not like salty conditions and decline. Though there are many contributing factors such as compaction and heat, a strong turf environment can withstand these stressors. The salt absorbed by soil near roadways can become a serious problem over time and if left unattended will result in weed infestation and soil erosion. These negative effects are caused by the salt’s ability to interfere with soil particles bonding to one another (ion-excess) and its disruption or reversal of water uptake through grass roots (osmotic effects). Many weed species (especially crabgrass) like these adverse conditions and slowly begin to take over these areas. Look around the neighbourhood and notice that these areas are the weakest areas in almost every lawn. Our next post will discuss reversing the negative effects of salt in your lawn. See more

Do you know what this is? Hint: It's not ground spiders, and if you find it, you should be letting us know! . . . #lawn #danger #watchforit #lookout #notspiders

Weed Species: Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea L.) Today I will continue with discussing weed species that are difficult to control in home lawns. A very resilient weed that many homeowners fight without much success is creeping charlie. Also called ground ivy it is a perennial reproducing by seed and runners. It is most easily identified by its growth habit of long runners that spread quickly across the lawn and will form a dense mat-like ground cover. Creeping charlie h...as round to kidney shaped toothed leaves, runners that root at every node, long hairy green to purplish stems, and produces purple flowers from spring to autumn. Because it is part of the mint family it has square stems and a minty odor when broken. The runners have nodes that occur every few inches and these nodes will develop roots if they make contact with the soil. This is why creeping charlie is such a frustrating weed for the homeowner because if you pull it up, the broken off roots from the nodes will simply form new plants. Although most lawn companies say they are unable to control it, Enviro Masters Kingston has found a method that eradicates 90% of it within two years using our specific strategy targeted at creeping charlie.

Sod Cutting To Control Crabgrass In an earlier post I talked about crabgrass in general as it is problematic at this stage of its growth cycle and apparent to homeowners. In my earlier post I talked about the problem with crabgrass going to seed and how you can reduce its spread. In some situations, however, it is simply better to remove the sod than try and repair it. A very neglected lawn with little desirable grass, or lawns with large volumes of crabgrass are better serv...ed with new sod rather than spending a number of years (and dollars) on remedial actions. An area of your lawn inundated with crabgrass is an ideal candidate for this procedure. In severe cases crabgrass can take up to 10 years to be eradicated from a lawn using CGM treatments and hand removal. From a cost point of view it may be cheaper to remove the existing grass and install new sod rather than pay for 7-10 years of treatments. This is also a much faster solution! You can have a brand new lawn (or area) in an afternoon. A sod renovation also removes any and all other weed seeds from the existing area and resolves any root zone problems that had previously existed. Enviro Masters Kingston uses a specialized sod-cutting machine that can manoeuvre around any lawn obstacles, and has an adjustable depth of cut so we can remove the right amount of sod from your lawn. After removal, we install pristine Kentucky bluegrass sod, ensuring an even and level finish. This method instantly revives even the most infected lawns allowing you to use and appreciate your lawn right away.

A Review Of Crabgrass: Now You Can See It We discussed crabgrass in the spring prior to it germinating but now that is rampant at this time of year we will do a review. Crabgrass is classified as an annual grass. This means it germinates in the spring, grows and develops seeds from late summer to fall, and dies with the first frost. It is difficult to determine that you have crabgrass until early summer. In the spring seeds have not yet germinated, and once it does emerge (l...ate May/early June) it almost looks like desirable turf grass. Crabgrass is a wide bladed grass that starts out as a light-green colour, becomes yellow-limy green as it matures, eventually developing a reddish-purple hue. The lateral growth of crabgrass chokes out desirable grasses, and is able to withstand heat and poor soil conditions, which allows it to infest trouble areas. During snow cover it rots and leaves bare patches in your lawn in the spring. Each crabgrass plant is capable of producing thousands of seeds, which spread through traffic, wind and mowing. These seeds can lay dormant in the soil for up to 10 years before they germinate. Crabgrass populations increase exponentially due to its seeding habits. If left untreated a minor crabgrass infestation can become a major problem in just a few years. Crabgrass is hard to control because it can grow in poor soils especially near the road and driveways where winter salt has accumulated over a number of years. At Enviro Masters Kingston we have various strategies to control this weed grass. Over the next few posts we will take an in depth look at our field-tested crabgrass program

Fiesta Weed Control: Chelated Iron Since the ban of chemical pesticides in 2008 Enviro Masters Kingston has tried and tested a number of natural products to control weeds. In Ontario, Fiesta is the most widely used weed control option on the market today. Fiesta is a chelated iron solution and is manufactured from naturally occurring iron. It is a red liquid in the spray tank but oxidizes with the air once sprayed which results in an overall blackish-grey tone. After a few we...eks with wear, grass cutting and new growth the slight black-grey tone will fade. This is a natural odorless product, which means children and pets can play on the lawn immediately after it dries. Broadleaf weeds absorb Fiesta in larger quantities than grass does, which leads to cellular damage and ultimate plant death. On the label Fiesta is registered to control 17 different weeds including dandelions. Susceptible weeds will burn black within 24-48 hours of application. Results are seen much faster than with older chemical pesticides. Because Fiesta works on contact and does not directly kill the root, some established or perennial weeds regenerate (in a weaker form) and require a second application. In our field trials (the real world) we have gained control of over 30 different species of weeds. We have found that after the first application approximately 30% of the weed population dies outright. The remaining weeds regenerate themselves (re-establish) and require additional applications to kill them.

Harmful Insects: European Crane Fly (Tipula paludosa Meigen) Although we have seen some European crane fly larva in Kingston lawns over the last few years, 2015 was the first time we saw a major infestation in a home lawn. This is important because new damaging insects often confuse homeowners, as they have no knowledge of the new visitor. The first report in Ontario was back in 1998. European crane flies look like very large mosquitoes, which you may have observed. However, ...unlike mosquitoes they do not bite people. They lay their eggs near the soil surface generally from August through October. European crane flies complete one generation per year, which overwinter as larva. The larvae of the European crane fly are known as leatherjackets. This is the damaging phase. Leatherjackets are cylindrical, legless and have a brownish color. The larvae mature through a number of instars before they reach maturity. These instar phase’s range in size from 0.5 cm in length to 4 cm at maturity. Leatherjackets primarily feed during the day at or below the surface of the grass. Damage to turf initially manifests itself as thinning turfgrass but eventually bare patches will develop in your lawn. Feeding takes place April through July and again from September to November with the greatest damage in Ontario occurring in May. Animals and birds can cause additional damage to your lawn by digging to feed on the leatherjackets.