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By: Nicole Casey
While driving through your Minneapolis/St. Paul neighborhood(s) you’ve probably noticed more and more raised garden beds in your neighbor’s yards. This is more than a trend, this is a lifestyle. Imagine not having to buy all of your veggies at the store! At the same time, you don’t have to dig up your whole yard to plant. The answer is raised garden beds! Raised beds are great for protecting growing plants from the scuffs and kicks of passersby while allowing the soil to warm faster in the springtime, generating an earlier crop. They are also quite decorative and can add significant charm to vegetable gardens and your yard. Each of our garden beds come equipped with "rabbit guards" with folding sides so that your vegetables will stay healthy! Let’s dig in and get to the facts and benefits of a raised garden bed. Thinking about your raised garden bed as a container. Essentially, you are able to control your soil, your irrigation, and your weeds in a small and manageable space. Our raised garden beds are also very pleasing to look at and will add a creative addition to your yard. Our raised garden bed clients see an instant return on their investment from the following: •Less weeds - (Especially from weeds that grow using rhizomes — like that pesky Bermuda.) •Less compaction-not stepping on the soil day after day will allow your garden to flourish! •Less tilling– small spaces mean less weeds and less tilling the soil. •Plant close together- this allows you to plant more seeds in your small space. Add a trellis you’ve expanded your small garden even more! •Pest Protection –raised beds can protect against wildlife in your veggies by providing a barrier. We install rabbit guards with folding sides on all of our beds. Next Steps 3 Bears Landscaping will come to your home and make sure the right spot is selected to build the boxes. Site selection is important as you have to have access to water as well as ample sunlight. An ideal amount of sunlight depends on what you plant but typically you want to have 6-8 hours of direct sunlight on your raised beds. We use either cedar or pine to build our raised garden beds. Pine garden beds can last 5-7 years and are very affordable. Cedar is a more expensive option but cedar will last 20 plus years and will have the wow factor you are looking for. Please call us today for a free estimate!
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What is Overseeding?
So, what exactly does it mean to ‘overseed’ your lawn? When you overseed your lawn you are simply attempting to thicken your grass, reduce weeds, and improve your lawns appearance by adding more grass seed. This is accomplished by adding more grass seed directly to your lawn. You can do this by using a broadcast spreader and spread 2-3 pounds per 1,000 square feet on your lawn after aeration or by using a mechanical slit-seeder. How to Overseed your Lawn? At 3 Bears Landscaping, we use a slit-seeding method with a mechanical slit-seeder to overseed your lawn. This is the best method because the machine will use knives to cut into the dirt giving an even seed bed and ensuring that the seeds are implanted into the soil instead of just laying on top of your grass. The slit-seeding machine will allow the seed to penetrate the soil and assist with faster germination of the seeds. For maximum results, we recommend you dethatch your lawn and aerate your lawn before you overseed using a broadcast spreader or use a slit-seeding machine. We have articles about both dethatching and aerating your lawn in our blog archives. We are happy to put together an aeration/dethatching/overseeding package for you based on your lawns needs. Below are the benefits of using a slit-seeding machine. Benefits of Slit-Seeding
Let 3 Bears Landscaping bring your lawn back to life! Our trained lawn care specialists use only the best tools and grasses to ensure a job well done the first time.
Why Dethatch your Lawn?
In Minnesota we are hit hard with extreme weather year after year. Season after season your lawn breaks down organic compound (thatch) that inhibits growth, beauty, and overall health. In order to maintain a healthy lawn in Minnesota it’s important to manually maintain it with proper organics, aeration, dethatching, and fertilization. By dethatching your lawn you are physically removing the brown decay and roots that are keeping your lawn from looking its best! Excess thatch can make your lawn look brown and unhealthy. It also can be a breeding ground for lawn diseases if there is too much thatch on your lawn. Benefits of Dethatching Your Lawn
How to Dethatch your Lawn? Now that we know the why let’s talk about the how. At 3 Bears Landscaping we are happy to come to your home and evaluate your lawn dethatching needs. We use special heavy equipment to get the job done right the first time. We will use a lawn dethatcher to remove all of your access thatch, rake up the debris, and remove it for you. We will then fertilize and reseed your lawn if you would like. This will instantly promote growth and health to your lawn. We can dethatch your lawn anytime during the spring, summer, or fall but prefer to do it during the spring when your lawn is recovering from the winter snow cover. We also recommend lawn dethatching every other year. The dethatcher machine will cut through the thatch with metal blades bringing the thatch to the top of your lawn. We will then rake up the excess thatch and remove it from your lawn. If you’ve never dethatched your lawn before expect a good amount of thatch to surface. It can be physically demanding to dethatch your lawn manually with a dethatching rake. Dethatching can also be hard on your lawn if done incorrectly causing damage that can take months to repair. Ask yourself if you’re up to the challenge of dethatching your lawn. If you are up the challenge that’s great! If not, let 3 Bears Landscaping bring your lawn back to life with dethatching! |
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