SHEPHERD LAWN CARE
LATEST NEWS & SERVICE SCHEDULE UPDATES 2022
LATEST NEWS & SERVICE SCHEDULE UPDATES 2022
Before reading the updates below, we want to thank everyone for their continued support and loyalty. As of April 10th we only have 6 spots available to fill for this year before we can't take on any more lawns. This means that by the end of the day April 11th or `12th we will be FULL (update, as of April 12th we are officially full). Because we are a small company (John on the lawns and Susan in the office) we can only take on so many lawns each year and still ensure we get the services completed on time. So once again THANK-YOU from the bottom of our hearts, we truly appreciate your support.
UPDATE FOR JUNE 27th - AUG 5th For at least the next 6 weeks we will be working on the third service for all programs with weed control. We will be starting in Georgetown and will be there for at least 3 weeks. I will update on our progress in a week or so. For anyone wondering, we are officially in a drought especially in Halton Hills where we missed out on a lot of rains that other areas received. Even lawns with irrigation systems are showing brown areas where the sprinklers don't cover as well. We have had less than an inch of rain in some areas over the last 6 weeks TOTAL. We need an inch per week to keep the lawns green (at least 1.5 to 2 inches if you already let your lawn go brown). This next service will consist of fertilizing, weed control - Fiesta on the whole lawn for everyone and a spot treatment with ADIOS on some of the harder to kill weeds for those that have been following our watering and cutting instructions. This is the time we also apply our insect controls. We use a combination of Nematodes for Grub control and a new organic product called BioTitan for a combination Chinch Bug and Grub control. This will need watering in after application and works best if you keep your lawn well watered. JULY 17th UPDATE - DRY, DRY, DRY. If you haven't been watering your lawn much this year you really should start now. Lawns can go dormant for about 4-6 weeks during the Summer before they start to die. Chinch bugs also love a hot dry lawn and will reproduce like crazy, causing lots of damage and costly repairs. Since the products available today only work if you keep your lawn well watered all Summer long we expect there will be lots of damage and unfortunately costly repairs needed next Spring. As far as the third service goes, we are mostly done the older parts of Georgetown and will be finishing up the Delrex area the beginning of the week. After that we will be in Georgetown South for at least a week, followed by Acton the week after. It will be the beginning of August before we are in Mississauga and hopefully finishing up the third service by the middle of the month. AUG 7th UPDATE - We are currently working in Mississauga on programs with weed control and will be there for most of the week. We are on track to get everyone done for the third service by sometime before Aug 25th. We will then be doing all our aerations and then, believe it or not, that will be followed by the Fall fertilizing.
UPDATE FOR JUNE 20th - 30th We will be working on finishing the second service for all programs without weed control by the end of the month. We will be starting on the third service (fertilizer, weed control, insect control) for all programs with weed control by July 4th and it will take about 5 weeks to get through all of them. Remember to keep up with your watering. Once your lawn turns brown it takes way more watering to get it green again and chinch bugs, crabgrass, and weeds love a hot, dry lawn.
UPDATE FOR May 16th - June 11th (Extended to the 17th) We are now done seeding for the Spring and will be moving on to the next full service for all customers that have weed control in their program. We will be starting in Georgetown, then Acton, Milton, Oakville and finally Mississauga and Etobicoke. It will take us at least 4 weeks to get through everyone. There is no real advantage to being done earlier or later. In fact we had some of the best weed control results during 2020 when couldn't even get on the lawns until May and didn't even start weed controls until well into June because of the pandemic. We try not to do weed controls when rain is imminent so our timing will depend a lot on the weather over the next few weeks. Check back next week and I will update our progress so far. Make sure you are keeping up on the watering as a lot of lawns are VERY dry right now. In Georgetown we have had no rain in 2 weeks. A lawn needs at least 1 inch (25MM) of rain each week to stay lush and green and I have already seen some lawns turning brown last week. A thin, dried out lawn will fill quickly with weeds this time of year and make it very susceptible to crabgrass popping up in the coming weeks. MAY 21st UPDATE - With a few rain delays this past week we didn't get as much done as we had hoped but we did manage to get done a large portion of the older parts of Georgetown. This upcoming week we will be hopefully completing most of the older Georgetown areas and working our way along the Delrex area. If we get this done in the upcoming week we will be working on Georgetown South the following week (week of May 30th). Just another reminder to stay on top of the watering. It's critical at this time of the year as any drought stressed lawn will have weeks moving in very quickly. Just remember, if the grass isn't growing the weeds are. Even though we got rain on 3 separate days this past week it only amounted to less than 1/2 an inch in Georgetown. Your lawns needs at least 1 inch per week to stay green and healthy. If you haven't been watering yet this year, you need to start. MAY 29th UPDATE - With a holiday Monday and a rain delay we still have a handful of Delrex area lawns to complete the weed spray application. Most of the week we will be Georgetown South. With a couple extreme heat days coming up I'm not sure we will complete all of Georgetown South but I will update again next weekend. If you haven't been watering your lawn yet, now is the time to get on top of it. We have had less than an inch of rain in the last month in Georgetown and the latest storm on last Friday only dropped 1/10 th of an inch in town. With the extreme heat coming up the lawns will start to go brown and dormant. JUNE 7th UPDATE - Finally some good rains, and some much needed time to pick up some supplies. We are in Mississauga and Oakville all this week and likely into next week doing weed controls. We should be getting all the weed control programs done and be starting on the programs without weed control sometime before the 17th. It looks like we should be able to get all the second services (weed control and non weed control programs) complete by the end of the month, putting us right on schedule. I will update again next week. JUNE 12th UPDATE - I should be finishing up all the weed controls this week, weather permitting. We will then be completing the second service for all programs without weed control in the two weeks following and be done all the second services by the end of the month.
UPDATE FOR MAY 2 - MAY 14th We have completed everyone's Spring Fertilizing and will be doing seeding and lawn repairs for the next 2 weeks. Once we are done the seeding we will be starting the weed spraying for customers that have that in their programs. Even though we started a week later this year and had a few snow and rain delays this puts us right on schedule for what a normal year would be. REMEMBER when it comes time to mow the lawn make sure it's NEVER being cut less than 3 inches (measure with a ruler after it's cut). This will ensure you are getting the best results from the weed control application and this will really help thicken up the lawn, require less watering, and even reduce the frequency that it needs to be cut.
UPDATE FOR MARCH 28-APRIL 29th -Looking at the long range forecast it looks like we will be starting on the lawns April 4th. Because it looks like it will still be freezing temperatures overnight and we won't be able to get an early start I will be sticking close to home and starting in Georgetown this year, then Acton and Milton. This will take at least 2 to 3 weeks. We will then head to Mississauga for a week and finishing up any other areas the week after. This Service should be done in 4-5 weeks as long as we don't get delayed with snow or too many rain days. After the Spring Fertilizing is done we come back and do seeding for anyone that ordered that. I will be posting another update in a couple weeks to let everyone know how we are coming along. APRIL 10th UPDATE - We had a good start to the Spring service with a large part of Georgetown complete. This week we will be working on the areas left in the Delrex section, Georgetown South, and a few other outer areas in Georgetown. We will then be working on Acton, Milton, and Mississauga the following week. Once all the fertilizing is done we will be back to do everyone's seeding for those that ordered that. This usually takes 2 weeks. APRIL 14th UPDATE - Except for a few that signed up late we are done Georgetown as of the end of the day on the 14th. We will be in Acton on Monday April 18th and Milton and Mississauga the rest of the week. APRIL 24th UPDATE - We are officially done everyone in Georgetown, Acton, Milton, and Oakville with the Spring fertilizing. We are partway through Mississauga and should be done everyone by the end of the week (April 30th). Starting May 2 we will be doing seeding for a couple weeks before moving on to the second service for all the programs with Weed Control. We started this year a week later than the year before but this puts us right on schedule for what a normal year would be. Check back here next week for another update.
UPDATE FOR MARCH 9th - Welcome back and Thank-you to everyone that has renewed already. With the 5% savings deadline fast approaching please make sure you renew before March 16th to take advantage of the savings. We have started on the lawns as early as March 15th and as late as April 26th. The way the long term forecast looks right now I can confidently say we won't be on the lawns March 15th for sure but it looks like it will be closer to the end of March / beginning of April before Spring is really here. Even if you miss the savings deadline, please make sure you renew as soon as possible if you want lawn service this year. Last year we filled up to capacity by April 15th and it looks like it will be the same this year. We will update our start date closer to when we actually start so check back here to find out.
We are expecting to see lots of snow mold this year. Any time the lawn is covered with snow for more than 6 weeks, snow mold has a chance to develop especially where you pile the snow from driveways and walkways. We also had lots of ice off and on so there will likely be some salt damage to those areas as well. The best thing you can do is get out there with a leaf rake and VERY LIGHTLY loosen up the matted grass in those areas as soon as the snow is gone. Most of the time the snow mold and salt damaged areas will come right back after a couple weeks of warm weather and a few good Spring rains but if they don't, a bit of seed raked in to those areas will help them fill right back in. Another thing we are expecting to see this Spring (if my own property is any indication) is damage from mice and voles that tunnel through the lawn under the snow. This always looks really bad when the snow disappears but 90% of the time it fills right back in on its own and doesn't require any repair. This is because the mice and voles only tunnel through the grass and thatch layer and general don't damage the crown of the grass plants, allowing it to grow right back as soon as the weather warms up. If any areas look like they need repair we will leave a quote with the Spring service.
UPDATE FOR MARCH 9th - Welcome back and Thank-you to everyone that has renewed already. With the 5% savings deadline fast approaching please make sure you renew before March 16th to take advantage of the savings. We have started on the lawns as early as March 15th and as late as April 26th. The way the long term forecast looks right now I can confidently say we won't be on the lawns March 15th for sure but it looks like it will be closer to the end of March / beginning of April before Spring is really here. Even if you miss the savings deadline, please make sure you renew as soon as possible if you want lawn service this year. Last year we filled up to capacity by April 15th and it looks like it will be the same this year. We will update our start date closer to when we actually start so check back here to find out.
We are expecting to see lots of snow mold this year. Any time the lawn is covered with snow for more than 6 weeks, snow mold has a chance to develop especially where you pile the snow from driveways and walkways. We also had lots of ice off and on so there will likely be some salt damage to those areas as well. The best thing you can do is get out there with a leaf rake and VERY LIGHTLY loosen up the matted grass in those areas as soon as the snow is gone. Most of the time the snow mold and salt damaged areas will come right back after a couple weeks of warm weather and a few good Spring rains but if they don't, a bit of seed raked in to those areas will help them fill right back in. Another thing we are expecting to see this Spring (if my own property is any indication) is damage from mice and voles that tunnel through the lawn under the snow. This always looks really bad when the snow disappears but 90% of the time it fills right back in on its own and doesn't require any repair. This is because the mice and voles only tunnel through the grass and thatch layer and general don't damage the crown of the grass plants, allowing it to grow right back as soon as the weather warms up. If any areas look like they need repair we will leave a quote with the Spring service.
