HomeFront

"Your community is our community"

[homefrontllc-blog]

I was hoping I would wake up this morning to find all the snow still piled in our lawns was just a cruel April Fool’s joke, but Mother Nature is for real this Winter!

 It hard to think about green grass and flowers budding with 4-6” of snow forecasted for this week but it will happen, eventually! Today, I wanted to share some practices we can do to our lawns in the spring to ensure the turf we do have gets off to a great start and is properly prepared for the seasonal adjustments ahead. Before we dive into some of these things it’s important to remember getting on the lawn and working the surface to early can cause more harm than good. As a broad example; if the lawn is saturated from snow melt or spring rain, frost levels are still high within the soil, or early morning frost are still prevalent these would all be times to stay off the lawn and wait it out just a little longer.

 1.)   Spring Pre-emergent- It may seem odd to list this service first but my reasoning is to simply drive home the importance of this application. Getting a weed barrier in the turf prior to soil temps reaching the point of optimal germination for weeds like Crabgrass and Knotweed is crucial for many reasons. These include cost, overall spring weed pressure, appearance, competition with grasses.

 2.)   Raking- Snow Mold is something we deal with every Spring in Minnesota and often times we see this fungus grow and spread long after snow melt. One thing that can help with this is lightly raking these spots within the lawn. A light rake can help increase air flow drying out the leaf blades slowing down any fungus thriving in wet environments.

 3.)   Spring Aeration- I purposely have this practice ahead of Dethatching for reasons I mention below but also because aeration provides so many endless benefits it is something that should be considered having done every year at least once. Aeration, however, is a tough, rigorous process on the lawn and recovery time is something that should always be considered. Early to mid-spring is a time when cool season turf is actively growing allowing recovery to be quicker and less detrimental. By aerating in the spring, the goal is to increase water availability to the roots, increase fertilizer effectiveness, and drive roots deeper during a period of rapid growth.

 4.)   Dethatching- Thatch is needed in lawns within a reasonable amount. Without thatch our lawns would be hard and impact upon falling wouldn’t feel so great. It also breaks down over time keeping the microorganism in the soil active while producing nutrients for the grass, but too much thatch is not good. Too much thatch can block water and nutrients from getting into the soil and becoming a village of fungi. Finding the balance in dethatching is so important and issues can arise from having your lawn dethatched every spring. Typically, once every 2-3 years is adequate in most cases.

 5.)   Spring Fertilizer- For the most part early spring growth is all being fueled by carbohydrates stored from last fall or winter. With all those stored carbohydrates being used its crucial to always be sure those levels are full prior to summer heat and stress. With fertilizer in the spring that is our goal. Making sure the lawns is ready for what is ahead is always a more cost effective and sustainable approach to lawn care.

  Thanks for taking the time to check us out and if we can answer any more questions about these services please don’t hesitate to let us know!

 Regards,

 Caleb Leto

[email protected]

651-600-8962

[homefrontllc-blog]

How does Winter effect our lawns?

Is it just me or has this seemed like a brutal Winter? The cold just seems to never go away and it seems like every time we finally get our driveways cleaned we get another pesky snowfall. So how does this cold and snow effect our lawns?

 Well while it is a little too early to tell just how this Winter will affect our lawns I thought I would share some useful information in general about this topic and also some things to look for as we move into more average temperatures and potentially more snowfall through March and April.

 Winter damage can really be categorized into a couple different types of injury but along with injury caused by Winter there is also some types of damage that occur after Winter has left its mark. Let’s take a quick look at turf damage caused by old man winter himself.

 The first is Crown Hydration. Crown Hydration typically occurs on the back end of winter when we experience lengthy thaw periods followed by a quick deep freeze. For our Region March and early April is when this can become an issue. Crown hydration is caused by the plant beginning to come out of dormancy and starting its period of hydration. This issue can occur when the moisture within the crown of the plant (growth point of the grass plant) freezes causes the cells within the grass plant to burst and bring the plant to its death. While this isn’t a major concern to home lawns it’s important to know that this same principle applies when walking on your lawn to early after snowmelt. If your lawn begins to “hydrate” walking on the lawn during heavy frost periods can do major damage to the plant.

 Another issue that can cause damage in the Winter is Desiccation. This won’t be an issue for us this year due to the snow cover we have had through our season but this can occur on dry winters when the lack of snow cover exposes the turf to the harsh temperatures and frigid winds. It’s rare for us to have this type of damage to lawns but there can be situations throughout some years when snow cover isn’t adequate in an area exposing the lawn to these harsh conditions.

 The last issue I will touch on regarding Winter kill is ice cover. Even though its cold and temperatures aren’t conducive to encourage growth your lawn is still active in the winter. Under all that snow microbes are still working, albeit they are VERY slow they are still down there doing their job. Activity below the soil produces a gas that we cannot see and under a sheet of ice for extended periods of time that gas has nowhere to go. This gas produced is toxic when trapped for periods of time between 70-90 days and can cause major damage and death to lawns.

 Along with all that there are other factors that can cause damage after winter begins to break into more Spring-like temperatures. Voles are one of the most common. As the ground begins to thaw often time we notice tunnels in yards caused by voles. When soil temperature rises this gives these pests an opportunity to begin to move and feed on grass roots and insects. Another common issue we see in early Spring is Snow Mold. Snow Mold fungi survives over winter and really begins to thrive when the weather turns to a cool, wet period throughout early Spring. The good news is I don’t think this winter will bring much winter kill mentioned at the top of this piece but Voles and Snow Mold are always on our radar coming out of winter. I hope this gives you some things to look for as we thaw over the next couple months and if it’s something you don’t recognize we certainly will!

 Hang in there the light at the end of the tunnel is coming!

[homefrontllc-blog]

Giving back through our Referral Program

Six years ago this coming March we welcomed our son Kaden into the world. As many can imagine the overwhelming since of joy and pride filled our hearts, we couldn't believe the reality of having a baby boy had finally come and we were parents! Kaden is a happy and healthy kindergartener today but when it was his time to enter the world he decided he couldn't wait any longer and ended up being 5 weeks early. This was scary to us as parents as we didn't quite know what to expect with having a premature baby and the potential complications that arise. Thankfully, we were lucky enough to have one of the best hospitals in the world right in our back yard, Children's. Kaden ended spending 10 days in the NICU at Children’s and I will never forget the experience we had with this amazing Institution. From the very beginning the nurses, doctors, and staff at Children's put all our worries at ease as we watched them carefully tend to our little five pound baby boy. I will never forget those 10 days and the sense of family we experienced while working through each and every nurse shift for over a week. 

HomeFront was founded on the principle to use our outreach and touch with those in our community to give back. What is giving back? How can I, as the business owner, use the relationships we are building to make our community better outside of the services we offer? These are the questions I want to continue to ask myself as the business owner of HomeFront and it is truly an area that can only continue to grow and become more of a impact in the community as the business grows. I want to make another step in this direction this year through our Referral Program. For every new client that is introduced to HomeFront through one of our existing customers we will donate $25 dollars to the Foundation of Children's on your behalf. Our goal is to continue to increase this amount as we grow and truly become a blessing to someone else’s five pound baby boy. The world we live in today can be filled with so much negativity and we thought what better way to bring people together than giving back to those who make such a difference in families lives all over the state of Minnesota. I am so excited to see what we can do together this year and I will be sure to send updates throughout the year on what YOU have done to make a difference. Thank you so much for your support of HomeFront we only hope we can pass it on to those who need it more than ever.

Best Regards,

Caleb Leto 

[homefrontllc-blog]

Let’s get a head start!

Wow, its hard to believe the holiday season is already over! As quick as the most wonderful time of the year went by so will the next few months. With 2018 officially here I wanted to plant the seed of thought in all of our customers minds for the upcoming calendar of seasons. I know it seems like an eternity away but Spring will be here before we know it and our preparations have begun. There are so many things that go into having a successful year but the most important to us is making sure our success is found within the satisfaction of our customer base. Our customers are everything to us and without the wonderful people in our community HomeFront wouldn't exist. As we dive into this upcoming year we want those of you who have chosen HomeFront in the past to have an opportunity to reach out with any questions about the year ahead. We are beginning to look at our 2018 schedule, pricing, and plan for growth this year and we want to give you as many opportunities as possible to reach out regarding any information or needs you may have for the season ahead. This is only the first of many points of contact through the next couple months but we want you to know our focus is on you and 2018! We look forward to hearing from you over the next couple months! 

Caleb Leto 

Owner/HomeFront Lawn & Landscape, LLC 

[homefrontllc-blog]

Aeration, Aeration, Aeration!

Wow, summer is almost over. The cool mornings and gorgeous weather lately is certainly a sign of what is to come. Before we skip to the part where its freezing cold and we are shoveling our driveways at 4 o’clock in the morning lets focus on one of the best times of year, the Fall. I love the Fall for many reasons but one of my favorite things is reviving lawns through some important practices that are best suited for Fall timing. The most important practices on a moderately to heavy input lawn in my opinion is aeration. So many homeowners today don’t realize the benefit to aerating and addressing issues from Summer stress in these upcoming months. Aeration alone provides endless benefits to lawns and I wanted to point out a few so that you can better understand the reasoning behind our push to have you consider this service. 

Compaction is something the majority of homeowners deal with in there lawns today and this comes from many different sources. Some of these would include foot traffic, mower traffic, vehicle traffic and others. Compaction is very detrimental to lawns and can cause issues in water and nutrient availability. By restricting both of these key elements the roots of the plant become extremely weak and unable to overcome environmental stress factors that cool season grasses face in the summer. Aeration at its core is a practice that will elevate this compaction and offer water and nutrients better accessibility to the roots directly. This is just one benefit to aeration but in my view by encouraging root development and driving roots deeper to withstand more stress is the greatest of them all.

Many of my customers become victim to poor sod quality. This is an issue within the newer developments we see today. Sod is grown on a base that is conditioned for growth and sustainability as quickly as possible and many of the lawns that require sod have had no soil preparation. The lack of preparation prior to sod installation is a huge factor in the decline and sometimes death of new sod. Aeration will again be a crucial practice in encouraging those roots to grow in conditions they aren't necessarily accustomed to. A heavy thatch layer typically is a concern also with new sod. Thatch layer in general is a good thing but a heavy thatch layer can restrict water from reaching the roots. By aerating sod between 1-3 years old consistently we can encourage water to reach the roots and in return build a better foundation for the new sod. 

After an aeration is the perfect time to address some decencies in the soil or also maybe some seeding in areas that have thinned over the months. By exposing holes in the lawn we can fill them with specific nutrients directly to the roots. In the East Metro we see deficiencies like Manganese or Iron, sometimes the sandy soils also effects our lawns on this area as well. Aerating allows me to follow up with a high Manganese or Iron fertilizer or even an organic fertilizer in the cases above to address those underlining issues that restrict the max potential out of our lawns. In the case with any seeding; seed to soil contact is the most important thing. Aerating gives us that possibility by preparing holes for the new seed to germinate not to mention August and September is the best time to seed in our climate.

In closing I want to emphasize that aeration may not be the most attractive solution on the outside but the benefits are endless. It is important to remember that a lawns color and performance and dependent upon what we cannot see. Strong roots, new growth, and adequate water all are crucial to a healthy lawn and aeration can address all these needs at one time Thank you for taking the time to read our reasoning behind the importance of aeration. It is always my goal to provide the most excellent service and results to our customers, but it is also important to remember these results may not be possible without the practice of aeration. If you have any questions or would like more information feel free to contact me at the information below!

Thank you,

Caleb Leto

[email protected]

651-600-8962

[homefrontllc-blog]

Why Should I use a Professional Lawn Care Service?

If your schedule in the summer is filled with small vacations, weekends at the lake, or maybe just quality time with the family than you may understand the value in having a professional lawn care company take care of your lawn. On the other hand there is group of people that dream of having that perfect, lush lawn but just can't seem to get there with the practices they implement year after year. There are so many factors that affect your lawns response to those practices but I want to focus on three that we implement to ensure our lawns look the best on the block!

First is consistency. Consistency is key in every area of maintaining a lawn. Mowing may be the most obvious but there are others as well that make a huge difference in areas like weed control, curb appeal, and overall health. Lets look at weed control. At HomeFront sometimes it takes a couple applications at the right time to really control those tough weeds in your lawn. Compare this to maybe that one weekend you have some free time and choose to control that ground ivy that maybe is using all its energy to produce a flower or shutting down due to summer heat. Control in these times won't be as well as expected and can sometimes lead to frustration right? How about edging. Getting a head start on edging in the Spring makes keeping that edge through the year easier and cleaner. See the theme? This principle applies to almost every area in lawn care maintenance and that is just one benefit of hiring HomeFront for your lawn care needs.

Secondly is timing. Timing is just as important as consistency mainly because we are in fact dealing with living plants that are best managed at different times. Weed control, aeration, shrub trimming, detaching, fertilizing all these are greatly impacted by when the practice is done. At HomeFront we recognize the best time for these maintenance applications and we also realize the consequence when timing isn’t right. 

And thirdly is knowledge. Knowledge ties the top two together. Without the understanding of how plants and turf in our climate grow, respond, and replenish you can't recommend the right time or frequency. HomeFront has the knowledge and understanding to help turn that weedy, bare, undesirable space outside we call a yard into a useable beautiful green space that continues to give back. 

[homefrontllc-blog]

The HomeFront, Customer Relationship

It was October 4th of 2015 and we were coming home from my Father-in-laws and the setting over the small lake that sits on the west side of Otter Lake Rd was breath-taking. I asked my wife to pull over so I could do my best to capture  the setting that we had been blessed with that evening. After I got home (and shared the picture via my personal social media account of course) I realized this picture really gives an accurate portrayal of what being apart of a community like White Bear Lake is about. One of the most amazing parts about being apart of a community is that some many different people from so many different backgrounds can come together and share one thing in common, the place they call home. Home for us is White Bear Lake and one of the passion’s we have is serving those in our community and getting to know so many people that truly do make a difference. Customers to HomeFront Lawn & Landscape are more than just people that request our services, they are neighbors, they are people we see at the local Holiday or supermarket, and they are friends. Each one of the customers that we serve has a meaning in the community they live in and our desire is to create a culture where our customers know they have a friend in their lawn care service provider. Thank you to our customers we, wouldn't be who we are without you and thank you to the City of White Bear Lake for striving to create a positive environment for our families and our community. 

[homefrontllc-blog]

Growing a healthy lawn in shade

With hopes that spring is around the corner and the lack of snow cover in our lawns I have been receiving a number of phone calls about lawns that have deteriorated over time from the lack of sun or the excessive shade issues. While it is certainly possible to grow grass in shaded areas there are many different factors that come into play. Growing a healthy lawn in shaded areas is a team effort from both the lawn care professional and the homeowner. In this blog I want to walk you through the process that HomeFront takes when first visiting a site that has shade issues. First and foremost is we take a soil sample. The results from the sample we take is the foundation for any program we present to our clients when growing in a new lawn in shaded areas. Secondly, in some cases we do recommend a trimming or pruning of the trees in the area. When growing healthy and sustainable turf often times many people use bandaids over and over rather than finding the true root of the cause. For example, if year after year your lawn seems to have issues with a disease and year after year you hire a lawn care professional for a fungicide program this can get costly and potentially become less effective season after season. Rather than jumping into a fungicide program other factors should be considered to slow the disease pressure down. Some examples would be the grass variety, or the current fertilization program and timing, or maybe its being over watered. All of these examples can be the root cause of what is causing your lawn to become diseased year after year. In the example of shade it is important not to ignore the underlining issue even though there is some grass varieties that adapt better in areas of less sun. Thirdly is choosing the right grass variety. Fescues have shown is hundreds of studies and research that they can thrive and become sustainable with certain amounts of shade. They are continuing to improve many of these grass types to adapt to different environments for all kinds of uses and applications. And lastly the fertilization and maintenance program is vital to keep up a lawn in shaded areas. Fertilization can be cut to 1/3 or 1/2 the amounts that are applied in areas of full sun and mowing should most definitely be higher in these areas. Think of the grass blade as a solar panel, the larger the leaf surface area the more sunlight can then be accepted by the plant. Communication, analysis, and the right program are all parts of growing a usable and acceptable lawn in the shade. 

[homefrontllc-blog]

Spring Cleanups

Anytime I hear “Spring cleaning” my heart tends to skip a beat. Mainly because we are in an industry that is largely impacted on spring. Outside of the box of Claritin every week, spring is such a magical time of year and it wasn’t until I moved to the great state of Minnesota that I really began to appreciate spring. Growing up in Florida spring was just another day of 80 degree weather and 110% humidity, but here its different. In Minnesota spring is a time when we all see our neighbors for the first time in months, its a time birds become more active and buds on flowers began to light up our landscapes, grass turns our brown views into beautiful green backdrops in our communities and a time when we can finally enjoy our patios. Spring is also a time to look at our current landscapes and lawn and begin to make early improvements to set a standard for the season ahead. Here are a few things to consider when jumping into your yard this spring and a few things are Spring Cleanup service offer or options we can assist with at HomeFront Lawn & Landscape.

1.) Leaves & branches- Fall doesn’t always give us a scheduled day when all the leaves in your trees or neighborhood will fall which may cause some to be left under the snow and piled in corners of your landscape come spring. Winter storms also have a way of breaking dead branches throughout the winter that are left in your yard after the snow has melted.

2.) Edging- Spring is a great time to create a nice clean edge along your driveways sidewalks, or patios. It is a great time to do this in the spring mainly because the ground is a bit more workable and the areas where an aggressive edge is needed have time to recover from an abrasive practice.

3.) Mulching- It is also a great time to give your landscape a boost with a fresh coat of mulch and add some of the color or contrast back to your landscape.

4.) Aeration- Aeration can set the tone for the first part of the season for your lawn. Having an aeration done with help relieve compaction, improve uptake of water and fertilizer applications applied through the first half of the season.

5.) Irrigation check- While we may not need irrigation in the Spring the weather is great to get our and check your system, manage the clock, and make repairs where necessary.

HomeFront can assist in whatever your spring needs may be so please feel free to give us a call or follow us for more details and information throughout the year.

[homefrontllc-blog]

How do we know when timing to start lawn care is the best?

Well when the forsythia goes to bloom of course! While this is a great indicator and a tell of Spring that many lawn care professionals, turf managers, farmers, and others in the Industry have used for years there is another way that is a little less traditional- the GDD Tracker. GDD stands for “Growing Degree Days” and was developed by Michigan State University as a way to better time applications, germination, and pest pressures based on how many days above a base soil temperature we have had up to date. They then tally these days into a total number giving us a range of days that these pressures and application will occur based on historical data. Confusing right? Well here is an example: Crabgrass pre-emergent has a GDD range of 250-500 with a base soil temperature from 0-2 inches of 32 degrees. Each day that soil temperatures in those depth ranges are at or above 32 degrees goes into the tally of total days for optimal pre-emergent timing. To date (3/9/17) we are at 144 which is 44 days earlier than 2016. This is a handy tool that not many are aware of but is a great indicator as to where we are to date and if early spring is possible. We believe it is and are looking forward to getting out there and transforming some lawns!

[homefrontllc-blog]

What are these spots in my yard!?

As temperatures begin to warm and melt the snow that has covered our lawns for the last few months some may wonder- “What are these dead spots in my lawn!?” Well there is no need to panic and there is good news, more than likely the grass that appears dead isn’t and there is hope. These spots are the result of extended periods of snow cover on the grass and caused by a fungi that grows and thrives in cool wet conditions. This fungus is called Snow Mold. To add to the complexity of this lawn disease there are two types of Snow Mold. If at first sight these spots appear straw colored or pinkish in tint this is Pink Snow Mold. Pink Snow Mold can continue to grow in temperatures between 32-60 degrees and under wet and cool conditions. Often times these symptoms  can continue to be visible through early fall and late spring. The other type of snow mold is Gray Snow Mold. Gray Snow Mold is less common in residential lawns but has a gray appearance. The activity of GSM ceases when temperatures rise above 45 degrees but the fungi can still survive through the summer. So how do you fix it? Best practices to get you lawn looking healthy again are to encourage drying out the area by lightly raking the area with a garden rake in the spring when the ground becomes workable again. While these spots may be slower to green up more times none the grass in these areas will come back. The best way to treat Snow Mold is to do your best to avoid the conditions and environment it grows in all together. This is where HomeFront can assist- Managing the amount of Nitrogen applied in the fall, maintaining a sustainable thatch layer through aeration, fall cleanups, and ensuring an accurate height of cut are all factors in prevention the onslaught of these spots in the Spring. Hope this helps ease your mind! Search HomeFront LLC on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to get more information and updates! Thanks for checking us out!

[homefrontllc-blog]

Importance of the pre-emergent application

Is pre-emergent really necessary to maintain a healthy lawn? What is pre-emergent? And what are the factors that impact a successful pre-emergent application? These are all questions we receive when our clients are inquiring about our fertilizer program and they are in fact great questions. The short answers are yes, herbicide, and many but lets dive into these a bit. It is important to know that the pre-emergent application is just one of the many working parts to maintaining a healthy lawn. Some may debate its the most important but we believe that can be site specific. It is in fact crucial to get an early start on grassy and broadleaf weeds that will try and intrude your lawn throughout the season. Without this application weed pressure can quickly take over portions of your lawn and create an undesirable appearance. A pre-emergent is a herbicide. While there are many types of pre-emergent herbicides on the market today for professionals to use we have found Dimension to be very effective in our program. Dimension offers a residual that will prevent germination for an extended period of time so re-applications are not particularly necessary. The majority of turf labeled pre-emergent due offer a residual but Dimension allows us a slightly better time window of application due to its chemistry. There are many factors that go into a successful application but the most important is timing. Crabgrass along with many other weeds begin to germinate when soil temperature reach 50-52 degrees in the Spring. Getting this application down prior to these soil temperature is important to reduce the number of weeds that can germinate as the season progresses. With that being said don’t hesitate to long to reach out regarding our fertilizer program service. Our goal is to provide above and beyond results to our clients but in some cases we are at the mercy of good ole mother nature.