How to Revive a Lawn That Took a Winter Beating

Most of the U.S. endured ridiculous subzero temperatures and record snowfalls this winter. So don’t be surprised if parts of your lawn—especially in low-lying areas—are dead on arrival in spring.

“Snow acts like a cover, but ice is bad for turf,” says Chris Lemcke, technical director of Weed Man USA lawn care. “Ice freezes plant cells and crushes blades and leads to death.”

Freeze-thaw-freeze conditions are even worse for turf roots, which can become brittle and die. Road salt is also bad for lawns. The turf near streets and along driveways and paths may need resuscitation or replacement when spring grass should be greening up.

Dead or sleeping?

When snow and ice melt, your late-winter turf starts awakening from hibernation and changes from brown grass to green. If your lawn died, it won’t change color.

The best way to see if your lawn is dead or sleeping is to tug the brown areas. If the turf comes up easily, the roots have failed and the grass is dead. If there’s resistance, then there’s hope.

How to bring lawns back

When is the right time to bury your dead lawn—grass, roots, clinging soil—in a compost pile and start growing new grass?

• After the last chance of frost

• When night temperatures top 35 degrees

• When soil temperatures reach 50–65 degrees

Dead patches of lawn are easy to pull up because no roots bind the turf to the soil. Cut around dead areas with a spade, then yank up the patch.

Then it’s time to reseed.

1.  Scatter seed on soil and lightly rake it in.

2.  Water daily with a light mist for 15 minutes to keep the soil moist. If the soil dries out, seed will not germinate.

3.  When seed germinates, water deeply.

4.  Feed young blades a high-phosphorous fertilizer.

5.  Let grass grow at least 3 inches before its first cut.

If you can afford sod—about 8 to 30 cents per square foot compared with $28 for a 5-pound bag of seed that’ll cover 2,000 square feet—Lemcke recommends laying sod on dead patches instead of seeding. Sod is more forgiving when it comes to watering and resists weeds better than seed.

An ounce of prevention

You can’t control the weather, but you can mitigate winter’s effect on your lawn.

• Add topsoil to low areas of your yard to reduce the impact of ice. Then reseed or sod.

• If you notice dead turf where you piled shoveled snow, spread out your snow pile next year.

• To reduce salt damage, apply de-icers after you shovel snow, so salt doesn’t seep into your grass. Also, use calcium chloride-based de-icers, which do less damage than sodium chloride-based salts.

Reposted from:  http://www.realtor.com/advice/early-spring-lawn-care/

Well-groomed Landscapes May Increase Home's Value

Well-groomed yards create greater curb appeal but new research now shows that a home with upgraded landscaping, from average to excellent, can increase the home's overall value by as much as 12 percent, according to a study by Virginia Tech.

At the top of the list for excellent landscaping are: design sophistication, size of plants, and the diversity of plant material type.

What makes the home's yard more appealing? Color and large plants that are well maintained. The research found that a home with no landscaping could see an increase in value by $8,300 to $19,000 on a $150,000 home that has upgraded its landscaping.

"The most preferred landscape included a sophisticated design with large deciduous, evergreen, and annual color plants and colored hardscape," said researcher, Alex X. Niemiera of the Department of Horticulture with Virginia Tech.

Creating diversity by using various sizes of plants in the front yard and including fruit trees, and colorful flowers, boosts the curb appeal and the home's value.

Of course, how well the home is maintained is most vital. Buyers aren't typically interested in purchasing a well-maintained yard with a shabby home that's desperately in need of repairs. Yes, the landscape matters but the house had better be in great shape, too.

Here are a few things you should consider when it comes to keeping your landscape and home well-groomed.

Check the landscape for dead plants, shrubs, trees. Dead foliage is unappealing. Clear it out and in its place add some colorful plants in varying sizes to attract attention. Make sure your lawn is well-manicured. If you have brown spots in your yard, there are even non-toxic sprays (lawn paint) that commercial building owners have been using for decades and now can be used on residential lawns. Don't leave clippings and piles of dirt around the yard. Clean it up and haul it away.

Get rid of rusty, broken furniture. Outdoor patio furniture that's rusted and worn out is an eyesore. Give it away or throw it out. Even if you don't buy other furniture to go in its place, having empty space by removing the old, rusty, broken pieces is better. If you can simply paint it and revitalize the furniture, go for it.

Power-wash and/or paint the exterior. Homes that have been power-washed before being listed on the market have a glow. It's not the same as a new shiny coat of paint but it can sure spiffy up the exterior of your home. It's terrible when there is caked dirt on the garage door from the last storm or the windows are so filthy that you can hardly see out of them. That's unattractive to buyers and a sign that the home isn't well-maintained.

Fix loose steps, wobbly fences, or lifting deck boards. If you have fences that need reinforcement, fix them so that they are secure and stand strong. Secure loose steps or deck boards that are lifting;  don't wait until a buyer trips and gets injured. Not only are these repairs necessary to make the property more safe but they are also ways to increase the landscape's appeal.

Just doing some routine checks around your yard will show you which areas need a little maintenance. Handling the repairs as they come up is much easier than letting the yard fall apart and then trying to rush and put it back together in time to list it for sale. So, start now and get things done, little by little.

Reposted: http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/sellersadvice1/item/31196-20141018-well-groomed-landscape-may-increase-homes-value