Qualified to Exceed Your Expectations

It feels great to be proud of your lawn!  Our owner, Kent Gliadon, knows that feeling well and earned his bachelor’s degree in Turf Science from the University of Minnesota to give people the ultimate tool to improve their lawns and feel that kind of pride. That’s how KG Landscape Management came to be, because a beautiful lawn really is something to be proud of. 

We strive to give you the science based information and recommendations you need to improve your lawn in a cost effective manner. KG hand selects our fertilizer blends out of 100’s of available products, you really have to know your stuff to choose the most effective products and give customers the best bang for their buck. We strive to be your best choice in lawn care and look forward to helping you take more pride in your lawn. 

We’ve always wanted to provide a great value on lawn care services for customers looking to improve their lawns. Because our pricing is very competitive with most Minneapolis fertilizer companies and we are much more knowledgeable than anyone you’ll find, we believe choosing KG is a no-brainer. It’s all about what you put on your lawn and we use precise measurements of the right nutrients in each application to make sure your lawn is actually getting the food it needs to thrive!

Our Fertilizer and Weed Control Packages

Fertilizer and Weed Control Package Information

Premium Package

The premium package gives your lawn the full recommended rate of lawn fertilizer for the growing season, making your lawn the best it can be. Our proprietary blends of slow release fertilizer will feed your lawn with 3.0 lbs of actual Nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 ft2 of lawn space. Our blends also include many other important fertilizers for your lawn; like potash, Iron and other micro nutrients that spread out over (6) application and are timed to maximize effectiveness throughout the growing season. The premium package also includes (2) weed control treatments each season including: a spring crabgrass pre-emergent application with weed killer and a fall weed killer application. Going with our premium package gives your lawn everything it needs to thrive and stay weed free from spring to fall.

Standard Package

The standard package gives the same great products and service as the premium package, just less of it per season. The application rates for this package are comparable to our competitors top level lawn care packages, but they are not using the high quality fertilizer blends we do. The standard package includes 2.25 lbs of actual Nitrogen applied per 1,000 ft2 of lawn space. This is not the highest recommend rate of fertilizer per season, but saves some money and still gives you healthy green lawn throughout the season. This package includes applications of our proprietary blends of slow release fertilizer which include: nitrogen, potash, Iron, and other micro nutrients. Applications of these nutrients are timed to maximize effectiveness throughout the growing season and are applied over (5) separate treatments. The standard package includes (2) weed control treatments each season, including: a spring crabgrass pre-emergent application with weed killer and a fall weed killer application.

Economy Package

The economy package is primarily meant to control weeds in the lawn.  This includes (2) weed control treatments each season, including: a spring crabgrass pre-emergent application with weed killer and a fall weed killer application.  Since both of the weed control treatments are blended with fertilizers, the economy package also gives your lawn 0.75 lbs. of actual Nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 ft2 of lawn space as well as some potash and Iron spread out over the (2) weed control applications and (1) fertilizer application.

Taking Care Of Your Lawn After A Fertilizer Treatment

After we apply a fertilizer and/or weed control treatment don’t water your lawn for 24 hours. You will see a small sign in your lawn as well as paper work on your door that will tell you what we applied and how to care for your lawn after the treatment. For best results, wait 24 hours after the application to water, but then water 2-3 times per week for one to two weeks. Adding nutrients to your lawn speeds up the lawns metabolic processes. The grass will require more water to consume and put the nutrients to work growing thicker and greener. Regular watering will help prevent your lawn from drying out after an application and will make the applications more effective!

Double Pass Aeration/Over-seeding Service

This helps fill in and thicken your lawn. It’s recommended every year if you have a traditionally thin lawn, annual lawn damage from dogs or heavy foot traffic, shady lawn areas, or just want the best possible results for your lawn (August is the best time; early spring also works well).

This service involves us aerating you lawn (2) times, poking many holes in your lawn where new grass seed can grow and fill in thin/damaged areas. Then, we over-seed the lawn with premium blends of sun/shade mix seed. The seed washes into these wholes and start filling in thin areas with new grass.

Fall Single Pass Aeration Service

If your lawn is in good shape, keep it that way by reducing compaction caused by annual lawn mowing and foot traffic. There’s reason golf courses do this every year, it’s great for your lawn. September in the best time of the season for this.

A fall aeration is not needed if you are already doing a double pass aeration and over-seeding this year.

Essential Turf Grass Nutrients For Minneapolis Lawns

There are 18 essential elements used by the grass in your lawn. Each element is used by the grass for different functions, but all are needed in varying amounts for your lawn to properly grow and thrive. The good part for us is that most soils in MN contain adequate amounts of most of the 18 essential nutrients your lawn needs. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are considered macro-nutrients, because they are consumed by your grass in the largest quantities. Most Minnesota lawns already contain soil with adequate levels of Phosphorus for healthy lawns to thrive, so the core nutrient components of our treatment programs focus on the application of Nitrogen and Potassium. These are the two primary macro-nutrients your lawn needs that can’t be found in adequate quantity in our native soils. Grass will grow without adding these nutrients, but if you’re like me and love a lush green and healthy looking lawn, adding these nutrients is an absolute must!

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for your lawn. According to the University of Minnesota, high maintenance lawns where grass clippings are mulched (not bagged and removed) should be treated with 3.0 lbs. of actual Nitrogen per year for best results. For those of you considering doing this yourself, actual nitrogen means the real amount of nitrogen contained in the fertilizer by weigh, as opposed to the bulk weight of the fertilizer itself.

In accordance with the U of M’s recommendations and our experience in achieving best results, we apply 3.0 lbs. of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn for our premium fertilizer package. This ensures that your lawn receives the highest recommended amount of Nitrogen per season. Each of our treatments contains ½ lb. nitrogen per application to ensure the lawn is being fed regularly throughout the season and this rate reduces the risk of burning the lawn to virtually zero. Spoon feeding the Nitrogen, as it’s called, also reduces the risk of Nutrient runoff and leaching (washing off the lawn or filtering too deep into the soil for the grass roots to reach). Leaching means more nutrients than the lawn can use are applied all at once allowing rain to wash away the extra material before it can be consumed by the grass.

We use both liquid and granular Nitrogen fertilizers to achieve fast acting greening and slow release feeding throughout the growing season. For instance, slow release fertilizers are best used during the hot summer months when the lawn is using less Nitrogen between rains falls and periods of heat stress. However, quick release Nitrogen is best for winterization applications in the fall to make sure the lawn can quickly metabolize and store the Nitrogen before going dormant for winter.

Spoon feeding (applying lower amounts of nutrients more often) is the most reliable method to ensure proper timing of nutrient applications, even more so than using one of the several types of coated Urea’s as a slow release Nitrogen. This is because all forms of coated Urea used as slow release products release their nutrients based on how often they get wet. So, if we received wet spring with several big rain storms in a row or if you run your irrigation system regularly the Nitrogen will release much faster than the label shows.  So treating your lawn with a ½ lb. of Nitrogen once a month is a more reliable method for timing than applying 1 lb. of slow release once every 2 months (because it may release a lot faster than the 2 months shown on the label).

Forms of Nitrogen

Our conventional lawn care treatments utilize nitrogen in the form of stabilized Urea to feed your lawn. Urea is an organic compound that is produced synthetically, using inorganic compounds. For these reasons, Urea is considered a ‘synthetic organic’ compound. Urea is naturally found in the urine of most living animals including our own, as it is the waste product of the body’s process of metabolizing proteins. The table above shows more forms of both quick and slow release nitrogen. Visit the link below for more information!

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/lawns/fertilizing-lawns/

Is Fertilizer Safe To Use On My Lawn?  Is Urea Harmful Or Dangerous?

Urea is a synthetic organic compound and is perfectly safe when used according to the label. Urea is almost 3 times less toxic than sodium chloride (table salt) when tested in rats comparing the toxicity reports on the MSDS Label’s for each. The MSDS (material safety data sheet) Labels shows the amount of material that need be ingested (eaten) by a rat to cause acute toxicity. As shown below in the composition and information on ingredients sections of both sodium chloride (table salt) and Urea, you can see that a rat can only eat 3000 mg/kg of salt before showing signs of acute toxicity where as it must eat almost 3 times as much Urea or 8471 mg/kg before showing acute toxicity. I don’t recommend eating urea, or large amounts of table salt for that matter, but I can confidently tell you that Urea is generally accepted to be a very safe product to use on your lawn. Homeowners with children or pets should have no reason to be concerned about using Urea on their lawns. Urea is a synthetic organic compound and is the purest form of readily available plant usable nitrogen available, which makes it the lowest cost product per lb. of actual Nitrogen on the market.

Phosphorus

In general our Minnesota soils contain enough phosphorus to support healthy turf without the need to add more. Because phosphorus is not allowed to be used in MN for regular turf fertilization applications, we never use it useless 1 of 2 conditions apply. Phosphorus is legal and important to use as a starter fertilizer when establishing new lawns from seed or sod. Phosphorus is beneficial in root growth and increased the success and growth rate or seedling and roots growth in sod. Another time when phosphorus is used is when soil tests shown a phosphorus deficiency (lack of phosphorus) in the soil.

Potassium  

Potassium is an important lawn nutrient that helps regulate many different physiological processes inside the plant including nitrogen usage. From dealing with heat stress to storing energy before going dormant over winter, potassium helps your lawn deal with stress and changing weather conditions throughout the season. We apply potassium in most of our lawn treatments to make sure your lawn has what it needs to be healthy and strong. Potassium is added to lawn treatments in smaller quantities than Nitrogen since potassium bonds more tightly to soil that Nitrogen and is used by the grass in smaller quantities.

Interested in an Organic Fertilizer Option?

Of course, here at KG Landscape, we do everything we can to limit the effect our fertilizer chemicals have on the surrounding environment. We spoon feed the fertilizer to the lawns and train our fertilizer technicians on the correct methods of application so there is little waste.

However, some of our clients are still opposed to using synthetic chemicals to fertilize their lawns. For them, we have created an organic fertilizer program. Visit that page to learn more about the creative and innovative techniques we have employed.

Quality Weed Control

Well fertilized grass alone will not be 100% weed free, so it’s important to have your lawn treated with weed control to prevent weeds from taking over. You need to get rid of the weeds to achieve a high quality lawn, and then you need to keep the weeds out each year to make sure your lawn stays that way.

• Crabgrass Preventer – Crabgrass can be one of the most damaging weed problems you can have in your lawn. Crabgrass seeds are tiny, windblown, and will definitely find their way into even your fenced in backyard. Crabgrass will take over your lawn and out-compete the cool season grasses in sunny areas and creating even more bare spots. The long and short of it is that you must use a pre-emergent in the spring every year to stop crabgrass seeds from germinating. Skipping even one year of pre-emergent will allow crabgrass to start growing in your lawn. We offer 3 different fertilizer packages that all contain a pre-emergent crabgrass preventer treatment because it’s very important to keep the crabgrass out!

• Broadleaf Weed Control – Lawn weeds like clovers, seedlings from your big maple tree in front, and the dandelion seeds that blow in from your neighbor’s lawn must be treated every year to maintain a weed free lawn. Broadleaf weeds grow in several cycles throughout the year. Some are perennial and come back every year, others are annual and grow from seed each year. While still others are winter annuals that begin growing in the fall, survive over winter, and seed again before dying in the spring. With all these types of weeds, your lawn is constantly exposed to new weeds hoping to get a foothold in your lawn. All of our conventional fertilizer packages treat broadleaf weeds 2 times per season. Once in later spring in order to kill weeds that germinate after the spring weed seeds have dropped. Then again for a second time in the fall to kill weeds that have flown in and germinated over the hot summer months.