Lawn Care and Landscaping FAQs
Why do I have mushrooms growing in my lawn?
Mushrooms are a fungus that grows off decaying organic matter in the soil. Old tree stumps or old tree roots are the main source of food for mushrooms. Sometimes mushroom will grow off old dog poop, old septic pipes or septic tanks from year ago. Mushrooms will grow if there is there old building debris buried in soil, tree stumps or boards.
Lime and weed control will not kill the mushrooms. Mushrooms are a fungus that grows in the soil, not a plant. Weed control will only kill plants. Lime is use to neutralize the soil PH, lime is 97% calcium and will not kill anything either plants nor a fungus.
Want your lawn green all summer?
Here’s how……Water your lawn 3 times per week, for one hour per area.
The best times to water your lawn is early in the morning or late afternoon. The worst time to water (because it causes fungus to kill your lawn) is at between 7 pm to 2 am. Water after 7 is very bad for the lawn.
Lawn provides Organic aeration application that will double the effectiveness of your watering. Organic aeration allows more water to penetrate and be retained in the soil where the grass roots grow.
Should I water my lawn?
You do not have to have water your lawn on our lawn care programs. Lawn Science programs are design to work well without additional watering other then what mother nature provides.
Your lawn will go dormant in the heat of the summer, turning brown and not growing very fast. When the temperatures cool down and regular rainfall begins aging the lawn will quickly respond by turning green and growing again.
I only saw tire tracks in a few areas.
Lawn Science applies both liquid and granular applications. In the case of a liquid application you will not see tire marks because the liquid sprayed from a hose and will not leave noticeable marks. If the application is granular you will see tire mark in the lawn. The commercial fertilizer spreader Lawn Science uses throws the fertilizer in a 16-20 feet wide pattern. The tire marks will appear about 12-16 feet apart. The area is less than 16 feet wide you may only see one set of tire tracks. The best way to view the tire tracks is from the highest vantage point in your home, a second or third story view.
The tech was only here for a few minutes, how could he have treated the whole lawn?
Sometimes people do not hear the tech starting his application and only know the tech is there when they see him. If you see the tech in the back yard or in the middle of the lawn, the tech has been applying for some time. If you see the tech unloading his equipment, he has just arrived. We work hard to keep our equipment operating where the noise levels are not bothersome to our clients or their neighbors.
Bare spots in my lawn
First year customers find that weeds are reduced in their lawn, both crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. This may result in a number of bare spot where the weeds once grew. The best solution for these bares spot is a over seeding in late summer and fall season. Many lawn Science customer have found the existing grass will fill in these bare spots over a period of time. If the bare areas are large or abundant over seeding is quickest way to thicken the lawn
I can’t see the fertilizer?
We applied both liquid and granular applications. In the case of the liquid applications you will not be able to see the martial on the ground or the leaf of the plant. The liquid is a dark brown color and dries clear. The granular materials are visible if you look very closely. The organic fertilizers are brown and blend into the soil. The granular Lime is brown and very difficult to see against the soil.
Are your products safe for children and pets?
We only use immediate entry products, which means there minimal wait time to reuse the lawn.
Its best to wait for the applied products to dry before entering whether they are organic or a pesticide. Because we focus on improving the health of the soil by using organics, we use only the smallest amounts of pesticides needed. Providing a safe healthy lawn for your family and pets is our top priority.
I thought you were 100% organic?
The nutrient part of our lawn care program is organic based. We feed the lawn and build strong root systems with organics. The control side of our programs uses small amounts of pesticides to control weeds and insects. We have found the best approach is to use organics to improve the quality of the lawn and reduce the use of pesticides to the absolute minimum to be effective.
When can I mow the lawn after an application treatment?
It's best to wait for a least one full day. If you cannot wait a full day, please wait at least two hours for a liquid treatment to fully dry. Most granular applications can be mowed immediately after the application, as long as you’re not catching the grass clippings.
How tall/short should I mow my lawn?
The very first and last mowing of the season should be at least 2 inches tall.
Spring and fall: mowing should be at 3 inches tall.
Summer: mowing should be at 3.5 inches tall
I put down grub control, but I still have moles.
Grub control is very effective in controlling grubs, but only slightly helpful in reducing moles.
A mole’s favorite food are earthworms. Moles love earthworms because they are easy to find and abundantly available. Moles are hemophiliacs and need the protein the worms provide.
The best way to control moles, is using a multi-angle approach including: trapping, repellants, and baiting.
Trapping: The best trap we have found is the Gempler’s Wire Tek “Mole eliminator”
Repellants: The three best that we have found are a sound repellant by Bonide-“Sonic Spike” and Bonide.
Baiting: Baits the two best we have found are by Motomco and Tomcat both offer a bait in the form of a worm and a grub.
What are common lawn diseases I should look out for?
“Red Thread” Lawns containing perennial ryegrass, fine fescues and some typesof Kentucky bluegrass are especially susceptible to red thread disease. The blades are the only part of the grass plant that are affected, and death starts at the tips and moves downward. The symptoms include:
Tan, dead leaf blades
Circular or irregular-shaped patches of grass that die back
Pink, pale red or orange fungal growth (known as “red threads”) extending beyond the tips of infected leaf blades.
Infected grass patches that may be scattered or merge together to create larger areas of infected grass.
A robust lawn will have an easier time withstanding attacks from red thread. As always, proper mowing, watering and fertilizing practices are recommended.
Why is liquid organic aeration more effective than core aeration?
Liquid organic aeration is more effective because it aerates 100% of the area to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. Core aerations only goes down 3 inches and only to where the hole is made.
What is liquid organic aeration?
Liquid organic aeration is a combination of seaweed, humates, compost, and yucca extract.
What does red thread lawn disease look like, and do you treat it?
Red thread is a fungal lawn disease that shows up most commonly in July and August in Connecticut — especially in coastal areas like Madison where humidity stays high overnight even when days are hot and dry. It looks like pinkish-red threads or a faint reddish tint running through patches of grass, usually in irregular shapes that don't follow your mowing lines. The affected grass blades don't die right away, but the lawn will look thin, patchy, and stressed in those areas. It's often mistaken for drought stress or a fertilizer problem. Dollar spot is similar — it causes small sunken brown circles roughly the size of a silver dollar scattered across the turf. Both are fungal and both are triggered by the same summer humidity conditions. The most effective prevention is healthy soil biology. Lawns on our organic-based program with compost tea applications are noticeably more resistant because the beneficial microbes in the soil actively compete with fungal pathogens. We serve Madison, Guilford, and Killingworth and our team watches for this during every summer application.
Why doesn't American Landscape & Lawn Science offer single lawn care treatments?
It's a question we get, and it's a fair one. The simple answer is that a single treatment can't protect your lawn for a full season — and we'd rather be honest about that upfront than take your money for something that won't hold up. Think about crabgrass: it requires two applications, timed weeks apart, because spring crabgrass and summer crabgrass are two different problems. One pre-emergent in April doesn't protect you from the second germination wave in June. Broadleaf weeds come in two waves too — spring and late summer — and a single weed spray misses half of it. Grubs need to be controlled before the eggs hatch in early summer; by the time you see grub damage in August, a single treatment is too late to undo it. Our programs are designed around the full calendar of what your Norwich-area lawn needs across a season — not just what's visible on any given day. Over 3,000 active clients trust us with their lawns year after year, and that tells us the approach is working. It's not the easiest sell upfront, but it's the right way to do the job.
How does liquid organic aeration work, and how is it different from traditional core aeration?
Core aeration uses a machine to pull small plugs out of the soil — it creates air pockets, but only a few inches deep and only where the tines happened to land. It covers a fraction of your lawn's total surface area and the results typically fade within a few weeks. Our liquid organic aeration is a formula developed specifically for Connecticut soil conditions — it uses humates, kelp, and compost-based components that penetrate 7 to 10 inches deep and work across your entire lawn, not just where a machine passed through. At that depth, it's actually breaking down soil compaction at a microbial level and stimulating root growth from the bottom up. Each application lasts roughly 90 days, and we apply it twice per season — spring and late summer — so your soil stays responsive through the full growing calendar. For Norwich-area lawns in Franklin, Lisbon, and Preston, where soil compaction is a real and ongoing issue, liquid aeration consistently delivers results that core aeration simply can't match — deeper penetration, full-lawn coverage, and lasting microbial activity that a machine passing through a fraction of your lawn just doesn't produce. Our customers feel that difference in how their lawn holds up through summer heat and bounces back in the fall.
How long has American Landscape and Lawn Science been in business?
Steven Bousquet started American Landscape and Lawn Science in 1983. (In Eastern Connecticut)
