Bloomington Minnesota History and the Beauty of the Lawn

Nestled right outside the heart of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Bloomington, Minnesota is a city full of history and culture. Most notably known for the Mall of America, Bloomington is known for its various parks and waterways which includes over one hundred lakes. Bloomington’s two most notable parks include the Hyland Lake Park Reserve and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Bloomington was founded in the 1830s. It was originally a city known for its farming and blacksmiths and the values of a hardworking community. Like most American cities, Bloomington has now grown into a well-versed city full of educational opportunities, technological advancement and was once the home to three professional sports’ teams. They had the distinct honor to be the starting place for the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota North Stars, and the Minnesota Twins.

Mall of America

The Mall of America has essentially put the city of Bloomington on the map to those who aren’t familiar with the surrounding Twin Cities’ region. But, once visitors arrive they notice the lush, beautiful lands and natural regions that make up Bloomington and officially fall in love with what they see. But, the parks and city lands aren’t the only ones who are interested in the beauty of the nature around them. Homeowners across Bloomington take great pride in caring for and preserving their lawns. They do this to keep them healthy and exhibit the gorgeous curb appeal that those who pass by see. So, how do they keep their yards looking perfect you ask? With precision and thoughtful care from the right ingredients of lawn care.

Bloomington Lawn Care

Living in a cold climate like Bloomington, Minnesota there will be different techniques and procedures that must be taken to keep your lawn healthy and green. What many homeowners and residents alike don’t realize is that keeping a healthy lawn keeps the soil down below healthy as well. This can aid in preventing any possible damage from outside sources. The lawn actually will start acting as a barrier to the soil. In colder climates like here in Bloomington, the grass won’t be green twelve months of the year. So you’ll have to take advantage of the few summer months that you do have. While some homeowners may choose to hire a professional company like us to care for their Bloomington lawns. Others choose to take on the responsibility of Bloomington lawn care for themselves.

Types of Grass for Bloomington

First, you’ll have to know that not every type of grass can be grown in Bloomington. The most popular and healthiest type of grass that should be grown is Kentucky Bluegrass and then perennial Rye. This is because the City of Bloomington gets enough cold and warm temperatures throughout the year. If you lived farther north, you might want to consider other types of grass that are more susceptible to colder weather resistance. Instead if you lived a bit farther south you might want to consider another type of grass like Bermuda grass that is used to getting warmer temperatures earlier on in the lawn care season.

Preparing your Bloomington Lawn

Preparing your Bloomington grass for the summer weather will begin in the heart of spring. At this time is when you should apply the first round of fertilizer. The next two doses of fertilizer should be applied in the middle of the summer and then in the fall before the weather becomes too cold in Bloomington; typically, anything above 60 degrees will be sufficient.In total it is recommended you do six to eight treatments per season. The primary reason is most store bought fertilizers will not last long enough to do less applications. Sadly, this can be said about many lawn care companies that cut corners and use short acting fertilizer. Any fertilizer will help but, be sure to look for one that is slow release and offers Nitrogen and Potassium as the main nutrients. The thicker the grass root structures, the less likely it will be that you will get a massive number of weeds, so keeping it fertilized and well hydrated will help prevent an overabundance of weeds. Combine this with proper weed control and crabgrass preventative then you have a winning combination.

Bloomington Minnesota Winters

During the winter months, snow and other precipitation will give the grass any necessary hydration. But, during the summer months you’ll most certainly want to be aware of how much water your grass is getting. On average a lawn needs anywhere from four to seven inches of rain per month, and usually about half of that amount will come from rain. If your grass is starting to look limp or discolored, this is a telling sign that your grass isn’t getting enough water simply from rain and you’ll want to create a watering schedule. Most homeowners prefer to use a built-in sprinkler system or perhaps even a portable water network that can be setup on your lawn. But, if you don’t have either one of those, a simple garden hose will do the job, you’ll just want to make sure that you are reaching the entire grassed areas of the lawn.

Cut the Grass in Bloomington

Although cutting the grass seems like quite an easy task, there actually is a preferred system that must be used when you are doing so. First you must take into consideration the type of grass that you are cutting. Some types of lawns need to be cut a bit higher than others to prevent the grass from burning. Whereas other types of grass need to be kept short to maintain the quality of the grass. Speak to someone on our lawn care Minneapolis team for specifics and further instructions based on the blends of grass you have. However, 3 inches is usually a good rule of thumb.

Cutting the grass should be done weekly in the summer months in Bloomington, Minnesota but if your fertilizer is allowing your grass to grown faster than expected, feel free to cut it twice a week during that time.

Some folks assume that after cutting the grass that the clippings should be immediately disposed of, however, this generally is not the case. Leaving the shorter grass clippings on the top of the freshly cut grass will help the grass in the long run. The clippings will prevent the lawn from being draining of its moistures when the sun beats on it in the dead of summer, as well as the added nutrients and organic matter recycled into the grass ecosystem.

Bloomington Lawn Renovations

If you are looking to start over with your lawn and decide on one of the types of grass above, then there is some preparation that you will need to do before introducing the new grass. In most cases this is a sever case scenario as most lawn can be saved or rehabbed back to health. The first thing is to assure that all the previous grass is completely gone. Once that is done then you will want to make sure you have a nice thick level of soil that will support the new grass well enough to become a healthy, green lawn. If sod is the route taken, then you’ll want to check with the selling vendor of the sod to see how often you should water it after installing to assure that it takes.

If seeds are preferred over sod, there are a few ways that you can go about doing that as well. Once again a professional can be called but this is something can be done by the homeowner as well. If you only want to patch parts of the lawn with seeds that can be done as well as seeding the entire property. After seeding and adding additional soil, you’ll want to water the grass every day to assure that the ground is extremely hydrated. Lack of hydration won’t allow the seed to grow and the seeds won’t be able to reach their full potential.

Insects in Bloomington Minnesota

As mentioned above briefly, there are a few insects that may decide to attack your grass, causing a loss of lawn. Although there is prevention for these insects available from your local Minneapolis Lawn team you will want to be knowledgeable in discovering what type of insects are in fact attacking your grass. First you must know that living in Bloomington, and just a few types of grass to choose from, this will narrow the types of insects that you might have to deal with. The Bluegrass Billbug, which resembles a beetle is one of the most common insects that might attack your lawn. The grass will begin to discolor and then turn brown, as if it was burned. To prevent these insects from attacking the roots of your lawn you will want to start treatment in May when you first starting treating your grass for the upcoming season. If you wait too long into the summer, it might be too late to treat the insects and a loss of lawn is almost certain. The worst of all of course is the Japanese Beetles which we have large articles about this one and all of the damage they can do at the beetle stage as well as the grub larvae stages.

Pesticide Treatment in Bloomington

Of you aren’t familiar with lawn care and/or even using pesticides, there are a few warnings you should be aware of. Keeping them out of the reach of children and animals is always key. Also, although it may not be an issue in the winter in Bloomington, keeping the pesticides in a cool, dry place is also necessary. Pesticides also shouldn’t be “overdone” meaning, over spreading the chemicals on the grass won’t help prevent or control the issue you’re having, and in fact may worsen the situation and potentially harm your grass. For this type of treatment we would highly recommend having you Minneapolis lawn care team to advise you on safer options that we offer to make this process easier, safer yet cost effective base on the results. We can help with Japanese Beetles, ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and other little critters in the lawn.

Lawn Damage in Bloomington MN

With the amount of snow that Bloomington, Minnesota gets every year, there is also a chance that “snow mold” may form on your lawn. This type of mold is caused when snow stays on the grass for a long period because of cold temperatures. The snow then forms to the grass causing a mold type substance which looks like “patches” on the grass. Mild cases will just be small circular shapes, but a bad breakout will be larger patches all over the lawn. Calling a professional lawn company is the best way to solve this issue because they will have the best solution to the problem in hopes of saving your lawn.

As you can see, keeping a lawn healthy and green in Bloomington, Minnesota does require a certain amount of knowledge about lawn care. There are many benefits to keeping the lawn healthy and bright, besides the oxygen and the obvious curb appeal that exudes to those who pass by. The long-term existence of your grass also benefits from taking constant care of your lawn. It also helps prevent diseases and insects from invading your property and helps to prevent any damage from the harsh winter weather that stakes its claim on Bloomington each year. So, whether you plan on venturing into this lawn care project alone or decide to call a professional, the time is now to start planning on how you will take care of your lawn this upcoming season.

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