Lawn Care in Shippingport, PA

When we show up in early spring, the first thing we're doing is timing. We watch the forsythia bloom — when those yellow flowers open, the soil is approaching 50°F and that's the window to apply pre-emergent herbicide before crabgrass seeds germinate. We use granular pre-emergent combined with a starter fertilizer so the existing grass breaks dormancy with something to feed on. Late spring we're back for broadleaf weed control — liquid applications targeting dandelions, clover, plantain, and ground ivy, which is one of the harder ones to knock out. Mid-summer, we apply preventative grub control before the eggs hatch; skip this and you'll find out in September when sections of turf peel back like a rug. If the program includes aeration, we core-aerate in late summer — pulling actual plugs of soil to break up compaction — and then overseed immediately into those open channels. We close the year with a winterizer application that's heavier on potassium than a standard fertilizer to harden the root system before the ground freezes.

For Shippingport specifically: silty clay loam from Ohio River deposit origin. The borough's flat river terrace position means drainage in low spots can be slow after significant rainfall events. Topsoil depth over clay subsoil varies — some properties have reasonable profiles while others hit dense clay within a few inches.

Before: the typical lawn we see on a first visit has a few things in common — thin turf with visible soil in traffic areas, crabgrass or broadleaf weeds taking up real estate, compacted clay that sheds water instead of absorbing it, and often an acidic pH that's been quietly working against every bag of fertilizer the homeowner has applied. It's not neglect, it's usually just a soil problem that compounds over time. During: across the program year we're correcting the soil chemistry, blocking weed pressure at the germination stage, feeding the turf in timed intervals so it builds density, protecting the root system from grubs, and opening the soil up through aeration so roots can actually penetrate the clay. After: at twelve months in, most lawns are noticeably denser and the weed population drops significantly. We'll be direct though — if you're starting with severely thin turf, bare patches, or soil pH well below 6.0, year one is mostly stabilization and correction. The lawn that makes you stop and look at it when you pull in the driveway is usually a second or third season result.