Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a safe way to keep deer and other animals out of my vegetable gardens?

The safest way to keep animals out of your garden is to install a fence around the perimeter of your garden.

Deer are a very agile animal with extremely high vertical leap capabilities. The higher fence you install the better. You often see people installing a electric fence. Deer are very sensitive animals and can oftentimes sense the electricity running through the fence.

If you don’t like the looks of a fence, you can also get some remedies from your local gardening stores that help deter animals from entering. You can get coyote urine pellets that sprinkle around the perimeter of your garden that are often good for a long period of time. Where there is no guarantee on any animal control practices. Experimenting with a number of different procedures will often help you find the best recipe for success for you setup.

I’m sick of weeding my crushed rocks. What is the best form of weed control?

The best form of weed control is going to be contacting your local turf management professional.

We never encourage homeowners to try to eradicate any weeds through the use of chemical application. Talking to someone who is trained in dealing with the application of weed fighting agents is going to help ensure you’re getting the results you want without damaging any other areas on your property.

It’s easy to go out and buy RoundUp for most applications but it can be extremely harmful to the environment as well as yourself. Letting the trained professional tackle this job is going to be the best form of weed control outside from pulling them on your hands and knees.

In the wintertime, is salting my walkway or driveway harmful to the asphalt?

Whether salt is harmful to your driveway or not can be a very tricky determination.

Salt will not necessarily affect your asphalt surfaces for the most part but you need to diagnose the condition your asphalt is currently in. Any fused or cracked areas in your driveway are going to certainly weaken the overall state that it is in.

Salt’s overall purpose is to melt down any snow or icy areas in your driveway. Any cracked or fused ares in your driveway is going to make it much easier for water and salt particles to work its way beneath the surface. Once ice melts and works its way into any cracks and refreezes is when you’re going to most often see issues surface. What kind of condition your asphalt surfaces are in is going to realistically determine what kind of salt application you should be on.

Black Bear Lawn Care has a team of professionals that can assess the best treatment for icing on your property.

How do I know if I have grubs?

Grub damage can be a common misdiagnosis amongst a multitude of lawn care problems. To fully understand if grubs are the culprit to any areas of your turf that is concerning, its best to understand what grubs are really doing beneath the surface.

Grubs are an immature form of beetle that feast on the root zone of your turf. If you truly have grub damage, the damaged soil area will easily roll up like a carpet where the grubs have destroyed the root zone created by your turf. Birds, skunks, and other small critters usually go hand and hand with grub control. You will often see these critters out turning up your turf in search of grubs.

Snow mold, crab grass, and other issues brought on by winter can easily be confused with grub damage. Contacting your local lawn care professional for a thorough diagnosis of all turf areas will be your best solution to find out what is really going on beneath all lawn areas.

My lawn got chewed up by the snow plow. When is the right time to plant grass seed? Is there a correct way to grow it properly?

The right time to repair damaged areas of your lawn is going to be strictly determined by current weather conditions. Grass germination rates can be a very touchy subject.

You’re going to need to be paying attention to the temperature changes that happen throughout daytime and evening times. Daytime temperature should range between 60 and 75 degrees which relates to a soil temperature between 50 and 65 degrees F. Anything below these temperatures will risk killing off any germination that may have occurred.