Revive

Growing organic plants is easy, even if you’re a beginner. However, keeping your garden fresh and capable of producing natural, healthy plants all year round can be somewhat of a challenge. If you want to start, and try out your luck with it, however, the following tips should help you: • First prepare your bed about 3 weeks before you plant your first seeds. Introduce material from your compost pile, then rake the surface of your garden. For the next three weeks, remove the weeds that come up, until your soil is ready for planting your first crop. • Water the soil lightly before, rather than after planting your first seeds. Make sure it’s moist but not too wet. • Sow the seeds into a trench, or place 2-3 individual seeds in each planting hole. • Cover the seeds with soil, then press the soil gently from above to make sure the seeds have good contact with it. Some seeds, such as lettuce or dill, will require sunlight to sprout, so just sprinkle them lightly with soil. • Continue s...

Unlike cats, dogs are animals that have to go outside to “take care of business,” and unless you have a well-trained dog, that can become a big problem when it comes to your humble back yard grass. Dog urine is uncommonly rich in nitrates that actually burn through your grass. It leaves yellow, dried up patches behind that remain unsightly and can be harder to deal with later on. So how do you keep your dog from ruining your grass? One of the simplest and most straightforward ways to achieve this is to train your dogs to pee in a grass-free area of your yard. This can include patches of dirt and soil found behind your shed, or in other areas that aren’t directly visible by visitors or neighbors. To train your dog, accompany him outside, and get his attention when he chooses a patch of grass to go potty. You can then guide him to an area of your choosing. Dogs are smart, so just by repeating this action a few times, you’ll already get your dog to finish his business in a location of y...

A lot of people across the US are complaining that they can’t keep a green lawn all summer. This is largely because of intense sunlight, but also because grass may require different type of care in different areas – especially considering the many types of grass there are out there. If you want to care for your lawn properly, you’ll have to learn more, not about how much work you should put into it, but about the timing of your work. Proper cutting, fertilizing, watering and aerating is the key to having a beautiful lawn for most of the year. The trick is to perform all these tasks at the right time. How do you do that? It’s quite simple: 1. Adjust grass height according to the time of the year. For the start of summer, use a 1-1/2 inch cutting height, then increase by half an inch during the heat of the summer, and decrease it back near the end. For warm-climate grasses you should keep the height about ½ of an inch shorter. 2. Make sure your grass gets about 1 to 2 inches of water...

September is upon us and that means it’s time to start thinking about what to do with your lawn and garden this fall. One of our most important tips on how to make grass green and healthy is to make sure you fertilize your lawn in the fall. Here’s some key points on how fall fertilization can benefit your lawn: Fall fertilization: Why it’s too important to pass over With the start of September comes one of the most popular seasons of all: fall. “From a horticultural standpoint, it’s the best time to feed your lawn and make sure the nutrient levels are at their optimum growing conditions,” says Chuck Whealton, region manager with Ruppert Landscape’s landscape management division. “It’s also the best time to do lawn renovation. So, if you’re doing some overseeding of those areas, the best time to get germination of new grass is in the fall as well.” Whealton explains that with cool-season grasses, fall is an especially important time to fertilize for the following reasons: • Soil ...

Here at Revive, we’re all about saving water with our organic liquid fertilizer while making lawns green across the U.S. A study conducted by the Colorado State University research team recently analyzed the impact of urban and residential landscaping on the environment. Weighing the costs and benefits, this study concluded that even though landscaping costs Colorado a bit of money and valuable water, our green spaces are well worth what it takes to maintain them. Here’s some more information on their ground-breaking study: CSU research quantifies the value of urban landscapes This study, for the first time, has quantified the return on investment (ROI) of the water used for landscapes given the significant environmental, economic and social benefits our green spaces provide. It reports that Colorado landscapes use only 3% of available water consumed in Colorado. The team found landscape benefits which fall into three major categories: • Environmental: carbon sequestration, reduce...

Having a healthy lawn is about way more than curb appeal and impressing your neighbors. During the summer, a luscious lawn can be a refuge for hot feet and paws. With Colorado getting the most sunlight out of all the states, it’s crucial to keep your lawn healthy all year by using only the best lawn fertilizer . Here’s some statistics and facts about the many important ways green turf helps cool down our climate: Temperature Modification We've all had the pleasant experience of walking barefoot in the yard and feeling how cool the grass is underfoot. That's not an illusion. Turfgrass plays an important part in controlling our climate. Grassed surfaces reduce temperature extremes by absorbing the sun's heat during the day and releasing it slowly in the evening, thus moderating temperature. Grass plants absorb some solar radiation to fuel the photosynthesis process. The irregular surface of lawn areas also scatters light and radiation, greatly reducing glare. Turf cool...

All across the U.S., rainfall has been increasing. While some areas are actually flooding, other areas are experiencing more water than typically expected during the summer. A little extra water in addition to organic lawn care are usually good solutions in maintaining a green lawn, but too much water can be harmful to your plants. Here are some tips to follow if your garden is being flooded this summer: What to Do for Waterlogged or Flooded Gardens We have less control over our plants during prolonged periods of rain or flooding, than during drought. Unless they are in moveable containers, there is little we can do except wait for the weather to change. Then it is time to take stock of how your garden held up. If your soil is waterlogged, chances are good your plants are showing signs of stress - or soon will be. The waterlogged and flooded soil has insufficient amounts of oxygen in it, for the plant roots to take up and release water or release excess carbon dioxide. Plant...