SERVICES
LAWN - Core Aeration
Tens of Thousands of Albertans have their lawns aerated every year. Why so many?
Our heavy, clay-based soil becomes compacted throughout the year, making it hard for water, air and other nutrients to penetrate the soil and feed the grass roots.
Common causes of compaction include:
Snow piles on your lawn for months at a time
Foot traffic on key parts of your lawn
Normal wetting and drying cycles from rain throughout the year
A commercial core aerator weights about 230 pounds and has a multitude of metal pokers, known as tines, that poke hundreds of small holes in your lawn, removing dirt 'cores' in the process.
The holes allow for penetration of water and nutrients into your soil while the removal of dirt cores to your lawn's surface allows an overall softening of your lawn throughout the season.
It's best to aerate either in the spring or the fall, as these are times of peak root development in your lawn and the aerator stimulates new root growth as it breaks the lawn surface.
Some of our customers aerate as much as twice per year, though they are on the high-end of the bell-curve. Once a year in the spring is sufficient to make sure your lawn will soak up as much water as it can for the year, and ensure any fertilizer you put down won't simply wash off the lawn into the gutter to create an algae bloom downstream.
LAWN - POWER-RAKING (DE-THATCHING)
Tens of Thousands of Albertans ALSO have their lawns power-raked every year. BUT, there is a vast difference between aeration and de-thatching, and you can harm your lawn by power-raking either too often or at the wrong time of year!
Rather than poking holes in an up-and-down motion like the aerator, a commercial de-thatcher scrapes the surface of your lawn with heavy claws, bringing up accumulated, dead organic matter from the soil surface while leaving most of your living grass intact.
A commercial de-thatcher is an altogether different beast from a lawn-mower attachment you might find at your local hardware store...our customers are sometimes dumbfounded at how much thatch comes out of their lawn, asking "where did that all come from?"
This accumulated matter, or thatch, comes from grass clippings, leaves or other organics making their way into your lawn, and is healthy in small amounts in your lawn.
However, if you begin to see patchy growth, there may be too much thatch build-up. This is either from years of standard build-up or if your lawn grew very long and then was suddenly cut short, leaving lots of dead matter to choke out the lawn.
A fantastic way to thicken a sparse or spotty lawn is to introduce some new high-quality grass seed after de-thatching to prepare the lawn's surface to receive the seed.
It is best to avoid power-raking until your lawn is established for the spring (mid-may in Calgary) because the machine is rough on the turf and can harm the new lawn growth which is just emerging in early spring. Follow your aeration and power-rake with over-seeding and watering, and you're on your way to a great lawn!
When Property Pals power-rakes for you, we hand-rake up all the thatch that is brought to the surface by the machine and then enviro-bag it up for you, so you needn't lift a finger.
It is best to avoid power-raking until your lawn is established for the spring (mid-may in Calgary) because the machine is rough on the turf and can harm the new lawn growth which is just emerging in early spring. Follow your aeration and power-rake with over-seeding and watering, and you're on your way to a great lawn!
When Property Pals power-rakes for you, we hand-rake up all the thatch that is brought to the surface by the machine and then enviro-bag it up for you, so you needn't lift a finger.
>>>CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR POWER-RAKING NOW!<<<
*Service includes paper-bagging your thatch for you to leave out for city pick-up
LAWN - OVER-SEEDING/RE-SEEDING
Is your lawn wearing our, or becoming spotty in places? This is normal over the years.
And as you know well, wherever your lawn is weak or sparse, weeds are happy to fill in the gaps, including dandelions blowing in from the park nearby.
Your lawn may get to the point where you need herbicides to deal with the weeds, but more often than not the fight can be won long before, simply by over-seeding the lawn a bit each year to keep it thick.
Property Pals uses an A-list commercial seed blend specifically designed for our southern-Albertan soil and climate. It includes:
Blue-grass for the sunny brunt of your lawn, with beautiful color
Rye-grass which germinates quickly and can grow and survive in harsher environments
Fescue for shady and damp areas where normal grass will typically fail to grow
One thing that sets our commercial seed apart from your typical store-bought product is that your typical consumer-grade grass seed will contain contaminants, including a variety of weeds, whereas our seed is certified to be virtually contaminant-free.
Our seeding service price depends heavily on how much seed will be used. Are we simply doing some proactive over-seeding to make sure your lawn is thick and strong, or are we re-seeding large dead-patches? When requesting a quote for this service, please include details of what shape your lawn is currently in, and what you envision.
When approaching re-seeding or significant lawn reparation projects, it's often advisable to cover the new seed in a thin layer of peat-moss or top-soil to help keep the new seed out of the direct sunlight, allowing it to stay damp for longer throughout the days.
*Our seed blend MUST be kept damp throughout its 28-day germination period, and should NEVER be subject to sub-freezing temperatures, otherwise the seeding operation will fail. Thus, we start our seeding services after May 20 each year in Calgary, which is when temperatures have historically stopped falling below zero at night.
LAWN - SLOW-RELEASE Fertilization
Our 8-12 week, safe-for-kids-and-pets fertilizer will have your lawn gently greening up and thriving for the whole season.
You'll have consistent growth and greening throughout the 8-12 weeks, unlike many consumer grade products where you'll find yourself mowing your lawn 2-4 times a week for a couple weeks only to find your lawn has run out of food thereafter.
Some of our premium clients have us fertilize their lawns as many as 3 times a year - spring, summer and fall.
>>>CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR SPRING, SUMMER OR FALL FERTILIZATION NOW!<<<
EXTERIOR WINDOW & Window Frame CLEANING
Property Pals uses a $3,500 4-stage water filtering system through a telescoping water-fed pole to reach the windows on your house, virtually eliminating the need for ladders on your property.
We clean the FRAMES of the windows as well as the exterior glass, which means the window glass stays longer after the cleaning is done; there's no dirt left on the frames to be brought onto the glass next time it rains (rain has very little dirt in itself).
Since our water filter passes your hose water through 1. a sediment filter, 2. a chlorine filter, 3. a high-volume reverse osmosis filter, and 4. a de-ionizing resin tank, there's no particulate/dissolved mineral left in the water coming through the window cleaning brush.
This means we guarantee a thoroughly streak and spot-free finish, without the need to squeegie!
AND your property/garden beds are safe because we are simply using filtered water - no chemicals!
SIDInG/FULL-HOUSE EXTERIOR CLEANING
Tired of looking at dirty siding on your house, but don't like the idea of getting up on a ladder with your power-washer to reach all the dirty build-up that has been collecting for years?
Property pals uses the telescoping brush/pole system to thoroughly scrub the entire exterior of your house! The water-fed brush allows for thorough loosening up of the dirt on the siding plus low-pressure rinsing for a thorough AND SAFE clean (no risk of blasting water deep under your siding or damaging the material with high-pressure.
Keep in mind, though, that if your siding has been collecting grit and baking in the sun for many years, it will stain...and the brush system may not be able to change the staining that has developed.
With that said, the house usually changes color a couple shades, and our customers are typcially blown away by the results!
>>>CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR FULL-HOUSE EXTERIOR CLEANING NOW!<<<