Local horticulture expert and author to host free lawn workshop

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Staff reports

Skip Orth, author of the book “What Every Home Owner On The Emerald Coast Needs To Know About Lawn Care” and owner of Father and Son Pest and Lawn Solutions, will be hosting a free lawn workshop for homeowners or anyone else desiring to increase their knowledge on how to keep grass healthy.

Skip has been working in the lawn care industry right here along the Emerald Coast for over 25 years and is an expert on how to manage lawns and keep them healthy. He explains “Grass does not grow naturally in this region, so once a building lot is cleared of everything Mother Nature intended to grow there and sod is put down, you have to be very pro-active at keeping the grass healthy, otherwise Mother Nature will begin to turn that ground back into what she intended for it to grow and you will see your grass decline.”

Skip also says that there is a lot of misinformation out there about how to properly care for your lawn. “Certain brand name fertilizer companies have promoted application schedules that are totally incorrect for the environment and type of grass we have in this area. I frequently speak with home owners whose lawns have severely declined after they religiously followed the advice of those fertilizer companies for three or four years in a row.”

In his workshop, Skip will talk about the proper type of fertilizer to use on your lawn as well as the proper time to apply it. He emphasizes that most people who apply fertilizer to their lawn in the spring, apply it way too early. “When you apply fertilizer too early in the spring it’s like throwing most of your money away because the grass is not ready to absorb the fertilizer yet and the fertilizer is just going to get washed away before the grass uses it. Waiting until later in the spring to apply, allows all of the fertilizer to be absorbed by the grass and wastes none of it.”

Other topics Skip will cover in the workshop includes, how to recognize and control lawn pests, how to keep from replacing your lawn every seven to ten years, the single most effective way to rejuvenate a declining lawn and the best way to water your lawn. He will also be available for individual questions.

“The reason I am doing these workshops and giving away my book is to give something back to the community. My business has been extremely blessed by the people of this community, and I wanted to do something for the community in return. Keeping grass healthy is my passion and if I can educate others by sharing the knowledge and experience I have acquired by working with lawns here along the Emerald Coast over the past 25 plus years, well…that makes me feel really good.”

Hundreds of people attended the lawn workshops Skip held last spring, and they all came away with loads of information on how to care for their lawns. Skip spoke on a variety of different lawn topics ranging from what you should be doing to your lawn right now, to controlling weeds and rejuvenating a distressed lawn. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed it!

The workshop will take place from 10 a.m. until 12 noon on Saturday, February 10 at Father and Son Pest and Lawn Solutions, located at 8373 East Bay Blvd. in Navarre. There is no cost to attend, and every person who attends will receive a free copy of Skip’s book “What Every Home Owner Along The Emerald Coast Needs To Know About Lawn Care.”

Please call or text 850-240-7935 to register. Space is limited to 25 people.

If you are having a problem keeping your lawn healthy, Skip also offers free lawn consultations and can be reached by phone or text at 850-240-7935.