East End Lawn Care, Sprinkler Service, Tree Care and Insect Spraying and Poison Ivy Control

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Southampton Office: (631) 353-7548
East Hampton Office: (631) 527-3638
North Fork Office: (631) 407-3119

East End Lawn Care Service

Taking advantage of Alternative EarthCare’s Lawn Care Services is the only way to keep your lawn looking its best! Having proper lawn care is essential for magnifying the beauty of a home. Did you know that having a plush green lawn can even increase the value of your home when you go to sell?

Our customers are always receiving compliments from their neighbors and friends, asking them how they keep their lawns looking so healthy. The answer to any lawn growth problem or the desire to keep something beautiful is simple: Alternative EarthCare!

From the East End to Nassau County, and all of Suffolk, look to us for your lawn care service needs!

Alternative EarthCare is always ready to serve you.

Why We Are The Best Choice for Lawn Care on Long Island

You can be sure our knowledgeable technicians will recommend the best treatment plan for you. Our deep understanding of Long Island’s natural soil conditions, as well as horticulture in general is the key to our success. That is why we obtain far superior results than those of our competitors.

Our Lawn Care Services offer solutions for a vast array of different soil conditions, which means not every lawn should be, or ever is, cared for the same way. We customize our services to meet the needs our your specific landscape, this includes the type of grass you have, the location of your home on the Island (ie. is your home near water, on a hill, etc. all of which determines the type of soil you have and how far down ground water is from the surface).

Why Soil Types of Long Island Matter For You

Do you know what kind of soil you have in your yard? Is it the same throughout? For instance, the most common soil type of the Hempstead plain of Long Island is Hempstead loam. The surface soil of Hempstead loam soil is a brown/black loam containing a small amount of sandy debris and white quartz gravel. The subsoil is a heavy yellow to reddish-yellow silt that is somewhat gravely. Because of its sandy and gravely subsoil it is well draining. However it’s main deficiency is lack of depth, which prevents the development of downward root systems.

So what does this mean for your lawn? When we come and do an evaluation we determine the soil type, type of grass, and note any particular problems you have experienced with particular bugs or issues of growth, disease, etc. With all of this knowledge we then develop a customized plan to service your lawn, creating and maintaining a beautiful landscape to surround your home.

What Products Do We Use On Your Lawn?

We provide our customers with superior products geared for Long Island soils that are applied at proper rates throughout the year. Whether it is an Organic program or Synthetic, our products are always of the highest quality and will yield the best results for your property`s specific needs!

Our Lawn Care Services

East End Sprinkler Service

In our ongoing efforts to provide full service lawn and turf care for Long Island, in 2007 Alternative EarthCare expanded and opened our own irrigation division called Super Green Irrigation! We provide irrigation services that help maintain a beautiful healthy lawn and landscape without the hassle of wasteful, old-fashioned methods.

Benefits of Installing an Irrigation System

Increases your property value
Saves you time and effort
Evenly distributes water to your plants to ensure healthy growth
Can lower the cost of water bills when used efficiently
Retain the value of your landscape: flowers, ornamentals, etc.

How Super Green Irrigation Can Help You

To help maintain a beautiful, healthy, and well-watered landscape, contact us today. We will work with you to determine what your property needs: new installation, location adjustments, replacements, etc. At Super Green Irrigation, we provide irrigation services for all of the East End of Long Island.

Special Services Provided by Super Green Irrigation

Installations

Not every landscape is the same. That’s why our Super Green Irrigation technicians are specially trained to assist you in deciding where the best locations for the sprinkler heads should to be placed. This will vary from home to home, depending on placement of your plants as well as environmental factors such as the amount of shade or sunlight, or soil consistency and drainage. Our technicians will know the best way to maximize efficiency on water use and ensure that all of your plants are well watered.

We are experienced in everything needed to complete a successful installation. This includes performing a very thorough evaluation of water pressure, and checking for electrical sources. This ensures a proper design that will meet your needs, and the needs of your landscape!

Systems

We specialize in the installation of high-end irrigation systems such as Hunter, Toro, and Rainbird sprinkler systems.

Water Timer

With this control both the technician and the homeowner are able to set watering times, days and frequencies according to your personal needs and desires.

Rain Sensors

Rain sensors are one of the most important functions on an irrigation system. These sensors detect when it is raining, and will bypass the sprinklers so they do not turn on and waste water. Rain sensors are also imperative in order to protect the health of your lawn and plants, preventing over watering your plants, shrubs, flowerbeds and lawn!

Mist Heads

Mist heads are a great way to water flowerbeds, and some of the more pressure sensitive plantings on your property. Mist heads provide an even, wide spread misting of water to ensure maximum coverage, without harsh or harmful pressure that can damage certain plants.

Rotary Heads

Installing rotary heads on your property will provide a strong, steady rotating stream of water that covers large areas, such as your lawn.

Long Island Tree Care and Tree Spraying Service

At Alternative EarthCare we offer a series of preventative and active insect horticultural sprays that are applied to the trees, shrubs and grounds, to eradicate and control insects and bugs from destroying your landscape, make it nice to be outside as well as keeping the bugs out of the house.

Alternative EarthCare is always ready to serve you.

Protection All Year Long

Protect your beautiful landscape and ensure your trees and ornamentals are protected all year long with our seasonal treatments designed specifically for Long Island’s climate and insects. Whether you are seeking tree spraying for disease and insect control on the East end of Long Island or Nassau County, across the north and south shores, we can help you all year long:

Spring & Fall are a time of preventative insect control and require the application of dormant oils. This application kills insect eggs and prevents infestations from occurring. These oils are applied to the bark and leaf surface of your plants and suffocate any existing insect eggs, stopping them before they damage and destroy your plants. Dormant oils can also help with certain diseases trees may become infected with.

Summer oil is a treatment applied to the bark and foliage of trees, shrubs and ornamentals. This treatment is essential for the health of all types of shrubs and ornamentals. At this time of year, Long Island is at its most beautiful, so make sure your trees are too so you can best enjoy the view from your own home.

Winter protection of trees and all of your plants calls for a waxy coating applied to all evergreens and flowering plants that maintain their leaves. Winter protection of shrubs or trees are typically done late fall through winter months. Our product forms a protective coating on the foliage of shrubs, to ensure they do not become dry and brittle and possibly crack, causing damage.

Disease Response for Fruit Trees

Often with certain trees, such as fruit bearing trees like apple trees, disease can cripple the tree’s natural fruit yield. You may find yourself disappointed that when once you could go in your backyard and pick and apple, now your favorite tree is bare. This of course can be caused by a multitude of things but common problems for fruit trees are fungus and disease.

Apple Tree Scab is a common problem caused by the fungus Venturia Inaequalis. A mild case of the disease causes small dark green spots on the leaves. A severe case causes the entire leaf to brown and fall from the tree. Luckily there are organic and synthetic sprays available to combat this disease. Dormant oils are usually effective on this disease.

Fireblight is another common bacterial disease affecting the apple tree and its relatives common throughout New York. Infected twigs will appear wet and then turn dark brown or black. The blight then spreads from twigs to branches to the entire bark of the tree. It is named “fireblight” as it leaves the tree with a charred appearance. To fight this bacterial disease the infected parts of the tree must be cut off and a solution such as one that is one part bleach and nine parts water can help avoid contamination from tools to other trees.

For all of your disease-fighting needs trust Alternative EarthCare’s expertise to bring your trees back to life and protect your other plants from cross contamination. We offer free estimates and examinations to begin the process and will work with you 100% of the way to ensure you receive the best service for your beautiful Long Island landscape.

East End Poison Ivy Control

We are leading experts in Poison Ivy Removal. We specialize in keeping your family and your pets safe with the immediate removal of poison ivy throughout your property. We will also remove other forms of invasive or poisonous weeds that are tough to control on your lawn. Alternative EarthCare will safely remove hazardous plants from your property without harmful chemical sprays.

Alternative EarthCare uses least toxic methods when spraying for poison ivy. Our methods will control and exterminate poison ivy and poison oak- we guarantee it! Yes, we are so effective at eradicating poison ivy and poison oak that we provide a full 1 year guarantee against their return. For full eradication of these harmful plants in Suffolk and Nassau County we recommend our 3 step spraying program, once a month we spray for 3 months to eradicate the poison ivy on your property and therefore our guarantee then applies because all 3 steps of the Poison Ivy program has been completed.

NOTE: The involved, lengthy root system of these intruders is HAZARDOUS to work with, which discourages digging as a corrective alternative.

How to Recognize Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy has a distinctive leaf pattern of three leaflets occurring alternately along the stem. Leaflets are usually fairly smooth, and can be either dull or glossy green. Leaf edges may be smooth, toothed, and (rarely) lobed. Large mature leaves often have several large teeth (cutouts) on either side of the broadest part of the leaf. Leaflet sizes vary from a quarter-inch to over 2 inches in length. Leaves on the same vine often have a number of color and shape combinations.

Flowers, though usually brief and rarely noticed, are clustered and small, and are yellowish in color. The berry-like fruit ranges in color from yellowish-green to whitish-gray and is clustered, small, round and waxy, extending out above a leaflet group.

Poison Ivy can grow as a self-supporting woody shrub, as a thin trailing vine running along the ground, or as an aerial-rooted vine growing on shrubs, trees, power poles, and fences. The aerial-rooted specimens often have a wooly or fuzzy rope-like appearance. Older (ten years or older) vines can grow to several inches in diameter as high as 30-feet. Poison Ivy is a perennial plant that is reproduced by seeds and woody rhizomes.

Poison Ivy in Spring

When its leaflets first appear, are usually notable by a shiny, reddish-green color, usually slightly toothed and not as smooth as more mature leaves.

Poison Ivy During Summer

In the summertime the poison ivy leaves are various shades of green, but are usually dark green.

Poison Ivy in Fall

Every year in the fall the leaves will turn all kind of beautiful shades of orange, bright red, tan and yellow before eventually turning brown and dropping off the tree.

Poison Ivy Rash

Millions of people have reactions to Poison Ivy each year. The allergic agent in Poison Ivy is an oily substance called Urushiol (pronounced: ur-oosh-i), which is a collection of oleoresins. It is found in all parts of the plant and can be transported by wind or smoke as well as through direct contact. Symptoms of poisoning range from mild itchiness and redness, to severe oozing lesions accompanied by fever. While people may not develop dermatitis from the first contact, most people are sensitized the first time. This means that although as a child you may have not gotten a rash from contact with the plant, you may develop a terribly painful rash as the years go on and the most often you come into contact with it.

Urushiol can contaminate footwear, clothes, tools, and pet fur, therefore there is always a potential of transferring the plant oil without any direct skin contact at the time of exposure. The oil can even remain active on footwear, clothes, and tools, etc. for as long as a year! Smoke inhalation (breathing the smoke) from burning Poison Ivy, can also cause severely dangerous poisoning, as the soot particles can carry the oil.

Poison Ivy dermatitis (irritation, blisters, sores) can start within a few hours or up to a week after contact (or even longer with subsequent repeated contacts with contaminated clothes and tools.) It may progress from itchiness and swelling to inflammation, and the formation of lesions and blisters. The time factor is dependent upon personal sensitivity, the amount of exposure, and the season. Spring and summer are the seasons of greatest potential for poisoning. Damaged leaves and stems most readily produce the oil for significant contact, which is easily transferred to skin as well as clothes and tools.

Scratching will spread the reaction as long as the oil has not been washed from the skin. The fluid from blisters caused by the oil will not spread the reaction (once the skin has been thoroughly washed.) Washing with Dawn/Joy/Palmolive dishwashing liquid (any modern dishwashing detergent with a “degreaser” agent – not just normal soap!) or lye soap (though I don’t know that many people who keep lye soap around the house nowadays) is reported to neutralize the oil of Poison Ivy for many people.

To avoid the dreaded rash caused by poison ivy, get rid of the plant today. Avoiding direct contact is not a practical option if you have children and especially pets, who can go anywhere and everywhere, including near that poison ivy plant. Call today for a free estimate and ask us about our 1 year guarantee against poison ivy and poison oak!