Weed Control







Fall weed control is by far the best time to get rid of weeds, I prefer the middle of October. The reason weed control is done in the fall is weeds will take the herbicide down to their roots and it will kill the entire weed. During spring and summer this doesn't happen, weed control during those times of year will get rid of the above ground leaves and stems, but will eventually come back. You want to completely eliminate the weeds. Another important benefit to getting rid of weeds in the fall is you can spray them at the lower label rate and essentially treat more area as opposed to the higher rate.

Have you seen this Beetle?

Japanese Beetle adult (Notice the coloring)

Pictured is a Japanese Beetle adult (Popillia japonica). These beetles can be a problem in large numbers. They feed on plant leaves and fruit. On golf courses, home lawns and other turf areas the larval stage or grub stage can also destroy turf areas. This time of year these adult beetles are flying around, feeding and mating. The female will lay as many as 40-60 eggs during this cycle. Once the eggs hatch the larvae will start to feed on grass roots. Symptoms can be brown turf areas that looks like drought stress. You may also see digging from animals like raccoons, skunks and opossum. I have also even witnessed a murder of crows tear up turf to feed on the white grubs.

 

You can spray susceptible plants with pesticides like Sevin®.  As with any pesticide, it is your responsibility to read and understand the pesticide label. They also sell traps that are designed to attract the adult beetles. The problems with the traps is they can attract more beetles than they will actually trap. I would not recommend this method for small yards with a lot of susceptible plants. Your local home and garden center will have the appropriate products available for the stage in which this insect is causing problems.

Lawn Care Tips (Mowing)

Another tip that should be followed regarding mowing your lawn is making sure your mower blades are sharp. Dull blades can give your yard a brown tint because the tips of the grass get torn. A good rule of thumb would be to sharpen them a couple of times a year. Your local lawnmower shop can more than likely do this for you. Below is a picture of sharp blades vs dull blades, the two plant leaves on the right have obviously been mowed with dull blades.

Lawn Care Tips (Mowing)

I sometimes get asked for advice when it comes to home lawns. These might be mowing practices, watering practices, weed problems and even disease and insect problems. I would like to use this blog as a vehicle to give you tips, tricks and advice on lawn care.

The first tip I would like to give is on mowing. You should mow your lawn as tall as you can tolerate. The taller the grass plants the less inputs they will need like water, fertilizer and pesticides. To put things into perspective the rough at the golf course is mowed at 2 inches. My lawn at home is mowed at 3 inches. During periods of summer stress due to high temperatures and drought, I will raise my personal lawn mowing height to 3 1/2 inches. To check the height of cut put a ruler down and measure how tall the grass is after it is mowed. At home I also mulch my clippings, I don't collect them. Dispersing clipping back into your yard provides some nutritional value. Contrary to popular belief clippings do not cause an increase in thatch.

Home lawns

Spring is a great time to make improvements to your lawn at home. If anyone has crabgrass issues, the next couple of weeks are ideal for pre-emergent treatments. Crabgrass will germinate when soil temperatures reach 60 degrees for several days. A natural (not always accurate) indicator that soil temperatures are close is to look for the Forsythia to flower.  I prefer an inexpensive probe thermometer.  Crabgrass is an annual plant that is a prolific seed producer, one plant can produce over 100,000 seeds during it's growth cycle.  Once your pre-emergent treatment is down it is important to water within a couple of days and don't disrupt the soil surface after it is applied. As with any weed problem a healthy stand of turf is your best defense.