10 Most Common Lawn Problems in the Central Valley

Okay, so here is my top 10 list of common lawn problems. Some of them are damaging pests and some of them are the result of poor cultural practices. I won’t get into solutions today, but obviously you need to properly identify the enemy and know what to look for to take the right actions. Known problem now results in no problem later.

Crabgrass has to top my list.  It is an annual grass that germinates from mid February to Mid September.  Prevention right now is absolutely key.

Spurge is an annual broadleaf weed that pops up in both lawns and flowerbeds in roughly the same time frame as crabgrass.  It too is a heavy seed producer and needs timely applications of pre emergent to prevent its germination.

Sedges are perennial weeds that invade lawns and flowerbeds in the warm summer months.  Proper identification and selection of the right control agent will determine the level of suppression.

Broadleaf weeds like oxalis, dandelions, clovers, and thistles are extremely common to lawns throughout the valley.  Not all broadleaf weed control products are equal and proper identification will help one select the best product.

Diseases can damage lawns throughout the year.  Things like brown patch, snow mold, rust, spring dead spot, and southern blight.  Symptoms are usually circular in shape and the turf becomes discolored and often yellow.

Annual bluegrass or Poa annua is an abundant seed producer that invades dormant Bermuda lawns and flower beds.  This too is preventable with the proper treatments.

Bermuda is fine in a Bermuda lawn, but not so great in a tall fescue lawn as it goes dormant in the winter and leaves patches of brown in an otherwise green lawn.  Suppression is available only at this time.

Dry spots are usually the result of poor sprinkler coverage.  No water means no green grass.  This could be due to the spacing, water pressure, bad nozzles, or lack of proper adjustments.  Let’s fix sprinkler problems as water in a limited resource.  Overwatering is also a very bad and commonly observed practice.

Shade provides a great place to hang out in the summertime, but too much shade results in very thin lawns.  Shade management becomes more important as the landscape matures over time.

Mowing too short or too infrequently will put a stress on your lawn.  Weekly mowing at the proper height will make for a happier lawn. 

Well that’s my list and it is certainly not complete.  For your lawn questions and free lawn evaluation call Weed Man at 559-266-1624 or visit our website at Fresno.WeedManUSA.com.

Landscape Watering 101

California is in its fourth year of drought.  New rulings from Sacramento focus on reducing wasteful runoff and over watering in hope of reducing water usage 20%. Fines could be as high as $500 a day for failure to implement the required conservation steps and the City of Fresno has just gone from 3 days a week to two days a week in summer months. We have all seen the river of water going down the street and this is not good.  Nobody has asked us to let lawns go brown or reduce water by one-third either.  We must be very wise on how we apply the water to strive for peak efficiency as we have limited resources.

Brown is NOT the new green. 

It appears to me that the regulatory focus is on reduced water usage and stopping wasteful over watering and runoff.  I maintain that we can adopt the new guidelines, reduce our water consumption, and still have a green landscape.  It will take some effort, time, and likely some money. Let’s talk about lawns for example. 1) Only water on your watering days otherwise you may be fined.  2) Make sure that your sprinklers are adjusted to only apply water on the lawn and not the driveway, walks, or street as this may result in a fine.  3) Avoid watering midday as significant water will be lost to evaporation.  I would also try to avoid the 7 PM to midnight watering to reduce disease levels on tall fescue and ryegrass lawns.  4) Water application rates should not exceed the soil’s ability to absorb it.  If water starts to puddle it will be prone to runoff and this too could result in a fine.  You have two choices to reduce runoff.  You can upgrade to nozzles that put out less water and run them longer or you could run multiple short cycles spaced an hour or two apart to allow the shorter cycles to soak in before running off.

There are a few other options available to consider that result in using less water. Invest in a “smart” clock that will regularly adjust the water requirements based on the temperature, soil type, plant type, terrain slope, etc.  If not this then at least get a clock that will allow multiple daily watering to avoid water runoff and deeper watering.  The use of a good soil surfactant will help the soil more easily accept more water instead of repelling which will decrease dry spots and enhance the soil water reservoir.  Sub irrigation (underground drip) is another approach that will get more notice in the future as significantly less water is used and runoff is nearly eliminated.  In flowerbeds, drip irrigation products like Netafim offer significant water savings over traditional sprinklers.

For more information on water usage compliance and conservation while preserving your landscape call Aqua Man at 559-475-7777 or Weed Man at 559-266-1624.  We would be very happy to talk to you! The City of Fresno at 621-5480 is also willing to help answer questions for those homes in their city limits.

Water Friendly Solutions

The folks at Weed Man lawn care love the beauty of a well kept lawn. Jeff Kollenkark has been in the lawn care business providing healthy green lawns since 1984. Weed Man serves over 3,500 residential and commercial customers by applying timely fertilization, weed, insect, and disease control for lawns and flower beds.  Another essential part of this service is educating the customer on the proper watering and mowing to ensure optimum results.

Knowing that water is a limited and precious resource Jeff launched Aqua Man in 2012 and added James Neufeld who brought nearly 30 years experience in irrigation and water management along.  The emphasis initially was to work with existing Weed Man customers to help them overcome poor sprinkler coverage and reduce water usage.  The focus included system evaluation and needed repairs and secondly to suggest relevant upgrades in heads or controllers to significantly reduce water usage and water plants no more or no less than needed for optimum growth.  James thinks a saving of 30-50% or more is easily achieved with the average homeowner.  It will become increasingly important as water supplies tighten up, the number of watering days decrease, and the cost of water increase.

The drought situation is getting increasingly more worrisome.  Weed Man has seen 1-2 customers a week decide to install artificial grass as they are concerned about the water restrictions and the inability to water enough. Many of them could keep their lawn with help from Weed Man and Aqua Man addressing alternative watering and irrigation upgrades, but their mind is made up to eliminate the lawn.  In an effort to provide the valley with viable solutions the addition of a third company was added in January.  Grass Creations offers the most realistic looking artificial turf available from lawns to putting greens. Concrete bed curbing is offered as well to show off the turf and flowerbed boarders.  Craig Bettencourt was brought on to oversee the 13 year old business with 5 experienced installers.  Craig has been in landscape construction for over 15 years and loves to create beautiful landscapes.  He is happy to talk about landscape lighting and proper plant selection as well.

Weed Man, Aqua Man, and Grass Creations are excited to be able to create raving fans while at the same time support roughly 27 full time employees and numerous part time personnel.  We love to provide great results.  We love our employees and our customers.  Together the companies can offer reasonable solutions to individual homeowners to meet their desires.  The common thread to all three is to provide a great product the customer wants while reducing the need for water.

Jeff Kollenkark and his family have lived in Clovis since 1984.  His family includes Melissa, his wife of 40 years this summer, 5 children and soon to be 16 grandchildren. Jeff also loves to regularly volunteer up at Hume Lake Christian Camps and work in a few rounds of golf as time allows.

Are Green Lawns a Thing of the Past with the New Rules?

Governor Brown has asked for an across the board mandatory 25% reduction in water use.  Talk on the street includes “brown is the new green” and people say days of having a nice green lawn are over with.  Until someone says we can’t water our lawns at all, I maintain that it is still possible to have a nice lawn and save 35% or more over what we have used in the past.

The average lawn has water waste issues more than water use issues.  There are leaky valves and heads, poor water coverage; primitive spray nozzles that apply water faster than the soil can absorb it, and old school time clocks that never adjust to the ups and downs in the weather thus over watering much of the year to meet the demands of the hottest months. 

Irrigation should all start with great uniform coverage with 100% overlap of spray patterns. We all know if we have a dry spot where the coverage is weak that you can hide it by just increasing the watering time to eventually get the area moist enough.  This is “watering to the drier area”.  This is water wastage.

I would like to explore the beauty of using high efficiency spray nozzles like the MP Rotator. The MP Rotator is the standard for uniformity with varying distance streams of water. A typical spray nozzle is 50-60% efficient whereas the MP's are 80-90% efficient on coverage.  The other advantage is their low precipitation rate that allows the soil absorption to keep up with the water application and eliminating runoff.  This is especially beneficial for clay or compacted soils that are slower to take water and more likely to have runoff issues.  If you apply water faster than the soil can absorb it you will have runoff or at the very least some puddling.   Even though run times are significantly longer the water savings is up to 30% and with little or no runoff.

MP Rotators are a rotary nozzle which means they deliver multiple, individually distinct fingers of water as it revolves around a central axis. Most have adjustable radii and arcs to adjust to the shape of the area being irrigated.  Plus, they look cool. They can easily replace the traditional spray nozzle in the same sprinkler body, but new longer cycle times must be set to be sure they provide enough water.  Do not mix these heads with other types on the same station as the precipitation rates will not match and you will end up having wet and dry spots. 

Next time we will talk about the benefits of the new Smart Clocks and how they too can save a ton of water and meet or surpass the governor’s mandates.

For more information on water management with today’s technologies contact Aqua Man at 559-475-5555 or email at aquamanfresno@gmail.com.