Is your Lawn Looking Sad?

Spring is just around the corner and many of you will want to get out and work on the yard. To your dismay, your lawns may fall short of perfection due to “bald spots” or thin turf as a result of pet damage, weeds, sprinkler coverage, fertilizer spill, or any other number of things.  I would like to say “That’s easy.  Just sprinkle a little seed out there” and all will be well, but it is a bit more complicated than that.

First I would determine what it was that caused the turf to thin out or disappear altogether.  If it is something that you did wrong then I would be sure to not do it again and maybe hire a professional.  If it thinned out due to shade then you need to find another grass or plant material that can tolerate the increased level of shade or open up the trees to allow more light in.  Grass does not grow here without adequate water, so be certain your sprinklers cover well.   I know this sounds really basic, but these are the problems that are often ignored and we repeat the same thing year after year and get the same mediocre results.

The next step is to determine what kind of lawn you have and learn what makes it happiest.  Tall fescue, ryegrass, and bluegrass lawns generally stay green year-round if they get fed, watered, and mowed regularly.  They thrive on 50-75 degree weather, tolerate some shade, don’t spread well or none at all if damaged, and don’t compete well with warm season grasses like bermuda.  Bermuda thrives on 70-100 degree weather, but can spread by rhizomes and stolons to repair thin turf under good growing conditions.  Don’t try to reseed bermuda in the winter, early spring, or fall because it will have little chance to establish.  Don’t seed tall fescue in the middle of summer or winter either for similar reasons.

Pet Damage (dog spot)

Finally there is the matter dealing with the threat of crabgrass.  It will out-compete all lawn types from March through September.  It starts to germinate mid February and if there is a history of crabgrass in the lawn I would not feel good about the chance of successfully seeding a lawn during this time frame.  For cool-season grasses like tall fescue, I would delay seeding efforts until October 1.  If I had bare spots or thin weedy spots I would consider resodding those areas February through early May to allow establishment prior to our hot summer months.  Bermuda can be sodded most any time, and it does have the ability to fill in by itself under good conditions and without seed or stolons in many cases.

If you are not sure about what to do with your lawn we will give you a free evaluation quickly.  Call Weed Man at 559-266-1624 or visit us at fresno.weedmanusa.com to learn more or schedule a free evaluation.

facebook.com/fresnoweedman

Dandelions, Clovers, and Stickers…Oh My!

We are quickly approaching the time of year that I love.  Days are getting longer and temperatures are slowly moving up to near perfection. Flowers will be blooming and trees will be pushing new growth.   I can just imagine the smell of the freshly cut grass.   Life is good isn't it!

Dandelion

From my perspective this is also a happy time for many of our favorite weeds.  As soils warm up crabgrass will be popping up in late February.  The winter weeds including dandelion, clover, prickly lettuce, groundsel, henbit, chickweed, sowthistle, cheese weed, filaree, mare’s tail, wild celery, fleabane, Poa annua, and others will enjoy this burst of sunny days as well.  They will start to grow rapidly, flower, and go to seed in order for them to spread into next year.  It’s great for them and for us as a weed control service as well.  Like long hot summers in Fresno, we can pretty much count on weeds year after year.

Weeds are invasive plants that just find opportunities to thrive in lawns and landscapes.  In some cases there are decent pre emergent products to prevent their germination, but others will be missed.  Some weeds like clovers are often an indicator of soils that are low in fertility.  Because they are legumes and can fix their own nitrogen, they are able to have a strong competitive advantage over dormant or neglected lawns.  Have you seen many of the school’s lawns lately?

Selective post emergent broadleaf weed control products can offer effective relief from a majority of the broadleaf weeds.  Greater plant safety is often noted on tall fescue and ryegrass lawns over bermuda lawns that are waking up from dormancy where some caution should be taken.  Weeds themselves should be actively growing and not freshly mowed at the time of application.  Irrigation or rainfall following the application in the first 24 hours may reduce effectiveness as well.  In some cases a second or third application may be needed to achieve complete control.

Not all lawn care products are alike and certainly not all landscaping providers are alike. I know when I am looking for help, I want to talk to live people that know what they are talking about, they’re honest, and they keep their promises and stand behind their work.  Weed Man lawn care is fully licensed and has all technicians nationally recognized as Landscape Industry Certified Technicians by the end of their first year. Results are guaranteed.  Feel free to call us for a free lawn analysis and quote at 559-266-1624 or visit our website at Fresno.WeedManUSA.com.

Crabgrass Management Starts Now

Crabgrass is a pesky annual grassy weed that loves irrigated lawns here in the Central Valley. It gets really large and very apparent in lawns by mid-summer, but by then it is much more difficult to control. Left unchecked, crabgrass can rapidly take over a nice lawn in a matter of a few years.

Here’s the problem.  You will not find an effective product for controlling existing crabgrass or dallisgrass on your store or nursery shelf.  MSMA, found in Weed Hoe and Trimec Plus, is no longer available to homeowners and was the only product that actually worked on the removal of unwanted crabgrass unlike the products offered now.  There are several products now on the market for homeowners for post-control of crabgrass and they all contain quinclorac.  I have not had good success at all in the Central Valley of California getting any significant control using these.  Maybe you will be lucky and make one of them work, but my guess is that they won’t and you will be out both the time and expense you have invested. 

Prevention is the key to crabgrass management especially without a reliable product for managing actively growing crabgrass plants.  Ideally, a pre emergent herbicide should be applied at the proper rate prior to Valentine’s Day.  There are a number of products out there (some better), but unless they are applied before seed germination at the right rate and uniformly the results could be less than desirable. We actually apply two applications to ensure better results.

What is the future for crabgrass control?  There are some products in development and a few that could be useful in certain cases.  There is a product called Tenacity that has some decent early post emergent control of crabgrass, but it is only recommended for cool season turf as Bermuda will turn temporarily white following application.  Other herbicides have also shown some respectable control of 1 to 2 leaf crabgrass (tiny) as well.  A sharp knife works well, too unless you have hundreds or thousands of plants. 

Why risk your lawn to crabgrass invasion when the cheapest and most effective solution is prevention with pre emergent herbicides.  Have your lawn treated either by yourself or a professional today.

New Year’s Resolution – “I Will Treat My Lawn Nicely”

Lawns are often taken for granted or even neglected and certainly don’t make most people’s resolution list.  I think it is time to change that and start by spreading a little wealth and effort in the direction of one’s lawn and landscape.  The lawn, trees, shrubs, and flowers are a vital part of the home and they certainly add to the value of the property.  Industry experts say a nice landscape can add 15% to the value of a home and for most of us with a home, it is the largest asset we have.  The experts did not say how much an unattractive landscape impacts the home’s value, but you can be sure it is not positive.

What can be done to have a better lawn and landscape in 2013? First I would recommend taking inventory on the current condition of the yard.  That would mean checking the sprinkler system, the shading/sunlight and exposure, the soil condition and drainage, etc.  Landscapes change over time.  The wonderful hybrid bermuda lawn you had 10 years ago may now be only a thin, spotty stand now due to heavy shade conditions as a result of your trees growing up.  The great sprinkler coverage you once had may now be compromised due to plants covering heads, dirty nozzles, or reduced water volume or pressure.  Many times it was never that good in the first place.

Assuming that you now have conditions suitable to grow healthy lawns and plants you are ready to attend to their needs.  Like you and I, they need to be fed regularly.  Proper nutrition helps them grow at a healthy rate and compete with pesky weeds, diseases, and insects competing for their space.  Proper mowing heights and regular mowing encourage a dense turf that can better compete with invasive weeds.  Some weeds like crabgrass and spurge can forge their way into most any lawn; good or bad.  Pre emergent products should be applied starting in February in order to keep them out.  Other weeds like invasive bermudagrass and nutsedge need to be dealt with on an individual basis. 

By the way, did you know that homeowners no longer have access to any products that work well for the removal of existing crabgrass or dallisgrass since the removal of MSMA products like Weed Hoe in 2012?  This year, 2013, is the last year that professionals can use MSMA so PREVENTION is the word from now on….period.

You need to decide if your lawn and landscape is important to you.  It cannot take care of itself.   If you want good results without all the hassles then call a professional that knows what they are doing.

Should You Leave the Leaves Alone?

It looks like summer finally gave way to fall and the leaves are really dropping.  Leaves end up everywhere including the roof, gutters, walks, flower beds, and the lawn.  In some cases they can get pretty thick depending on the surrounding trees.

The question is what is the proper thing to do with all those leaves?  Are they beneficial or harmful? It depends. The leaves are a good source of carbon and can help enrich soils as they break down and feed all the little soil microbes.   When the accumulated leaves reach a point where the lawn or flowers are completely buried, or worse yet, wet and matted, then you risk thinning and damaging the plants below.  Extended periods of low or no light will result in yellow, thin, and elongated leaves.  You see, they need light to carry out photosynthesis and make green chlorophyll.

How should you manage the leaves then?  I would suggest that leaves be allowed to accumulate and decay in flower beds if you are okay with the look.  It can help build healthier soils, reduce weeds, and retain soil moisture.  Green plant material should not remain covered for more than a week and perhaps shorter in the case of wet, matted, leaves.  For cool-season lawns that do not go dormant, I would recommend mulching the leaves into the lawn with a mulching mower when the lawn and leaves are dry enough to do so.  If the leaves are too thick, they may need to be raked off.  Another solution during leaf fall is to mow more frequently to allow the mulching mower to effectively mow the grass and leaves without leaving piles of debris.  If clippings pile up during the mowing process the accumulated clippings could be mowed again, raked, or blown, to distribute the piles and keep the turf healthy.  Dormant lawns should have the leaves mulched in or raked off during the winter prior to spring green up.

While leaves can be good for soils, they must be managed.  Do not let them form a dense mat on desirable plant material like flowers or lawns as they can cause thinning, yellow leaves in lawns and flowers.  Removal or mulching are your best two options and must be done regularly during heavy periods of leaf drop.

Winter Fertilization of Lawns

Pink Snow Mold

People often choose tall fescue over bermuda lawns as they want a year-round green lawn.  There is no great advantage to having a tall fescue lawn in the winter that looks anemic at best due to neglect.  People want green.  Lawns will battle cold soil temperatures, saturated soils, extended damp and foggy periods, frost, and occasional diseases like rust and pink snow mold.  This is not exactly hitting tall fescue’s sweet spot of sunny, 65-75 degree days seen in the spring and fall. 

If no fall fertilization occurs then the likelihood of having a green lawn in January and February is dismal.  Tall fescue lawns need a bit of a push heading into the cold weather.  It needs to be pushing new growth albeit slow.  No grow…no green.

Can you just put any fertilizer out there in the fall and expect decent color?  You will probably see a response from most any fertilizer, but the level of response in colder weather will change with the source of nitrogen in the fertilizer.  I am a strong proponent of slow-release fertilizers as they are less likely to burn in the summer months and they feed the plants over an extended period of time allowing for greater efficiency and uniform growth.  When it comes to colder weather and cold soils we need to look at products that are either readily available for root uptake or can be converted by microbes to an available form in a reasonable time period.  You may have noted that many of the winter fertilizers have some form of nitrate nitrogen in the blend.  Nitrate is readily available to the plant and will be the form that with yield the fastest response.  Urea and ammonium forms may take 2-10 weeks to be converted to nitrates for plant uptake.  These are normally quick-release products in warm weather, but act like a slow-release in winter months.  I do not see a great benefit to sulfur-coated or poly-coated products at this time of year as they will likely not be available until sometime in February or March.

Healthy Tall Fescue 

How about other nutrients?  I always like to see some phosphorus, potassium, and even sulfur in the mix as well.  They may not add much to the plant color, but they can encourage healthier roots and tougher cells walls to fend off temperature stresses and diseases, and make more nutrients available by lowering the pH, respectively.

From past experience it is difficult to have a perfectly green lawn in the winter months.  Some yellow leaves and occasional pink snow mold or brown patch may show up even with a good fertilizer program.  Doing nothing will likely result in poor color for a few months. On the positive side, a good spring feeding and warmer weather will restore your lawn to a great green in no time.

Is Your Lawn Getting a Little Rusty?

I know there has been a lot of excitement over the Giants winning the World Series, but the fact that some lawns are turning orange really has nothing to do with baseball.  The grass may exhibit some yellow spotting initially, but as the rust advances one will see a reddish-orange powder develop on the leaf surface.  These are the spores of a lawn infecting fungus (Puccinia sp.).  Mowers, shoes and clothing can become a magnet for picking up the rust colored spores as they pass across the infected lawn transferring the spores to other lawns that may be susceptible, especially if there is a bluegrass component to the lawn mix.  If you pass your fingers across the leaf blade you will likely have the orange spores deposited on your skin.  It will not hurt you…really.

The rust colored lawns tells me a few things.  First, there is likely some Kentucky bluegrass in the lawn as that is the most likely grass type to get rust.  Ryegrass and tall fescue may exhibit some rust in rare cases here in Central California.  Secondly, rust indicates that the weather has changed and we are in a period where the days are warm (70 to 75 F) and nights are getting cooler and damper.  Spore germination and infection of the rust fungus into host plants can occur with extended periods of leaf moisture lasting 10-12 hours from dew and/or irrigation.  Other conditions like lack of water, low levels of nitrogen, infrequent mowing, and mowing too short can certainly enhance the presence as well.  Rust was noted on lawns November through June this last year, but the peak occurrence was mid March and the month of April. 

Although it can be very visible and a bit unsightly, the disease rarely causes any notable damage to the lawn.  Application of a fungicide is not usually recommended when proper cultural practices are employed.  I would be sure that the lawn has been adequately fed with a fertilizer that will promote new growth thus allowing the infected leaves to be cut and removed.  Secondly, I would make sure the lawn has sufficient water available to favor good growth and water in the early morning so that the period of wetness does not get extended further into the day.  Finally, I would make sure that the lawn is mowed weekly at 2.5 inches or higher.