Fall Lawn Recovery

Fall is for lawns?

This is the time of year every lawn care person waits for. Cooler days and nights (hopefully) along with at least a little rain helps lawns to recover and thicken after the heat and stress of summer. And pushing a spreader across a thick green lawn on a cool autumn day makes you forget all the problems with summer weeds and brown spots!!!

It was a summer with intense heat and extended drought conditions both of which cause turf grass roots to decline and die back. Add a weather pattern that was perfect for all varieties of turf diseases to further weaken grass plants. And of course we had perfect "Georgia style" weather all summer which crabgrass and summer annual weeds love! It's been kind of the "Perfect Storm" for everything bad that could happen to a lawn.....

The big question now is what to do to help the lawn recover. For lawns that received adequate watering, there may only a few weeds to be cleaned up. If the lawn suffered heat, drought, disease, or root die-back, we hope the crown is still alive and that the grass will soon begin to recover. Many lawns are starting to sprout even without any watering but if you can turn on a sprinkler, it will help. As long as there haven't been insect problems most lawns can recover from their dormancy. If you look closely you may see little green shoots from the grass that is starting to come back. That's a good sign that the roots and crown are still alive.

We help the recovering lawn along by fertilizing to be sure nutrients are available for strong root growth. Core aeration will help to open the soil allowing more water, air and nutrients to be available to the grass plant. And of course over-seeding with improved varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Rye-grass will help the lawn to fill in faster and will strengthen the foundation of the lawn by adding disease or insect resistant turf-grasses. Even if your lawn is thick green and healthy, it can benefit from core aeration to help reduce compacted soil, break down thatch, and make an excellent seeding bed if you want to improve your lawns foundation.

Don't wait until Spring to decide if your lawn needs seed. If it suffered from this summer's stress, make the small investment now to over-seed! Spring seeding brings weeds and crabgrass!! Autumn brings lush green lawns....

Dog Days of Summer

The summer of 2010 is going into the record books as the hottest, and one of the dryest summers on record here in the CT River Valley. Today is August 9, and the temperature is 86 and humid! Our summer started early, back in May, and we are just beginning the "dog days of summer"......

Most lawns are not loving the weather we are having and unfortunately, August is sure to bring more. Those dog days surely mean more heat and humidity. The good news is that as the days get shorter, the night get a little cooler, and our lawns and landscapes get a signal that it's time to send out new roots and begin to prepare for winter. So, although it's hard to tell right now, all those brown lawns are beginning to wake up, even though we are going to have more summer weather!

What they really need along with the shorter days, and cooler nights, is a good soaking rain. Continue to do your best to supplement with watering as best you can. Fertilization is important now to have food ready for the lawn as it needs it. Aeration can be a big help to open the soil for better water absorption, more nutrient availability, and to help stimulate root growth. This is also a great time to overseed the lawn to introduce improved, disease and insect resistant grasses.

While it's difficult to grow cool-season bluegrass and rye-grass lawns when we're getting "hot-season" Georgia type weather, we're confident that protecting the lawn from insects and building the soil with the proper nutrients will really help most lawns bounce back quickly.

Arlington National Cemetery

Weed Man Springfield Volunteers at Arlington National Cemetery

Weed Man employees volunteer their time and lawn care services at our nation's most revered cemetery.

The oppressive heat and humidity gripping the East Coast was secondary to the dedication and commitment of approximately 450 lawn and landscape professionals who participated in the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET) Renewal and Remembrance project at Arlington National Cemetery.

With temperatures in the high 90s and a heat index over 100 degrees, about 100 companies from 29 states participated in the event which is in its 14th year. Renewal & Remembrance has become a not-to-be-missed event for many professionals who desire to volunteer their talents to the ongoing maintenance of the revered grounds at Arlington National Cemetery.

Weed Man was well represented at the event in their recognizable yellow and green uniforms. Representatives from Weed Man offices in Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia attended the annual event.

“Participation in this respected industry event is a wonderful opportunity for our team to work side-by-side with lawn and landscape professionals from across the U.S. to enhance the turf at Arlington National Cemetery,” said Bruce Sheppard, a Weed Man business owner in Virginia.

Tom Mauer, a Weed Man business owner from Massachusetts added, “We feel it’s our responsibility to volunteer in this program. We’re proud to be in a position to provide valuable lawn care services to our country’s national cemetery.”

During the day of service, lawn and landscape professionals spread lime, aerated turf, planted trees and flowers and repaired irrigation systems at the military cemetery. The event also included a children’s program. This year, children received a lesson about the history of Arlington National Cemetery, planted perennials in a garden and participated in the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“Your presence here is a statement that demonstrates your dedication to your country as well as the industry by presenting our industry issues to your legislators,” said PLANET president David Snodgrass. “You are not only representing yourself, your business and your state, but most importantly, our industry.”

The combined value of products and services donated to Arlington is $250,000. Over the years, the program has contributed approximately $2 million to the care of the national cemetery.

Other facts and figures from the event include:
• 55 children participated in the children’s activity
• 120 tons of lime was applied to 275 acres at Arlington National Cemetery
• 31 acres of turf was aerated
• 10 yards of soil was installed
• 7 yards of mulch was applied
• 22 trees and 6 shrubs were installed
• 60 perennials were planted
• 9 trees were pruned and received cabling and bracing
• 7 trees received lightning protection
• Irrigation systems at the Columbarium and Receiving Vault were updated

A little rain goes a long way!

Wow! It's amazing what a good soaking rain and a return to warm days and cool nights will do for lawns. It didn't matter if lawns were getting watered or not, without rain during the stretch from late May into June most lawns just weren't looking good. You could almost see the grass perking up last weekend when it was raining. Most lawns are returning to normal, although some slower than others....

If you're seeing some brown spots with a red or pinkish tinge, you are probably looking at "red thread". This fungus started during that nasty weather when the grass was drying out. Usually all it takes now is for our early summer fertilizer along with your watering to get the grass growing again and those patches will grow out like growing out a bad haircut!

Summer weather with heat, humidity, and drought is bound to return so prepare by raising your mowing height and getting into a watering routine to make sure your lawn gets at least 1" of water every week. And remember that it helps the lawn when you leave the clippings.

SPRINKLERS

Remember last year? Many people never even started their automatic sprinkler system. Now is the time to check out all the heads to make sure everything is functioning properly.

As we are pulling soil cores on lawns we are finding that many lawns are dry to the full depth of the coring tool. Of the lawns that are getting watered, some are only moist in the top 2-4 inches.

This hot dry spell is similar to the conditions we get in the middle of summer. You may need to add 10 or 15 minutes to the run-time on your sprinklers or if you're using hose and sprinkler let it run a little while longer to be sure that the water is reaching down into the root zone.

If your automatic sprinklers have been running but you see an odd corner that is browning, it's likely that there's a head out of adjustment!

Something's Wrong!

"What's wrong with my lawn? It never looks like this in May?"
Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated this spring! April's rainfall amounts fell short by about 2" below the normal. May is ending short by over 1.5" below our normal rainfall. So the spring showers we usually have are just not keeping up with the above normal temperatures. Those 80 and 90 degree days really take a toll on grass plants that are still growing on a springtime calendar!

So what does it mean? We normally don't have to water our lawns in May. The turf usually comes out of winter and starts growing and sending new roots that will help to feed it and give it the water it needs. The heat and the dry days have come on too fast, way before the grass was ready for it. So the grass thinks it's summer, and it starts to go dormant, just like it wants to do in July and August.... the good news is that it is not dying! And that with a good soaking rain and our regular watering, the lawn will green up again. We just have to be patient because it might take a couple weeks for the color to come back. In the meantime, don't rake it out to help. That will just open it up for weeds and crabgrass.

My lawn has a grassy weed!

Yes, it happens every May. The lawn gets this odd look with patches of whitish, weedy looking grass growing. The good news is that is not a weed! It's the turf-grass plant flowering and producing seed.

The grass will get a little "stemmier" and possibly not look as full during this stage, but keep up your normal routine and it will be fine as the flowering ends and gets mowed off. Do keep your mower sharp because those stems are tougher than cutting grass blades!

By the way, don't count on the "seed" to do anything for the lawn. The seed would need to be harvested, dried, then seeded back into the soil. The flowers and seeds will simply compost themselves and add to the organic matter in your lawn.

ISN'T IT LATE?

It's April 18, is it late to do my spring fertilizer and crabgrass preventer??

Absolutely not!
First of all, how does your lawn look? The nutrients stored up by the lawn's roots from your fall fertilizer give your lawn a steady supply of food to green up and start growing in the spring without a surge of growth that you would see from traditional "quick release" fertilizer often used in early spring lawn feeding.
As far as crabgrass goes - there is still plenty of time to put down that preventative application. Even with those 80 degree days we have not had the consistent heat that would warm the soil enough for crabgrass germination. And it's still only mid April, temperatures were in the 30s last night. The soil is cold!!

Best of all, with our Weed Man program, the fertilizer we apply feeds the lawn for 6-8 weeks, AND we make a second application of crabgrass preventer so that later when the soil does warm enough, we make sure that crabgrass is not an issue for your lawn.

Bottom line, our lawns are greening and growing, and we have no worry about crabgrass!

Forsythia in bloom! Does that mean CRABGRASS?

Yes, forsythia is in bloom! NO, that does not mean you have crabgrass already! While flowering shrubs do act as indicators for things happening in our landscapes, crabgrass does not sprout until the soil warms. So there is plenty of time for your crabgrass application. In fact putting crabgrass preventer too early without planning a "booster" application can mean having crabgrass break out later in the season. Managing crabgrass and weeds requires working around the weather, proper timing and knowing the way each product works!

It's still March!

Last weekend's weather really made us want for spring to be here, but it's still March and we should be patient with our lawn and landscape expectations!

We've had some nice days to rake, and the grass is even starting to green up some. Fertilizing is fine right now, but the lawn is not really going to start growing and filling in damaged areas until we get some warmer weather. So, be patient! Now's a good time to start seeds for your flower or vegetable gardens inside, and let the soil start to warm up outside!

Spring Has Sprung?

Saturday's weather for the first day of spring brought everything we could hope for in an early spring day! And for those who hadn't started yard work yet, the weekend was perfect for some raking, pruning, and sweeping to kick off another season of lawn and landscape care.
By the way, there's no need to rush spring! The grass will start to green as the days get warmer. And there's plenty of time to put down fertilizer and crabgrass control. If you want to work on the yard, it's time to sweep off the winter road sand, pick up the sticks and debris, and start planning your flower gardens!
Oh, and it's a little too early to put down seed right now also! Let's give the soil a little time to warm up. Today's rain is going to slow things down out there!!

So, the snow is gone! Can I rake?

Sure you can rake, but be careful! It's still early!
In many areas even with the snow gone, it's still wet. That means the grass is sensitive to tearing when you rake. And you know, it's the beginning of March in Western Massachusetts where we can still get a lot of snow. Even though the Springfield Hartford area has not had the normal snow this winter, we have to keep in mind that March came in like a lamb - so does that mean it will go out like a lion with the big snow we missed all winter?

Bottom line - if you want to rake - do so carefully! And remember that the only reason to rake is to clean up sticks, winter debris and maybe fluff up a little snow mold or vole damage....