News
Should You Treat for Winter Fungus In Florida?
Large Patch Lawn Fungus
For those of you with St Augustine grass and zoysia, large patch fungus is starting to rage through lawns. In the early stages it will have an orange cast to it, sometimes pink. The patches will be irregular in the lawn as it typically follows the flow of water.
Here’s the thing: I DO NOT recommend you apply fungicides. In fact, applying fungicides to a lawn this time of year can actually make the recovery slower.
Think about this: Your lawn is already growing slowly. ...
The Ultimate Guide to Removing Bermuda Grass from St Augustine Lawns
Recognition Herbicide with Fusilade2 Herbicide - Results
Bermuda grass and St Augustine grass are two warm season turf types that don’t mix. St Augustine has fat, juicy blades that stand up stiff and tall. When you mow it, it’s recommended to mow it as tall as your mower will go. Bermuda grass on the other hand, looks better when mowed very low, down to 1” if you can get it there and its grass blades are thin and soft.These two grasses by themselves make incredibly nice lawns. Bermuda Grass L...
Is Tenacity (Mesotrione) Pre-Emergent Recommended?
What is Mesotrione?
Mesotrione is an active ingredient used to kill weeds both pre and post-emergent. If you have been anywhere on YouTube looking for lawn care tips on getting rid of weeds, you have seen videos talking about it. Probably what you have seen is the brand name, Tenacity. Tenacity is the brand name, Mesotrione is the active ingredient.
Nowadays, there are generics available that are much cheaper, such as this 8oz bottle of Meso 4SC. Do not buy it until you read this entire email...
Nitrogen Rates For Cool And Warm Season Lawns - Half Rate Milorganite Info
Nitrogen drives the bus. If you want a green lawn, you will want to include nitrogen in your fertilizer. It’s the first number you see when you see those 3 numbers on the bag. In the case of Milorganite, it’s a 6-4-0 which means it is 6% nitrogen. When you look into the bag at those little black and gray pellets, 6% of everything there is nitrogen.
Watch this video to see the math, the application and the results from the “Florida Milorganite Rate”
https://youtu.be/YeXCSYEzdaA
Why does th...
How To Have a Nice Lawn In Summer - Warm Season Grasses
It’s officially summer my friends, the longest days of the year are right now. And for those of you with warm season turf, this is the time when you can make the most progress in your lawn. That’s right - summer is the VERY best time to get started.
Warm Season Lawns
The warm season grasses: Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, St Augustine and Bahia - they love the long sunny days. These grass types are bread to spread and they need all the sunlight they can get to fuel their growth. Photosynthesis i...
My Lawn Has Turned Brown!
We are well past the easy times of spring when lawns all looked good just from the rain and mild temps. Many of you have been through the last week where temps were hot and dry and your lawn got it’s first taste of the long summer ahead.I’m talking mostly to those of you with cool season lawns right now. Over-bye-da Chicago land area, you guys were hit with heat and dry days back to back to back that sent your lawns into immediate dormancy in many cases.Here is a photo of the “Speed Castle” l...
Common BroadLeaf Weeds in Late Spring
What can you do to get rid of broadleaf weeds in your cool season lawn heading from spring into summer? Here are some common ones I’m seeing and some information on how to get rid of them. Keep in mind, it’s much easier to kill off young, newly emerged weeds. Once they get mature, even the “strongest” chems will not work on mature plants. Mowing often is a great way to keep weeds from maturing - and it’s chemical-free, so keep that in mind.(the larger weeds pictured here are from the lawn of ...
How To Control Grubs in the Lawn
How To Control Grubs in the Lawn
Being as we are now firmly into the spring and things are warming up across the country, it’s time to think about grubs in the lawn and preventing the damage they can impose.I am predicting that this will be a pretty bad year for grubs since we had a very mild winter across much of the country.One thing that a harsh, deeply frozen winter will do is kill off some of the population - but this year, we did not get that and in fact, just the opposite: a fairly mil...
Is It Too Late For Pre-Emergent?
It’s mid-March, the clocks have sprung forward and sunset is well after 7:30PM now. I am already taking advantage of the additional yard time after work, getting some much needed pruning done.
The days are longer too, almost up to a full 12 hours of day length! The more sunlight available means the more your grass can grab it for photosynthesis. That’s a trigger for it to wake up and start growing.
Longer days also mean the soil is heating up and that is what drives our strategy for pre-emer...
Spring Lawn Prep for Warm Season, Cool Season & Transition Zone Lawns
The 2023 spring season is upon us and it isn’t even official spring yet! March 20 - June 21 is the official calendar spring - but the weather is way ahead of that!
Seeding Warm Season Lawns
So you’re thinking of seeding your bermuda or zoysia lawn this year? What about seeding centipede, bahia or St Augustine grass?Here is my advice.
How To Seed Your Warm Season Lawn
So starting off, there is no St Augustine grass seed available. No viable seed exists. It’s all propagated vegetatively. (new plants are grown from pieces of existing plants).
From there, let me try and talk you out of seeding warm season turf. You can do it and be successful, but let’s first look at some of the cha...
Seeding Cool Season Lawns In Spring
Cool Season Lawns - Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Turf Type Tall Fescue - should you seed these in the spring? Why or Why not?Let’s get into this!So you’re looking at your lawn here in the early spring and you’re wondering if throwing down grass seed is a good idea.At face value, it seems to make sense to seed the lawn in spring. You have temperatures rising from winter into spring but staying rather mild - and lots of nourishing rain and intermittent overcast skies to keep thing...
