Horticulture Hotline
Bill Lamson-Scribner 08/03/2025
Although still hot, August is when you have to plan and prepare for how you want your yard to look like in the spring. Weeds? Spring-flowering bulbs? Flower beds with annuals for color? Vegetable garden – collard greens for Thanksgiving? Fungus – dead areas? Insects – dead areas? Transplanting this fall or winter?
Treat for mosquitoes in your yard! Mosquitoes kill millions of people and carry diseases. Usually, I recommend the organic repellents; however, with the amount of rain we have had, try some Mosquito Pro and kill the mosquitoes for months! The growth regulators in this product really extend the length of control of this product. Scout around your yard for potential breeding sights. It is amazing how many places that collect water and a mosquito can lay an egg. Old tarps, tarps on boats, saucers under flower pots, a dent in a trash can lid, old fountain, bird bath, tires, refrigerators, old cars, and even half - filled rain gauges all provide enough water to help mosquitoes breed. If you do not have time to do scout your yard, hire a professional, and they will help make your yard safe.
Large Patch fungus has raised its ugly head again in the Lowcountry. The decrease in daylight hours and rain have been great for Large Patch disease to kick in. Water only as needed and apply Strobe Pro G or T-Methyl. Two great systemic control products.
If you have any bushes or trees that need to be transplanted, you can begin to root prune them. Ideally if you transplant a tree, you would have a ball that is 12 inches for each inch in diameter of the tree (3-inch diameter tree would be 18 inches on either side of the tree). Take a shovel and dig straight down without prying and just sever the roots of the tree. Depending on the size of the tree, whether it was planted or a volunteer seedling, how long it has been in the ground, and whether it is in a group of other plants, will dictate how big of a root ball you will be able to dig. Add some SeaHume and other rooting biostimulants to the area to encourage new roots. Root prune now and for the next few months for transplanting in November-January.
It is getting close to the time to switch over from summer annuals to winter annuals. When amending your annual beds this year, try Back to Nature’s Nature’s Blend. It’s balanced blend of cotton burrs and cattle manure along with alfalfa meal, humates and sulfur will surely make your winter annuals a hit. The alfalfa contains Triacantanol, a natural root growth enhancer and may aid in the control and suppression of certain fungal diseases. Unlike wood and wood by-products, cotton burr and cattle manure do not tie up valuable nutrients in the soil and help neutralize the soils pH. Humate is a great carbon source and has many other benefits to the soil including making nutrients that are tied up in the soil available to the plants. If you are planting bulbs for next spring, consider using Nature’s Blend to amend the soil.
The change in weather will also bring on the winter annual weeds. Are you going to put out ryegrass this fall? Are you going to fight that grassy weed with the white seedhead this spring – annual blue grass, Poa annua and other winter annual weeds? Now is the time to put out preemergent in your lawn as well as your beds. If you have had Florida Betony in the past, consider using a preemergent that contains Dimension. Many of our customers have noticed a decrease in Florida Betony in lawns that they have used Dimension in late August and again in October. Over twenty years ago, I put out some test plots for Dow AgroSciences, and I saw about an 85% reduction in Florida Betony the first year! Dow AgroSciences did not add Florida Betony to the label because of the costs of dealing with the EPA; however, I say, “try it you ‘ll like it!”
Watch out for mole crickets, grubs and sod web worms in your turf. Mole crickets have just developed their wings and are beginning their fall flights, which means they will be up near the surface tunneling (damaging) your grass. Grubs are near the surface and easy to kill before they become a food source for moles (armadillo) or damage your root system themselves. Sod web worms can eat a huge amount of grass in a short period of time. Look for moths as you walk around your lawn in the evening. These moths will come up from the ground, fly erratically for a few feet, then land, almost like a quail. Treat with Above and Below and you will take care of both of these guys as well as many other insects.
Always read, follow and understand the product label before applying any products.
Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com.
