Horticulture Hotline 08 17 26
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
The summer is going by at record speed (and record heat)! Football,
volleyball, fall soccer, and deer seasons have started. Soon we will be
enjoying cooler weather! Soon your grass will not need mowing every 3 days! For
now, we are fighting chinch bugs, mosquitoes, fire ants, lace bugs, mice, rats,
fleas, roaches, flies (all kinds), biting / stinging insects, gray leaf spot,
and many other Lowcountry critters. Love the Possum and let them cross the road!
With West Nile Virus being found in Georgetown County
(already found in Beaufort County), I must mention mosquito prevention and
protection one more time. Try to limit your outdoor activities at dawn and dust
(the only cooler times to work in the yard). Limit standing water around your
house that could become breeding sights (all it takes is a water bottle cap
full of water for a female mosquito to lay eggs in). Protect yourself and your
yard with products designed to manage mosquitoes (the County does not treat individuals’
properties). When treating your yard, watch out for the pollinators.
I have been getting questions about mushrooms in the yard. Not
really anything to worry about as far as hurting the grass. Most people have
kids or dogs that they worry about eating the mushrooms. If that is the concern,
go out early in the morning and remove the mushrooms. If you wait until later
in the day the spores (like seeds) will release from the mushroom cap,
spreading the population. The mushrooms will usually be in the same area. Use a
dog poop bag or something similar when you remove them. Mushrooms are the
fruiting body (flower with spores instead of seeds in plant terms) of a fungus
underneath the soil that is breaking down organic matter in the soil (an old
root or stump or something). Where the organic matter is being broken down, you
can often see a green area where nutrients have become available to the grass because
of this process (see picture).
Good time to fertilize your trees, shrubs, and lawn before fall
gets here. Using a combination product with a preemergent saves time and
controls winter weeds as well as late germinating summer weeds. Trees and
shrubs are putting on the fall flush of growth (see picture), so the 17-00-09
will help make sure that they go to sleep for the winter with a full belly.
Fall fertilization will help your spring flowering plants perform their best.
The addition of SeaHume G is a great organic to winterize your landscape.
There are still some other things to take care of this
summer. Try to find a source of gas for your lawn mower that does not contain
ethanol. Use ethanol free gas in your small engines, boat motors, and
generators (have you tested your generator recently?). Your mower will be
happier next spring if you use ethanol free gas.
.
Always read and follow product label.
Bill Lamson-Scribner
can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply
(follow us on Facebook). Possum’s has three locations
