Fall is Coming!

Hopefully, you have put out your preemerge for winter weeds by now in your beds and on your turf. On your home turf, you should be done with nitrogen fertilizer (watch out for national brand winterizer fertilizers designed for fescue sold in national chain stores in the area). Potash, iron and other minor nutrient products can (and should) be used into the fall. A soil test should help you with any rates to apply.

Some 17-00-09 (slow release and loaded with minors) or 08-02-04 (organic) would be great for your trees and shrubs this time of year. Put them to bed with a full belly. 

Stinkhorn fungi (devil’s backbone) has been smelling up new mulch beds all over the Lowcountry.  The conditions have been perfect for the growth of this fungus with all this rain. This fungus has an awful nasty odor that smells like rotten flesh.

Some plants in nature attract insects with sweet smelling nectar to spread pollen to other plants.  This fungus; however, exudes a slime over part of its fruiting body (the mushroom) attracting flies that like rotten flesh or feces.  The flies then spread the fungus because spores attach to their bodies.  Nice! You have mushroom that exudes a smell like rotten flesh and feces to attract flies.  I guess this is the opposite approach of a gardenia. 

The way I control stinkhorn is with a plastic bag like picking up dog poop.  Put a bag on your hand, lift up the mushroom pull the plastic bag over the mushroom and try not to drop too many spores.  These mushrooms are the fruiting body of a fungus that is beneath the soil.  The orange fruiting body is attached to hyphae that are underneath the ground decomposing organic matter.  In nature, most fungi are good for your soil; however, this can be an unwelcome guest in your yard because of the dumpster smell.  Fungi, in general, tend to like acidic soil as do most plants, so I wouldn’t try to control them by adjusting the pH.  Hopefully, the environmental conditions that cause them to pop up all over the place will go away soon. 

There is something that looks like an egg that the mushroom pops out of that some people (mainly in Asia) consider a delicacy.  No thank you, I’m not interested in something that smells like rotten flesh or feces.

With fall arriving, look for mole crickets tunneling near the surface. Mole crickets do a lot of damage in the fall that often goes undetected, leaving big dead areas in the spring.

The moisture, the shorter days (causing the grass slow down) and the nighttime temperatures in the 60’s has really has caused an increase in fungus in turf. Brown patch and gray leaf spot seem to be the most common diseases.

The cooler weather has made it nicer to work in the yard; however, the mosquitoes seem to enjoying the cooler weather as well. Be sure to protect yourself from these disease carrying insects, and eliminate their breeding areas in your yard.

Fire ants are very active with all the rain. Bait products a very inexpensive if you use them properly. The better new baits (Extinguish Plus) are formulated with growth regulators and can give you long term control.  

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Deer - Pretty and Pesty

“I live in a new subdivision where deer are a big problem.  It is bad enough when they eat the foliage off my azaleas or the flowers off my daylilies, but last year a buck rubbed its horns on one of my new trees and killed it!  I have done my research, and I know in the next few months bucks will be rubbing the velvet off their horns again.  Is there any way I can avoid losing another tree to this four-legged pest?”

Someone asked me this question a few years ago and I had a similar question the other day. When a buck rubs a tree, he usually scrapes the bark off one side of the tree. The scape is usually 2 to 4 feet long, depending on the buck.  On a small tree, he can scrape the bark off all sides of the tree, girdling the tree and killing it.  Deer do this to mark their territory as well as rubbing the velvet off their antlers that they grow new each year. 

Controlling deer can be (is) very difficult.  An outdoor dog or two on an electric fence would probably be your best defense. Is fencing is an option?  There are many other deterrents for the deer that are set off by motion detectors.

Dogs would probably be your best bet.  They don’t have to be nasty or mean dogs.  As long as the dog(s) lives in the yard, his different scents will deter a deer and also the dog would probably chase the deer out of the yard.  The dog would have to have free roam of the yard and be out there at night.  A dog will also keep other intruders out of the yard such as raccoons, people, and the occasional…ever so lovable…North America’s only native marsupial… drum roll…The Possum! 

Another option for controlling deer is a fence.  The recommended height of a fence is ten feet to control deer, which is not going to be practical in most neighborhoods.  If you live in a neighborhood with huge lots, I guess you could put up a fence ten feet tall.  Just be sure to check your neighborhood covenants before embarking on this project to make sure this is allowed.  Deer will go in any entrances left open so be sure to use a cattle guard across any entrances. 

There are a series of gadgets that are triggered by motion detectors.  Lights, music, and sprinkler systems are a few that come to mind.  I hardly think that a deer marking his territory will be thwarted by these devices.  Deer seem to get used to these gadgets rather quickly! 

There are many repellents available on the market as well as home remedies to keep deer from eating your foliage.  Since the buck is not eating, the success of these repellents could be limited.  Deer are easily trained and if your yard is constantly protected by repellents, they might choose somewhere else to mark as their territory.  The people at Messina Wildlife make a great product called Plot Saver.  This is a ribbon that you soak in Deer Stopper and put around the perimeter of your property.  This ribbon will deter deer for 30 days and is not affected by rainfall.  Using this barrier instead of spraying individual plants works very well and saves a lot product and time.

There is a “new” product we carry at Possum’s made by Repellex that repels deer for up to a year. We were introduced to this product by a farmer who was trying to protect his crops. The product worked for him on the farm, and he wanted to get it locally from us. The rest is history. We have had several success stories with the product (and Repellex Mole Repellent). The product is systemic and gets into the plant, so it is not washed off with rainfall. The active ingredient is Capsaicin and is a natural product - derived from hot peppers; therefore, not for edible plants. If you want to get away from mixing and spraying, give Repellex a try.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Get Winter Weeds Before They Get You

The time has come! Stop the ‘Weed Apocalypse’ now! Many terrorist of different genus and species are prepared to attack you where you live! Prepare to fight! Stop the spread of the obnoxious weed species now before it is too late! Weeds cause disease and mayhem! Weed jihad against your yard and flower beds! When the temperature is so hot, winter weeds are probably the last thing on your mind. Just like football, deer hunting, volleyball, and shrimp baiting season, winter weeds are coming.

What you are targeting now are small seeded winter annual weeds.  These are weeds that germinate from seeds late summer, grow into plants during the winter, then flower and produce seed for the following year in early spring.  The seeds lay dormant over the summer, and then germinate late summer to begin another life cycle. 

Some examples of the most common winter annual weeds are annual bluegrass (Poa annua), chickweed, Carolina geranium, and Henbit.  The weed that we get the most complaints about is annual bluegrass.  It is the grassy weed with the white seed head in late March, early April.  If you control your winter weeds now with a preemergent herbicide, you usually will not have to mow your grass until later.  All of these weeds are very visible in a brown dormant grass. These weeds also compete with your existing turf when it tries to come out of dormancy in April. 

A couple of weeds that are not annual weeds that are visible at the same time are Dollar weed and Florida Betony (rattlesnake or artichoke weed).  These weeds require different control methods since they are not coming up from seed.

Many customers of ours at Possum’s have reported a drastic reduction in Florida Betony by using the higher rate of Dimension right now. I have done research for the manufacturer (Dow AgroSciences) and have shown great results in all my test plots.  Technically, since Dow did not pay the EPA the money to add this application to the label because this weed is not significant enough in their eyes to recoup the money paid to the EPA, I cannot recommend this application. If you have Florida Betony and are going to use a preemergent product for annual bluegrass, you might want to give a product containing Dimension a try.

Dimension comes in many strengths, so be sure you purchase the correct one. We see many national companies (and some local companies) selling the lower active ingredient product (0.10%, 0.13%, and 0.15%) and not advising the customer about the higher use rates required in the Coastal South for this product.

Preemergent products do what their name implies.  These products kill the weeds seed before it can emerge from the ground.  By killing the weed before it emerges from the ground, you are making your life a lot easier.  Killing weeds after they emerge (post-emergent) is much harder on you and your grass. 

Be careful to read and follow product labels so that you do not over-apply products.  Since a lot of people put out preemergent products as a granular, be careful not to overlap too much or you can damage your turf. 

Now is the time to put out preemergent products (two weeks before the soil temperatures are ready for winter weeds to germinate).  Various fertilizers such as; 16-00-08, 15-00-15, 00-00-07and 23-00-08 combined with preemergent will give your lawn and shrubs (don’t forget the shrubs!) one last feeding of nitrogen for the year while controlling the weeds.  Usually you will want to come back with another preemergent in 6-10 weeks depending on the products you use and the weather conditions. 

Mosquito invasion! Don’t get me started….

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.