To Mow Low Or Bag

Horticulture Hotline 04/09/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

Today’s article is not as much of a “to do list” as a have you done it list.

I have been asked some form of this question a lot recently. “Should I mow down lower than I usually mow (scalp) and or bag my clippings on the first cut of the year?”

Congratulations, you must be using a preemerge product for winter weeds or you would be mowing weeds! A lot of people will mow lower and collect the clippings to get rid of the "brown" in the grass. Not needed for good grass, just appearance. By mowing lower you remove the brown grass (your green grass from last fall), and your lawn will appear greener – basically you are removing the brown leaves from your grass like raking up leaves from your trees. If you did nothing different, the new leaf blades would come through and the brown leaves would decompose.

If you have a whole lot of brown grass that does not look like it is going to decompose in a reasonable amount of time, using a bagging mower may be a good option for the first cut. Get back to your mulching mower as soon as possible, so your grass benefits from the returned organic matter and nutrients.

If you have been waiting for the weather to warm up, here is a brief checklist of things that should have been completed around the yard:

• Test soil. All the rain leached out very valuable nutrients out of the soil. There are many properties I have taken soil test on every year for over 20 years. In every case, there are certain nutrients that all the rain has leached out of the soil. From the soil test taken December of 2016 to the soil test taken December of 2017 there are many obvious decreases in nutrients.  I was looking at soil tests a few years ago and I had 2 tests for palm trees that 2 different people had put out way, way, way too much Magnesium. Just because people say that palms like Epsom Salt which is Magnesium sulfate, take a soil test first. You might be wasting your money. Over fertilizing could be true throughout your landscape. Soil test provide valuable information for accurate fertilizing!
• Have you applied SeaHume G to lawn and beds for a healthy start?
• Have you applied a preemergent to lawn and beds (this late use Dimension if it is your first application)? Remember it is never too late to start a preemerge program. It is never too late to preemerge, with our mild climate weeds germinate almost every day of the year.
• Have you drench Dominion around plants with a history of insect problems?
• Have you applied a preventive fungicide to turf if you have a history of fungus (T-Methyl, Fame)?
• Mole Crickets overwinter as adults and do their mating flights right now. Have you killed them now before they can make babies? Be sure your lawn and beds are free of fire ants, and if you have pets, fleas and ticks should be controlled. If you live near the woods, chiggers may be an issue. (Granular Sevin will work on these pests. If you prefer organic, check with a Possum’s near you to find a product or products that will work in your situation.)
• Have you gone through your irrigation system to be sure everything is operating correctly? In my travels through the Lowcountry, I have noticed many broken heads and heads that are spraying into the street. Although they have been calling for rain, where I live we have had very little. These low humidity days will dry out your grass and plants quickly. Plants and grass are putting out new leaves and need water!
• The little fury terrorist of the yard is having babies now. Have you killed a mole recently or at least repelled one out of your yard?
• Is your lawn mower ready for another season? New Blade? New Air Filter? New Spark Plug?
• Have you measured your turf and bed areas so you know how much product you need to buy and apply to your yard? Getting the right amount of product on your lawn will determine the success of your efforts.

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

Those Nasty Vines!

Horticulture Hotline 04/02/18

  Bill Lamson-Scribner

My name is Bill, and I get vines.

I seem to get vines from air attack (bird droppings) and infantry attack (crawling over from next door). Right now, the vines have the soft new growth that is easiest to kill. The infantry attack is mainly Asiatic Jasmine, English Ivy, and Algerian Ivy. My counter attack has to be swift and effective because once these vine’s leaves harden off they are very difficult to control (these vines seem to laugh at my vine killing weapons)!

The air attack vines are tricky! Smilax, pepper vine, and Virginia Creeper are usually my main enemies. As you pull them, they are designed to break apart.  One common mistake I see when driving around neighborhood is people pulling vines over the top of bushes.  It is very satisfying to pull the vines from the top, but if you really want to get rid of them, you have to get on your hands and knees and find where the vine is coming out of the ground and treat it at the base.   The best thing to do is to go to the base of the plant and pull the vine down through the plant.  If there is room beside the shrub that has the vine in it, do the following:

1. Pile the vine next to the plant.  If this is a turf area, lay a plastic leak proof tarp down first.
2. Spray the vine with a combination of Eraser (Gly), Brush Master, Possum’s 80/20 Sticker (help “stick” product to vine), and Possum’s Blue Alert SS Dye (so you can tell where you have treated).  These are systemic herbicides that will move through the plant and kill it at the root level so you will not have the re-growth.
3. If the vine breaks off and you don’t have any leaves to spray the herbicide on, you can apply an herbicide to the fresh green wound where the vine broke off.  Treat the end that is going back into the ground.  If you just have a stem coming out of the ground some people will soak a paper towel with herbicide and wrap it around the bare stem.  Be sure to contact the green area where the stem broke off. 
4. Always Read, Follow and Understand the product label and wear proper safety equipment.

Weed control in turf is also a hot topic right now because the grass is in transition from dormancy to actively growing. Read the label of the product you want to use and make sure it is Ok on your type of grass during green up. Our most popular weed control products Weed Free Zone and Speed Zone Southern are fine to spray on grass (centipede, zoysia, or Bermuda) except St. Augustine grass during transition. Other products have no restrictions or different restrictions, so read and follow product label. Hopefully, if you have been following a good preemerge program, you can simply spot spray a few weeds instead of going over the whole lawn.

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 http://www.possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from noon to 1:00, on 1250 WTMA  (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com. 

Crepe Myrtle Pruning

Horticulture Hotline 03/26/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

The question about pruning Crepe Myrtles and other plants seem to top the list of questions for this week. The butchers are out there! The time is now for getting in your soil test, so you can amend the soil by spring time. Do you have any disease prone plants (roses, etc.) that could benefit from a little sanitation? What is the population of moles in the Lowcountry? What is the population of moles in your yard? Have you applied Neem Oil for overwintering insects and disease?

Crepe Myrtles are the most abused tree in the landscape. Since they bloom on new growth, someone “topped” them a while back and notice the flush of new growth and the prolific blooms. These heavy blooms are supported by wimpy 18 – 24 sprouts that just developed that growing season. When it rains, the bloom catches water and becomes even heavier. The bloom will hang down and eventually the wimpy new growth supporting the bloom will split off tree leaving an open wound for insects and disease.

Instead of “topping” the tree to increase blooms, a good fertility program will accomplish the same thing without ruining the beautiful natural branch structure of the tree. A soil test and program can guide you to the right fertilizer for your tree. Have you ever seen a Crepe Myrtle in the winter when the leaves are gone, and sense the tree’s embarrassment, like a dog with the cone on its head? A tree that has been “topped” is standing there naked of any foliage with these big nasty swollen knobs at the end of the branch, like huge warts. The tree that is pruned correctly is standing there naked and proud, like a nude Greek Statue.

The correct pruning for a Crepe Myrtle involves removing dead limbs and crossing limbs. Any limbs growing toward the middle of the tree are good candidates for removal. If a limb is growing to the outside of the tree let it be. Opening up the center some for sunlight penetration and air movement is always a good idea to help prevent disease. Sometimes Crepe Myrtles, being a multi-trunk tree, can have too many canes growing from the ground, and one of these needs to be removed. Removing these canes is best done while the tree is very young; however, you can prune these canes out once the tree is older.

There is a very rare occasion that a landscape designer orders that a tree should be topped. Under certain circumstances usually involving safety concerns or visibility concerns a designer will recommend keeping the tree at a certain height. When I worked on Hilton Head, we had a safety situation by a guard gate that required us to “top” the Crepe Myrtles; however, we did not “top” the other Crepe Myrtles in the project. Some businesses want their sign to be seen, and Citadel Mall is practicing pollarding, a type of severe pruning that the Crepe Myrtle can tolerate.

Now days, Crepe Myrtles are available in all different sizes from 3 feet to 30 feet, so planting the right one to fit the scale of your landscape is crucial. Much of this “topping” can be avoided with the proper plant selection and proper fertility. Whoever is planting the tree (or any plant) should look at its mature height and spread. Then plant the right plant for the space.

If you live in Mt. Pleasant, learn the local ordinances because they have laws about the proper pruning of Crepe Myrtles.

After you prune your Crepe Myrtle properly, now is the perfect time to add Cotton Burr Compost as a mulch, SeaHume as a biostimulant and minor nutrient treasure chest, and a tree and shrub drench for insect protection.

Spring is coming. Preemerge?