If you suffered from “winter kill” last year or the year before, there are a few things you can begin to do to prepare for winter. Any grass can get winter damage; however, around here centipede gets affected the worse by far. Since the Doctors of Grass (PHD’s) have decided that centipede grass never goes into a completely dormant state, at best you will be able to minimize your damage.
A healthy lawn will do best through a cold winter. Now is a great time to take a soil test and find out what nutrients need to be added to the soil in order to provide the plant what it needs to make it through the winter. The proper nutrients applied now can develop sugars in the plant that will act as anti-freeze on those cold nights. A healthy turf grass will be better equipped to survive the cold and other adverse conditions. The rainfall we had last winter and this summer really washed a lot of nutrients out of the ground. You can bring your soil to any of the three Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supplies for testing. Clemson Extension also offers soil testing.
Be careful not to apply winterizing fertilizer from a national company that is designed for cool season grasses (fescue, blue grass, rye grass). Many of these products are high in nitrogen and can deplete the grass of the sugars you want to keep. These products also contain phosphorous that is usually not needed in our soils (soil test will provide this information) and can end up negatively impacting our waterways. A 00-00-25 sulfate of potash product with 10% iron or a product like Possum’s Minors is sometimes all you need (a soil test will give specifics) to put your grass to sleep with a full belly.
Be sure to keep your lawn hydrated through the winter. In the winter we have less humidity and cool air blowing over our lawns. Grass looses water through runners and leaf blades. Just as we get chapped lips, the lawn needs moisture during the winter. You can lose grass to desiccation during the winter months. Water is a great insulator, and will help you battle winter injury to a point. Wow the grass is like people, the right food and water will help them survive!
To help with winter damage be sure to correct any low, slow draining areas that hold water. With all the rain we have had that should be easy to determine. Depending on the size of the area, French drains, slit drains, adding gutters to the house, or the addition of Mule Mix will accomplish this project. Water’s insulating properties are good to a point; however, if an area gets too cold, than water can hold this cold near the crown of the plant too long and damage the grass plant.
While the grass is actively growing, reduce the thatch layer in your grass. Thatch can act like a down jacket, holding cold air around the crown of the plant, damaging the grass. Topdressing with Cotton Burr Compost now will greatly reduce your thatch by winter. SeaHume will also reduce thatch. Thatchless is a liquid bacteria product that eats up thatch. Bio Grounds Keeper is a granular product that has cellulose degrading bacteria and enzymes as well as humic acid. Aeration combine with any of the above will improve your results greatly.
BioRush by Diehard will also reduce frost damage and help the performance of all your plants. BioRush combines beneficial bacteria, beneficial fungi, humic acid, seaweed, yucca wetting agent, vitamins, amino acids, and natural sugars into a power packed stimulant. BioRush is in a very easy to use packet. BioRush can applied through a hose end sprayer or tank sprayer.
If your thatch levels are way out of control, mechanical dethatching might be your only choice. Mechanical dethatching is very stressful to our warm season grasses, so if this is the route you are going to take, do it now so the grass can recover by winter. Running the dethatcher over the lawn is easy, the raking and cleaning up the debris is the time consuming part of this job.
As the winter approaches, you will also want to lower the height of cut of your mower. Just like thatch can hold cold air in too long, so can long leaf blades. If you ground is level enough, try to get your centipede down to an inch to an inch and a half. St. Augustine should be fine at two and a half inches.
The Nasty Rascal, The Chinch Bug is still dominating our phone lines and dead grass samples carried into the stores. Preemergent products are also being applied for winter weeds by the pro-active people that hate winter weeds. Are you planting ryegrass this fall? The green grass is great for selling a house.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mosquitoes and other August Happenings
As any of you know that listen to the radio show (“The Garden Clinic” on WTMA 1250 am Saturday mornings from noon until 1:00 pm), Paul is always kidding me about being cheap. I like to think of it as living within my means, being practical, letting companies work the bugs out of products before buying them, and helping the environment.
Helping the environment worked real well until Ol’ Boy, the family dog, was the only one in the family that would ride with me in my 1994 minivan, Ol’ Rusty. I remember being at a radio remote in Mt. Pleasant, and I was parked next to one of Paul’s classic convertible cars (1960’s Camaro, Firebird, and / or GTO). The salespeople at the store were checking out his car under the hood and really admiring it when I went over and “popped the hood” and slide the back door open on Ol’ Rusty. Needless to say, it was good for a laugh.
A few weekends ago my daughters were going to have some friends over to sit around our fire pit. Again nothing fancy, just a hole the ‘hose murderer’ and I dug in the yard. Thinking about the get together and all the mosquitoes that have been sucking the blood out of me when I’m outside in the evening or any other time, I decided I was going to make my yard a mosquito free area. I had to fight my practical urge to think that the smoke from the fire was going to keep the mosquitoes away from the girls.
At Possum’s we sell many products that control mosquitoes. We sell these products to event planners, caterers, cemetery superintendents, people that treat other people’s properties for mosquitoes, The Charleston Battery, wedding reception places, schools, daycares, people that go camping, people with pools and other people that like to be outdoors.
I have always heard really good things about two organic products, so knowing the girls would end up barefoot, I tried them. Mosquito Repelling Granules and Mosquito Beater did a great job. Two weeks later and much rainfall, the mosquitoes are still repelled. After walking in some yards and parks this past week, I wish more people would give them a try.
Reduce thatch in your grass now. Thatch encourages Large Patch fungus and winter kill. Thatch can act like a down jacket, holding cold air around the crown of the plant, damaging the grass.
Topdressing with Cotton Burr Compost now will greatly reduce your thatch by winter. SeaHume G will also reduce thatch. Bio Grounds Keeper is a granular product that has cellulose (thatch) degrading bacteria and enzymes as well as humic acid. Aeration combine with any of the above will improve your results greatly. If your thatch levels are way out of control, mechanical dethatching might be your only choice. Mechanical dethatching is very stressful to our warm season grasses, so if this is the route you are going to take, do it now so the grass can recover by winter.
Watch out for worms in the lawn. Sod webworm and army worms will attack turf at this time. The yard will appear like it has been mowed when really worms have just been eating it. They will munch down on a lot of grass very quickly, so be ready for them. Carbaryl or Tirade will kill them quickly and easily. A good organic product would contain Bt or Spinosad. If you use Carbaryl you might kill some of the Japanese beetle larva that attacked our landscape this past June.
As the weather cools and the nighttime temperatures drop, watch out for fall Large Patch (Brown Patch). With daylight hours getting less, the grass will begin to slow down making it more susceptible to this fungus. Large Patch is a soil borne fungus that usually appears in the same areas every fall and spring. With a good systemic fungicide like Cleary’s or Dual Action Fungicide along with PCNB, you can make your control of Large Patch easy.
Rhapsody or Serenade are two organic fungicides that work well against this disease. Applying Neptune Harvest’s crab shell product will increase the chitin eating bacteria in the soil. Fungi’s outer shell and nematode eggs contain chitin so this product is good to put out in areas of known for disease or nematodes. Using BioRush with its Trichoderma fungi, will also help fight off Large Patch. Eliminating any wet, poorly drained, compacted or thatchy areas will aid in the control of Large Patch.
Hurry up and get preemergent weed control out in your lawns and beds. You do not want to miss another year.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
Helping the environment worked real well until Ol’ Boy, the family dog, was the only one in the family that would ride with me in my 1994 minivan, Ol’ Rusty. I remember being at a radio remote in Mt. Pleasant, and I was parked next to one of Paul’s classic convertible cars (1960’s Camaro, Firebird, and / or GTO). The salespeople at the store were checking out his car under the hood and really admiring it when I went over and “popped the hood” and slide the back door open on Ol’ Rusty. Needless to say, it was good for a laugh.
A few weekends ago my daughters were going to have some friends over to sit around our fire pit. Again nothing fancy, just a hole the ‘hose murderer’ and I dug in the yard. Thinking about the get together and all the mosquitoes that have been sucking the blood out of me when I’m outside in the evening or any other time, I decided I was going to make my yard a mosquito free area. I had to fight my practical urge to think that the smoke from the fire was going to keep the mosquitoes away from the girls.
At Possum’s we sell many products that control mosquitoes. We sell these products to event planners, caterers, cemetery superintendents, people that treat other people’s properties for mosquitoes, The Charleston Battery, wedding reception places, schools, daycares, people that go camping, people with pools and other people that like to be outdoors.
I have always heard really good things about two organic products, so knowing the girls would end up barefoot, I tried them. Mosquito Repelling Granules and Mosquito Beater did a great job. Two weeks later and much rainfall, the mosquitoes are still repelled. After walking in some yards and parks this past week, I wish more people would give them a try.
Reduce thatch in your grass now. Thatch encourages Large Patch fungus and winter kill. Thatch can act like a down jacket, holding cold air around the crown of the plant, damaging the grass.
Topdressing with Cotton Burr Compost now will greatly reduce your thatch by winter. SeaHume G will also reduce thatch. Bio Grounds Keeper is a granular product that has cellulose (thatch) degrading bacteria and enzymes as well as humic acid. Aeration combine with any of the above will improve your results greatly. If your thatch levels are way out of control, mechanical dethatching might be your only choice. Mechanical dethatching is very stressful to our warm season grasses, so if this is the route you are going to take, do it now so the grass can recover by winter.
Watch out for worms in the lawn. Sod webworm and army worms will attack turf at this time. The yard will appear like it has been mowed when really worms have just been eating it. They will munch down on a lot of grass very quickly, so be ready for them. Carbaryl or Tirade will kill them quickly and easily. A good organic product would contain Bt or Spinosad. If you use Carbaryl you might kill some of the Japanese beetle larva that attacked our landscape this past June.
As the weather cools and the nighttime temperatures drop, watch out for fall Large Patch (Brown Patch). With daylight hours getting less, the grass will begin to slow down making it more susceptible to this fungus. Large Patch is a soil borne fungus that usually appears in the same areas every fall and spring. With a good systemic fungicide like Cleary’s or Dual Action Fungicide along with PCNB, you can make your control of Large Patch easy.
Rhapsody or Serenade are two organic fungicides that work well against this disease. Applying Neptune Harvest’s crab shell product will increase the chitin eating bacteria in the soil. Fungi’s outer shell and nematode eggs contain chitin so this product is good to put out in areas of known for disease or nematodes. Using BioRush with its Trichoderma fungi, will also help fight off Large Patch. Eliminating any wet, poorly drained, compacted or thatchy areas will aid in the control of Large Patch.
Hurry up and get preemergent weed control out in your lawns and beds. You do not want to miss another year.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Army Worms Plus
The cool wet spring made it rough on predators and disease that usually keeps army worms in check, and the results have manifested themselves across the Lowcountry (and Southeast). If you have a bermuda grass lawn or pasture, you may want to take a look and see if you see any army worms. Although bermuda grass is their preferred dinner, you might want to investigate your own lawn. They will eat other grasses.
A friend of mine that grew hay used to say he could hear army worms munching on the grass as they crossed the fields. Since army worms eat the green leaves off the plant, he would lose big dollars to this worm. Athletic fields, Golf Courses, and home lawns lose the aesthetic value of the green grass, and the worms thin the canopy of the grass where weeds will move in if given a chance.
Since army worms are in direct contact with the ground, they are very easy to control. Tirade, Sevin, Cyonara and Acephate will all put a hurting on army worms. Thuricide
(Bt) and Spinosad are organic products that will also work well if you get them while the worms are small. Since the population of worms was so high and hit so hard, keep your eye out for a second hatching.
For those of you with St. Augustine and Centipede, keep your eye out for the sod web worm. These rainy overcast days are perfect for them to hatch out and begin to eat your grass. Watch for moths in your yard around dusk. If you begin to see a moth that gets out of the grass, flies for 6-10 feet then lands again (like a bobwhite quail for you bird hunters) you may want to consider using one of the above mentioned products. Usually sod web worms would not come out until September / October; however, with the crazy weather we are having, scouting for them could not hurt.
In my travels this week, I saw brown patch (large patch) fungus in several yards, and the “nasty rascal the chinch bug” is still sucking the life out of many lawns. Thanks to all the rain and high humidity gray leaf spot is still alive and doing well.
Now is the time to put out preemerge products in the lawn and beds to prevent those small seeded annual weeds. Henbit, chickweed, Poa annua (annual bluegrass), cudweed and lawn burweed are a few of the winter weeds that would like to occupy your lawn and flower beds.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
A friend of mine that grew hay used to say he could hear army worms munching on the grass as they crossed the fields. Since army worms eat the green leaves off the plant, he would lose big dollars to this worm. Athletic fields, Golf Courses, and home lawns lose the aesthetic value of the green grass, and the worms thin the canopy of the grass where weeds will move in if given a chance.
Since army worms are in direct contact with the ground, they are very easy to control. Tirade, Sevin, Cyonara and Acephate will all put a hurting on army worms. Thuricide
(Bt) and Spinosad are organic products that will also work well if you get them while the worms are small. Since the population of worms was so high and hit so hard, keep your eye out for a second hatching.
For those of you with St. Augustine and Centipede, keep your eye out for the sod web worm. These rainy overcast days are perfect for them to hatch out and begin to eat your grass. Watch for moths in your yard around dusk. If you begin to see a moth that gets out of the grass, flies for 6-10 feet then lands again (like a bobwhite quail for you bird hunters) you may want to consider using one of the above mentioned products. Usually sod web worms would not come out until September / October; however, with the crazy weather we are having, scouting for them could not hurt.
In my travels this week, I saw brown patch (large patch) fungus in several yards, and the “nasty rascal the chinch bug” is still sucking the life out of many lawns. Thanks to all the rain and high humidity gray leaf spot is still alive and doing well.
Now is the time to put out preemerge products in the lawn and beds to prevent those small seeded annual weeds. Henbit, chickweed, Poa annua (annual bluegrass), cudweed and lawn burweed are a few of the winter weeds that would like to occupy your lawn and flower beds.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Preemergent Herbicides
I have to tell myself again, “it will get cooler, soon.” When it gets cooler, the winter weeds that you see in your otherwise brown grass in about January will germinate. They can begin to germinate as early as late August, depending on soil temperature and microclimate. The weeds will hide in the canopy of your green grass until all the sudden they show up uninvited and ruin your uniformly dormant grass. In Hilton Head in a shady, damp area, I have seen annual bluegrass (Poa annua) rearing its ugly head in mid August.
I have heard similar reports from turf professionals though out the state. The manufactures suggest you get the product out two weeks before the weeds germinate. To pull this off to an exact day you would have to have some sort of crystal ball. We have all watched the weather, it is not that easy to predict.
GET YOUR PREEMERGENT PRODUCT OUT NOW! You can fertilize your yard at the same time, giving the grass one last nitrogen feeding before fall. Depending on your grass type and soil test, several good fertilizer and preemerge combination products are available. I know at Possum’s we sell 00-00-07, 15-00-15, 16-00-08, 23-00-08, 25-00-12 fertilizers with various types of preemergent active ingredients sprayed on them.
Be careful where you purchase your preemerge products. I have seen Dimension (a type of preemerge by Dow AgroSciences) loads of active ingredients as low as 0.10% to 0.15%. This low amount of active ingredient will keep the cost of the bag low; however, you have to put out much more to get the desired results from the preemergent. The 0.10% product you have to put out 100% more to get the amount of active ingredient as a 0.20% product and the 0.15% product you would need 33% more product. Are you really saving money?
By pushing your spreader across the yard NOW, you will save yourself about six mowing this winter / spring depending on the weather. Your lawn will look better and not have to compete with the weeds when the grass is coming out of dormancy.
Putting a preemergent product in your beds is also a good idea right now. For those of you that fight Florida Betony (Rattlesnake weed or Wild Artichoke) every year, now is the time to put out Casaron. Be sure to read the label carefully because it is not labeled for all plants.
Army worms are marching across the Lowcountry, munching on grass as the go. Chinch bugs are still rampant, and these hot high humidity days have many fungi flourishing. Roaches, mice and rats are coming inside out of the heat. Remember the next time a web hits you across the face, spiders are generally good. Mosquitoes anyone? Fall garden?
The weather will get cooler.
Always read, understand and follow product label or hire a professional. The product label is a Federal Law.
Visit our website at possumsupply.com.
I have heard similar reports from turf professionals though out the state. The manufactures suggest you get the product out two weeks before the weeds germinate. To pull this off to an exact day you would have to have some sort of crystal ball. We have all watched the weather, it is not that easy to predict.
GET YOUR PREEMERGENT PRODUCT OUT NOW! You can fertilize your yard at the same time, giving the grass one last nitrogen feeding before fall. Depending on your grass type and soil test, several good fertilizer and preemerge combination products are available. I know at Possum’s we sell 00-00-07, 15-00-15, 16-00-08, 23-00-08, 25-00-12 fertilizers with various types of preemergent active ingredients sprayed on them.
Be careful where you purchase your preemerge products. I have seen Dimension (a type of preemerge by Dow AgroSciences) loads of active ingredients as low as 0.10% to 0.15%. This low amount of active ingredient will keep the cost of the bag low; however, you have to put out much more to get the desired results from the preemergent. The 0.10% product you have to put out 100% more to get the amount of active ingredient as a 0.20% product and the 0.15% product you would need 33% more product. Are you really saving money?
By pushing your spreader across the yard NOW, you will save yourself about six mowing this winter / spring depending on the weather. Your lawn will look better and not have to compete with the weeds when the grass is coming out of dormancy.
Putting a preemergent product in your beds is also a good idea right now. For those of you that fight Florida Betony (Rattlesnake weed or Wild Artichoke) every year, now is the time to put out Casaron. Be sure to read the label carefully because it is not labeled for all plants.
Army worms are marching across the Lowcountry, munching on grass as the go. Chinch bugs are still rampant, and these hot high humidity days have many fungi flourishing. Roaches, mice and rats are coming inside out of the heat. Remember the next time a web hits you across the face, spiders are generally good. Mosquitoes anyone? Fall garden?
The weather will get cooler.
Always read, understand and follow product label or hire a professional. The product label is a Federal Law.
Visit our website at possumsupply.com.
Monday, August 2, 2010
To Rye or Not To Rye?
August is a month that the yard begins to transition out of the summer mode and moves into the fall / winter mode. Even though it is 135 degrees outside and 150 percent humidity, the air will cool, the kids will go back to school, football and volleyball (yes, I have girls) will start, the daylight hours will decrease, and deer season will begin with a bang.
One big question to answer this time of year is do I want to grow ryegrass in my lawn, paint my lawn green, or let it go dormant?
While driving through neighborhoods, I see a lot of houses for sale. Ryegrass or green paint could separate your house from the multitude of other houses that are on the market.
For the very low cost of seed and fertilizer if you could sell your house one month earlier saving you a monthly payment, wouldn’t it be worth it? What about a year earlier?
Ryegrass gets a bad reputation because people misapply it. I often get asked, “doesn’t rye kill my centipede?” If you manage the rye correctly, you should have no problems. The ryegrass question is like buying a dog. If you base your decision on the few untrained pit bull stories and never purchased or adopted a dog of any type because of these stories, it would be too bad. I write this as my mixed dog, Ol’ Boy, softly snores under my desk at my feet.
If you decide you want to put out ryegrass, now is the time to preemerge your grass for winter weeds (read and follow product label). Depending on what preemerge you use and the rate you apply it, you usually want to get it out 60 days before you overseed with ryegrass. By using a preemerge product in advance of spreading the ryegrass, you should help eliminate some of the competition from unwanted weeds.
If you are painting or not using rye, you have until mid August to apply your preemerge for winter weeds. Do not miss this first application of preemerge, or you might miss some of the nasty winter weeds that will compete with your turf grass next spring. Who wants to be “mowing weeds” late winter / early spring?
Always read, understand and follow product label or hire a professional. The product label is a Federal Law.
Visit our website at possumsupply.com.
One big question to answer this time of year is do I want to grow ryegrass in my lawn, paint my lawn green, or let it go dormant?
While driving through neighborhoods, I see a lot of houses for sale. Ryegrass or green paint could separate your house from the multitude of other houses that are on the market.
For the very low cost of seed and fertilizer if you could sell your house one month earlier saving you a monthly payment, wouldn’t it be worth it? What about a year earlier?
Ryegrass gets a bad reputation because people misapply it. I often get asked, “doesn’t rye kill my centipede?” If you manage the rye correctly, you should have no problems. The ryegrass question is like buying a dog. If you base your decision on the few untrained pit bull stories and never purchased or adopted a dog of any type because of these stories, it would be too bad. I write this as my mixed dog, Ol’ Boy, softly snores under my desk at my feet.
If you decide you want to put out ryegrass, now is the time to preemerge your grass for winter weeds (read and follow product label). Depending on what preemerge you use and the rate you apply it, you usually want to get it out 60 days before you overseed with ryegrass. By using a preemerge product in advance of spreading the ryegrass, you should help eliminate some of the competition from unwanted weeds.
If you are painting or not using rye, you have until mid August to apply your preemerge for winter weeds. Do not miss this first application of preemerge, or you might miss some of the nasty winter weeds that will compete with your turf grass next spring. Who wants to be “mowing weeds” late winter / early spring?
Always read, understand and follow product label or hire a professional. The product label is a Federal Law.
Visit our website at possumsupply.com.
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