Fall Is Coming

 

Horticulture Hotline  08/08/21

  Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

On my way to the radio show on Saturday, I was talking with one of the guys I work with at Possum’s (Nathan), and he said he was carrying out a bag of 15-00-15 Dimension to a customer’s car. Since I don’t have young children going back to school, Nathan’s statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Summer is over! Cool weather is on the way! Football! Fall fishing! Deer Hunting! Shrimping! Golfing! Volleyball! Pickleball? Time to put out your fall application of preemergent herbicide!

 

Before giving you a product name and time to put it out, I want to explain a little bit about the life cycle of the weeds you are trying to control and how preemergent products work. 

 

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, 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. 

 

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).  There is an organic product, Corn Gluten that received rave reviews from the people that tried it.  Various fertilizers such as; 15-00-15, 15-00-05 and 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. If you plan to plant ryegrass, make sure you understand about the rates to use and timing.

 

Always read, understand and follow product labels.

 

 

Rye Grass?

Horticulture Hotline 08/02/2021

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

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 (hopefully), football and volleyball 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? Whether you are selling your house or not, ryegrass always looks good in the winter.

 

Ryegrass gets a bad reputation because people misapply it. I often get asked, “doesn’t rye kill my centipede (St. Augustine, Zoysia)?” 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 almost nineteen-year-old 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?

 

Grass eating worms (army worms, sod webworms, fall army worms), mosquitoes, fleas, rats, weeds, and pruning questions seem to top the question list at Possum’s.

 

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

 

Dog Rocks

 

Horticulture Hotline 07/26/21

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Although I just wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, I have to mention beware of the worms. Armyworms, tropical sod webworms, and fall armyworms are all destroying all the hard work that you have put into your yard this year. Any of these worms will come to the surface with a soap flush (2 oz dish soap [lemon preferred] in a gallon of water poured over a 4 square foot area). Don’t be that next customer that sends us (Possum’s) a video that looks like a 1950’s horror movie of your grass getting devoured by worms.

 

It is the middle of the summer and everything is attacking your lawn, including man’s best friend. Yes, I’m writing about those yellow dead areas in your grass. Dog Rocks are these crazy rocks that come from Australia. When put in your dog’s drinking water bowl or bowls, they treat the water with something (not harmful to your pet) that prevents those nasty yellow urine spots in your lawn. Often these yellow spots turn into dead grass. Dead areas get filled in with weeds.

 

I was introduced to Dog Rocks by a friend living in London that has 2 spaniels and a very small yard. Dog urine almost killed her whole yard. Dog Rocks worked great for her, so we began carrying them. Dog Rocks have worked great here as well.

 

Sometimes we move items around in the Possum’s Stores. When people that regularly use Dog Rocks, come into the store and we have moved the display of Dog Rocks, the look of horror that comes across the customer’s face tells the story – oh no, not those nasty yellow and dead areas in my lawn again!

 

The key to success with Dog Rocks is that the dog gets all his water from water that is treated with the rocks. No toilet drinkers here. Dogs that drink out of coolers at the beach or on the boat or eat a lot of ice do not get as good results. Dogs that drink out of bowls with the rocks get great results. During the hot summer days and if your dog is very active and you are constantly refilling their water bowl, you might have to have a reserve pitcher of water treated with Dog Rocks to refill their bowls.

 

Here are a few quotes from customers:

“My grass doesn’t have dead spots!” Rosie Herman

“Dog Rocks – Rock!!” William Dennis

 

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