Mike Williams Did It Again!

Horticulture Hotline 09/04/17

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

He has done it again! Mike Williams, head groundskeeper for Riley Park – The Charleston RiverDogs, has won the South Atlantic Leagues “Field of the Year” honors once again. Mike has won this award 5 of the last 9 years. Pretty amazing when you consider The Citadel plays in the same ballpark. Not to mention all the special events that go on that have nothing to do with baseball like the Ballpark Festival of Beers that was 8/26/17.

Mike is a dedicated turf manager that has connections throughout the turf world. Mike worked in Major League Baseball where among other positions he was head groundskeeper for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. He is super dedicated to his work and can do amazing things with very little just by being organized and working off a plan that is largely influenced by The Citadel and The RiverDogs’ schedule of games and of course the aforementioned special events. Mike’s planning and time management skills make him so efficient it seems like he gets the work done of five people.

Congratulations Mike Williams!   

September is here. Cooler temperatures, grass slowing down, and the living is easy. This is the time to reflect and think about winter projects that will make 2018 an excellent gardening year.

The question I have been asked the most this year revolves around dying grass (other than moles – moles always top the list). The answer has always involved too much shade. Trees generally grew a bunch and put on a lot of leaves this year, and as a result, grass suffered due to lack of sunlight.

For the most part all the grasses around here like full sun – yes, even St. Augustine (or Charleston grass) prefers full sun. St. Augustine (or Charleston grass) prefers full sun; however, can tolerate shade better than some of the grasses. Most PHD doctors agree that even St. Augustine requires six hours of direct sunlight to provide a healthy stand of grass.

The statement I hear the most is something like this, “I just replaced this grass in the Spring.” This scenario is very common because you replaced the grass because it died due to shade and now the new grass is dying because of shade issues. The trees in this area have grown record amounts this year and the grass has been unable to capture the sunlight with its chlorophyll and produce the needed carbohydrates to establish a healthy stand of turf. 

On side yards, trees grown between houses and the houses themselves block a lot of the sunlight. Side yards are often very narrow, so all the foot traffic is concentrated into a small area. Water from the houses is often directed to flow between the houses. A combination of traffic, extra water and shade is deadly to most grass. Mulch, blue stone, oyster shell, or some other footpath and a drainage system might be a good winter project for this area.

Some solutions to these situations could be to grow heat tolerate ryegrass. Ryegrass grows very good here especially in shady areas. Check out White Point Gardens (The Battery) next time you are driving downtown.

Redesign beds that were put in years ago while the trees were small, making more beds and less grass. Healthy green grass bordered by mulch is a nice look.

Remove shrubs and trees that are shading your turf, if zoning allows. If your landscape has become over mature, maybe you can transplant some shrubs or small trees.

Grow grass in these areas and plan to replace it as needed and not feel bad about it. Regularly trim your trees in this area and not feel bad about it. Sometimes we are kind of stuck with the landscape we have. Growing grass as an annual that you change out regularly is all you can do.

Brown Patch  / Large Patch is attacking the grass as it slows down for the season. Army worms are out and it seems like the mosquitoes exploded in numbers.

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

To Do List - Help you Save Time in the Long Run

Horticulture Hotline 08/28/17

  Bill Lamson-Scribner

Football season is starting, so I guess it is time for the Horticulture Hotline disclaimer.

For the new readers of the Horticulture Hotline, my To Do Lists are designed to help you target a few activities in your yard and in your home, that will benefit you in the future, giving you more free time.  These lists are not designed to interfere with high school, college, or professional football games, volleyball, soccer, baseball, fishing, shrimping, hunting, golfing, eating chicken wings at a local sports bar, oyster roasts, or watching NASCAR on the couch with closed eyes!  This is not designed to be a “honey do” list. 

With all the rain we have had, many plants, trees and grass have grown like crazy. Are tree branches or shrubs rubbing against your house removing the paint that protects your house from rot? Can squirrels and rats now access your roof and find a way into your home? Is your view blocked while trying to pull in or out of your driveway? Is your sidewalk overgrown with shrubs? Remember that azaleas and camellias have already set their blooms for next year, so be aware that you are removing some flowers. Have you noticed the pecan trees? Many are so heavy with nuts the limbs are hanging down – way down – and even splitting.

Large Patch Fungus (Brown Patch Fungus) and Gray Leaf Spot are attacking lawns across the Lowcountry.  I rode through several neighborhoods this week and saw it everywhere.  These cooler nights make conditions right for this disease.  Fungi like moisture and it has been raining a lot recently.  If you can let your grass dry out between watering, you will have less fungus (I understand this is not easy to do with rainfall).  There are organic products that will increase the bio-diversity in the soil and help control Large Patch Fungus and Gray Leaf Spot (Neptune Harvest Crab shell, SeaHume, and Back to Nature’s Cotton Burr based products).  If you have an active infestation, a combination of T-Methyl, Prophesy and Fame are good chemistries to rotate.

If you plan to plant bulbs this fall, purchase them now while the selection is good.  Look for bigger bulbs.  Bigger bulbs equal bigger plants.  When planting, try 04-04-04 Sustane in the hole.  Use Mighty Plant on the foliage to help create a bigger bulb next year. 

Worms are still chowing on lawns. They like to feed under the cover of rainfall when it is darker and birds are less apt to see them. There has been a lot of spotty attacks this year. If you travel during the fall, you might want to use something preventatively because worms can do a lot of damage quickly. Most people notice the moths in their lawn first. These moths lay the eggs that become the worms that eat your grass. This past Saturday on my 15-minute drive to the radio station, I got two phone calls about worms (and one about fungus). Our first call on the radio was about worms as well.

The wet, cooler weather will also run roaches and rodents into your home.  If you are prone to be attacked by these two pests, be sure to prepare for their arrival. 

Moles always get more active in the fall.  Manage their food source with Lebanon Insect Control and use Repellex around the perimeter to keep them out of your yard.

Now is the time to put out your fall fertilizer for your trees, shrubs and turf. Fall fertilization is very important for the health of your plants, trees and lawns especially when it has rained like it has this year. A soil test will tell you a lot of valuable information.

Now that the weather has cooled down, it is a good time to redefine your bed lines, prune anything that has gone wild over the summer, sharpen your mower blade, and pull any vines that are strangling your plants.  

Have you put out a preemergent product for winter weeds yet? Mosquitoes?

If this sounds like too much work, hire a professional.

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

Believe It - The Seasons Are Changing

Horticulture Hotline 08/21/17

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

The time has come! Stop the ‘Weed Apocalypse’ now! Many terrorists 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 in the spring.  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 and see if your results are as good as mine and other landscapers.

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, the rate, and the weather conditions. 

Many leaves, of trees that lose their leaves for the winter, have started losing their chlorophyll and developing spots on the leaves. You should not have to treat these leaves with a fungicide for leaf spot because they are getting ready to fall off anyway; however, you might want to check and see if there is a cultural reason (wet area, dry area, herbicide applied in area, tree in full sun that should be in shade, improper fertility  …) that is causing these leaves to drop early.

Mosquito air attack! Fire ant mines! Don’t get me started….

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