Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

 Buffer areas of well-maintained grassy lawns around buildings and homes are good insurance against fire.

Wow, it is going to be hot this week!  Mid 90's until Thursday, with no chances of rain until late week.  Most people have their sprinklers on, but due to the rainy spring, probably only watering 2-3 times per week.  That isn't going to cut it this week.  Please run manual cycles in addition to regularyly scheduled times as needed this week to help the turf get through this hot, dry spell. 

Be on the lookout for turfgrass diseases in your yard in the next few months.  Brown areas may start to appear and it might not always be drought.  They may be cause by humidity and excessively wet conditions.

Brown Patch Fungus

Grasses At Risk

• All common turf grasses
• Especially lush, cool-season grasses
• Tall fescue lawns

Environmental Influences

Heavy leaf cover is devastating on new grass seedlings.  Make sure to try to keep your leaves raked on a regular basis this fall so your new grass isn't harmed.  **Use care when raking as to not damage tender seedlings.

RTF- (rhizomatous/Spreading Fescues)- Post by Rodney St. John, Kstate Turf Blog

Is my grass dormant or dead?  I've had this questions posed to me many times over the last couple of weeks.  The heat wave seems to be over, but it left a huge wake of destruction in its path.  Many yards with full exposure to the sun have spots that have completely been burned up and will not return.  Other areas have spots that simply are taking a nap, or have gone dormant.  A good way to tell is to envision bristles on a brush, if your brown grass is still standing upright like bristles on a brush, no need to worry.  If the grass is lay

 If you are a member of our 7 Round Turf Program and are planning to seed this fall on your own, please call the office or your turf manager to inform us.  We alter the chemicals in round 6 to benefit seed growth and development!

The following is taken from the KSU Horticulture Newsletter, by Ward Upham:

Outside Plants May Need to be Watered

As we mentioned in an earlier newsletter, waterlogged soils push oxygen out of the soil that roots need to survive. Every living cell in a plant must have oxygen or it dies. Numerous parts of Kansas have had such a wet winter and spring that plants are entering the summer with weakened root systems.

The weather over the last 7-10 days is shaping up to be the "Perfect Storm" for pythium development and other turfgrass diseases like Brown Patch and Dollar spot.  High moisture, humidity and nighttime temps. above 68 degrees are perfect conditions for fungi to develop. 

Are you planting your tree correctly?
The following opinion was published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.  It can be found on their website at https://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2005/04/50.htm
 
Tree fanciers all have one thing in common. We all plant trees incorrectly. More specifically, we all plant trees too deeply. Maybe 10 percent of the people reading that sentence are thinking, "Yes, most everybody else does plant trees too deep, but not me."