Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

As we continue in this hot dry weather don't forget to keep the lawn watered. Even with any rain we get it will not be enough to green anything up. We are to the point where the sprinklers should be on even after a rain. This is also the conditions if you are watering and have dry spots or stressed out area in the lawn that you might need to have your system checked  for good coverage. Let Aspen get your system up to snuff.

Our recommendations for water right now are:

3-4 Days a Week

Did you know a Mature tree can consume and transpire between 150-300 gallons per water each day???  Kinda makes you feel a little overwhelmed thinking of it that way with the drought we're in right now!

The 2 most common grasses in Kansas lawns are Bluegrass and Tall Fescue. Most all the yards in the area will have a mixture of Fescue and Bluegrass. Unless you are really concerned with having one or the other you probably have a mix of the 2 in your lawn. Both have their benefits one more than other. Most of the time is comes down to what you like.  Here at Aspen we only seed with a tri-blend Fescue unless the customer wants another blend. The reason we use Fescue is because of its hardiness.

Warm season grasses in our area are in most cases an invasive plant that nobody wants in their yard. The two common ones in our area are Bermuda Grass and Zoysia Grass.  If you are dealing with either one of these problems in your yard, NOW is the time to start taking care of this. 

Many homeowners and industry professionals alike are confusing environmental stress symptoms with insects and/or disease. How certain are you??? 90 % of all samples coming into Kansas State's diagnostic lab are environmentally stressed related to the drought not symptomatic from other pathogens.

Here is a good article from Missouri Department of Conservation about keeping shade trees watered in this drought.  Many homeowners who have irrigation feel that there is no need to water their trees...which is untrue.  Irrigation system water is beneficial to turf because it is shallow rooted.  Trees are deeply rooted therefore needing deeper watering to get benefit.  Please see recommendations below.

Aerification is one of the single most important things you can do for your yard after a year like we have had.  Some of the benefits of aeration are listed below.

The summer of 2012 will be remembered for two things...record heat/drought and record amount of dead grass!!  Our Turf Managers and Account Managers will be evaluating lawns through the month of August and providing recommendation on what should happen in your lawn this fall as it relates to Lawn renovation.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need recommendations about if you're lawn is dead or will recover.  99% of lawns in the area should expect to have something done this fall as every lawn has dead spots after this record setting HOT, DRY

Lawn Renovations are just around the corner. Our Turf Managers are hard at work getting bids out. With the extreme conditions we have had this year most everyone will need some sort of work done on their lawn. The most important thing you can do is Aerate your lawn. There is a blog that was done on aeration under Turf & Ornamental Maintenance. In Short it talks about getting a good aeration to move nutrients, air and water to the root system and break up the compacted ground. With the heat and drought the clay is rock hard and needs to be broken up.