Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

I know everyone is tired of astronomical water bills this season...I know it fells like and looks like fall but don't be fooled!  We are in a serious fall drought.  You must keep watering turf and plants regularly (4-5 days per week) until we start getting regular moisture again.  This season was very stressful on plants and they will need extra moisture before going into dormancy.  Please call the office if you have any questions.

Some experts will say that the late fall winterizer application is single most important lawn feeding of the year, and I agree. Apply your final feeding right before the winter months, when grass is prepping for a winter nap. This will strengthen roots and increase nitrogen storage for an early spring green up and a healthier lawn next year.

I've gotten many calls this fall about poor seed germination.  The cause of this was not poor workmanship or quality of seed but rather in the fall drought we've experienced this year.  See the attached image from Joe Lauria from FOX 4 KC showing that this September and October was the 3rd driest on record.  I saw the poorest germination I've ever seen in irrigated lawns and practically NO germination in un-irrigated lawns.  Coverage/Distribution problems were very apparant in irrigated lawns with some areas coming up great and other areas nothing but drou

Preventative fungicides to prevent crabapple diseases are recommended to be sprayed just before bud break (blooming).  Typically that isn't until late March...except for this year.  Our spring is about 3 weeks early this season and Crabapples are breaking their blooms right now.  We recommend a minimum of two treatments with a preference of three.  Timing should be approx. 15-21 days apart.  Please let us know if you are interested in this service.

Going in to the new year we can't forget last years seeding. If you did any fall seeding ranging from just spots in the yard or even a full yard renovation it is easy to forget that it is still new grass. This new grass has not established the deep root system like your well established grass in the lawn. This means that if we have another summer like the past few, with little water and very hot days your new grass will not get the water it needs to promote deep roots and will die out.  With good watering habits to promote deep root systems your new grass with thrive.

I have come across a few lawns this year that have had 2ft sq to 3 ft sq very dry to nearly dead grass in those areas. What causes this when the rest of the lawn is doing great with no problems? What I am finding is that when I probe the ground in those spots there are large rocks 3 to 4 inches under the soil. Why do those areas start stressing out? With all the rain we received early on in March and then not a lot of rain after,  what happened was those areas dried up faster because the root system of the grass sitting on top of the rock were only 3 to 4 inches thick.

You may start to notice something that looks like weeds in your lawn at first.  Take a closer look, if it looks like this picture it is just your yard going through a natural cycle, as it does every year.  Your turf is going to seed.  In time it will return to normal, with regular mowing practices.

Water!!! Water!!! Water!!!  We are definately in a spring drought and turf and other plants (especially newly planted materials) are showing strong signs of stress.  Gary Lezak predicts no rain for the next 10 days and hot weather next week will not help.  Please make sure your lawn is getting a minimum of 1" of water weekly.

Tulips in Freezing Temperatures? The tulip question we all have is always a hard one to determine the action to take in order to prevent losing tulip blooms in cold temperatures. It all depends on the type of weather we get this weekend. If it is only a dipping temperature with a light to moderate frost that accumulates, no action is necessary. High quality tulip bulbs withstand a great deal of temperature changes and should be fine left uncovered.