Curious lead in for a turf blog, ain’t it? You’re wondering, “Huh, what are Jeff and Bill trying to tell me?” Plain and simple folks, “get on top it!” That’s why you subscribe to our newsletter…you want to know EXACTLY what’s going on in the world of turf, trees and shrubs! It’s tough not to use exclamation points when we communicate, but we’re two very happy, easy-to-please sum beaches. We enjoy helping you achieve that envious position of having the “best sward in the hood.”

Eight out of ten of you will achieve success by simply following THE Turf Plan. You folks simply need to do the right thing, when we tell you to do it. Sorry, buddy, this ain’t Burger King! If you aspire for great turf, you can’t have it your way! For the BEST turf, we want you to follow our advice. We’ll sell you anything from our product line, but don’t bitch at us when your personal plan doesn’t measure up to THE Turf Plan.

The astute reader has done the math…what about the 20% (two out of ten)? Well, them folks need a bit more attention. We’ve been coaching the swardmaster wannabees since 1988…we know how to grow great turf in the Lou If your sward (what’s a sward? it’s a great yard of turf) is not thick and lush and you’re either brand new to our program, or you’ve really been screwing the pooch! Like we said, we’ve been doing this since 1988, and we know that it only takes two fall cycles to get fabulous turf. Youll be the stud in the neighbor!

You’ll know you’ve arrived when your friends, family and neighbors start loading you down with compliments. Most typical is, “Who does your lawn?” Rather than be secretive and stuck up, please turn them on to THE Turf Plan. We’ve let you in on the secret to great turf, so do us a favor and recommend us to those within your sphere of influence. If they fail to execute, they won’t succeed. So, don’t be a chump…send us some business!

Enough of the self-gratulations. You subscribe herein for the horticultual tips, not the BS we’re feeding you right now. We’ll “show you the beef”…get those broadleaf weeds under control. Get the landscape beds cleaned up. Get the new coat of mulch laid down. Be kind to your plants and provide them with the nitrogen (that you’ve been withholdling) that they need to become vigorous, healthy specimens!

Mowing height for turf-type fescue is still recommended at 2.5 inches. But, if you get behind, don’t scalp it. Raise the mower deck to 3.0 inches. If you don’t have your mower manual, go figure out what make and model you have, and google the “service manual.”m Figure out what each “notch” means, in regard to inches. Bluegrass gets cut even shorter, 2 inches at the max. Got zoysiagrass? Scalp it! Now’s the time to get zoysiagrass under control, and scalping it now will help you keep it short all season long.

Sorry we’re such wind-bags.
Here’s to green grass,
Jeff & Bill

If you’re a groupie of THE Turf Plan, the best turf plan known to man, you’ve been mowing low since last October and November, and you’ve maintained that low mowing height this spring. Grass is not yet into the “busting ass” growth mode. That’s coming soon enough…probably that last week of April. You can be mowing between 2.5 and 3.0 inches right now for turf-type fescue. Bluegrass should be mowed at 2.0 inches. Got zoysia? Mow that sucker as low as you can! Get it low BEFORE it greens up.

Greetings!  It’s been a cold, wet winter here in the Lou, and most of us are anxious for some normal weather.  Our last tipsheet gave some good advice…get the leaf litter out of the sward…so that your crabgrass prevention works better.  If you’re following our advice for a “two-shot” approach to crabgrass control (which we HIGHLY recommend), you can plan on making your first application between the last week of March and the first week of April.  The second shot will go down 6-8 weeks after that.   As usual, we’ll send out an email blast, giving  you some fine-tuned advice on the timing.

Moles are active, once again.  The most economical and effective way to control moles is by using the harpoon trap, but a lot of  you complain that you can’t kill any moles this way.  When you come out to pick up your supplies, ask for a demonstration on how set traps properly.  We’ll show you a few tricks on how to kill moles.  It’s easy!  The second best way to whack moles is by using the poisoned grubs/earthworms.  These are effective products, but relatively expensive.  Most of you are surprised to learn that mole runs will be re-inhabited.  Just because you killed a mole in a particular tunnel doesn’t mean that another mole will move into that den and utilize the same runs.  You have to stay vigilant.  Remember that the principle food source for moles are earthworms.  They’re voracious insectivores, eating any live insect they come upon.  Using a lot of insecticides in the next few months is not necessarily the best thing to do, unless the moles have literally destroyed a substantial portion of your yard.  Our best advice…learn how to use a harpoon trap!

While it’s too early right now (March 7th, 2010) to apply your crabgrass product, there are plenty of things to do in the garden.  Start working on your beds.  Dead-head all brown foliage, so that newly emerging leaves can expand, unhindered by old leaf residue.  Fertilize the entire garden with Milorganite, an organic form of nitrogen with a 6-4-0 formulation, to provide some early fertility.  Follow that later this spring with our premium slow release nitrogen formulation (methylene urea) and some 0-0-7 formulation with Mallet insecticide.  The latter two products need to be applied to the drip zone of your plants, NOT broadcast over the foliage.  Never apply fertilizers or pesticides to frozen soil!

If you haven’t tested your soil in the last 4 to 5 years or so (or NEVER!), you really ought to.  Turf grows best when the soil pH is between 6.2 and 6.8.  Most of St. Louis turf-tenders have acid soils, but an indiscriminate use of lime is not a good idea.

Dylox insecticide is best applied for grub control in mid-August, but it makes a very effective barrier treatment around your house.  This product is normally $43/bag but we’re selling it for $38.

We’ll be sending weekly blasts for most of the spring, so be sure to sign up for our free email service.  Our weekend hours will be posted in the emails.  You can always call or write to arrange for evening pickup during the week.  We offer delivery for a fee, of course, but if you and your neighbors combine orders for 12 or more bags, we’ll bring it out for free.  Our phone number is 314-623-0515.

Here’s to great turf!

We’re not talking about your wild conjugal nights, we’re talking about your need to take a soil sample.  It’s absolutely essential to manage soil acidity (soil pH), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) because these three things can dramatically affect the quality of your sward, in many different ways.

THE Turf Plan wants you to be successful, so we’re offering a special for the remainder of August.  If you buy five bags of product (mix and match insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers) we’ll give you a free soil test (a $25 value).  We’ll help you understand the results and teach you how to “fix” your soil from that point forward.

By taking a soil test, you’ll know how to make some critical adjustments to your soil, and believe it or not, it will affect everything from greenup in the spring, to how much disease you get in the summer.

Read the “Soil Science Basics” page for more information.  Bring your sample in, ASAP!

Running out of time for this special offer…If you’ve read our crabgrass advice page, we mention how it will tend to flourish along the edges of your sidewalks, driveways and streets.  There are several reasons why this happens.  When the level of the crabgrass herbicide remaining on the soil surface falls below a certain “threshold” crabgrass begins to germinate.  The soil along these edges is warmer than in the middle of your yard:  crabgrass can tolerate that extra heat, while your cool season turf species do not particularly enjoy this situation.  Finally, too many of you don’t do a good enough job to spread your product along those very same edges.  This image shows this perfectly.  

So now what?  Should you leave it alone?  Hell no!  If you allow this crabgrass to grow unmolested, it’ll set a bunch of seed for the next few growing seasons.  Plus, thick mats of crabgrass really interfere with your overseeding efforts in September.  We recommend that you spray these patches with a product containing the active ingredient, quinclorac.  The product we sell from Bayer (Lawn Weed & Crabgrass Killer) will punish the crabgrass significantly…maybe not killing it all…but it will prevent the seedheads from forming.  Quinclorac is a very unique product because it provides both post-emergence and pre-emergence control of crabgrass.  This product also control broadleaf weeds.  Therefore, while we’re enjoying these abnormally low July temperatures, you need to control the broadleaf weeds…at least 2 weeks prior to any overseeding.  Spray the turf along the edges of all your asphalt and concrete surfaces, and use the rest of the material in your lawn, especially if you have patches of weak turf.

An EarthWay Spreader at actual cost…

For those of you still pushing that wimpy-ass green spreader around, how about upgrading to something respectable? Something the neighbors will covet. Big balloon tires. A bin that will hold up to 50 lbs of fertilizer. 

We offer two deals great deals. 1^st) a very good spreader, the Earthway® 2100P, for only $100 (in the box) or $115 assembled. 2^nd) a GREAT spreader, the Earthway® 2150P, for $160 (in the box) or $180 assembled.  The 2150P is sturdier, but the 2100P is great for swards less than 10M.  The 2100P is featured in this pic.

You can’t find prices as good as this on the web, even on Amazon.com. Don’t forget that shipping will run you $20 to $30. If you can find it cheaper…buy it! The best thing is that we’ve figured out the various settings for all the products we provide. No more guessing on your part. This could be the end of poor coverage, causing those embarrassing green stripes and crabgrass escapes!

To get this deal, all you have to do is buy four bags of product. Mix, match, we don’t care, just show up and help us reduce our inventory.