Sorry we’ve been negligent in posting updates on the website.  But, as our members know, by signing up for free newsletters, you get weekly (at least!) updates regarding our turf and ornamental issues.  We’ve nailed that this year.  Still, we need to work harder to keep the posts current.  It’s actually best to scroll to the very bottom of each category (pages on the lower left side of the website), because that’s where the meat of each topic resides.

FUNGAL DISEASES:  this is easily the worst year for brown patch out of the last four summers, and it’s ONLY JUNE!  Let’s hope for normal weather, not 10F above normal,the rest of the summer.  Brown patch is a hot weather-high humidity problem.  Excessive nitrogen makes it worse, so hopefully followers of THE Turf Plan have better yards than those utilizing the national 4-step program.  If you’ve got some great pictures, please send them to us.  If you’re irrigating your turf, apply your organic nitrogen product NOW!  If you’re not irrigating your turf, you should just ride it out.  Aerate and reseed in the fall (around Labor Day) to repair the sward.

Fungicides are expensive and they’re not guaranteed to work.  If you’re not pinched for cash, try one treatment, but the only way you’re going to know for sure if the fungicide is effective in your situation is to literally leave an “untreated strip,” or check plot.  Brown patch severity comes in and out, depending upon growing conditions.  Fungicides need to be applied every 14 to 28 days, depending upon the product and the severity of the infestation.  It’s gonna get uglier!

NUTSEDGE:  Nutsedge and brown patch actually go hand in hand.  When brown patch is bad, so is nutsedge.  It’s time to treat your nutsedge.  The forecast for the entire week is excellent…cooler weather, lower humidity.  Get ‘er done!  Remember, we provide you the NIS surfactant for free, when you buy Sedgehammer® from us.

MOWING:  Max your mower deck height…mowing at a height of 3.5 to 4.0″ inches is a good idea when the misery index is above 95F.  Sharpen your damn blade!  Mow in different directions.

CRABGRASS SPROUTS ALONG THE SIDEWALK:  Our customers have reported small crabgrass sprouting along sidewalks, streets and driveways.  This week is perfect to hose it down with some of the same Bayer® Broadleaf + Crabgrass hose-end product.  Clean up your broadleaf weeds this week, while you’re at it.  If you’re trying to kill wild violets, you need to talk to us, because you need an extra ingredient that you need to add to the sprayer.

IRRIGATION TIPS:  Now that we’re into the heat of the summer, it’s harder to over-water than it was during the cooler spring weather.  Therefore, those of you with irrigation systems should plan on providing supplemental irrigation on a regular basis.  Work with nature to provide at least an inch of water per week, maybe two. 

Set your irrigation timer to come on between 3 AM and 5 AM, so that you wash the dew off the grass blades.  Dew contains sugars, which provide nutrients to the fungal pathogens. By irrigating early in the morning, you’re effectively washing the sugar off the leaves.  It’s not as effective as a fungicide, but every little bit helps.

As of 30-March-2010 we can report that crabgrass has not yet begun to germinate.  Why?  Because it’s still too dang cold!  Crabgrass is a warm-season species, and won’t begin to emerge until we have 3 to 4 consecutive nights above 55 degrees.  THE Turf Plan uses a product called dithiopyr, with a trade name of Dimension.  There are 8 to 10 different active ingredients available for crabgrass prevention in turf, but Dimension is the best!  It’s one of the longest-lived (length of control) and best of all, it’ll actually “knock down” small crabgrass seedlings, if you’re late for your first application.  None of the other products can do that.

Most of you are best served by making a “split shot” or “two shot” program, which effectively extends crabgrass control into the dog days of the St. Louis summer.  For at least three seasons in a row, crabgrass has gone wild in late July and August.  Apply your first shot of Dimension now to early April.  Follow that with a second shot of Dimension between 6 and 8 weeks after that.  Don’t worry, we’ll remind you when to get that second dose out.  A 50 lb bag of Dimension is best spread upon 9M.  You’ll get outstanding crabgrass control with the two shot program, and the second shot of Dimension in early June will actually prevent the emergence of a few nuisance broadleaf weeds, such as carpet weed, common purslane, and creeping spurge.

After three or more years on THE Turf Plan, when your sward is thick and luxurious, you can get by with only one shot of crabgrass prevention.  The best defense against weeds is a lawn so thick that weeds have no place to grow!

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.

For the newcomers to THE Turf Plan^SM, resisting the urge to apply fertilizer in the March is difficult. Sure, the ads are running and the big box stores have a ton of stuff on sale. Maybe your neighbors are outside working. Callers to the weekend garden shows want to talk about crabgrass control, and even the radio personalities don’t know any better to give you the right advice. On top of all this, the lawn care professionals are already beginning to make their rounds. It’s only natural for the rookies and ill informed to feel pressured into doing something to their yard. If you follow THE Turf Plan, you can rest easy…because we fine tune the timing of the application…and we spoon feed you with regular emails. We recommend low nitrogen fertilizer supplemented with a superior crabgrass controlling product, Dimension®. And don’t forget yet another reason why you can relax in the March…because you’re on THE Turf Plan you fertilized properly…last fall!

In general, people that love their turf tend to be a bit stir crazy in late winter. March is particularly tough. Thus, they’re anxious to get some work done in the lawn. The only thing we want you to worry about, up until the last week of March, is getting the matted leaves “plucked” out of the lawn. Walk your property with a rake and simply release the matted leaves out of the low spots, divots, and areas with thin turf, where ever they’ve accumulated. This is important because these are the very spots where the crabgrass will germinate in April! It makes no sense to apply a crabgrass preventer (properly called a preemergent herbicide) atop this “trash” because the fertilizer/herbicide granules need to be in direct contact with the soil surface, to ensure optimum performance.

Waiting until late March or mid-April to apply your first crabgrass prevention is tough for rookies, because nobody likes a yard full of crabgrass. But, don’t think that “earlier is better” when it comes to crabgrass control. There are a few key reasons why you can wait. First, crabgrass is a known as a “warm season grass” and it germinates when the soil temp reaches 55^o F. In general, it takes at least three consecutive nights near 55^o F for germination. One cold night, at or below freezing, will kill any of the crabgrass seedlings that get an early start. The second reason that allows you to delay the spring application is that we sell a superior product for preemergent control of crabgrass, called dithiopyr, with a trade name of Dimension®. This herbicide was discovered and commercialized by Monsanto, but it has since been sold a few times, and it now is manufactured by Dow AgroSciences. Dimension is a long lasting and extremely effective product. One of the major advantages of Dimension compared to all the other available products is that it will actually kill small crabgrass seedlings (< ¾ inches tall). This is hugely important! In the event you’re a few days late applying your product, after crabgrass has germinated, dithiopyr can “reach back” and knock out small seedlings. This alone is a good enough reason to wait until the soil warms up, which can be any where from late March through late April. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you when to apply it! By waiting until March/April, you’ll enjoy the benefits of extended crabgrass control if it’s wet summer. Many yards suffered last year from a late flush of crabgrass because the warm, wet environment degraded what little herbicide was left, exacerbated by too early an application. Keep in mind, when we experience “wetter than average” summers, and “warmer than average” summers, the herbicide you rely upon to prevent crabgrass gets degraded. Thus, even though you applied a crabgrass herbicide, it’s still possible to suffer from a “summer flush” of crabgrass.

Another key component of the crabgrass product recommended by THE Turf Plan is that we utilize fertilizers containing low levels of nitrogen. When too much nitrogen is applied to turf in the springtime, the turf responds by putting too much energy into leaf production, at the expense of investing in its own root system. Sure, those yards given a high dose of spring nitrogen will be plenty green, for a few weeks, but they’ll collapse in the dog days of July and August. Avoiding excessive spring nitrogen helps your turf resist the stresses caused by disease and drought.

Once your turf has been through two full fall fertilization cycles on THE Turf Plan it should be very thick and healthy. A thick, luxurious carpet of turf will fend off all those weeds that populate weaker yards. Not just crabgrass, but dandelions and clover. If you’re new to THE Turf Plan, or simply have a weak turf, our recommendation is that you plan to make a “second shot” of Dimension on a low nitrogen fertilizer. The first application is timed for late March to very early April (pending soil temperature). Don’t forget, we’ll spoon feed you the information you need to fine tune the application. The second application is made 6 to 8 weeks after that. Don’t worry about this little detail, because we’ll monitor soil temperatures and keep a sharp eye on the weather. You’ll get a personal email that tells you when to make your treatments…we are your lawn coach!

Remember, any idiot can have a green yard in the spring! Having a great lawn in July and August separates the pros from the rookies. THE Turf Plan will help make you a lawn pro!