Summer swelter damages lawns in 2010

Summer Swelter Stresses Lawns

Inside our company, we’ve been discussing mother nature’s effect on our lawns. It’s no surprise that it’s been a strange season for weather. Honestly, every season seems strange. This one started out with over 400 funnel clouds early in the season, followed by plenty of rainfall, and an extended period of hot, humid weather. The item that’s caught our attention is the bumper crop of weeds. We expect a lot of weeds during hot, dry weather, but not in a season with plentiful rainfall.
So, why the bumper crop of weeds? It shouldn’t be a surprise when you hear that on August 30th, it was announced that Minnesota farmers are expecting all time record crops this year. It’s obvious that growing conditions are excellent.
Crabgrass is a particularly tough problem. Crabgrass crowds out healthy turf and a single plant can leave behind an ugly purple skeleton along with 3000 seeds to germinate in your lawn for the next few years, so control is critical. Most companies apply crabgrass control once in the spring. We’ve taken the proactive stance of applying it twice as a pre-emergent and have spot treated during the summer as a third treatment.
Let’s recap the year:
Mild growing conditions in the spring and early summer produced beautiful lawns, but excessive heat and rainfall have produced some weary and weedy lawns that will need assistance to recover this fall. Statewide precipitation rates well above normal provided ample water for lawn growth, but while your sprinklers may have been growing cobwebs, lawns in Minnesota were being set up for decline from diseases, weeds, insects, and summer stress.

Disease
Dollar spot and red thread were active through June, but the more deadly brown patch and Pythium have reared their ugly head in late July and August to finish off some of the weaker lawns.

Weeds
This was a terrible year for crabgrass and yellow nutsedge. Pre-emergence herbicides generally give 85 to 100% control of crabgrass, but this year's excessive rain and high temperature reduced efficacy of crabgrass control products. High moisture and high temperature are two factors that increase the activity of soil microorganisms that ultimately ingest the herbicide and render it inactive for season long weed control.

Lawns inundated with crabgrass by August 2010 will benefit from pre-emergence crabgrass control in spring 2011 to reduce the infestation of crabgrass that is eminent; seed from this year's heavy infestation will germinate next summer and the cycle of crabgrass will continue.

Should you try to kill the heavy infestation of crabgrass now? When crabgrass covers less than 25% of the turf area, do nothing. Crabgrass will die after the first frost and the Kentucky bluegrass will usually fill in the areas through the dead crabgrass. However, if the Kentucky bluegrass is being smothered beneath a layer of crabgrass that covers 50 to 100% of the visible lawn surface additional action is needed. The thick, uncontrolled mat of crabgrass will dominate the turf until the first killing frost that usually occurs in October; then it will be too late to establish Kentucky bluegrass from seed. Contact your lawn care company for assistance to suppress or kill the existing crabgrass to aid re-establishment. Power rake and reseed in early September.

Insects
White grubs and bluegrass billbugs are our two major lawn insects. There were some bluegrass billbugs this year but damage was very limited compared to past years with drier conditions. Annual white grubs of the masked chafer and Japanese beetle are showing up in ample supply and right on schedule for Mid-August. Grub damage may be concealed by ample rainfall in late summer, only to appear during a dry spell. Curative insecticides are only effective between now and early October.

Summer Stress
High temperature and excessive moisture are a deadly combination that cause stress for cool-season grasses grown in Minnesota lawns (Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue). High temperatures favor warm-season grasses such as crabgrass while cool-season grasses suffer. This partially explains why crabgrass can overtake Kentucky bluegrass as the summer progresses.

Excessive moisture also contributes to lawn decline in the summer. Roots need air to survive. Oxygen is displaced in soggy or flooded soils and the anaerobic conditions cause the roots to not function properly. Imagine lying down in the sun of your front yard in the hottest part of the day on a sunny, soggy and humid bed of grass. You wouldn't last but a few minutes. Grass plants in the sun can't get up and move to the shade. They're stuck, and when the evaporative cooling system begins to shut down the grass plant, thatch, and soil surface quickly heat up to the existing air temperature or higher. Plants can be literally cooked to death by direct heat injury as plant tissue temperatures rise above 95 degrees F. Temperatures this year were sufficient to cause rapid injury directly from high temperatures and indirectly from prolonged periods of high temperatures that eventually depleted stored carbohydrates. Weakened plants with slow growth were often overcome by brown patch and pythium diseases that flourished when night time temperatures were greater than 72 degrees F.

What to do
The bad news is that several lawns have succumbed to the various woes of summer described above. The good news is that now is the best time to rejuvenate damaged lawns. This may be a good time to kill the existing mess and start over with improved grass varieties suitable for your lawn. Consult your local lawn care professional company to develop a plan to recover your lawn through aerification, slicing, seeding, and fertilizing.

By Dave Minner, Department of Horticulture & Steve Hoogenakker, Concierge Landscape Environments

Taylor Made for Townhome Associations

Townhome Association Lawn Maintenance

Whatever your goals are for your homeowner association, commercial building or multi-family property, Taylor Made delivers and exceeds the results you and your clients expect. Working together, you can rest assured that we’ll develop a plan that brings out the full potential of your natural site while keeping your budget in mind.. Hire the company you can trust, Taylor Made Landscape Management.

We take care of all of the details so you don’t have to. We start the process by listening to your goals. We develop a plan that enhances the beauty of your property. Our professional scheduling of comprehensive landscape services are performed on time, no matter what the weather is doing. We become your eyes and ears on the property. We’re vigilant about discovering potential issues before they become problems.

You will have an active partner when you decide to work with us. We’ll design and create a valuable, vibrant, living landscape.

As a partner, we’re not satisfied until you’re completely satisfied with every service. Your landscape will benefit from the expert care on a timely basis. Your property reflects your values. Clients, tenants and prospective owners base a large part of their opinion of the property before they walk inside. We’ll work with you to keep tenants and clients happy and to attract and retain potential prospects.

We’re confident that we can meet and exceed your landscape maintenance goals, regardless of the size of your association. We also know you expect a dependable, trustworthy company that continually provides solutions. Our creative staff will deliver cost effective solutions that will keep you, your board members and residents happy.

Prepare Your Landscape for Spring Part II

Da Garden” If you have a personal garden, ‘tis the season to till it up. Consider doing a soil test yourself for best results. Here’s a little secret: Why does Miracle Grow grow 700 pound pumpkins? I know you don’t actually want a 700 pound pumpkin this fall, but if you want to give your garden every chance of providing pleasure or juicy tomatoes, then the secret is this: Most fertilizers carry 3 ingredients. Even if you ask the U of M, they’ll say. “Buy a 10-10-10”! This is the standard response for anyone in the industry, and it usually works Ok. BUT, there are 16 minerals needed for every plant to survive. Miracle Grow provides all 16! They might not be needed, but if just 1 or 2 are missing or weak your plants will suffer. “Da Trees” Make sure that the tree wrap is removed from trees, look for split trunks or damage that might’ve happened from the early snow storm or from wind damage. If you know you have Ash Trees, which almost everyone has, there is a terrible menace out there this year. The Emerald Ash Borer. Once it’s on a property, can kill all the ash trees on a property in 1-3 years. There are links on www.Townhome.Pro. “Da Water” Irrigation system startups need to include replacing broken heads, and resetting the direction of heads so they cover the lawn, making sure they don’t blow over the freshly washed car and into the bedroom window. If you don’t have a system, I would be happy to recommend a professional, or design one myself..Finally, work with your contractor. It’s in his/her best interest to have a wonderful, living landscape too. If your association does a lot of work itself, or if you’re just curious, call or write a Master Gardener volunteer. It’s free, and the link is on your website that is just being created; www.Townhome.Pro. This article written by Steve Hoogenakker of Taylor Made Landscape.He has 20 years experience in landscaping.

This article may be reprinted as long as the author’s information is left in the new article

Preparing your townhome association for spring part I

YOUR LANDSCAPE – WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW COULD KILL MILLIONS PART I

That’s right. As a homeowner, you’re responsible for millions of living organisms. You’re the “Jack Bauer” of the show “24” protecting millions of innocent lives!Grass plants, ornamentals, trees, annual flowers and shrubs. Your decisions also affect insect and biotic populations. Most importantly, you’re in control of how your landscape affects you and your family personally. The best way to make the most of your living investment is knowledge and of course, action!

At the end of this article, I’ve included a link to www.Townhome.Pro, where I’ve added links for your lawn, landscape, trees and garden. This website is dedicated exclusively for MHA members at this time.

Let’s get started!
“Da Lawn”
We’ll start with the lawn. It’s very important to have a thick, healthy lawn. Why? My daughter plays soccer and I shudder everytime she gets knocked down. (I never cheer when she knocks someone else down.) When kids play on your lawn, or when elderly residents walk in it, a thick lawn protects their skin and joints. A thick lawn also prevents weeds from coming up, reducing the need for pesticides. So, what can we do in the spring to get there?
First, write down your thoughts about last years’ turf. What improvements would you like to have seen? Then “spring” into action. If you have a lawn contractor, discuss fertilization options with him/her. Are they applying 2-3 pounds of Nitrogen per year? Nitrogen has a direct relationship to the color of the lawn. If the lawn isn’t thick and green, ask them to do a soil test, or you can do one using the easy instuctions on the website. (Cost $15.00 plus postage) Do they use slow release or fast release fertilizer? Quick release fertilizers give the lawn a quick greenup and are cheaper, but they lose their color after 2-4 weeks. If you’re getting 3 applications per year, with normal release fert, you get 4 weeks of food and rapid growth followed by 4 weeks of partial starvation. Using slow release feeds gradually, and keeps the lawn growing at a more regular pace. Ask your contractor if he likes double cutting and bagging grass clippings, if he says yes, I owe you a $5.00 gift certificate to Caribou Coffee. When he says no, tell him that using slow release will cut down on rapid flush growth, and cut down the need for a lot of extra labor. Everybody wins!
There is bound to be some winter salt or plow damage too. These areas need to be seeded or sodded right away. I recommend bringing black dirt in if needed and if using seed, use blends, such as kentucky bluegrass and perennial rye for sunny areas, and fine fescue, perennial rye and bluegrass for shady areas. If seeding, expect weeds. Crabgrass control can’t be applied to these areas unless you use Siduron (Tupersan), but broadleaf controls can be used after the seeded area is mowed twice. Seed or Sod, water a couple of times per day for short periods of time.
This article may be reprinted as long as the author information below is included.
Steve Hoogenakker, Steve@Landscape.Pro
CAI Minnesota, MHA, CICMidwest, Steve Hoogenakker, Showcase Landscape, Taylor Made Landscape,