Posted : Monday, July 12, 2010
It’s the Heat, not the water…
This is the time of year when lawns brown out even when they are getting adequate water. The common assumption is that lawns won’t turn brown if they get plenty of water. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Now it’s the heat. Even if your irrigation system is perfect, it’s still too hot. The lawns aren’t turning brown from lack of water. They are turning brown from excessive heat.
Imagine cranking up your oven to 100 degrees, then placing a few well-watered houseplants inside. They won’t last long, even with plenty of water. Your lawn was inside that oven for a week. Reseeding isn’t an option either, as seed will fare even worse in these sauna like conditions.
Let us know if your lawn is browning out. We want to take a look to make sure we’re aware of its status. This way, we can plan for greening the lawn up again as soon as the weather becomes more favorable.
Posted : Wednesday, June 16, 2010
How to Water Your Lawn
Watering your lawn is trickier and more complicated than many people realize. Here we take some of the guesswork out and help you to get the job done simply and correctly.
Posted : Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Lawns are Going Dormant!
Transcript: Written June 8, 2010.
We have received very little water this year. Unfortunately the weather forecast keeps predicting water, so a lot of people have it in their minds that we have gotten a lot more than we actually did. The result of this lack of water of course is that lawns are turning brown and going dormant, as seen in the video clip.
What is dormancy? It is actually a survival mechanism by which the lawn sort of hibernates in order to survive tougher weather. While that’s actually a great thing from a survival standpoint, from an aesthetic standpoint it’s not so nice. When a lawn goes dormant, it is going into survival mode where it takes all the juices and liquids that were in the blades making them nice and healthy and it is sucking them back into the crown and roots so the grass can survive the dry weather.
Once all the juices and liquids are sucked out of the grass blades, it’s kind of like popping a water balloon. You can’t fill them back up again. What you are left with is a bunch of brown blades of grass that are not going to green up again. However, the grass will produce new green shoots when it does get enough water. Now that’s great, but the problem is that the new shoots of grass are going to come from the crowns and the roots and it’s going to take them a few weeks to grow up through the brown stuff to green up your whole lawn again.
If you are at all unsure of about how much water you should be using, start by watering each section of your lawn for 45 minutes, 3 times per week. See where that takes you. If the lawn gets really nice, lush, and green, great! You can back off a little bit. If it’s still kind of brown and dry, you can give us a call so we can take a look at it to make sure there are no other problems, or go ahead and boost it up to maybe 4 times a week to see what that does. But remember, if the lawn has already gone dormant it’s going to take a few weeks to green up again. If it hasn’t, good! You are ahead of the game. -Chris Brown
Posted : Monday, July 13, 2009
Proper Mowing Habits
Possibly one of the least understood aspects of good home lawn care is mowing. Though it would seem simple, there are a few commonly overlooked rules. These bad habits can potentially negate all the hard work that is done through fertilization, seeding, and watering. Good mowing habits simply support the rest of a good program. Bad mowing habits can take a well cared for lawn, and destroy it. Please click below to learn more.
Posted : Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Helpful Tidbits: Pythium
Pythium can be one of the most frustrating a devastating problems that homeowners encounter in lawns. Luckily, it doesn’t get too severe most seasons if the proper cultural practices are maintained. Click below to download a .pdf file that better explains this disease.
Posted : Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Helpful Tidbits: Summer Patch
As we enjoy the balmy, tropical climate we’ve recently had, we also begin to notice a problem that pops up on lawns each season. Generally, these are lawns that have NOT been aerated for a while, and thatch buildup is starting to become an issue. Summer Patch disease can be dealt with, but not with temporary use of fungicides. Click below to read more about this problem. If you do have it, make sure you are on the schedule for an aeration this Fall.
Posted : Friday, July 18, 2008
Helpful Tidbits: Dog Spots
Peter Teed shows just how friendly our “Best Friends” can be to our lawns. Enjoy the video!
