URGENT: "Seasonal Tips:"

**ADVISORY UPDATE 6/2/09:**

DISEASE ACTIVITY OBSERVED

Summer-like weather arrived two weeks ago, and apart from a few brief breaks in temperature and humidity, it has been warmer than normal for some time. This translates into changes in lawn health and appearance. Our most common summer disease is Brown Patch & we first noticed activity around May 20. Brown Patch starts as small circular patches that turn a tan color almost overnight. These smaller spots will grow larger and coalesce into significantly sized blighted areas of grass quickly. It is not unusual to see mower wheel tracks in the lawn if the grass is cut when the disease is active. Fortunately, Brown Patch responds very well to irrigation, but you must not delay your watering. Jump on this right away to halt further damage and promote recovery (which can take 2-3 weeks).

What to do? Well, for those of you who have irrigation systems, if they aren't turn on, get them activated. We have observed some customers are already watering, and that's great. For those of you who have not started, keep in mind irrigation is the primary device to control stress on our lawns. Early watering means you get more bang for your buck. If you wait until the lawn is in severe stress it takes a lot more water over a lot longer period of time to yield positive results you can see. Watering early on means you have to water less and you maintain color, minimize disease activity and generally keep the lawn healthier. For more details on watering, just call us.

Early Spring Comments:

Early Spring is an ideal time to review seeding needs, as turf is coming out of winter dormancy and starting its normal pattern of growth, restoration of color and unfortunately, the resurgence of broadleaf weeds...dandelions, clover, chickweed and many others!
ShowPlace begins the season with applications of crabgrass preventer (pre-emergent herbicide), fertilizers and broadleaf weed control products. The combination of these materials is designed to get turf off to a flying start, and help hold back the growth of those pesky weeds. Turf greens up quickly, but some lawns respond more quickly than others, due to turf varieties, soil conditions and several other factors. In all cases, by mid-April we're all going to be mowing the grass and looking at some beautiful turf.
Some customers will elect to seed and/or aerate in the spring. It's not the best time of year to tackle these projects, because it can force adjustments to spring applications that enable problems like weeds to flourish. But, in some cases, these can be the best options. It's a case-by-case decision. If you have questions about these services, we encourage your call and open discussion.
Broadleaf weeds will put us to a stern test at this stage of season. Please let us know if you are experiencing problems with weeds, because re-treatments are free to customers. Broadleaf weeds cannot be prevented with currently available products. Control is achieved when products come into contact with "actively growing" weeds. Our goal is to build a thick lawn, because that's our best defense against the germination process. All lawns have weed populations in the soil, and some seeds can live for 75 years before they sprout! One lawn may have a high degree of clover, while another might have more dandelions...every lawn presents its own special set of circumstances. That's why we're here, to help you get through these kinds of issues and help your lawn reach its fullest potential.

Late Spring Comments

Late Spring treatments see us begin to shift attention to weather, and respond to changes with different kinds of treatments. This flexibility within our treatment program is one of those things that make us so different from the competition. Remember, ShowPlace utilizes "site-specific" treatment regimens, that take into account a wide range of factors, including weather patterns. One unique feature of the Late Spring visit is surface insect control, for sod webworm, bluegrass billbug and others. Supplemental treatments are provided on a case-by-case basis, depending upon individual lawn diagnosis. We're also inspecting turf for crabgrass, foxtail, goosegrass and nutsege...once more, supplemental treatments are provided for customers when necessary for no charge.
ShowPlace fertilizers do not require irrigation! Our products are designed to give turf all the nutrition needed, without stressing turf and creating opportunities for other problems to crop up. If your lawn needs special attention, we'll provide you written information and very detailed documentation about the problem and what you can do to help us overcome it.

Summer Comments

Some of the comments above carryover, as discussion of late spring and summer often mimic one another, at least in the early stages of this most difficult and challenging season of the year. Summertime means increases in heat & moisture stress, disease activity and insect infestations. Unfortunately, warm weather also brings forth a lot of hard-to-kill summer annual broadleaf weeds (spurge & purslane) as well as annual grassy weeds (crabgrass, foxtail, goosegrass & nutsedge).

The key to surviving summer weather lies in the following: 1) Maintain your mowing at 3-3.5.". 2) Make sure your mower blade is sharp. 3) Irrigate a minimum of 1" of water per week, and increase that number on sunny spots, curb strips and sloped areas. 4) Keep fertilizing and treating the lawn to maintain excellent overall nutrient availability, control weeds and allow us to observe your lawn for disease or insect activity.

For some time we have been recommending to our customers they consider installing newer, tougher and more resistant grasses into their lawns. This is particularly important for any customers who have a history or disease or insect activity. Newer grass technologies are giving us opportunities to actually reduce treatments and provide our customers with more consistent year-long turf performance.

Speaking of disease and insect activity for a moment. If you have recurring disease in your lawn, a preventive treatment program may be worth consideration. Disease management by means of fungicide treatments (antibiotics for turf, as I call them) that are timely applied will reduce fungal or bacterial organism populations leading to a reduction in overall activity. If you are interested in information about preventive or curative fungicide treatments, please call. Insect activity is easier to deal with, diagnose and most insects are controlled for our customers when needed. Chinch bug and bluegrass billbug are the two main concerns each season when talking about "surface" insects. Chinch bug are typically found along paved areas, on slopes or in heavily compacted soils. Billbug can be found in a wider area, but are simple to detect. Each season brings forth different populations of insects to worry about. If you would like your lawn inspected for disease or insects, all you need to do is call. Service calls are free. We're also checking for problems when we treat your lawn, too.