July 2014, Record keeping is so important...

A lesson I have learned the hard way too many times. My

good commercial customers are constantly writing down

what they have done, with what and WHEN. They also

record the weather conditions which is very important. I’m

writing this on Saturday, June 14^th and Friday the 13th.  It is 64

degrees and dang near chilly. The forecast is for rain and

hot weather next week. I mention this because we forget.

Every year won’t be the same, but for some reason we

think lawn care should be the same every year? These early

cool, rainy days of June are NOT normal.  Zoysia grass is not reacting like it should, some weeds and

insects are hanging on, but some are slower to develop.

Cool season lawns are still growing very well and we don’t

need our irrigation much...all this will have changed by

the time this blog post hits! I’ll predict by early July, it

will be hotter then heck, zoysia grass and Nutsedge will

be growing like crazy and cool season lawns will NOT be

looking as good as they once did. Julie Smith will know

what I’m talking about!

July tips for our lawns:

*Please don’t listen to the guy on the radio Saturday

mornings. He really skirts answers for some reason. Call

me or someone else you can trust with turf advice!

COOL SEASON LAWNS:

 (survived the full moon

 eeek!) this morning it was about 64

*Keep mowing at 3.5/4 inches

*Apply fungicides as directed

*Spot spray weeds as needed

*Apply grub control (Merit) and or Milorganite as needed

*Increase irrigation days or minutes as needed

*It’s not too early to start planning September aeration and

over seeding. Early bird gets the early aeration.

WARM SEASON LAWNS:

*Aerate and or power rake if needed. Apply preemergent

afterwards so you don’t get a bunch of crabgrass.

*Seeding should be done by the 15th

can continue for the next 4-5 weeks

*Apply a pound of nitrogen this month

*Apply insecticides for the Hunting Bill bug if you haven’t

already. I’m seeing great success with two treatments 6-8

weeks apart for this critter. Most zoysia problems are insect

related...not fungus related. Running about 9 out of 10 so

far this year.

Today is about a nice a day as you can ask for in July in St.

Louis. It’s 72 degrees, low humidity...just beautiful. I’m

heading to Seattle and Crater Lake in Oregon next week

and I’m guessing I’ll be in the same weather? Mentally I’m

already there.

I hope you all have a safe 4th

  of July and remember...its just grass!