FEBRUARY PLANING MAKES FOR A BETTER LAWN THIS SUMMER…USUALLY!

Planning is always something I talk with my children about and practice as much as possible. Through planning and hard work I just celebrated 15 years in business the other day. Time flies when you are having fun! 

I would love to say it was all fun, but anyone self-employed knows you are the first to arrive and last leave most days. I owe a special thanks to my wife and children for putting up with crabby attitude some days. The worse days are behind me I believe and I look forward to the future of this business and my life in general.

A wise man once said…”Want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans!” I try not project too much, but I do look forward to traveling and grandchildren. My friend, George Kippenberger, is living about the most rewarding life I can imagine and I would like to think I will live a life like his someday?

Oh well…on to the lawn items:

*Soil testing should be done soon if it was not done last fall. Having the proper pH makes sure all your fertilizers are working to their maximum and you are not wasting their potential. The pH should between 6.3 and 7.0. email or call me if you have further questions or want to bring in a soil sample?

*Keep the leaves either mowed up, blown or raked to the curb to prevent smothering the grass. These “pockets” of leaves can still cause dead spots!

*Pick a fertilizer company or make a plan to do it yourself, but make a plan either way and stick to it. All too often I see folks who make or buy one or two applications and quit making them or cancel the service. Lawn programs take 2-3 years to turn around a lawn and must include aerating and over seeding for best results.

*Get your lawnmower tuned up if you own one. Spring looks like it’s coming early this year!

*Buy an extra blade and have it sharpened and ready to go. It’s so much easier to keep a sharp blade on the mower when you own an extra one. Early stick drop and Sweet Gum balls dull a blade quickly in the spring!

Now, if anyone has good weight loose program I can use…let me know! Keep up the good work and your lawn will look better and better each year. Remember folks…it’s just grass!

2015 Planning and Observations

2015 Planning and Observations

I’ve heard it said that if you want to hear God laugh… just tell Him your plans. Being in recovery allows me to me have a faith in a Higher Power that brings me a lot of happiness in my life. Focusing on

loved ones, fellows in recovery and strangers all keep me from making life about me. It doesn’t always work, but I get reminders very quickly and that’s what keeps me centered. I’m at a point in my life where most of problems are luxury problems and I have to remember that.

A couple of things I’ll work on in 2015:

*Try not to gain any weight.

*Try to lose a few pounds by walking more and eating less of the bad things I love so much.

*Be more patient with my wife. I’m a fast thinker (speaker), but a slow learner and I need to reverse that!

*Volunteer more at the USO. What a great place to spend time with strangers who are willing to protect my freedom. {http://www.usomissouri.org/}

*Be less judgmental. Man is this going to be tough.

*Pray more.

If you have any suggestions on what works for you, please email me. I’m looking for all the help I can get!

Your lawn plans should include some of these:

*Test your soil. It will make all your fertilizer purchases more productive and beneficial in the long run.

*Stick to a plan. If you have one that works…keep working it. If not, adopt a new one and stick to it.

*Share your experiences with a neighbor/friend. Maybe you can help someone or get some help?

*When in doubt, raise the mowing height. Mowing too short is usually what is hurting a cool season lawn (especially in the early summer).

I want to thank MaryAnn for her endeavor of this blog. It is a great way for both of us to share our faith and our desire to help folks with their horticulture/lawn needs. May 2015 be a gift to all of you reading this and those in your life. Have a safe New Year and God bless you.

DECEMBER PREVENTIONS…AND WISHES!

December is a great time to do things to our cool season lawns. The weather looks great for doing the following items:

*Apply gypsum at 50#/1000 ft sq to prevent salt damage. We don’t see salt damage usually till next spring, so applying this now will prevent us from seeing it at all. You can apply this to the base of evergreen shrubs, or any bed areas, as well.

*Mow up leaves or remove them. The Oaks and Bradford Pears have been losing leaves like crazy lately. Don’t let them stay on the lawn all winter or you will have bald spots next spring. Bald spots will grow weeds eventually.

*Winter fertilizers should still be applied. 1# of nitrogen or more is still OK to apply. Doing so now will insure a nice green up next spring.

*You may consider a combo application of fertilizer with a weed pre-emergent if you want to prevent winter annuals (chickweed and henbit the most). Dimension or Barricade are great products to use if those weeds have been a problem in the past.

*I have not winterized my lawn mower yet. Looking at the forecast makes me think a good 2-2 ½ inch mowing will be necessary next week on my cool season lawn. Early spring green up is usually the reward here!

*Be sure you don’t do anything on the lawn until it dries out! If you can see or hear water forming around your feet as you walk on it…STOP! When we walk on frozen or wet ground, we are causing harm to the grass and or the soil.

The year sure did seem to go by quickly. The older I get, they all seem that way lately. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah and Happy New Year. Taking life One Day at a Time is a resolution I will carry with me into 2015…and beyond.

Remember folks…it’s just grass!

NOVEMBER CLEAN UP

Fall sure came and went in a hurry it seemed. I did get to go on great drive to Blacksburg, Virginia to visit my son at Virginia Tech. My wife Liz and daughter Claire got to watch the Thursday Night ESPN college game in a sky box (only way to watch what turned out to be a cold night and a bad football game) and then drove to Lexington, Kentucky and went to Keenland Race Track for horse races.

 The leaves along Hwy 64 and into West Virginia where very nice. The week before was probably peek, but we got to see a great show from Mother Nature.

Speaking of leaves…we have some business to address on our cool season lawns:

*Keep the leaves either mowed up or blown to the curb to prevent smothering the grass. Those “pockets” of leaves can cause dead spots next spring!

*Apply your last fertilizer and spot spray with “ester” formula herbicides (if it’s not too windy).

*Leave Zoysia at 3”, but mow cool season grass down to 2 ½”. The one time of year you want fescue shorter than zoysia.

*Winterize your lawn mower in about 2 weeks. The weather looks cold, but it will change.

Short and sweet this month. I will hope you and yours has a safe Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas season. I will look forward to enlightening you all again next year! God bless you all!

FALL FERTILIZATION AND OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF…

Thank God, it finally rained. We are drier then dry folks, so don’t turn those sprinkler systems off yet. Especially, if seeded or laid sod in the last couple of weeks. Zoysia lawns don’t need to be watered, but cool season lawns need to be watered for 20-30 days! It’s been a very strange September and early October.

Here is an action plan for October…

Warm Season Grasses;

*Try NOT to mow under 2 ½ inches. Let your zoysia get leggy going into winter

*No more fertilizer except high Potash (K) fertilizers

*Apply gypsum (50#/1000 ft. sq.) along your edges to help prevent salt damage this winter

*Carefully apply herbicides if needed. Read the label and use common sense

*Don’t water unless it’s part of a 50/50 yard

*Don’t aerate unless it’s part of a 50/50 yard

*Try to keep leaves from accumulating for more then 3-4 days

Cool Season Grasses:

*Still a good time to seed. Expectations might be lower, but it done!

*Continue with fall fertilizer schedule. A pound of nitrogen or 10# of Milorganite per 1000 ft. sq is what we suggest.

*Keep the leaves off your new seedlings every 3-4 days! A blower is best!

*Spot spray weeds as your new grass matures. Usually, you can spray weeds 4-6 weeks after seeding or 3 weeks after laying sod.

*Not too late aerate. It really is never too late. Best way to introduce organic matter and help the soil!

*Keep the top 1” moist into late October.

*Blow out your irrigation system towards the end of the month

*Keep mowing at 3” for the rest of the month. We’ll lower it towards the end of the month or next month depending on the weather???

Let’s keep all of our loved ones in our prayers and actions. I’m going through a rough time with my mother right now and I’m finding out how tough care giving really is. It makes all this grass growing business not seem very important. Let’s all remember… it’s just grass folks!

September things to do…Take My Class...and Have World Class Results by Spring!

I’m including a permalink to my class below, please consider joining me at Missouri Botanical Garden where I can answer your questions and get you on track for a great lawn!

Rescue and Renovate Your Cool Season Lawn

September things to do…

What a strange last couple of weeks. Summer finally arrives in full force after being mostly absent all July and early August. The deep, soaking rains have kept lawns looking healthy for the most part. Diseases and insects have had a revival…very strange in deed.

Last month I prepared you for aerating and over seeding the cool season lawns so I hope you are ready?!?

The next couple of weeks are the ideal time to renovate your cool season lawns!

Things to do this month:

WARM SEASON LAWNS:

*NO MORE FERTILIZERS ON ZOYSIA!!! Let them go to sleep naturally.

*Stop watering with irrigation in the next couple of weeks.

*Let it grow up to 2-3 inches in preparation for winter.

*Spot spray weeds as needed.

*Apply preventative fungicides September AND October 15^th. Headway is the best product and should also be used April 15^th.

*Remove leaves if they accumulate over 1-2 inches

COOL SEASON LAWNS:

*Reread last months post for detailed Step-By-Step Renovation instructions. 

Or attend my class at Missouri Botanical Garden on September 20^th from 10-12 :  Rescue and Renovate Your Cool Season Lawn

*If you are renting equipment, call early in the week to make a reservation.

*It’s a great time to sod!

*Sharpen you blade while you are waiting for the seed to grow!

Fall fertilizer applications and weed controls will be on deck. Come on back next month for those details. Good luck all of those who are in fantasy football leagues and or “pick-em” leagues. I’m drafting 12^th tonight!

Finally, if you ever want a really quite and relaxing weekend, consider a “White House Retreat”. I attended my first one a couple of weeks ago and I’m planning for another one next year.

Remember folks, it’s just grass!

AUGUST LESSONS ON LIFE AND TURF

I thought I was going to tell you all how wonderful my vacation to

The Northeast. (Crater Lake is something you should see given the chance). But, I have to tell you about Earl. I meet Earl around 7:30 am at a McDonalds along highway 70 on a trip to Columbia, Mo. He is 90 years young. I ended up speaking with him for 45

minutes and walked away with a great feeling from him. His

business card says it all. I hope when I’m 90, I can drive myself to

breakfast, eat biscuits and gravy, drink coffee and talk about old times with pride. Earl has become a person I want to be like.

Grass stuff...

We just finished out 5th coolest summer on record, which was

good for cool season grasses but not so good for Bermuda and Zoysia

lawns. Early August has been cool and finally wet as of yesterday,

August 7^th.

 I need to encourage you to start planning for fall aeration,

seeding and fertilizing of cool season lawns and to help you with

plans to put your Zoysia to sleep this year.

WARM SEASON LAWNS:

*Apply your last fertilizer ASAP. Do not fertilize after the 15th!

*Keep applying insecticides and weed controls as needed.

*Keep the watered through August, but let it go dormant in

September.

*If fungicides are necessary, Apply September and October 15 with

the intention of apply again April 15th

Don’t skip any of the 3 applications! . They work together, so don’t skip any of the 3 applications!

*Consider getting soil test done to be sure the pH is right!

COOL SEASON LAWNS:

*Schedule a contractor for aeration or put a deposit down for

aeration rental. Good contractors get booked early and good rental

equipment gets thin in 3 weeks!

*Know your square footage to be sure you are buying the right

amount of product.

*Buy only what you need from a reputable nursery or garden

center store. Not a big box store...please!

*Spray weeds as needed this week and apply your last fungicide

treatment if it is needed

Step-By-Step renovation instructions are as follows:

Step-By-Step Cool Season Renovation Practices

September is the ideal month to do this. Your next chance will be March or early April.

Decide if herbicides are needed. Read the label and apply 2 weeks prior to seeding.

Remove debris in the yard and use top soil to level rough areas.

Mow the grass at 2”, but reset the wheel immediately back to 3.5 inches. You want to mow it all into the winter until the last cut.

Flag the irrigation heads and utilities so they are not damaged by the machines.

Spread organic matter (compost, peat moss or top soil mix) if necessary.

“Core” aerate or power rake the lawn. You can’t aerate too much! If you power rake, you have rake up and remove the thatch.

Spread your seed and fertilizer.

Power rake or hand rake areas to increase seed to soil contact! This insures the seed won’t wash away and birds won’t eat it. Don’t apply straw!

Top dress areas that may need additional compost, peat moss or top soil. Bare areas should be covered with Penn Mulch ®.

Water EVERY day for 2-3 week. Keep the top ½” moist, but puddle free. You may have to water in the evening as well depending on the soil and the weather.

Mow (with a bag) after 2-3 weeks and then you can water 3-4 days a week after you have even germination.

After 3-4 mowings, go ahead spot spray weeds as needed. Fall is a great time to control certain weeds!

Keep leaves removed all fall! Smothering leaves will kill all your new grass plants if left on the ground. Chop them up or remove them every 3-5 days!

These steps have proven to be very effective, but if you have your own spin on how to get things, then by all means do it your way. Over seed rate for most lawn seeds is 35- pounds per 1000 ft sq or 8-10 pounds when starting over! Next month I’ll give you tips on “winterizing” the lawn and late fall weed control applications!

Remember folks, it's just grass