SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Happy Spring Everyone. The blooms are out and the pollen is right along with it. Thank God for Zyrtec. The older I get the more I need allergy medicines it seems.

I have to brag on my daughter Claire in this edition. She graduates from Rockhurst School of Nursing this May and got hired by Rockhurst Research Hospital to work in the Intensive Care Burn Unit. She has the boards to take in early June, but she is very confident and has been working very hard and can’t wait to get on with the next chapter in her life. I pretty sure my wife and I are equally (if not more) as excited as she is!

Now, grass stuff to do in April:

*Be patient with the warm season grasses. You can mow them down to 2-2.5 inches, but don’t fertilize or spray weeds for a couple of weeks. And don’t power rake or aerate till Mid-may.

*You should be putting down Dimension crab grass control asap if you haven’t already. You can’t spot seed with Dimension, so cover the bare areas with towel before applying and shake off the fertilizer into the rest of the yard.

*Mow at 3.5 inches as long as you have mowed 1-2 times.

*Spot spray weeds as needed. Remember to read the label to make sure we all use less herbicides.

*Violets are active as heck, so get the Turflon Ester going! Spray 2 times about 10 days apart for best results.

*Don’t turn the irrigation for another month! We are getting plenty as of today…

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend. The weather was great to me and my family this past Sunday and we all (30 of us) had great day together. I do want to pass my condolences on to the John Cotta family. John passed away too early in life and he will be missed. Rest well my friend.

Life style and attitude changes has left me walking daily and I’m down about 25 pounds from February. I start an exercise program May 1^st and can’t wait to shed another 20-25. If I can do it, you can too.

Remember folks…it’s just grass!

SPRING 2015 IS COMING…I THINK

As of March 4^th another dusting of snow, 20 degrees and windy. I have to believe we are through with too many more days like today? It’s supposed to be warm this weekend and we can all get on with the best season of all! (My opinion anyway)

I’m sure we’ll get a late frost and have to cover tulips or something, but I’ll bet we’ll be mowing cool season grass in 2 weeks or so. This rain and freeze/thaw cycle will keep the ground wet so don’t jump the gun and start doing too much until it dries out. We can actually do more harm than good by working or walking on soil when it is saturated. Be patient…good things are coming.

I have to give shout out to my son Ben. He was recently hired by the Kansas City Royals to work on their field. He’ll graduate early and start his career in early May. Ben has worked very hard these past two years at Virginia Tech to get his Masters Degree in Turf Science and is ready to join the professional world. We are very proud of his accomplishments both on and off the field.

My suggestions this month will have some very specific suggestions as far as products go. I have always wanted this blog to NOT be a sales tool, but for it be an information site only. When I make product suggestions, please take them with a grain of salt and know you can use something close or ask me about alternatives. Like so many things in life…there are bunch of ways to doing things and still ending up with the same results.

Now that you have gotten the lawn mower checked out, do this in March:

*Get out your action plan for lawn care out and be ready to do something around March 25-30^th. We suggest a low nitrogen, high potash fertilizer with a season long application of pre-emergent. (7-0-22 w/.15 Dimension

*Always try to mow that cool season lawn @ 2.5“ two times before making the first application of ANY fertilizer. This cleans up the clutter collected by winter and will help insure a quick green up.

*DO NOT mow or do anything to Zoysia lawns this month. They are a “warm season” grass. Be patient!

*Spot spray early weeds with Turflon or some form or an Ester based herbicide. These work better in cooler temperatures.

*DO NOT spray weeds in Zoysia lawns. You will hurt the Zoysia!

*Rake up Sweet Gum balls and anything else that might get smashed into ground during mowing.

Don’t forget to “spring” your clocks ahead Saturday night before you go to bed! I hope you all have safe and sunny spring! Remember folks…it’s just grass.

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!