This cool wet spring has been excellent for cool season root growth. This is the first time in many years timely soaking rains have allowed us to have ZERO need so far for turf irrigation through mid May! However, there is a price to pay for all this water just as soon as the warm days hit! "Brown Patch" and "nutsedge" cometh. The spores are "festering". Therefore, we will begin first round of preventive disease control next Monday.
It is time to make sure your irrigation is up and running. Please make sure your irrigation company also checks the programming. Remember, deep, infrequent irrigation is the key to reducing Nutsedge problems in the summer.
If it rains after you apply the treatment , will it still work? Yes, absolutely! Moisture is needed to activate the preemergents, so rain or snow following the 1st app is beneficial, not detrimental. In fact, the longer preemergent remains on soil surface without being activated by moisture, the more it will evaporate into atmosphere. Once activated with moisture, it is no longer susceptible to atmospheric breakdown. Also, the fertilizers we apply also are root absorbed, so moisture helps there as well. The only issue a heavy rain may cause with first app is reduced post emergent weed control. However, we use weed control products that are both leaf and root absorbed and a "sticker" to help hold herbicides on the foliage so the foliar portions can be absorbed. Therefore, the ideal situation is for a rainfall to occur after the treatment has been down for one hour. Thanks for reading this. Hope it helps!
This is the most popular question of the week. The answer is not even close to too late. Crabgrass germination is strictly based on soil temps. Period. It has zero to do with blooming forsythia. In sixteen years, I have never seen one peice of crabgrass germinate before April 1st. This year is no exception. Based on current soil temps, crabgrass won't even think about germination until about April 11th. So, rest easy if you haven't gotten your first application yet. All is well!
During early September 2012, we had 6 lawns consumed in less than 72 hours by fall armyworms. This was the first time this has occured since the late 1970’s! Therefore, I had never seen this happen before on a home lawn (that was not new sod)Here is what we know:
1. The common factors on lawns hit were they all have irrigation systems, all had some common bermuda in the lawns or in adjacent neighbors lawn.
2. Farmers planting winter wheat in middle TN were also hit hard.
3. The armyworms laid there eggs in irrigated areas only.
4. Traditional grub control products (such as imacloprid) do NOT control armyworms.
5. Bird populations and/or large populations of red wasps were abundant in these areas.
What can be done? This year, we will use a turf insect control product that will control both grubs and armyworms. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL my IRRIGATED customers take this application in the summer of 2013.***It will also control ticks.
AREA CODES EFFECTED IN 2012 - 37215,37205,37027,37064. Had no major damage to any lawn in 37069, but this could be your year. Predicting armyworm epidemics is very difficult. Keep an eye on how many red wasps with black wings you notice this spring!
Call me 615-394-6867 or email me with any questions or to make sure you are signed up for armyworm control this summer. Thanks!
After a mild winter in middle TN, it will soon be time for crabgrass pre-emergent. Pre-emergents have to be applied prior to seed germination to be effective. They are activated by moisture, so rain or snow after this application is beneficial, not detrimental. Soil temps are about 4 degrees warmer right now than this time last year. Crabgrass seed germination is occurs when soil tempatures at 1 inch stay at 50 degrees or above for three consectutive days. Current soil tempatures at 1 inch depth in middle TN about 40 degrees. So its time for us to get busy!
