Turf & Ornamental Maintenance Blog

4 days 21 hours ago - By Scot \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Truly "Smart" Irrigation

Solar Sync

Truly “Smart” Irrigation Control is Now Available For All

The Solar Sync ET sensor is an advanced weather sensor that calculates evapotranspiration (ET) and adjusts Hunter controllers daily based on local weather conditions. Solar Sync measures sunlight and temperature, and uses ET to determine the correct seasonal adjustment percentage value to send to the controller. The controller then uses its programmed run time and adjusts to Solar Sync’s seasonal adjustment value to modify the actual irrigation run time for that day. In addition, the Solar Sync ET sensor integrates Hunter’s popular Rain-Clik™ and Freeze-Clik® sensors providing quick response in shutting down your irrigation system during rain and/or freezing conditions. The Solar Sync is compatible with most Hunter controllers and applicable to residences, businesses, and municipalities alike.

Call and ask us about it today!

3 weeks 12 hours ago - By Scot \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Turfgrass Saftey Awareness

Areas that are stabilized by turfgrasses enhance safety on
roads and airfields by reducing flooding, mud, and visibility — impairing dust.

Just one of the many things that Turfgrass does for us.

3 weeks 2 days ago - By Zach Nash \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Pest in the Lawn

With the mild winter and very unusual warm weather early on this year bugs are starting to get bad earlier. I have had may calls about ticks and chiggers. If you don’t already know, our turf department has the solution. Call in today and schedule an application for fleas, ticks, chiggers and many more. Starting cost is $59.

4 weeks 1 day ago - By Justin Simpson \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

SPRING DROUGHT!!

Water!!! Water!!! Water!!! We are definately in a spring drought and turf and other plants (especially newly planted materials) are showing strong signs of stress. Gary Lezak predicts no rain for the next 10 days and hot weather next week will not help. Please make sure your lawn is getting a minimum of 1" of water weekly.

4 weeks 1 day ago - By Scot \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Weeds or Seeds?

You may start to notice something that looks like weeds in your lawn at first. Take a closer look, if it looks like this picture it is just your yard going through a natural cycle, as it does every year. Your turf is going to seed. In time it will return to normal, with regular mowing practices.

5 weeks 4 hours ago - By Zach Nash \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Dry spots in lawn

I have come across a few lawns this year that have had 2ft sq to 3 ft sq very dry to nearly dead grass in those areas. What causes this when the rest of the lawn is doing great with no problems? What I am finding is that when I probe the ground in those spots there are large rocks 3 to 4 inches under the soil. Why do those areas start stressing out? With all the rain we received early on in March and then not a lot of rain after, what happened was those areas dried up faster because the root system of the grass sitting on top of the rock were only 3 to 4 inches thick. This caused the soil to dry up much faster and cannot hold as much water as other parts of the lawn. What can you do to fix this problem? You need to dig up the rock.

10 weeks 3 days ago - By Zach Nash \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Don't forget last years seed is still new grass.

Going in to the new year we can't forget last years seeding. If you did any fall seeding ranging from just spots in the yard or even a full yard renovation it is easy to forget that it is still new grass. This new grass has not established the deep root system like your well established grass in the lawn. This means that if we have another summer like the past few, with little water and very hot days your new grass will not get the water it needs to promote deep roots and will die out. With good watering habits to promote deep root systems your new grass with thrive. For good watering habits read some of our other blogs or call the office and someone can give you the recommend watering for the time of season.

10 weeks 3 days ago - By Justin Simpson \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Spray your Crabapples early this year to prevent apple scab and rust diseases.

Preventative fungicides to prevent crabapple diseases are recommended to be sprayed just before bud break (blooming). Typically that isn't until late March...except for this year. Our spring is about 3 weeks early this season and Crabapples are breaking their blooms right now. We recommend a minimum of two treatments with a preference of three. Timing should be approx. 15-21 days apart. Please let us know if you are interested in this service.

27 weeks 3 days ago - By Justin Simpson \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Poor Seed Germination this Fall!

I've gotten many calls this fall about poor seed germination. The cause of this was not poor workmanship or quality of seed but rather in the fall drought we've experienced this year. See the attached image from Joe Lauria from FOX 4 KC showing that this September and October was the 3rd driest on record. I saw the poorest germination I've ever seen in irrigated lawns and practically NO germination in un-irrigated lawns. Coverage/Distribution problems were very apparant in irrigated lawns with some areas coming up great and other areas nothing but drought stressed turf and no seed germination. Even the best installed system is not going to cover 100% perfectly...so chances are that nobody's seed germinated 100% this season.

Our recommendation now is to plan on dormant seeding or spring seeding bare or thin areas. The seed that is still laying on the ground from fall is not going to germinate at this point, so other measures must be taken. Please call with questions.

29 weeks 12 hours ago - By Scot \\ Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

Winterize your yard for 2012

Some experts will say that the late fall winterizer application is single most important lawn feeding of the year, and I agree. Apply your final feeding right before the winter months, when grass is prepping for a winter nap. This will strengthen roots and increase nitrogen storage for an early spring green up and a healthier lawn next year.

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