Turf & Ornamental Maintenance

There are approx. 30,000,000 acres of lawn in the US.  Fifty three million households have lawns, ranging from tiny plots to huge acreages.  It is estimated Homeowners spend more than $5 billion per year on lawn care supplies, equip. and services.  They put in about 40 hours per week per year tending to their lawns at an average cost of $327 yearly.  Starting a new lawn costs around $70.00 per 1,000 sq. feet (seeding) with more than 80% of that cost going into labor and equipment. 

Bagworms are here and here bigger than ever!  Eastern red cedars (Juniper- all varieties) and Spruces have been hit hard this summer.  Control is imperitive right now as bigger bagworms consume increasingly greater amounts of foliage, thus imperiling "evergreens" with each passing day.  I've seen a mature Spruce tree killed completely in the period of 2-3 days in hot climates.  Bagworms are easy to control and kill if treatment is done early...like NOW!!

The following is taken from the KSU Horticulture Newsletter, by Ward Upham:
Outside Plants May Need to be Watered
As we mentioned in an earlier newsletter, waterlogged soils push oxygen out of the soil that roots need to survive. Every living cell in a plant must have oxygen or it dies. Numerous parts of Kansas have had such a wet winter and spring that plants are entering the summer with weakened root systems.

The weather over the last 7-10 days is shaping up to be the "Perfect Storm" for pythium development and other turfgrass diseases like Brown Patch and Dollar spot.  High moisture, humidity and nighttime temps. above 68 degrees are perfect conditions for fungi to develop. 

Are you planting your tree correctly?
The following opinion was published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.  It can be found on their website at http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2005/04/50.htm
 
Tree fanciers all have one thing in common. We all plant trees incorrectly. More specifically, we all plant trees too deeply. Maybe 10 percent of the people reading that sentence are thinking, "Yes, most everybody else does plant trees too deep, but not me."

This is probably the most commonly asked question by our customers...so to shed some light on the situation, I've enclosed a great article from K-State research & extension-

Did you know that Scientists have found that a chemical released by freshly cut grass makes people feel content?

Did you know that rain sensors are required by law in many states?  Rain sensors can be retrofitted to fit nearly any controller to save you $$$$ and conserve our most important natural resource, water.  There is also new technology called "smart sync" that considers temperature, wind & rain to properly calibrate as needed depending on the current weather conditions. 

This spring, I've noticed this disease on about 9 of 10 lawns I've looked at.  Most if the sites have been on side yards where there is little air movement and poor light.  Powdery mildew appears on the upper portion of the grass blade as a powdery white substance.  This fungi is usually purely aesthetically displeasing, but can cause the plant to die if it is allowed to become severe enough to infect the crown portion of the plant.  The best way to control the disease is to allow light penetration and better air movement.  There are a # of fungicides labeled for co