Gill Garden Center + Landscape Co.
Corpus Christi, TX Garden Center
How to heal your lawn from a long summer: identify and treat damage from Chinch Bugs and Sod Webworms; apply pre-emergent to prevent weeds; fertilize in fall for healthy roots come spring.
Also, keep an eye out for the fungus among us. Watch James’ video on Brown Patch Fungus for more info.
If you are ever unsure, just dig up a chunk of the problem area and bring it in to us for help with a diagnosis.
Further reading: Top Five Tips for a Beautiful Lawn.
1. Fertilize in Fall. It’s great to fertilize in spring, and again early summer, but fall fertilization is probably the most important of all, and the most neglected. September 15 to November 15 application makes the nutrients available while the roots are still active. This will result in better turf density (and so fewer weeds), stronger roots, and residual nutrient inside the grass runners for faster green-up next spring. Apply the recommended amount, as excess fertilizer can result in fall and winter fungus.
2. Water Properly. A long deep soaking once a week is appropriate through mid-October, then water just once every two weeks through fall and winter, if we don’t get an inch of rain. Excess frequency of watering also encourages fungus problems. Resume once a week watering mid-March to April.
3. Watch for Insects. Chinch bugs have been a scourge this summer! Grub damage can start showing up late summer. And there is always the possibility of Fall Armyworms or Sod Webworms in fall. Don’t take your neighbor’s advice, please bring in a sample of lawn as soon as you see any problem (still somewhat alive but showing symptoms) and maybe a photo, and let us advise on proper treatment. Don’t just douse any and all brown spots with pesticide. Some may be old drought/heat damage, some may be fungus.
4. Mow Properly. Once a week minimum during rapid growth. More frequently is even better if you can manage it (notice how often you see the mowers on the golf course). This results in better density and therefore fewer weeds. Keep your blade sharpened for best grass health. During late fall and winter fungus season, see if you can get your yardman to sterilize his mower before getting on your lawn to minimize spread of fungal spores from other yards (good luck with that!)
5. Control Weeds. If you have followed recommendations 1-4, you are already ahead! But the next step, if you feel it necessary, is a pre-emergent weed preventer, such as Amaze or Dimension, applied in October and again in January. Follow label recommendations for best results, you do not want to over or under apply. We do not recommend weed-and-feed fertilizers, because plants and shrubs all need fertilizer, but weed killers can damage or kill shrubs and trees, and effective application times for fertilizers and weed killers are very different. If you have some broadleaf weeds (clover, sow thistle, dandelion, chickweed) occurring in January or February, you can spot apply a broadleaf weed-killer such as Weed-B-Gon for Southern Lawns.
James 
In the past week or two lawns all over town are looking like they are drying up from the heat of summer. Well, this could be true if you are not watering slow and deep enough. Make sure you are applying a least an inch of water when you do water. Use a cat food can or tuna fish can to measure. Set the can in the lawn, turn on the sprinkler and when the can is full to a 1″ mark, you have watered long enough. Since temperatures have soared to the upper 90’s , everything is super dry. Chinch bugs like it hot and dry so be sure and check for signs of them. The grass will look like you haven’t watered, but when you push a shovel into the lawn it goes in easy and you reach your finger in and feel moisture (If you can’t push a shovel in, see above). You can dig up a shovel width sample, (dirt and all) and turn it upside down over white paper and see if any chinch bugs fall out, or you can bring it to us and we will check. Using a liquid insecticide like Cyonara Hose-end or Triazicide Hose-end works well. You can use Spinosad or Diatomaceous Earth as an organic option. Once the Chinch bugs are dead the lawn will recover quickly. You may need to reapply in a few weeks since we have another month of hot weather ahead and chinch bugs love the heat. Another summer insect is grub worms. They begin feeding usually around June – July and by now the damage begins to show up. If the grass lifts up easily (no roots), and you dig down and find grubs ( more than 4 in one square foot) apply Bayer 24 hour Grub Worm Killer or Triazicide granules and water in thoroughly.
-DeAnna
Now that the temperatures have soared and the rain has stopped, be on the lookout for Chinch bugs in the lawn. The areas of the lawn near the sidewalk and driveway will be the first to look dry and in need of water. Take a shovel width scoop of the lawn, (grass and soil in tact)and shake it over a piece of white paper to expose black bugs with a white stripe across their back. That would be chinch bugs. Chinch bugs are a hot weather insect and can continue to be a problem all summer long. I prefer to use a hose-end spray like Spinosad or powdered Diatomaceaous Earth which are both organic. You could also use Cyonara, Triazicide or any Permethrin product ex. Mosquito Beater Hose-end. Make sure when watering the lawn that you do reach those edges. Once a week, slow and deep with 1 inch of water is recommended. Place a cat food or tuna fish can in the sprinkler zone and when the can is full, you have watered long enough. Remember to water before 10:00 am and after 6:00 pm, and now you can pick your water day. The lawn will recover quickly, but be on the lookout since the pests can return.
Photo: k-state.edu
-DeAnna
This is the most important of all. Water slow and deep to make sure at least one inch of water is applied to all established lawn and landscape plants for our long hot summers. Smaller bedding plants such as annual color and perennial beds will require a second supplemental watering since they have a smaller root system.
Use hardwood mulch three to four inches deep in planting beds to help conserve moisture as well as control weeds. Most mulch is applied too thin, only two inches rather than three to four. Do not bury crown of plant or trunk of shrubs.
A thin layer of Nature’s Blend Compost applied several times a year helps to enrich the soil and will cut watering demands.
Many insects are seasonal. Chinch bugs attack lawns in the hot summer months, so watch the edges of your lawn for the first signs. Spider mites also love the hot dry summer season. Keep an eye on junipers, pittosporums and houseplants for signs of mottling on the leaves or leaf drop and treat as soon as possible. Mealy bugs are also a hot weather insect and leave white cotton along the stems and undersides of many plants. More than one application may be needed to control some of these insects.
This is not always an issue in the summer, but can be if we are getting periods of heavy rain. Proper year round watering and adding Nature’s Blend several times a year will help minimize fungal issues.
Keeping your plants fed for the summer is very important, but applying at a lower rate may help to keep them healthy without encouraging too much new growth. Using organic fertilizers keep the plants healthy which minimizes insect attacks, Milorganite Fertilizer for instance.
Some plants will need to be pruned in the summer to keep them more compact and not overgrown. Be careful, though, since some plants can sunburn easily when removing the upper leaves which have been shading the rest of the plant.
Some weeds burn off in the summer heat. Pre-emergents, such as Green Light Amaze and Hi Yield Weed & Grass Stopper can be applied year round in landscape beds to prevent weeds. Organic weed killers, such as Nature’s Guide Horticultural Vinegar, for landscape beds, are most effective in hot summer temperatures. But broadleaf lawn weed killers cannot be used in your grass once temperatures get above 85 degrees due to burning. Keep the grass mowed to remove seed heads of weeds. Mechanical means is always the best.
Proper mowing height will shade the ground and cause less water evaporation from the soil, reducing water needs. St. Augustine is best at three inches, so raise the mower. Also a sharp mower blade helps the grass look fresh and green, while a dull blade leaves ragged edges that turn brown and cause the lawn to look somewhat dead and dull.
With any landscape make sure you have thought out the full mature height and width of plants, sun requirements and water needs before planting. You should never be constantly pruning a plant because it is too large for the space. That is the wrong plant for the spot. Also group like water need plants together. The most drought tolerant plants should be those furthest from the water source.
Now that you have worked hard at planting and maintaining the landscape, take the time to kick back, relax and admire the beauty you created. Gardening is great therapy! it not only burns calories, it also reduces stress from a hard day’s work and helps to lower blood pressure. Colleges are even offering courses in horticultural therapy. Gardeners live longer lives; plants give you reason to get up and get moving!
-DeAnna
After all the spring rains giving us lush green lawns, it sure didn’t take long for the dog days of summer to take its toll on some. We are diagnosing lots of chinch bugs and grub worm damage. James has a couple of videos on our website and You Tube about lawns. Be sure to check those out to help you diagnose your problems. You can also bring in a sample for us to look at. Use a shovel and dig us up a shovel width square of grass with the soil attached. You will be able to take the sample back home and put it back in the hole you dug. We will help diagnose your problem and get you the best solution to fix it. Spreading Natures Blend Compost over the area will help it to recover quicker. Continue with your once a week slow and deep watering through September and October, but after that, we should be able to cut back to every other week due to shorter days and cooler temperatures and hopefully more rainfall.
Some of you remember Stuart as an infant in his baby carrier, plopped on the sales counter at our Airline store while I ran the cash register. Some of you remember his working in your garden or helping you select your Christmas tree or coming to your home with James on a house call. We laugh out loud when we recall Stuart, around 10 at the time, diagnosing chinch bugs in a customer’s yard. He clearly was paying attention to his dad. And then there was the time, at about the same age, when he suggested that we start staying open 24 hours a day, allowing inventory to be stocked while customers were asleep! We haven’t implemented his system, but we recognize it has merit. As a young boy, Stuart travelled with us on tours of plant growers around Texas. James, Stuart and I would jump in the grower’s vehicle and drive the fields, trying to find the best plants for our garden center. James and I devised a system for grading plants, A+ being the best to F being the worst, all recorded on paper, but never revealed to our salesperson. On one of these trips, Stuart announced to the group that he thought the dwarf pittosporum was a C grade. We covered up his comment as best we could, but laughed later. Bottom line, Stuart lived Gill Landscape Nursery from a very early age.
Stuart has always been adventurous. I’m embarrassed to say friends would report seeing him on his bike, all over Corpus Christi. He loved exploring. He loved seeing other neighborhoods. He loved seeing the way others lived. His earliest out-of-town adventures included fishing with his brother Trevor at his uncle Lanny’s “Baja Laguna”, kayaking on Texas rivers, exploring around my parents’ cabin in Colorado, camping with his dad, brother and grandmother on Matagorda Island, exploring South Texas brush in Ingleside, and many, many trips to the beach with his dad. As he got older, he worked to travel, often alone. Between school and jobs he travelled to countries in Europe, Central and South America. On one of his surf trips with his dad to Ecuador, he met two women from Seattle. After getting to know Stuart, they recommended he move to Seattle. They thought he would like it. He had finished his degree at the University of Texas and was working in Napa, California.
Stuart packed his bags and moved to Seattle. He started working in the landscape industry, and then moved into carpentry. Stuart has always had a great appreciation for fine craftsmanship. He found good people to work with, he started from the bottom learning the trade, and eventually began purchasing his own tools, the best he could find. He now works with Ambrose Construction, managing beautiful residential remodels and additions.
Stuart met Anne in February of 2013. She hadn’t been in Seattle long. They found they had a lot in common. They both love good food and literature; they both love the outdoors and adventure. Plus she’s very pretty with beautiful blue eyes. Anne also has travelled to many foreign destinations with her parents and lived in Indonesia. Anne works in a public relations firm, representing independent restaurants in Seattle. She is a skier, runner & yoga instructor. She is kind, gentle and smart, she loves Stuart, and she’s about to become our daughter-in-law!
So…that’s an update on our son, Stuart. You know, the day he was born, James’ and my lives changed forever. He has truly been a joy for us, someone who is always on our minds, someone with whom we look forward to spending time with. Even though Stuart doesn’t live in Corpus Christi anymore, he is still a part of Gill’s. He knows and loves our Gill family. He continues to help us think through work challenges. He is always there to celebrate our successes.
One more thing… Anne and Stuart are doing a bike tour of Indonesia for their honeymoon. Happy, Happy!
-Sally
Seems a little early with all the rain, but the temperatures are right on up there where they should be for May. I am seeing lots of damage to the lawns and finding chinch bugs. Areas of the lawn will look dry, especially near the sidewalk or driveway where it is the hottest. If you dig up a shovel width piece of lawn and shake it over white paper, you will see small black bugs with a white stripe across their back. The old method was to cut the bottom out of a coffee can and push it into the soil of the dry area, fill it with water and the chinch bugs would float. Try finding a metal coffee can these days! You can spray the areas with Cyonara, 
Triazicide, even Mosquito Beater Hose-end will kill chinch bugs. You do not have to spray the whole lawn, just the areas affected. The grass will quickly recover. For an organic control, use Spinosad or Diatomaceous Earth.
-DeAnna
We are holding off on bringing in periwinkles (one of our favorite, most reliable annuals!) due to the rain patterns we have been having, and we encourage you to stay away from them until the days get longer and drier. With rain and heavy moisture in the air, they suffer from Phytophthora, an airborne fungus, and die within days. We promise we will get them in as soon as conditions permit!!
-Sally
