Lawn Care

Fall will be here before you know it! So now’s the time to prepare your beds for fresh Fall color. We have garden mums, marigolds, dianthus and petunias, and we’ll be getting cooler season annuals in soon. So if your Summer flowers are looking spent, make sure you put fresh compost down, like Cotton Burr Compost (or Nature’s Blend, on sale), and use Biotone to add great microorganisms to your flower beds. Go ahead and get your fertilizers now too (while getting some lawn food)! Blood meal is a staple for pansies, and Rocket Fuel does wonders for Marigolds to get them started. If you plan now, your plants will thank you for it!

-Marta

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.

Anytime between mid-September and mid-October is prime time to fertilize the lawn, trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Fertilizing while it is still warm is best because plants are still in their active growing season and taking up the nutrients provided.

Here’s a repost of DeAnna’s fertilizing guide from earlier this year:

“Anytime between mid-September and mid-October is prime time to fertilize the lawn, trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Fertilizing while it is still warm is best because plants are still in their active growing season and taking up the nutrients provided. Once the weather starts cooling down plants begin going into dormancy and therefore are not as likely to take up the nutrients needed for the fall and winter. Remember to water in the fertilizer with at least a ½ inch of irrigation. Never depend on the rain to water in your fertilizer, because as you know, it never rains when predicted, and also never gives us that perfect ½ inch. It either rains too much, too little, or not at all. Making sure the timing is right and proper amount of water is applied assures your lawn of getting the full benefit of the nutrients it needs to maintain healthy leaves and roots for the dormant season. We carry our Gill Lawn and Garden and also several organic lawn fertilizers. Never use Weed and Feed if you have any trees or shrubs in the yard. Trees are a broadleaf just like a weed, so it will try to kill them as well. Weed killers and weed preventers can be used in October once our temperatures moderate in the 80’s. We will talk about them more as the season approaches.”

-DeAnna

October is the month to do your fall lawn fertilizing and weed prevention. After that it is getting late to have maximum effect. If weeds are a problem every winter and spring, use a pre-emergent to prevent the weeds from sprouting. Amaze granules or Weed and Grass Stopper with Dimension are the best to use in October to prevent winter weeds and again in January to prevent spring weeds. An organic alternative is Corn Gluten. These chemicals only last one season, so be sure to re-apply in 3 months. If you have any other questions on Lawn care for the fall and winter, come see me at the Airline Store on Saturday October 10^th from 10:00-11:00, for our fall Garden Talk.

-DeAnna

Anything that didn’t get done in October, do it now! If you need to fertilize, prevent weeds, check for insects or think about preventing fungus caused by heavy rains or overwatering, we have everything you need and we can help identify any problems you may have. James also did a great you tube video on identifying and treating for brown patch fungus. You can find it on our website under “Garden Tips”, then “Videos”, then “Brown Patch”. We also have a great selection of fall and winter flowers ready to plant. Petunias, Snapdragons, Dianthus, Violas, Impatiens, Begonias, Geraniums and more. Pansies will be here mid November. Work Nature’s Blend into the soil before planting and add Actinovate or Actino-Iron to the soil to help prevent and control fungus.

-DeAnna

We love the rain, but so do the skeeters. We have everything you need to repel and kill them. Mosquito Beater Liquid Hose-end can be sprayed across the lawn, shrubs and anywhere else they may hide. We also have Mosquito Dunks and Mosquito Bits for standing water in birdbaths, saucers, puddles or even old tires to kill their larvae organically. We have Mosquito Beater Granules which are essential plant oils on a flake to repel them. It is Lemon grass oil, Citronella oil, Garlic, Geranium oil and Cedar oil, so it smells really nice. And don’t forget our Skeeter Eggs that you hang on the porch or patio. They hold Citronella oil in a porous egg to repel for 200 sq. ft. Having a party or just want to enjoy the cool evenings outdoors. Come see us and we will get you what you need.

-DeAnna

Oak Tree Caterpillars

Be on the look-out for oak tree caterpillars in your oak trees. They cluster together in large groups feeding on the leaves of your trees or you may notice poop under your tree (on your patio or walk.) They can be killed with Thuricide sprayed onto the leaves or with Spinosad. If your trees are too large to spray or you just don’t want to, they will not kill your trees. The tree will leaf back out in the Spring. I have had customers say that early in the mornings they could hear them chewing the hard oak leaves. Crunch, Crunch, Crunch!

Powdery Mildew on Mesquite Trees

With the cooler temperatures, shorter days and rains in the past few weeks, powdery mildew fungus has attacked mesquite trees. Since the trees are getting ready to drop their leaves for the winter, it is not necessary to spray them. They will leaf out and be fine next spring.

-DeAnna

Plumeria are suffering from rust fungus caused by our wet conditions. The undersides of the leaves have yellow- orange or reddish brown pustules. Since you should be withholding water from the plumeria so they can go dormant for the winter, be sure to gather up the leaves as they drop and discard in the trash. It is not necessary to spray unless the condition re-occurs in the spring.

Lawn Care

Footer