Wow! What a quick, hot, dry and very humid summer. Soon the cooler wet weather will be here. September is the time of the year to start looking at reducing the height of your lawn, 3 inches is perfect. You also need to watch the amount of water you put on your lawn. At this time of year watering 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes is plenty. Over watering in the fall will promote disease. September is also a great month to look at doing some lawn revitalization like core aeration. September is also the best month to do seeding.

Core Aeration is an often overlooked but important piece of having a healthy, lush lawn. Core Aeration helps to reduce thatch, improve soil structure, and allows fertilizer, water, and oxygen to get to the root zone where it’s needed most. The best time for Core aeration is in the fall. If you would like to schedule this service, or have any questions, please call our office.

Bees, Wasps, Ants, & Spiders? Our Bug Shield-Perimeter Pest Control Program will prevent & kill insects living on or entering your home. Treatments are done by our State licensed applicator who knows how to identify pests and which products to use for the best results! Each visit also includes spraying an odorless and non-staining liquid to places bugs like to live and hide…around the foundation, doors & windows, around and under decks, on the eves, fascia and gutters, behind porch lights, meter boxes, etc. The normal seasonal program consist of 5 monthly visits May through September. However…it’s not too late to enjoy a pest free home! Get your home protected before the cooler temperatures send insects indoors to spend the winter in your warm home.

How Much and When should I Water?
As we get farther into summer, the watering needs on a lawn greatly increase.
If you have an irrigation system, it will probably need to be adjusted to water more frequently than in the spring. But be sure it gets turned back down again later in the year- If the lawn is too wet into the fall it greatly increases the likelihood of disease and other problems like moss.
We recommend that you never water at night. Doing so will leave the grass wet for too long and create the perfect conditions for some troublesome lawn diseases.
However, watering at night is still better than not watering at all.

Mowing Tips
Often the greatest and simplest thing you can do to improve the quality of your lawn is to raise the mowing height. The grass varieties we have here should be mowed to a height of 3 1/2″ or higher. Doing so will help to thicken up the lawn, crowd out weeds and crabgrass, help to fill in bare spots, and improve root development. It will also reduce the lawn watering needs and improve the grass resistance to disease.
Mower blades should be sharpened at least once a year, and many professionals recommend sharpening after each 8 hrs. of mowing. A dull mower blade will rip and tear, leaving a brown spot at the tip of the grass blade.

Brown Spots?
If you are seeing brown spots in your lawn, there is a very good chance the lawn has a disease called Red Thread. Red thread at first glance will look like a brown spots, each usually 1″-4″ in diameter, but can be up to 4 feet. Upon close inspection of the tip of the affected grass blades you may see a tiny pink or red thread growing up off the top.
Red thread will not kill a lawn, and will go away in time on its own.
Fungicides are usually not a good option for this disease, since they are expensive and have unreliable results. If you are able to bag your mower clipping while the disease is present it will help prevent the spreading of Red Thread. Our next scheduled application of fertilizer will actually help grow out the disease too.