Sirhornsalot
**The Official Horn Sports Landscaper and Landscap
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- Nov 6, 2013
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Fertilize and apply grub kill this month!
June is always an exciting time in the landscape. So many things going on at the same time. The last of the spring bloomers are fading out while the summer bloomers take over. It’s a beautiful time of year.
Last year, we began a long, hot and dry spell in the beginning of June. June had 20+ days of 100 degree heat and that set the stage for a heat wave through July and August. Fortunately, temperatures are riding around average this year so hopefully we get a normal or cooler than normal summer this year. Weather is something we live by daily in the landscape business. Weather can make our jobs easier or make our jobs harder.
During this month, the second round of fertilizer of the year should be applied to your lawn. Make sure the fertilizer you purchase is suitable for the turf grass that you have. For instance, do not apply Scott’s Turfbuilder to a St Augustine or Zoysia lawn. The nitrogen (27) is way too high and the weed killer used will harm a St Augustine or Zoysia turf. St Augustine and Zoysia require a much milder formula (15-19 in nitrogen).
Turfbuilder is made for Bermuda lawns, a turf grass that requires higher nitrogen rates. So check to make sure the labeling says the product is okay for use on your turf grass. Turfbuilder will kill a St Augustine or Zoysia lawn.
Next, before you apply your fertilizer, if your product suggests a “15” (hypothetically speaking) setting for your spreader ratio, reduce that to “14” instead this time. We are heading into the hottest time of year so it’s best to apply modestly. Fertilizer can burn up a plant, such as grass, if applied too heavily. So it’s best to play it safe.
Once you’ve applied it, water your lawn for two consecutive days to get the product dissolved and into the soil.
You should not apply fertilizer to any new sod. Any lawn with new sod should wait 60-90 days before applying a fertilizer. If only a small part of the lawn is new sod, then fertilize the rest of the lawn and skip the new section.
Grub worms
Traditionally, grub worms begin feeding this month so now would be the time to apply a granular grub worm killer. Again, once applied, water for two consecutive days to get the product worked into the soil.
Grub worms feed on your turf grass’ roots. They can cause serious damage to a lawn in a short time span. They start out at six inches below the surface during fall/winter. As spring arrives, the begin working their way to the surface, stopping around the 2-3 inch mark to feast on the roots of St Augustine, Bermuda and Zoysia turf.
There is no real way of keeping grub worms out of your soil. They are produced by a Beatle most of us call a “June bug.” The June bugs are very erratic flyers so I doubt even they know where they’ll end up. So we can expect to deal with grubs every June. If we have a mild winter, then you may expect them to begin feeding earlier, like May.
Question – “If we know they’re down there, why don’t we treat for them earlier, such as March or April?”
Answer – Because we can only kill them when they are ingesting food and they don’t begin feeding until June, normally.
To the unsuspecting homeowner, you will first notice that your turf start to become lethargic and weak looking. No amount of water you put on it seems to help at all. The turf starts yellowing and laying down and then later dies. That is how the damage of grub worms happens.
Can I plant or sod in June? Or is it too hot?
This is a common question of homeowners as we head into the heat of summer. My answer is yes, we can plant and sod in June, July and August. Plants like very warm weather, particularly native plants, desert plants, trees, shrubs, etc. This is their time of year to shine. For plants, it’s winter that slows them down, not summer.
\Plants and sod get into trouble during the hot months when the homeowner doesn’t water properly. It is best to get watering instructions from your landscaper after any landscape project, regardless of the time of year.
The Case Against Drip Irrigation
In theory, drip irrigation is the perfect way to get water to your plants and trees. You don’t have to worry about water being redirected by wind as it comes out of a spray nozzle. Or overspray. Or runoff.
At the same time, drip irrigation has flaws of its own. For instance, your drip may clog and stop getting water to a portion of your landscape. But you won’t notice this until things start dying and you have to investigate why. Kinks can form over time and stop flow. And if you do recognize that you have a clog, you then have to locate where the clog is.
One other thing that we miss with drip lines . . . Many of us use a granular fertilizer on our beds each spring. I certainly endorse it. Getting granular fertilizer to dissolve and sink into the soil requires water running on and over the pellets. This does not happen with drip irrigation. If you want to fertilize your drip irrigated bed, you must wait until a rainfall event is about to happen or use a conventional spigot sprinkler.
Watering Recommendations for Summer
Now that we’re in June, we should redo our sprinkler settings. First, change your start times to evening starts, such as 11 p.m. at night. This will allow your water to spend more time benefitting your plants and turf as opposed to morning waterings where there’s an hour or two before the sun starts the evaporation process.
You may have read somewhere, or was told by someone to not water at night because it causes fungus in turf. Whoever is saying this is not referring to Texas. Here in Texas, our nights are still warm. Fungus wants dark, damp, cool conditions, which doesn’t exist during June, July and August. In Texas, we have nightly lows in the upper 80s for weeks at a time.
You should be watering three days a week right now, since we’re into the 90s daily again. Once we get 100 degree temperatures, we’ll want to move to four days a week.
I realize some of you live in communities with water restrictions. But remember you do have an investment to protect. Don’t sit and watch it burn up.
When we arrive at the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 4, we will switch back to morning waterings so that we can stave off fungus issues as the weather becomes cooler and nights become longer.
