Sirhornsalot
**The Official Horn Sports Landscaper and Landscap
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2013
- Messages
- 33,309
A couple of very important topics this time around as we enter the end of summer and beginning of fall. While you’re not watching Longhorn Network or ESPN, there’s still plenty of landscape work to be done during this time.
THE LABOR DAY CHANGE
I always recommend using Labor Day as the transition date for the change in the watering schedule. Whereas before, we have been watering in the late evening to maximize the time the turf spends with the moisture, now we need to manage that relationship and little differently.
We now want to water in the mornings, not evenings. The days are growing shorter, the heat less intense. While it might get to 98, the time spent at 98 is far less than it was just three weeks ago. The nights are longer, cooler, and moisture is slower to evaporate. These conditions combine to form the perfect set up for lawn fungus, particularly in St Augustine turf.
Additionally, this is typically the time we apply the fall fertilization. If the water management described above is not addressed, and the fertilizer is applied, the set up for fungus is enhanced. The nitrogen in fertilizer helps fungus grow. So you can see how important it is to change your watering from evening to morning.
And finally, reduce your watering times. If you’re watering four times a week, reduce to two days a week. If you’re already under water restrictions such as Austin or Plano/Frisco/Mckinney, ignore this advice. At my own residence, we are under two days a week restriction. However, I have been able to get four waterings on those two days (morning and evening each day). I’m now reducing to two waterings. I will also cut but on the amount of time/water I’m using during each watering.
NOW, if you’re wondering exactly what it is that you’re supposed to be preventing here, there are several types of lawn fungus that we’re hoping to avoid.
LAWN FUNGUS
Brown Patch, pictured. Note the circular shapes
One variety is called Brown Patch. It is easily recognized by it’s circular shape and dead or dying grass in the middle.
Dollar Spot is seen on the blades of the grass itself. You’ll see black circles on the blades and weak and lethargic turf in general.
Take-All Patch is similar to Brown Patch, but a little tougher to eradicate.
What to do? Liquid and granular fungicides work well. On the retail side, Spectracide’s Immunox is a decent product but will likely require two applications a week apart. On the commercial side, Eagle20 is a great fungicide, comes in both liquid and granular. Another product, HeadwayG, is a total kill product, meaning it kills all fungus in the turf, good or bad.
A granular fungicide works almost instantly ON THE SOIL. It will require a few days for the product to work into the roots and into the plant. This is why the liquid spray fungicides are so effective for immediate knock back. I advise going with both as you want the short term protection (liquid) and also something to stop a rebound (granular).
Again, if you’re interested in any of the products I’ve mentioned, we do sell them. Email me for more information. greenthumbtx@verizon.net
TREE TRIMMING
I’ll remind that from now until the time where deciduous trees drop their leaves is the ideal time for trimming trees. Once the leaves fall, it’s tough to distinguish the living limbs and dead limbs.
Again, if you’re doing this yourself, remember to make your cuts at the collars (see graphic). Make a "relief cut," a partial cut at the bottom of the branch, before making your primary cut. Before removing any limb of significance, back away and take a long look. See the tree as it will look AFTER the cut. Once you’ve cut it off, you can’t glue it back.
We advise not to seal the cuts as science now says that doing so interrupts the tree’s natural healing processes.
SPRINKLER INSPECTION TIME!
Right now is a great time to conduct a sprinkler inspection of your system. The burden of the summer season is almost behind us and your system will now not be required to work as hard as it has for the past few months. Since it has been put to regular use, it is wise to stop and make sure the system is working properly and that you’re not losing water/money through waste, leaks, broken heads, busted lines and incorrect head/spray positioning.
If you’re not confident in doing this yourself, hire a pro to do it for you. It’s well worth it in the long run.
LOWER THE BLADE
Depending on where you are, now may be a good time to lower your lawn mower blade. If you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Abilene or Tyler/Longview area, lower your blade a notch now. You should be mowing at about 3 inches. Those of you in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, keep yours high or where it’s at until temperatures drop and stay below 100 or 99.
Doing so is another way of helping to prevent lawn fungus from developing as more sunlight is allowed to hit the soil surface with shorter turf.
TRIM THE SHRUBS NOW!
Since we’ve been good landscapers over the past month and NOT trimmed our shrubs during the high heat, you should be able to trim them now without consequence. This is also a great time to fertilize your beds. With landscape plants, stick with a fertilizer in the 10-5-4 range or close.
Q&A
Here’s a couple of questions I received this week, thought I’d share in case one of them is a question you may have thought of, but not asked.
Question - When is the best time to build a flagstone patio or is there such a thing as a good or bad time?
Answer - We can build flagstone patios at any time of the year. It’s easier to do in the summer because of the extended days and less rain. But we build lots of flagstone patios and build them in practically every month of the year.
Question - I have St Augustine turf and was thinking of overseeding this fall with winter rye. Is there any reason why I shouldn’t?
Answer - Yes, there is. You can successfully overseed St Augustine with Winter Rye, but I would highly advise against doing it more than say once every five years. The reason is because St Augustine comes out of dormancy so much sooner than Bermuda. The St Augustine is trying to emerge at the same time the Winter Rye is in it’s healthiest state of the season. The result is weaker St Augustine turf. With Bermuda turf, the process is much easier and has less negative consequence associated with it. By the time Bermuda gets rocking, the Winter Rye is checking out.
Question - What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard of someone doing to their landscape? Just curious.
Answer - I once received a call from a lady who was so mad I could hardly understand her. She’s in Highland Park in a $2 mil home. There’s a tree that bordered her property and the neighbors, but was completely on her side of the line. The neighbors just moved in two weeks prior. The neighbors cut the tree down the day before, thinking the tree was theirs and on their property. She was livid.
You have to imagine how you might feel if your new neighbors move in and then cut down one of your trees. LOL
So she hires us to get the stump grinded and locate a replacement tree. The tree she ended up accepting, and was paid for by the “oops†neighbor, tallied up to a cool $13,000 (full size) plus an additional $700 to transport and plant.
Welcome to the neighborhood!!! lol
THE LABOR DAY CHANGE
I always recommend using Labor Day as the transition date for the change in the watering schedule. Whereas before, we have been watering in the late evening to maximize the time the turf spends with the moisture, now we need to manage that relationship and little differently.
We now want to water in the mornings, not evenings. The days are growing shorter, the heat less intense. While it might get to 98, the time spent at 98 is far less than it was just three weeks ago. The nights are longer, cooler, and moisture is slower to evaporate. These conditions combine to form the perfect set up for lawn fungus, particularly in St Augustine turf.
Additionally, this is typically the time we apply the fall fertilization. If the water management described above is not addressed, and the fertilizer is applied, the set up for fungus is enhanced. The nitrogen in fertilizer helps fungus grow. So you can see how important it is to change your watering from evening to morning.
And finally, reduce your watering times. If you’re watering four times a week, reduce to two days a week. If you’re already under water restrictions such as Austin or Plano/Frisco/Mckinney, ignore this advice. At my own residence, we are under two days a week restriction. However, I have been able to get four waterings on those two days (morning and evening each day). I’m now reducing to two waterings. I will also cut but on the amount of time/water I’m using during each watering.
NOW, if you’re wondering exactly what it is that you’re supposed to be preventing here, there are several types of lawn fungus that we’re hoping to avoid.
LAWN FUNGUS
Brown Patch, pictured. Note the circular shapes
One variety is called Brown Patch. It is easily recognized by it’s circular shape and dead or dying grass in the middle.
Dollar Spot is seen on the blades of the grass itself. You’ll see black circles on the blades and weak and lethargic turf in general.
Take-All Patch is similar to Brown Patch, but a little tougher to eradicate.
What to do? Liquid and granular fungicides work well. On the retail side, Spectracide’s Immunox is a decent product but will likely require two applications a week apart. On the commercial side, Eagle20 is a great fungicide, comes in both liquid and granular. Another product, HeadwayG, is a total kill product, meaning it kills all fungus in the turf, good or bad.
A granular fungicide works almost instantly ON THE SOIL. It will require a few days for the product to work into the roots and into the plant. This is why the liquid spray fungicides are so effective for immediate knock back. I advise going with both as you want the short term protection (liquid) and also something to stop a rebound (granular).
Again, if you’re interested in any of the products I’ve mentioned, we do sell them. Email me for more information. greenthumbtx@verizon.net
TREE TRIMMING
I’ll remind that from now until the time where deciduous trees drop their leaves is the ideal time for trimming trees. Once the leaves fall, it’s tough to distinguish the living limbs and dead limbs.
Again, if you’re doing this yourself, remember to make your cuts at the collars (see graphic). Make a "relief cut," a partial cut at the bottom of the branch, before making your primary cut. Before removing any limb of significance, back away and take a long look. See the tree as it will look AFTER the cut. Once you’ve cut it off, you can’t glue it back.
We advise not to seal the cuts as science now says that doing so interrupts the tree’s natural healing processes.
SPRINKLER INSPECTION TIME!
Right now is a great time to conduct a sprinkler inspection of your system. The burden of the summer season is almost behind us and your system will now not be required to work as hard as it has for the past few months. Since it has been put to regular use, it is wise to stop and make sure the system is working properly and that you’re not losing water/money through waste, leaks, broken heads, busted lines and incorrect head/spray positioning.
If you’re not confident in doing this yourself, hire a pro to do it for you. It’s well worth it in the long run.
LOWER THE BLADE
Depending on where you are, now may be a good time to lower your lawn mower blade. If you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Abilene or Tyler/Longview area, lower your blade a notch now. You should be mowing at about 3 inches. Those of you in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, keep yours high or where it’s at until temperatures drop and stay below 100 or 99.
Doing so is another way of helping to prevent lawn fungus from developing as more sunlight is allowed to hit the soil surface with shorter turf.
TRIM THE SHRUBS NOW!
Since we’ve been good landscapers over the past month and NOT trimmed our shrubs during the high heat, you should be able to trim them now without consequence. This is also a great time to fertilize your beds. With landscape plants, stick with a fertilizer in the 10-5-4 range or close.
Q&A
Here’s a couple of questions I received this week, thought I’d share in case one of them is a question you may have thought of, but not asked.
Question - When is the best time to build a flagstone patio or is there such a thing as a good or bad time?
Answer - We can build flagstone patios at any time of the year. It’s easier to do in the summer because of the extended days and less rain. But we build lots of flagstone patios and build them in practically every month of the year.
Question - I have St Augustine turf and was thinking of overseeding this fall with winter rye. Is there any reason why I shouldn’t?
Answer - Yes, there is. You can successfully overseed St Augustine with Winter Rye, but I would highly advise against doing it more than say once every five years. The reason is because St Augustine comes out of dormancy so much sooner than Bermuda. The St Augustine is trying to emerge at the same time the Winter Rye is in it’s healthiest state of the season. The result is weaker St Augustine turf. With Bermuda turf, the process is much easier and has less negative consequence associated with it. By the time Bermuda gets rocking, the Winter Rye is checking out.
Question - What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard of someone doing to their landscape? Just curious.
Answer - I once received a call from a lady who was so mad I could hardly understand her. She’s in Highland Park in a $2 mil home. There’s a tree that bordered her property and the neighbors, but was completely on her side of the line. The neighbors just moved in two weeks prior. The neighbors cut the tree down the day before, thinking the tree was theirs and on their property. She was livid.
You have to imagine how you might feel if your new neighbors move in and then cut down one of your trees. LOL
So she hires us to get the stump grinded and locate a replacement tree. The tree she ended up accepting, and was paid for by the “oops†neighbor, tallied up to a cool $13,000 (full size) plus an additional $700 to transport and plant.
Welcome to the neighborhood!!! lol
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