Dandelions

Today, I saw a dandelion that was just starting to bloom. Definitely the spring is a little late this year. Later than last year for sure, but last year was an early spring. Some years I have seen them as early as mid April. The first dandelions that I see in April is usually found in a "warm" lawn. That means a lawn that if often by the road - may be the asphalt absorbs the sun's rays and then heats up the soil. It is always in the full sun and in a spot facing south. If it is on a hill, I think the slope allows more of the sun to warm it up more quickly.

All said and done, it means that the rest of the dandelions won't be far behind

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Thick bladed grass.

What do you do when you have patches in your lawn of a thick bladed grass? There are various types of grasses that can spoil the appearance of your lawn. With the touch of snow this clump seems to stand out more than it might if the snow wasn’t there. Some people say, “at least it’s green and doesn’t have yellow flowers.” Some, however, are adamant that the grass has to go.

By the way, if this unwanted grass is visible at this time of year (April, May or early June), it is NOT crabgrass. And, putting on a crabgrass treatment will not do anything to help.

There are a number of thick bladed grasses that can grow in lawns around here. Quack grass or twitch grass, brome grass, orchard grass, timothy, and others as well. The names are less important than what one does to tackle the issue.

Since these are perennial grasses, there isn’t a selective treatment that you can apply to the whole lawn and make only the grasses we don’t like disappear. A herbicide containing glyphosate is the best. Roundup is the most common brand name for such a product.

By the way, (again), I don’t recommend trying to dig up the thick bladed grasses. Several years ago, I went to do a lawn quote. The homeowner met me and showed me his lawn. He had at least fifty nice round spots of fresh soil on his lawn. “What happened here?” I asked. He told me he had dug up all the areas of the thick bladed grasses on his lawn. “Did you spray the grasses first?” When he said that he had not, I told him that unfortunately, the roots on these grasses can be deep and if a small piece of root was left it could grow back again. Sure enough, a few months later, around the edges of the spots he had dug out, there were little sprigs of the thick bladed grasses starting to grow back.

More on how to fix this problem later.

If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF GREEN:

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White Easter

Last December we had a green Christmas, this spring we have a White Easter.

The last week or so has been reasonably warm and when I pass by the village of York, there is a beautiful sloping lawn facing south. This lawn is really starting to green up. The fact that it faces south means it is getting the most of the sunshine in warming up the soil. The fact that it slopes down to the road, I believe also contributes to its ability to capture the warmth from the sun. When the soil gets warm, the grass starts to grow. When the grass starts to grow it becomes green.

How can you get your lawn to green up sooner in the spring? Moving it to the south side of the house may not be an option.

Two things you can do.

One – make sure to feed it late in the fall. A late October or early November feeding will help your lawn to green up earlier. The lawn food is taken into the root system at that time of year. It does not produce growth, but is stored in the roots. Come the spring, it is ready to be used immediately by the turf grass plants.

Two- the last cut in the fall should be short. Lower your mowing height to1 ½ to 2 inches. The lower mowing height will help to reduce the risk of winter and early spring diseases. It also means that in the spring, the soil will be able to warm up quicker than if you have long shaggy grass.

Wrist Shots in the Grass

I was looking along the edge of the driveway to get rid of the gravel that the generally ends up in the lawn after the winter. Most of it comes from the snow plow when it is clearing the drive. Some years it is worse than others. This year we only had one big snowfall that needed plowing.

Most years I try to move it off the lawn when the snow starts to melt. It is easier to shovel some gravel and some snow and throw it onto the driveway than to try to rake or get it off when all the snow has melted. Once the snow is melted, a good raking will sometimes do it, but that’s a lot of work. Some times I’ve used a flat shovel to scrape it back onto the driveway, but that’s a lot of work, too. The odd time I’ve sat down and picked them out by hand.

This year I happened to have my son’s hockey stick in my hand and I found I could use the hockey stick to flick the gravel back onto the driveway. As I said there wasn’t a lot of gravel this year, so maybe that’s why it seemed to be an easier job. A flick or two, here and there was all I needed to get the lawn cleaned up. I thought this is a great idea. And it did a good job all along the driveway.

The last spot was the gravel from the county road (which is also gravel). There the gravel was much worse and the hockey stick didn’t work as well. Or at least, it took a lot longer. So, I gave up, no, I decided the lawn along the roadway was not as important and would do just fine with a little bit of gravel along the edge.

If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF GREEN:

Turf King Home
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or call us at 905.318.6677 or 1.888.TURFKING (887.3546)

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