Crabgrass Phenology

We were in Lincoln Nebraska to attend a graduation. Of course, I am curious to see the lawns in this area. The leafing of the trees is ahead of Southern Ontario. I even found a crabgrass seedling starting to sprout in the middle of the sidewalk. Of course, the sidewalk is warmer than the lawns. Crabgrass likes to grow in warm soil. And sidewalks and driveways warm up and hold the heat sooner and longer than the soil under your lawn. But it was also starting to grow in a open area in a boulevard.

To help reduce crabgrass problems in your lawn- here are 2 suggestions.

1. Keep your lawn thick and healthy. The thicker the lawn, the less likely it will be to allow crabgrass a chance to sprout.

2. Related to the above – is to mow your lawn at 3 inches high. The longer mowing height means there will be more leaf blade to shade the soil. The more shade, the cooler the soil will be. The cooler the soil, the better the lawn grasses will like it. The cooler the soil, the less likely it will be that crabgrass will grow.

A note on phenology. I didn’t see very many of the flowering trees or shrubs in bloom while in Lincoln. I was trying to see how the weather related to what we have here in southern Ontario. On the last day, we were walking down a different street and I came across a Mock Orange in bloom. “Aha”, I said. The mock orange in our garden usually blooms around the July 1^st Canada picnic we usually have with our family. And crabgrass is usually just starting at that time of year here in southern Ontario. So, therefore, the crabgrass sprouting in the sidewalks of Lincoln makes perfect phonological sense.

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

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Copyright 2007 Turf King-Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

Two Kinds Of Thistles

There are two main of thistles that get into lawns. One is the Scotch thistle and one is the Canada thistle. One is easy to remove and eradicate the other is very difficult. Both can be a pain to the barefoot in the grass folks. They both have sharp thorns. The pain of walking on them is not pleasant but it is worse if the thorn breaks off and ends up as a sliver in one’s skin.

How do you get rid of them?

The Scotch thistle is the easy one. Although if left to flourish it can reach a height of 3 feet, it normally will tolerate being mowed. Its purple flowers are large and interesting. It is dark green in colour and has a wider leaf than the Canada thistle. It grows as a single plant and one could dig it up and remove it. It also is easy to control with the usual lawn weed killers.

The Canada thistle is the toughie. It has a lighter green foliage that is narrow. It can also reach heights of 3 feet and also has purple flowers. Both thistles have seeds like dandelions that can blow in the wind. In the summer, I have been driving along some city roads when the air is full of the seeds blowing in the wind, much like dandelions parachuting their way into new territory. I know they are thistles because the seed heads can be seen along the roadsides where the weeds have not been cut.

Canada thistle spread by underground rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground stems. If you see one Canada thistle, it is likely attached by a rhizome to another plant a little ways away. If you are planning to dig out the Canada thistle, make sure to dig out the rhizome. If you don’t it will regrow, and you will still have thistles. Canada thistle does not respond well to herbicides. The plants will be killed off, but often the rhizomes continue to live and soon it will send up new sprouts from underground. Only continuous attacking of the Canada thistle will suffice to eradicate this pest from your lawn or garden.

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

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Leatherjacket Season

Phone calls have started about the leatherjackets. Most people are located near new surveys. I suspect some of the leatherjackets are being spread in the new sod being laid for these new homes.

The good news is that there is now a treatment that is labelled for use in residential lawns in Ontario.

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

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Copyright 2007 Turf King-Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

Leatherjacket Crossing

This morning, I went to pick up the paper at the road, as I came towards the house, I found about a hundred leatherjackets on the driveway. (No, it wasn’t Friday, the thirteenth and my driveway doesn’t go to Port Dover).

I’m not sure why they were crossing the road. Was it because they like damp areas, and the lawn on the right is wetter than the left. Leatherjackets do prefer the damp, moist areas. When we are trying to assess a lawn to see if they are present, we look in the low spots or under the down spouts, because the leatherjackets are more likely to be found where there is more moisture. On the other hand, maybe it’s because it’s supposed to rain today. Often leatherjackets will come up out of the soil during a heavy rain. People then call because their driveways or patios are teeming with thousands of leatherjackets that have come up out of the waterlogged soil. (They like damp soil, but not if it is waterlogged.) I’m thinking to myself, that these are the leatherjackets who have weatherman’s arthritis. You all know the people who can feel it in their bones. “Yes, sir. . . rain’s coming at 3 o’clock.” Maybe, these particular leatherjackets have the ability to know it’s going to rain, and came up out of the ground to avoid the rush.

By the way, leatherjackets are the larvae of Crane flies. They can damage lawns by eating the blades, roots or crowns.

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

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Copyright 2007 Turf King-Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

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

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

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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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Copyright 2007 Turf King-Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

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:

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