Thanks to all who nominated us in the Hamilton Spectator 2009 Readers' Choice Awards in the Lawn Service Category. From September 16 through 25 you can vote for us as the Finalists are chosen. At www.thespec.com Thanks for voting for us. Still finding lots of Crane Flies. Some call them Daddy long legs. They look like Giant Mosquitoes. If you are finding a lot of these adults . . . . we recommend treating this fall. Crane Flies females can lay up to 300 eggs. These eggs will hatch in a couple of weeks and start feeding on lawns. They nibble on roots, stems and crowns. Here is an article from the UK where it is a huge pest. Not all of it applies, but it does give more information. September is the time to thicken the lawn with Overseeding . Fall is nature's seeding season for grasses. Spring is also a good time, but is always second best. There are several ways to seed the lawn. One way is to truck in a lot of soil to topdress the areas you want to seed. After adding the soil, sprinkle the grass seed, then rake lightly. Keep well watered and moist for 2 weeks. Another method that we generally favour is to do a core aeration first. Then apply high quality grass seed. When grass seed falls in the holes, it has a better chance of growing than seed that just sits on the surface. In the holes, it is less likely to dry out. It is better protected from the birds, too. And aerating and overseeding is a lot less expensive than moving a lot of soil. Better to use our Top OM Dry Topdress. This method uses materials that have been dried out. By drying out the material, there is a lot less moisture. It is less water to transport. And it can be applied with a spreader. This keeps the cost down. The lawn gets all the goodness of the OM (organic material) without the weight of the water. We are also seeing some Rust Fungus Disease at this time of year. I drove down one street. This lawn (not a customer's) was so heavily infested, the lawn had a big patch of orange in one corner. Maybe it was just the way the sun was facing, but it was very noticeable. Normally, it is not that noticeable until you have walked across an infected lawn and you notice that your white running shoes are all orange. The spores from the fungus will easily come off onto your shoes. Please call or email if we can be of any help. See our web site www.hamilton.turfking.ca
Top dressing is a great way to improve the soil conditions in a lawn. Turf King has a new method of applying a top dressing that is less costly than the traditional way. When you get a load of soil to topdress the lawn, you are paying for a lot of moisture in that soil. It makes the load you get bulkier. Then you need to move the soil plus the moisture to the back yard.
Thankfully, Rust disease is rarely fatal. The weather conditions have a big part to play in causing this problem. Normally, we recommend raising the mowing height and if needed apply some fertilizer to help the lawn grow past the problem.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hamilton Spectator Readers' Choice Awards Vote Sept 16-25
Gerry Okimi
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Trillium Award
905.318.6677
http://hamiltonturfking.ca/
Crane Fly Adults Emerging
Our technicians are finding loads of Crane Fly adults. And so are the customers. Certainly all the rain we had earlier this year has probably increased the likelihood of the larvae surviving the heat and drought of the summer.
The Crane Flies can be a nuisance as they flit and fly around, often by the hundreds. They do not live very long. Mostly to mate and lay eggs.
Those eggs soon hatch into larvae. The larvae of the Crane Fly is called a leatherjacket. These leatherjackets feed on the roots, stems and crowns of grasses. Enough of them and the lawn can be severely damaged.
Call now for treatment. Turf King Lawn Care
Monday, September 14, 2009
Not Turf Grasses
www.hamilton.turfking.ca
Friday, September 11, 2009
Leatherjackets have hatched
Lot of Crane fly adults are around, emerging from the lawns.
Mark found a newly hatched larvae Leatherjackets.
Chinch bugs hate the shade
Not sure if you can see this well, but this lawn has a hedge running east-west along the southern edge of a lawn. So the lawn along the hedge is shaded most of the time because it is on the north side of the hedge. The chinch bugs have decimated the lawn. All they have left are the quack grass, crabgrass, and a lot of dead grass. The lawn damage is extensive.
Hard to tell if the weeds are there because the chinch bugs left them behind or if they jumped into the lawn because the chinch bugs destroyed the lawn, and reduced the turf density.
If you look closely you will see that there is a strip of lawn about 2 feet wide along the hedge that (while far from good), is not as damaged as the rest of the lawn.
Call Gerry Okimi at Turf King 905.318.6677.
Lawn care at its best. http://bit.ly/3ehXf
We can also repair the lawn by our overseeding treatments.
September 11
Our thoughts are with all who have been affected by this particular event.
Let us all pause to reflect on the world we live in. How quickly it can change and how to enjoy life in the meantime. While driving, I saw a big patch of rust fungus disease on a lawn. http://bit.ly/2ieDhE
Another customer reported they won a Pink Trillium Award. more on that another time.
At a potential customers lawn today. Saw a lawn with low nutrients, except for a few nice green spots along the drip line of a large maple. Perhaps, someone had fed the tree with tree spikes or by deep root feeding as normally this would be done at the edge of the tree. Tree fertilizing can also cause the lawn to turn greener where the tree has been fertilized. However, the spacing was rather irregular and not even.
I had noticed a lot of bird droppings along the sidewalk as I arrived. As I was leaving I realized that the 2 were connected. The green spots in the lawn were greener because they had indeed been fertilized. By the birds. The lawn had turned greener due to the nutrients in the bird droppings. The sidewalk, however did not benefit from this at all. In fact it looked rather dirtied.
The birds sitting on the tree branches have fertilized the lawn and caused their natural, organic by product to increase the lawn's green colour
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mossy Edges
Moss grows where lawns are unable to compete effectively against the moss. This can be in shady areas, or damp spots. Sometimes the soil is too acid. See our Lawn Library.
Here however is an example of a situation that can be rectified. The lawn at the edge has been cut too short with a trimmer. Because the grass blades are shorter than they should be, the moss is able to outcompete the turf in this area. I'm sure if the grass was allowed to grow to 3" high (like we recommend for all lawn mowing), the moss would slowly disappear.
Call Gerry Okimi at Turf King 905.318.6677.
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