Putting Your Lawn to Bed

As winter approaches and your lawn starts to go dormant you may think you no longer need to care for your lawn this year. There are actually a few things you should do now to help your lawn in the spring. Follow our tips and tricks below to help your lawn next spring.

Tips and Tricks

Mowing short is one of the most important things you can do before the snow comes. A long lawn can cause damage and disease to set in. One of the most common winter diseases is a fungus called snow mold. Matted down grass that is introduced to wet, warm temperatures as the snow starts melting is the perfect place for snow mold to start growing. This fungus goes away on it's own as temperatures warm up so don't be alarmed if you do see it. Mowing your lawn short, about 1-1½ inches long, will help prevent things like snow mold from entering your yard. 

Fall cleanup can be tedious but it is an important step in having a healthy spring lawn. When things like leaves are left on the lawn all winter they block the lawn from receiving sunlight and oxygen. This can cause the lawn to die out. 

Winter is the perfect time to tune up your lawn mower. Replacing spark plugs, sharpening and balancing blades, and cleaning your lawn mower can help keep your lawn healthy. A sharp balanced blade will cut the grass cleanly. When your mower blade is dull it tares and rips the grass blade causing brown tips on the grass blades. Replacing the spark plug will help the lawn mower start easier. If you need help with lawn mower maintenance here at Lawn Doctor we offer lawn mower maintenance to Cache Valley customers.

As the lawn gets frosty, be sure to stay off of it. The grass blades have frozen and walking or placing heavy objects on the lawn can cause damage to your lawn. A frozen grass blade is fragile and prone to breaking. Avoid going on the lawn until the frost has melted. 

Be Aware Of

As the snow comes, be careful of where you pile your snow when shoveling walkways. Piling all the snow in one area can cause the lawn to die out. Be careful of how much salt and ice melt you use on the lawn. Using too much can cause it to seep into the grass and kill out the lawn. 

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Check List for Fall Lawn Care

Fall is here and it can be tricky to know what thing will help your lawn and what things do not make a difference. Below is a checklist to help you know what to do with your lawn this fall. 

Tips and Tricks

Core Aeration Plugs

1. Core Aeration: This time of the year is a great time to aerate your lawn. Fall aeration help the lawn uptake water, oxygen, and nutrients better. It also helps decrease thatch and compaction. If you aerate your lawn in the fall, you should have it done between September and November.

2. Fall Fertilizer: Applying a fall fertilizer is one of the most important things you can do for your lawn in the fall. You should apply two applications. One in September and another one right before the first freeze of the season (usually in late October to early November). These applications help your lawn recover from the stress you lawn went through over the same. They also give the lawn the
nutrients it needs to stay healthy over the winter and green up quicker in the spring.

3. Pest Control: Getting a fall pest control will keep unwanted pests out as it gets colder. A simple perimeter pest control should do the trick and keep the pests out.

4. Mowing: Your last mow of the season should be shorter than what you have been mowing the rest of the season. Make sure to mow your lawn no longer that 1 1/2 inches long before it snows. This will help your lawn avoid getting common winter diseases like snow mold.

5. Sprinklers: Through the month of October, you should only be watered every 10 days at the most. Most people will get their water shut off in October. Be sure to get your sprinklers blown out to prevent freezing and damage to your sprinkler lines.

6. Cleanup: Be sure to remove all leaves and debris from your lawn before the snow come. Leave and debris trapped under the snow can cause the lawn to die out over the winter.

Be Aware Of

Vole

Voles are a common pest that starts moving into your lawn in the late fall and winter. Right now is the best time to put down a deterrent for these mouse shaped critters. If you do not get a deterrent down before they move in, most off the damage they cause is fixable in the spring. Follow this link to a previous blog post for more information. 

With the cold temperatures coming in, you should start seeing frost in the morning. Be sure to stay off the lawn until the frost has melted to prevent any damage from happening. Stepping on a frosty lawn can cause that grass blade to break off. For more information on caring for you lawn when it is frost for this link.

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Don't let the Creepy Crawlers come Knocking

Fall is here and with that you expect your lawn to turn brown and go dormant because of the cooler temperatures. What you don't expect is to go to bed with a healthy green lawn and wake up the next morning with a brown dead looking lawn. The cause of such a drastic change in the lawn is a small bug called sod webworm. Below are some tips and tricks to help protect your lawn from further damage once you have sod webworm. 

Tips and Tricks

Sod Webworm Damage

This year sod webworm has been increasingly bad. Lawns that have been treated with a preventative are still getting webworm. Sod webworm damage can show up over night because they feed at night on the grass blades. The damage shows up as irregular brown patches in the lawn. It can look like the lawn is going dormant for the season. A great way to check which of the two is happening is to pull on the lawn. If it pulls up the carpet it is likely you have sod webworm. 

Often when you pull up the lawn you can see the webworm in the soil. They look like small brown caterpillars that can grow up to an inch long. After you have determined that you have sod webworm you will want to treat the lawn with a sod webworm product. The product will not fix the damage, but it will take care of the webworm.

Sod Webworm

Once the sod webworm have been taken care of it's time to decide what to do with the damage. Most of the time the grass will come back on its own, it just needs a little time to recover. With severe cases of damage, is not uncommon for the lawn not to come back completely. It is important to remember not to rake up the dead grass. Raking the grass will pull up the root system that is trying to grow. You probably won't know what is going to come back until the next spring.

Once you have determined what grass is coming back from the damage you have a couple options to fix the areas that have not come back. You can seed the areas or lay sod. For help determining your best option or for help treating webworm, we've got you covered.

Be Aware Of

Fall fertilizer is one of the most important applications of fertilizer in the season. It helps to prepare you lawn for winter and give it the extra boost it needs to green up next spring. The last application should be applied in October right before the first big freeze. For more information on fall fertilizer follow this link to one of our previous blog posts. 

 Looking for a healthy, green, and weed free lawn?

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Tips to Help your Lawn Recover After a Drought

This year the hot dry weather has caused most people's lawns to struggle. It can be tricky to know if your lawn is long gone or if it will come back. With the cooler temperatures and the dew and frost coming in the mornings, there are somethings you can do to help your lawn recover from the drought. Follow the tips below to help your lawn recover.

Tips and Tricks

Dormant Lawn

The first step to restoring your lawn after a drought is to determine what is causing the lawn to turn brown. It could be bugs, dormancy caused by stress, or the lawn could be dead. The easiest way to check all these things is to water the lawn. If the browning is caused by dormancy, it should start to green up and start growing again. If it is caused by a bug or if it is dead, the lawn will not green up. If the lawn doesn't green up, pull on the lawn. A lawn with bugs will pull up like carpet and you usually can find bugs in the soil. A dead lawn will also pull up easy and will feel crispy, but you won't find the presence of any bugs. A lawn with bugs can be treated with a pesticide and usually comes back once the bugs are gone.

Now that you have determined what is causing the browning of the lawn there are a few things you can do to revive the lawn:

• Make sure to water the lawn. This will help the roots grow deeper and stronger. It will also help the lawn recover from the stress it has had.
• Start mowing again. Mow a little longer than usual to help reduce evaporation. As you mow the brown parts of the grass will start to be removed and the new green growth can become stronger. 
• Aerate the lawn and to give it room to grow and breath. Aeration will help the roots grow thicker and stronger. This promotes healthy green growth.
• Remove weeds and apply weed control. Weeds fight for the nutrients and water that the lawn needs.
• Apply a fall fertilizer to help the lawn recover and to give it a boost next spring.
• If the lawn has died out, consider seeding or resod to start new growth. 

Be Aware Of

Sod Webworm

This is the time of year that sod webworm starts to show up in lawn. Sod webworm is the larvae from a lawn moth and, they can cause significant damage quickly. Follow this link to one of our previous blog posts about sod webworm.

Looking for a healthy, green, and weed free lawn?

Contact us today at: 435-753-5296 or mylawn@lawndoctorutah.com

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Grub vs. Sod Webworm

Grub and sod webworm are common bugs that do damage to lawns in Northern Utah. With the hot weather this year these two pests have exploded in lawns causing damage. The trick of eliminating them from your lawn is knowing which one to treat for. They both looks similar and do similar damage but need different products to treat for them. Below are some tips and tricks of knowing what bug you have and how to get rid of them.

Tips and Tricks

Grub

Grub, the more commonly known of the two bugs, is a white c shaped bug that feeds on the roots of the grass. This bug is the larvae of a beetle. The most common time to see this bug is in the summer through June and July. Damage to the lawn will show up as an irregularly shaped browning patch that doesn't green up with proper watering. It will also pull up very easy like carpet. The reason it pulls up easy is because the root of the grass, that anchors it to the ground, is gone. 

Grub Damage

There are a couple things you can do to treat grub. Once you have grub in is best to put a grub curative product down. This is a faster acting product that will take care of the grub before they have time to do more damage. Once you have grub it is very likely that you will get it again the next year. Apply a grub preventative, in the late spring/early summer, to reduce your chances of getting grub. Damage from grub usually comes back once the grub have been taken care of.

Sod Webworm

The first big difference between sod webworm and grub is that sod webworm is the larvae of a moth not a beetle. It is a brownish, long, skinny, caterpillar like bug. They feed on the blade of the grass and can to substantial damage very quick. Sod webworm are most active at night. You can go to bed with a healthy lawn and wake up with a brown dead looking lawn. Some common signs of sod webworm are brown spots that do not green up with water, the lawn pulls up like carpet, and moths fly out of the lawn. It is most common to see webworm in the fall starting late July and into August. These bugs can also over winter in web cocoons and reemerge in the spring. 

Sod Webworm Damage

Treatment is similar to the way you treat for grub. You will just want to make sure it is a product that will take care of sod webworm. It is important to remember that treatments for sod webworm will take care of the larvae and eggs but don't usually take care of the adult moths. Preventative products for sod webworm should be applied in the late summer. The moths do not damage to the lawn. Damage caused by sod webworm will have a harder time coming back than with grub damage. It will sometime need seeding or new sod to fully revive the lawn. If you have any questions on determining what bug is in your lawn or for help treating the lawn for bugs, please contact us.

Be Aware of

Please remember that to have a healthy lawn next year your lawn needs water this year. The heat combined with drought conditions has caused a lot of stress on your lawn. Your lawn needs to be watered at least once a week to come back next year. Even if your lawn looks dead it has just gone into dormancy early. Giving it water each week will help to sustain it through the heat and into the winter. Follow this link to a previous blog post about watering in a drought.

 Looking for a healthy, green, and weed free lawn?

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Tips to Avoid Summer Heat Stress

Keeping your lawn healthy in a drought can be very tricky. Often times your lawn isn't getting enough water to have a healthy green lawn with water restrictions. Changing a few small things about how you water and treat you lawn can help keep your lawn healthy. Below are a few tips and tricks to help fight the drought this summer. 

Tips and Tricks

With the stress that comes from being in a drought follow these tips to help your lawn stay healthy. Right now, you should water deeply three times a week. Watering deeply means that your lawn should get half an inch of water each time you water. For rotary sprinklers that means watering 40 minutes per station and for pop up sprinklers watering 20 minutes per station. You also should water in the early morning. This is the best time to water because it is cool enough that the water will not evaporate before soaking into the ground. 

Poor Sprinkler Coverage

Sprinkler coverage is especially important for a healthy lawn. If you have random brown dying spots in your lawn even though you have been watering, a likely cause is sprinkler coverage. A great way to check sprinkler coverage is to get a tuna can or something similar and place one in a green area and one in a brown area. Run your sprinklers as normal. After the cycle has been completed gather your cans and compare how much water is in each can. You should have about a half an inch of water in the cans. If you have one that has too little or too much water adjust the sprinkler heads accordingly. 

The length of your grass is key when trying to prevent weeds and heat stress. Keep your mower at the highest setting. This will allow the lawn to stay 3 to 4 inches tall. Having a lawn this tall shades the ground preventing weed seeds from germinating and water from evaporating. When mowing remember to never mow more than 1/3 of the grass blade. For example, if your lawn is 4 inches tall you should mow no shorter than 3 inches tall. Mowing more than 1/3 of the grass blade can cause stress on the lawn.

Stress from Mowing on a Dry Lawn

Avoid putting more stress on your lawn. Your lawn is already stressed because of the drought and doing things like over fertilizing and mowing short can cause more damage to the lawn. For a lawn that is in heat stress and browning it normally takes at least two weeks of good watering for you to start seeing your lawn green up. Please remember to follow the water restrictions in your area and do the best you can when caring for your lawn. The good thing is that your lawn will come back to the lush thick lawn you had after the drought is over as long as you can provide a little water each month.

Be Aware Of

Grub Damage

Grub season is coming quick. Right now is the best time to put down a grub preventative to protect your lawn. In the coming months you might start seeing signs of grub if you did not put down a preventative. Common signs are browning areas the pull up easy that don't go away with watering. For more information on grub follow this link to a previous blog post about grubs.  

Looking for a healthy, green, and weed free lawn?

Contact us today at: 435-753-5296 or mylawn@lawndoctorutah.com

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Knowing the Dirt on Your Clay Soil

Flowers are blooming and wisps of summer are in the air. Like most people you probably have countless tasks to complete before the real heat of summer hits. Things like planting your vegetable garden can become quite the task with sticky wet clay soil. Below are some tips and tricks to help with the struggles that come with having clay soil.

Tips and Tricks

When it comes to soil most people in Northern Utah have clay soil. This soil is often considered hard to work with, has problems with drainage, and gets compacted easy. Clay soil has its cons, but it also has a lot of great properties like making plants stronger and storing lots of water. There are also things you can do to help your clay soil with some of the common problems it faces.

Clay soil is made of many tiny soil particles. This allows the soil to hold in moisture and nutrients better. It also gives the roots of plants more things to hold on too. This helps the plant survive extreme temperatures and conditions. Because the plant has a good grip on the soil it does not come out of the ground easily and the roots can reach greater depths in search for water that is stored in the particles. 

Because clay soil holds moisture it can cause problems when working with it. If the soil is wet when you till or try to dig in it, it is going to cause the soil to become compacted. Not only that but it sticks to everything and can create quite a mess. It also can hold on to more than just water and fertilizer. It can often hold salts that can be harmful to plants.

A few things you can do to help prevent some of the problems is incorporating compost into the soil. This will help the soil release extra water that is not being used. The bad thing is that you need to add compost consistently from year to year and it can take 5-10 years before you see better results. Water your lawn less frequently for a longer. This will allow the soil to dry out a little between watering's. Consider doing a core aeration to reduce compaction and help the lawn drain better. Doing different soil amendment service, like our Soil Enrichment service, can help with the soils structure.

Be Aware Of

1. You should have your water on. With the dry winter we had your lawn could use a good drink. Right now you should water 1-2 times a week for 45 minutes for rotary sprinklers and 20 minutes for pop up sprinklers.

2. Grub season is quickly approaching. With the warmer weather the beetle larvae are quickly become more active. Right now, is a perfect time to put down a grub preventative to stop the damage before it happens. Grub damage appears as browning patches in the lawn that are commonly thought to be watering problems. If the browning areas pull up easy like patches of carpet it is likely that you have a grub problem. Click the link to find out how we can help you fight grub.

Looking for a healthy, green, and weed free lawn?

Contact us today at: 435-753-5296 or mylawn@lawndoctorutah.com

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