Do's and Don'ts this Winter

It's that time of year. The snow is falling, and our favorite holidays are right around the corner. It's been days or weeks since you last saw your lawn because of the snow, which makes it easy to forget about it. What you may not know is your lawn still needs your attention this time of year to be healthy next spring. Here are some tips and tricks on how to care for your lawn in the winter. 

Tips and Tricks

Clearing your sidewalks and driveways of snow is an important safety measure in the winter. However, be aware of where you are piling your snow for the winter. Placing all your snow in large stacks around your sidewalk and driveway can be damaging to your lawn. As the snow piles up it creates more and more pressure on the ground beneath it compacting your soil and grass. 

Compacted soil can cause your lawn to struggle getting oxygen, water, and fertilizer. Try spreading your snow our more evenly instead of all in one area. If you are unable to spread out your snow and the ground does become compacted, consider getting a core aeration in the spring to relieve compaction. Snow removal can have other damaging affect to your lawn. Click here to find out more about how to prevent damage to your lawn. 

Ice melt or rock salt is a commonly used product to clear and maintain walkways and roads. Products designed to melt ice typically contain salt which can be damaging to your lawn. As snow and ice melt it washes the ice melt to the edges of the lawn. In the spring as the ground heats up the salt is absorbed into the ground causing an excess amount of salt in the ground. The salt reduces the amount of water in the ground and grass blade. This can cause browning and burning to your grass.    

Common signs of too much salt are browning along the edges of walkways and driveways when the rest of the lawn is starting to green up. If you do notice browning edges you can hand water the areas with extra water to help flush the salt from the area. If you have flushed the area and things are still not greening up, consider reseeding the area.

The best way to reduce damage from ice melt and rock salt is to prevent it from happening. Shoveling snow before it has time to turn to ice will reduce the amount of ice melt you need to use. If you do end up needing to use some ice melt use it sparingly and follow directs on how much should be applied for your area. Also, use ice melts with low amounts or sodium. The less you use ice melt the higher the chances of not have damage to your spring lawn. 

Be Aware Of

1. 

   Snow Mold

   Snow mold is a common fungus that can set in during the winter. Shaded areas and areas you pile snow are common places for snow mold to develop. You usually do not know that you have snow mold until the spring when the snow melts. If you do notice patches of lawn with snow mold lightly rake the area and fluff up the lawn to help eradicate the snow mold. 

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Time to Trim the Tree

Winter is here and before thoughts of the holidays fill your head, remember your trees need some help this fall and winter. It is easy to forget that your trees need help to prepare for winter just like your lawn does. Here are some tips and tricks to help your trees.

Tips and Tricks

Tree pruning can be an intimidating task if you are not a trained professional. There are three reasons you should consider pruning your tree. 

Tree Pruning

• First, for the health of the tree. If the tree has diseased limbs and branches it is best to prune them out to keep the tree healthy.

• Second, for hazards caused by the tree. This could be things like the tree growing into power lines or unstable branches hanging over a house.

• Third, for the form of the tree. This is the process of removing specific branch to shape the tree and encourage it to grow in certain directions. 

Once you have decided that your tree needs to be pruned, make sure it is the correct pruning time for your tree. The best pruning time is late winter early spring. You should prune your tree once it is completely dormant. Remember that no more then 25-30% of the canopy should be removed per season, with the exception of dead material. Major pruning jobs may take a season or two to complete. Be aware that certain types of tree come out of dormancy after being pruned. Fall is not always the best time to prune your tree because it can delay dormancy. You should only consider pruning trees in the fall if the tree has a disease or a hazard. 

Make sure you have the right supplies for pruning your tree. Pruning shears and a pruning saw are the best tools for the job. Other things like anvil pruners are also acceptable. Bow saws tend to make pruning harder because the handle gets in the way. Never use a chain saw to prune your tree. 

Now that you know your tree needs to be pruned and you have all the supplies, you need to decide the best way to prune your tree. Remember that you do not want to leave any stumps or cut too deeply into the trunk or branch that the limb is connected to. For more information on how to prune you tree correctly follow this link. For help with pruning fruit tree, follow this link. Or contact a trained professional. 

Tree Fertilizing

Tree fertilizing is also an important thing to do for your trees. Forests are full of natural nutrients that the trees get from fall leaves, sticks, and other environmental factors. Trees throughout your yard typically do not have access to those kinds of things due to raking up leaves and things like that. When applying fertilizer for your tree make sure it is a slow release fertilizer. The fall fertilizer applied to your tree will help root growth and give it the nutrients it needs to recover from the summer months. For help with tree fertilizing click here.

Be Aware Of

1. Fall and winter is a great time to start thinking about fixing up your lawn mower. This time of year, when you are not using your mower, gives you time to sharpen your mower blade, balance your mower blade, change the oil, and any other repairs that have been put off. Maintaining your lawn mower will prevent the blades of grass from taring next season and ensure that everything is mowed to the proper height. Check out this link for help maintaining your lawn mower.  

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Unwanted Trick or Treater's

October is here. With it comes pumpkins, candy, and dressing up. It's also the start of the holiday season. With all the fun around don't forget that your lawn still needs you. Right now is the time to start protecting your lawn from the upcoming winter months. Not only do you have to worry about the cold frosty weather but, you also need to worry about voles and fungus making their home in your lawn over the winter. Here are some tips and tricks to help protect your lawn over the winter. 

Tips and Tricks

Voles

Voles look similar to mice. They can be between the size of a mouse and a rat with short ears and a short tail. Commonly, they are brown or gray. Their main diet consist of grass, bulbs, and tubers. In the summer it is common for them to add garden vegetables to their diet. They will also add tree bark when resources are low. Female voles can produce a litter of up to eleven babies every three weeks and, they start producing offspring once they are a month old. 

Vole Damage in a Lawn

Normally, you don't know you have voles until you see their damage. Vole damage is usually tracks in your lawn. You can also get damage on the base of your tree where they have eaten the bark. There are a few options to get rid of voles. 

Vole Damage on a Tree

First, try to prevent them from coming into your lawn. Keep you lawn mowed, weeded, and free of debris. Doing this reduces the amount of hiding places. Second, put a protective mesh around the bases of trees before it snows. Third, use repellants such as, fox or coyote urine. 

Fourth, set traps. Setting traps can be useful in reducing the population but usually do not fully get rid of voles. Peanut butter, oatmeal, and small seeds are great baits to put on traps. Put the traps in areas the voles use frequently to get from burrow to burrow. You may want to slightly cover the traps so pets and children do not get into them. 

Fifth, chemicals can be used to bait and poison voles. Most of the pesticides used to take care of voles have to be applied by licensed technicians. You should always use chemicals as a last resort because they can poison birds and other predators.

Be Aware Of

1.   Mowing short in fall is very beneficial for your lawn. It can help prevent snow mold and other fungal diseases from entering your lawn over the winter. Your last mow of the season should be right before the lawn goes dormant. Lawns typically go dormant when temperatures reach 50 degrees during the day. Normally, this is the end of October to the beginning of November. By your last mow of the season your lawn should be 2 to 2¹∕₂ inches long.

2.   Right now is the perfect time to do you last application of fertilizer. It should be a fertilizer that is good for root growth. This will help your lawn stay healthy during the winter and green up faster in the spring. It will also help protect you lawn from diseases and store sugars for food during the winter. 

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Things to Consider this Fall

Fall is here. Nice cool breezes give some relief from the hot temperatures of summer. Scents of pumpkin chocolate chip and apple spice have filled the air. But don't forget about your lawn. Even though temperatures are cooling down it does not mean you can stop caring for it. This time of year is vital for the health of your spring lawn next year. Here are some tips and tricks to help your lawn overwinter and become lush and beautiful next spring. 

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Tips and Tricks

• Fall fertilizer is the most important application of fertilizer for the year. It not only helps the lawn repair from summer use, but it also helps your spring lawn become thicker and stronger. Fall fertilizer will also prepare your lawn for the winter. You should apply two applications of fall fertilizer. The first application should be put down right around Labor Day. The second one should be applied in October right before the first big freeze. 

Fertilizer

• Your lawn starts to store nutrients in the fall to sustain it for the winter. Using a fertilizer with high nitrogen will help the lawn grow faster in the spring. It will also help the lawn green up quicker in the spring. Using a high nitrogen fertilizer will help your lawn produce more sustaining sugars made from chlorophyll.

• Potassium is also an important part of your fertilizer. It helps the grass with disease protection, drought protection, root growth, and cold resistance. This will also help the roots of your grass become stronger. Stronger roots give your lawn the extra strength it needs for the winter, so it does not freeze. 

Be Aware Of

Power Seeder

1.   If you want to seed this year you still have time. It is best that you get it done as soon as possible. If seeding is done to late in the year your seed has a higher chance of freezing. If the seed freezes it will not sprout. Considering using a seeding machine that will get grass seed to the soil better than a spreader would.

2.  Voles have an average of 3 to 5 litters a year. They   can have as many as 17 litters in one year. Fall and spring are the times that they are the most active. If you see active voles in your yard there a variety of options to get rid of them. If you do not see active voles but you    know you usually get them over the winter consider using a vole repellent to keep them out of the yard.  

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Changing Leaves, Cooler Weather, and Back to School

Fall is approaching quickly, kids are back in school, and your lawn is finally getting a break from being played on. With the weather getting cooler, your lawn is recovering from the heat and stress that summer brings. Your lawn will start repairing itself naturally, however, your lawn could still use some help. Here are a few tips and tricks to help your lawn become healthy again.

Tips and Tricks

Grass Seed

• Fall is a great time to start seeding. It will fill in those empty patches you acquired throughout the summer and help your existing lawn become thicker. 

• There are a few steps to take to make sure your lawn is ready for planting grass:
• First, make sure the area you are planning on seeding is prepared the right way. 
• Second, make sure your soil has the right amount of nutrients to sustain the grass seed.
• Third, make sure that there aren't any other plants or weeds the seed will have to compete with.
• Fourth, make sure to choose the best kind of seed for your climate. 
• Fifth, make sure your seed is getting enough water once it has been planted but do not water it too much. You need to find the perfect amount. 

• Once the seed has sprouted, nurture it, don't mow more than 1/3 of the grass blade, and make sure not to mow too early. Mowing to early can stop the straggling seeds from growing; if you need help deciding if your lawn is a good fit for seeding or if you would like someone to seed for you click here.

• It is suggested that you get your lawn aerated every year. There are a few different kinds of aeration methods but the most common and best for your lawn is core aeration. Core aeration is a process that pulls plugs from the lawn, this helps your lawn by opening it up for better absorption of water, oxygen, and nutrients. This results in the grass root growing deeper, and providing a healthy, thick, strong lawn.  

Plug from Core Aeration

• Core aeration also helps control the thatch layer and reduces compaction. A thick thatch layer prevents water from getting to the grass root. Click here for more information on aeration.

• Once the lawn has been aerated, you do not need to rake up all the plugs, and throw them away. After a few days they will dry up, and you can mow over them with your mower to get rid of them. It is important to leave them on your lawn because it returns organic material to the lawn and supports microbial activity. 

Be Aware Of

1.   This is the time of year that you may start seeing sod webworm damage.  The best way to help your grass come back from the damage is to apply a fertilizer to support the growth of the lawn as well as apply a sod webworm control. This will get rid of the webworm you still  have and will prevent new ones from coming. 

2.   Fall fertilizer is one of the most important application of the fertilizers through out the year. Your grass has had a lot of damage over the summer, from heat stress, to activities on the lawn. A fall fertilizer will help your lawn repair itself and store extra nutrients for the winter. Applying the fertilizer in the late fall is the best time for it. 

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Uninvited Visitors

You are spending time with your family, enjoying the summer. It has started to get dark and you are anxiously awaiting the fireworks to start when the worst thing happens. Mosquitoes are everywhere. You retreat inside in hopes that you made it inside before being bitten. Unfortunately, you have not. They must have snuck up on you before you noticed them closing in. 

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Here are a few tips and tricks to help you have a mosquito free summer and other common lawn problems that come with summer. 

Tips and tricks

• Mosquitoes are not only annoying pests but they cause millions of deaths worldwide. Mosquitoes are part of the fly family. There are over 3,000 species of mosquitoes but, three of the species are most know for the transmission of diseases.


• Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in slow moving water, still water, or places that flood frequently. Draining areas like gutters, buckets, kiddie pools, and other things that collect water is a great way to reduce the number of mosquitoes.


• Using things like bug spray and pest control are great ways to protect yourself from adult female mosquitoes. If you would like help with mosquito control, click here.

Sod Webworms

• Sod webworm are often confused with grub. They look similar and their damage looks about the same. They come from moths unlike grub, which come from beetles. They also eat the blade of grass instead of the root. A great way to tell them apart is, you will probably see little brown moths flying just above the grass. 

• Heat stress is often confused with sod webworm damage. It also appears as brown spots in the lawn. The main difference is that sod webworm damage looks like the blades of grass have been cut off. 

Sod Webworm Moth

• If you are still unsure if you have sod webworm or heat stress the best way to determine which one it is, is to water the browning areas. If consistent good watering does not help the lawn it is likely that you have a sod webworm problem. 

Be Aware Of

1. Seeding season is just about here. Planting grass seed in the fall is actually the best time to start seeding. The ground has been warming all summer and it makes the perfect temperature for the seed to germinate. Seeding will help fill in those bare patches and thicken up the lawn you already have. 

2. Core aeration goes hand in hand with seeding. It not only allows the seed to get to the perfect place for germination, but it also allows water, oxygen, and nutrients to get to the roots of the grass easier. This will help your lawn to become thicker and greener.  

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Summer is Upon Us!

No school, warm weather, BBQs, pool parties, and camp outs are just a few things that summer brings, however, with the warm weather it also brings a multitude of things that we don’t want. Mosquitoes, grub, bill bug, heat stress, drought damage, morning glory, crabgrass, and spurge are just a few of things that need to be prevented. 

One of the most common questions we get this time of the year is what do grubs look like and how can I tell if I have them or not? Here are a couple tips and tricks on how to identify them and the problems they cause.

Tips and Tricks

White Grub

• Bill bug larvae is more commonly seen in Northern Utah than white grubs but their damage is very similar.  

• They both eat the root system of the grass and if you pull up the damaged areas it will come up as if it was carpet. This happens because there are no longer any roots to anchor the grass down. 

Bill Bug Larvae

• When looking for indicators of the bug, are you watering and your lawn is still looking dead? Have you ensured that all affected areas of the lawn are  getting the proper amount of water? If so, it is likely that you have grub or bill bug. 

• Some things to consider, if your grass does not pull up like carpet, then you likely have another issue such as heat stress.

Grub damage above view

June is the perfect time to put down a grub preventative treatment. Grub preventative services make sure you will not see any damage throughout the year, and it covers you from both white grub and bill bug larvae.  If you are unsure if you need a preventative treatment or need help identifying a problem, let us know.

Be Aware Of

1. Summer is the time of year crabgrass starts to show up in full force. Crabgrass germinates when soil temperatures get between 55 and 65 degrees. It can also produce 150,000 seeds per growing season. Seeds can stay dormant in the ground for up to 30 years. If you are starting to see crabgrass show up, you can find more information about how to get rid of it here. 

2. Mosquito season is quickly approaching and temperatures are consistently 50⁰ F. At these temperatures hibernating mosquitoes are awakening and dormant eggs are hatching. As temperatures get warmer mosquitoes will start breeding at an alarming rate. It is time to start thinking about mosquito control options. This is the time of year to prevent a mosquito infestation before it happens. 

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April Showers . . .

April is here and it may not look like it but, some of our favorite flowers will soon be blooming. Daffodils, pansies, tulips, dandelions. Okay, maybe not dandelions. We may not like them but along with flowers, dandelions and other weeds will soon start popping up everywhere. Dandelions and crab grass are two of the most hated weeds among lawn owners. They never seem to go away and, no matter what you do they are always there. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep dandelions and other weeds out of your yard this year.

Tips and Tricks

Dandelion

• According to the USU Extension, peak flowing season for dandelions occurs during temperatures between 60-70 degrees F.  The best defense for these annoying weeds is to have a thick, strong, and established lawn. To achieve that be consistent with your fertilizer applications and, use a basic broad leaf weed control product, such as 2-4-D, to control dandelions once they germinate. If you do need some help or have questions about fertilizer or weed control just click this link for more information.

• Even though crabgrass only germinates in the hot summer months, springtime is when you apply your defense against crabgrass with pre-emergent weed control. A pre-emergent weed control application blocks only annual weeds such as crabgrass from germinating. It is very hard to control crabgrass once it has germinated in the summer months.  The great thing about crabgrass is that it dies in the fall when temperatures get cooler. It's not too late to apply pre-emergent. Other annual weeds pre-emergent blocks are spurge, foxtail, and oxalis.

Crabgrass

Don't worry, if you don't have the time to think about fertilizer, broad leaf weed spay, and pre-emergent. We've got you covered. Our highly trained technicians are licensed through the state of Utah (and Idaho) to apply these products, so you don't have to worry about finding time to do it yourself.

Be Aware Of

While preparing for the future weeds in your yard is important there are a few other things you should look out for.

1. It's time to start thinking about your lawn mower. Sharpen your mower blade and ensure it is in great shape.  Mowing with a dull blade damages the grass blades, slows healing, increases water lost, and makes grass more susceptible to bugs and disease. Adjust your lawn mower so it never cuts more that 1/3 of the grass blade. This will promote a stronger root system and thicker growth.

Sod Webworm

2. In the night sod webworms are slowly becoming active again in the warmer weather. The moth larvae begin to eat the blades of grass, leaving the roots intact. This will cause thinning in the lawn and brown patches. As it gets warmer the larvae will become more active and you will start seeing the damage they have been doing. To reduce the risk of  sod webworm keep your lawn fertilized and watered. A strong healthy lawn reduces your risk of getting sod webworm. 

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