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. 

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

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

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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.  

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

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

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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. 

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

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

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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. 

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

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

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. . . Bring May Flowers (Dandelions!)

May is the official start of dandelion hunting season! Now is the time where you can hunt and destroy these weeds throughout your lawn. The great thing (or not so great thing) about dandelion hunting season is that it lasts about 7 months so there is ample time to join the hunt!

If the dandelion hunt is too hard or tiresome for you, all our highly trained technicians are licensed through the state of Utah (and Idaho) to hunt for you! As always, here are a few tips, tricks, and services that will help you understand your lawn even better.  

Tips & Tricks

Mosquito

• You probably have started seeing mosquitoes, spiders, wasps, and other pests in your yard and house. Pests are not only annoying but can also be harmful. They like to hide in unkempt areas and cracks. Sealing all the cracks and holes, that might be letting bugs get into your house, is a great way to keep unwanted pests out of your house but can be time consuming. Click this link if you would like to learn more about different kinds of pest and the best ways to get rid of them. We can help you keep bugs and pests from getting into your house with our pest control services. 

Stressed out lawn taken May 16, 2019

• Your sprinkler system should be up and running. Test and reposition sprinklers to ensure full coverage. To make sure you are getting even coverage place cans throughout the yard and water as usual. After watering compare the amount of water in each can and adjust sprinklers to ensure you are getting even coverage. For more information on this click here. It is so important to have proper water coverage, especially when the heat comes. Make sure your lawn is getting the correct amount of water to prevent it from getting stressed. Go to this link to see how much you should be watering during the week.

Be Aware Of

1. Weeds! We have seen an abundance of weeds already this year from dandelions, thistle, clover, and mallow. There are many things you can do to help stop weeds and prevent them. Click here for more information. If you do not have time to fight weeds yourself we offer a variety of services to help all your needs. 

2. Grubs are the larvae of beetles. The larvae lives right under your thatch layer and eats the roots of your grass. Early signs of grub damage appear as brown spots in the lawn. You usually will not see any signs of damage until after it is done. Don't worry, the end of May is the perfect time to start putting down grub preventive.  

Understanding your lawn and what it needs will make a huge difference in its appearance, health, and wellness.  

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

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

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