Planning for Spring

It's never too early to plan to get your lawn off on the right foot this spring.  If the weather predictions hold true for Montgomery and Chester Counties, we'll be fertilizing properties in early March, just six weeks away!  While it's still technically winter, here are a couple tips to care for your lawn now.

For starters, avoid excessive traffic on your lawn, especially when it's way below freezing.  Walking on the turf can damage the crowns of the grass plants, in some cases, this can cause damage to the turf when they come out of dormancy.  Secondly, if you didn't get all of those leaves up, try to find a mild day and do so, excessive leaf covers can smother the turf, which can cause discoloration or injury to the turf.

In the meantime, here's a valuable resource to whet your appetite for spring.  Virtually anything you'd like to learn about your Southeastern PA lawn is on this page.  If we missed something, drop us a line.

Your Lawn Can't Breathe!!

Core aeration is one of the most important things you can do for your lawn all year besides keeping it fed. During the process, hollow coring tines are rolled over the lawn using specialized equipment, puncturing the surface of the turf and removing cores of soil and thatch.

Watch our aeration video HERE. 

 

Benefits Include:

Alleviated soil compaction Enhanced heat and drought-stress tolerance Improved movement of air, water, and nutrients Better resiliency and cushioning Stronger, healthier turfgrass roots Reduced thatch layer

When is the Best Time to Aerate?

• Lawns in Southeastern PA grow in heavy clay soils; an annual aeration will help alleviate the extreme soil compaction of our region.
  
• If you have cool season turfgrass, such as Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass, spring and fall are ideal times to aerate.
  
• Aerating before or at the time of late season fertilization enhances root development and improves spring greenup and growth.

Core aeration can help reduce thatch and revitalize your turf. The result? A thicker, healthier lawn that is more tolerant to weeds, disease, insects, and drought.

Grubs...coming soon!

 Last year was one of the most devastating years for grubs in recent memory throughout Montgomery County.  Lawns in Collegeville that typically never had a grub issue, we're literally destroyed in a matter of weeks.  From Willow Grove to Phoenixville, the grub activity was abundant!

Grubs are the larva of several types of beetles that enjoy feeding on the roots of you lawn's grass roots.  Throughout the summer, they mature and continue their underground feeding. Applying a preventative is the ideal approach to controlling these pests.  While most stores carry grub preventatives, the most effective products are available through licensed lawn care providers.  They understand proper timing, rates to apply of these products to ensure the product will work as promised. 

See more tips on our full feature story on the proper ways to reduce the likelihood of grub activity.

Control Crabgrass Not By Calendar Alone

It’s a delayed spring weather-wise throughout Montgomery and Chester Counties this year.  From Abington to Pottstown, the cool weather has slowed the spring green-up in turf as well as delayed the germination of weeds, such as dandelions.  This also opens the window for wider timing with your application of pre-emergent crabgrass control.

                Crabgrass doesn’t have a calendar, it will germinate in mid-late May based upon soil temperature.  Properly timed application of a pre-emergent crabgrass control will help reduce the likelihood of breakthrough later this summer.  Furthermore, the product the professionals at Weed Man plan to use includes a post emergent crabgrass control as well for better control of small, germinated crabgrass that conventional pre-emergent products will not control.

Crabgrass early after germination will quickly fill in thin spots in open sun

                Here are some additional tips:

• Crabgrass is very difficult to identify early in spring since only plant skeletons are present at this time.
• Crabgrass is best identified in summer or fall for control in fall or the following spring.
• Crabgrass cannot be controlled with broadleaf weed control products.
• Crabgrass favors sandy, sunny locations in a weakened condition. Areas damaged by insects or along sidewalks and driveways are prime targets for crabgrass attack.
• A strong, healthy, properly fertilized, mowed and watered lawn provides the strongest defense against crabgrass. Thick, lush, insect and weed-free lawns allow few open sites for crabgrass to establish.

What Lies Under the Snow

With a foot of fresh snow from Jenkintown to Spring City, it’s hard to recall that there’s a lawn underneath all of the snow.  Given the persistent cold weather and high quantities of snow that have fallen throughout Montgomery County this year, the odds are high you’ll see some winter damage or even snow mold, a common turf disease, on your lawn come spring.

Snow mold characterized by matted, weak turf.

            Grey and Pink Snow Mold are lawn diseases that are usually related to winter conditions and excessive snow cover.  Snow mold is encouraged when lawns are left too long over the winter, and nutrients and trace elements are lacking.  Taking a light leaf rake to the affected areas and properly fertilizing the turf will help the turf recover.  For additional tips on helping your lawn recover from winter damage, follow this link to our website.

           

Baby it IS cold outside!

This week brought sub-zero temperatures to Montgomery County and while everyone was looking for a heavier jacket and an additional blanket, your lawn and landscape faced the brunt of the brutal weather.  

I left my home in Norristown on Monday morning with a great deal of hesitation. I felt like I was Colin Kaepernick braving the winter winds at Lambeau Field while I walked 9 feet to my car.  Stopping only to open the door, I noticed small rocks littering the dormant lawn.

Magnified photo of a frozen grass blade

When we shovel snow, we are rarely thinking of the lawn, and typically just want to move the snow from the driveway and relocate it to the nearest possible spot.  The lawn seems like the ideal spot for it, and it usually is.  If you’re driveway is made of gravel or if your walkway has tiny pebbles on it, chances are they will also transfer to your lawn.  Once the snow melts, make sure to walk the lawn with a light rake and remove any unwanted debris that may have been transferred to your lawn during shoveling or plowing.  Other unwanted debris can find its way onto your lawn so make sure to do a thorough inspection once we approach March.The spring clean up is a vital part of the lawn’s success, so let’s think warm thoughts and let’s think spring!

For more timely tips, visit http://montgomery.weedmanusa.com/!

-Contributed by Harry Bambi, Sales & Service Manager

The Frozen Tundra

While it's warmer in Siberia today than Plymouth Meeting, at Weed Man & Parkside Tree & Shrub Care, we still have plenty of tips to keep your lawn and landscape healthy all year long.  When temperatures are consistently below freezing, you can actually hurt your lawn just by walking across it.  In extreme cold breaking the crowns of the grass plants can damage it.  You'll see a brown set of footprints in the spring as the turf comes out of dormancy.

It's never too early to plan for spring! We're always planning to ensure our lawn and tree application are properly timed in order to produce the best results for the lawn and landscape.  In the meantime, have a warm drink and visit our website often for ways to enjoy your outdoor space all year long!