April Fool's Day
The first day of April is a physcological day in the mind of "Green" people. It triggers thoughts of green grass, flowering trees and of course the Forsythia. The buds are swelling on many of our local early flowering plants around our landscapes and a few blooms have opened today. If we compare this year to many, we are about a week late here in Mason. When we operated our landscape business which included mowing, many years we already had one cut in by now on most lawns.
One of the early things to remember when taking care of our outdoor living space, is the sense of urgency to get down pre-emergent for the lawn to control crabgrass. This lawn weed will start germinating when the soil temperature stays about 52 degrees. A good rule of thumb to follow without the use of a soil thermometer, is to watch the Forsythias. When they are in full bloom, crabgrass will start to grow.
Most pre-emergent herbicides that are bought by local homeowners contain pendemethalin which causes the granules to be yellow. That is a chemical trait and not so you can see where you put it, by the way. This herbicide will only control weed seed that has not germinated and also needs to be watered in by irrigation, or rain to be active. In our lawn care business we use another herbicide that has killing power to kill these seedlings up to about 2 weeks old. But currently is not registered to be used by homeowners.
And remember one thing about grass pre-emergents, you cannot seed any type of lawn grass into treated areas for at least 3 months. The chemical that controls crabgrass, also controls the expensive grass seed you thought about putting down.
In recent years there has been much research put into organic pre-emergent. The one that has some potential is Corn Gluten Meal. Not only will this add some organic nitrogen, it will help in the control of crabgrass, to some extent. With the commodity prices of corn ranging upwards of $5.50 per bushel due to the ethanol scandal, the price of this meal has topped about $27.00 per bag at our prices. And with a rate of 10# per 1000 sq ft, that makes this product out of range for most lawns.
The best IPM* strategy for crabgrass control, is to have a thick lawn where the crabgrass cannot compete. This goal is not difficult to achieve when planned for in advance. Then no chemicals or expensive organics will be needed and input costs will be reduced.
* IPM (Integrated Pest Management) - IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks.
All of our Lawn Care services, and the nursery follow this principle. We reduce costs, release fewer chemicals into the environment and also improve our health. You can read more about it on our site: www.spgto.com. We line out our guidelines for our different levels of lawn care and use the most logical product/solution to control the situation, if it problem tops a threshold level. This will give homeowners a little insight into using chemicals wisely.
That is it for now.
Next post, I will discuss how to use homeowner chemicals wisely.
David Caplinger
One of the early things to remember when taking care of our outdoor living space, is the sense of urgency to get down pre-emergent for the lawn to control crabgrass. This lawn weed will start germinating when the soil temperature stays about 52 degrees. A good rule of thumb to follow without the use of a soil thermometer, is to watch the Forsythias. When they are in full bloom, crabgrass will start to grow.
Most pre-emergent herbicides that are bought by local homeowners contain pendemethalin which causes the granules to be yellow. That is a chemical trait and not so you can see where you put it, by the way. This herbicide will only control weed seed that has not germinated and also needs to be watered in by irrigation, or rain to be active. In our lawn care business we use another herbicide that has killing power to kill these seedlings up to about 2 weeks old. But currently is not registered to be used by homeowners.
And remember one thing about grass pre-emergents, you cannot seed any type of lawn grass into treated areas for at least 3 months. The chemical that controls crabgrass, also controls the expensive grass seed you thought about putting down.
In recent years there has been much research put into organic pre-emergent. The one that has some potential is Corn Gluten Meal. Not only will this add some organic nitrogen, it will help in the control of crabgrass, to some extent. With the commodity prices of corn ranging upwards of $5.50 per bushel due to the ethanol scandal, the price of this meal has topped about $27.00 per bag at our prices. And with a rate of 10# per 1000 sq ft, that makes this product out of range for most lawns.
The best IPM* strategy for crabgrass control, is to have a thick lawn where the crabgrass cannot compete. This goal is not difficult to achieve when planned for in advance. Then no chemicals or expensive organics will be needed and input costs will be reduced.
* IPM (Integrated Pest Management) - IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks.
All of our Lawn Care services, and the nursery follow this principle. We reduce costs, release fewer chemicals into the environment and also improve our health. You can read more about it on our site: www.spgto.com. We line out our guidelines for our different levels of lawn care and use the most logical product/solution to control the situation, if it problem tops a threshold level. This will give homeowners a little insight into using chemicals wisely.
That is it for now.
Next post, I will discuss how to use homeowner chemicals wisely.
David Caplinger
posted by SPG Turf & Ornamental at
8:22 PM
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