We are so excited to be starting another season!
The grass is just starting to wake up and we have begun making our rounds! Round one is a going to be a good dose of Nitrogen and Potassium along with a full dosage of pre-emergent herbicide to keep that crabgrass at bay!
The Nitrogen is going to kickstart and green up your grass that is still a bit sleepy… some of us have a harder time waking up in the morning!!! Think of this as a strong cup of coffee! And the Potassium is going to get the grass roots activated. We want to promote strong root growth in the spring and early summer to help give a strong base for that summer heat and stress. Also included in this custom fertilizer blend are biosolids for a rich micronutrient feeding, and Iron for an enhanced green up. Finally, Sulfur to allow the soil to unlock and absorb the nutrition from this feeding.
Snow Mold
We have gotten several calls about “white looking grass”. This is snow mold. It can be white or pink in appearance. Sometimes it is flat and matted down looking, sometimes it has a “cotton candy” fluffy appearance to it… Most times, the best treatment for this is to rake the area to allow light and oxygen to get to the soil, then leave it alone. New grass will grow! On rare occasions, some spot seeding will be needed. If you are seeing this in your yard, get out there and rake it up!
TIP:
If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to have your irrigation system turned back on and programed for a good watering schedule. Remember, longer infrequent waterings are better. Think about 20-30 minutes per zone every third day for the early summer. You may want to alter that in the middle of the summer, especially if it is anything like last year… But for good root health and maintenance, we want to promote long deep waterings to get the grass roots to grow deeper and stronger. This will also help with summer stress and recovery.
Think about adding a moisture management program to your plan… We recommend a three-application program to help with watering maintenance, adding micronutrients and a wetting agent to hold moisture at the root zone for when the grass roots need it most.
Ticks:
Tick season lasts from spring to early fall, with peak activity for the Lyme-disease-bacteria carrying blacklegged (or deer) tick hitting first between May and June and again in the fall, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Lyme disease, which when untreated can cause fever, rash, facial paralysis, and arthritis, ODH reports. Lyme disease cases have been increasing every year nationwide as the bacteria-carrying ticks spread into new states and counties.
But the most common tick in our area is The American dog tick. They live in areas of tall grass and in clearings that have little tree cover, are carried on small rodents and medium-sized wild mammals as well as domestic cats and dogs. Dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and rarely, tularemia, in Ohio.
