Tips

Fertilizer

• Fertilizing a new lawn with a good fertilizer, containing slow release nitrogen, will help prevent rust problems, which is common in new lawns.
• Homogeneous fertilizers will produce a more predictable even growth over blended fertilizers since all of the nutrients are present in each particle.
• No more than 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet should be applied per application.
• No more than 4 to 5 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet should be applied per year in most lawns. Apply throughout the year with 4 to 6 applications.  [Higher application rates can be used on Bentgrass greens and other high maintenance situations when done with caution.]
• Strategic use of fertilizers will strengthen your lawns root structure, enabling your lawn to tolerate feeding grubs. This reduces the need for insecticides.
• Fertilizers are most effective when the soil pH is between 6.0 and 7.0.
• Proper use of fertilizers will promote a healthy turf that can more easily compete with weeds, thus reducing the need for herbicides and pesticides.
• When fertilizer budgets are tight, the fall is the most beneficial time to fertilize because it will promote root growth which is key to a healthy turf.  As the temperature gets cooler, leaf growth slows down before root growth, therefore if you fertilize after leaf growth has slowed down, most of the nutrients will promote root growth as opposed to leaf growth.
• The most common cause of rust in turfgrass is low nitrogen. Even though rust never does permanent damage, regular fertilizing should prevent rust in established and newly seeded lawns.
• Using a seed starter fertilizer is very important for the successful establishment of a new lawn. We recommend using a fertilizer with a 1-2-1 or a 1-1-1 ratio. Apply additional fertilizer applications for an additional year. This will help promote a good root structure and thick turf that can compete with weeds. Use fertilizers with slow release nitrogen.

 

NUTRIENTS

Nitrogen (N):	Promotes dark green turf color, increases leaf growth.
Phosphorous (P):	Promotes root formation & growth, increases early plant growth, improves winter hardiness
Potassium (K):	Increases disease resistance of the plant.

 

MICRO NUTRIENTS

Iron (Fe):	Promotes dark green color.
Magnesium (Mg):	Helps regulate uptake of nutrients.
Sulfur (S):	Helps maintain dark green color, stimulates plant growth.
Manganese (Mn):	Accelerates germination and maturation.

Grub Control

August is the best time of year to sample and treat your lawn for the purpose of preventing grub damage next summer.

• Most healthy lawns can tolerate up to 8 grubs per square foot. Take one square foot sample in August to determine if you have a grub problem.
• If you average 8-10 grubs per square foot or more, treat with a non-systemic insecticide, such as Dylox, in August to early September. One application will control grubs year round.
• A Fall treatment will kill grubs when they are young, dramatically reducing the number of adult grubs next spring. This will prevent grub damage next summer.
• A Spring application of a non-systemic insecticide is not as effective because grubs are bigger and more difficult to kill, and some root damage has already occurred in the Fall and early Spring.
• One correctly applied application of an insecticide in the fall is an environmentally friendly way of handling a grub problem.
• Lawns which are not fertilized, are more susceptible to grub damage.

Measurements

• lb. stands for pound or pounds
• oz. stands for ounce or ounces
• 1 pound  =  16 ounces
• 1 ton = 2,000 pounds
  
• ' stands for foot or feet
• " stands for inch or inches
• 1 foot  = 12 inches
  
• G stands for gram
• MG stands for milligrams
• 1 gram = 1,000 milligrams

Mulch

• Wood mulches have a higher coverage rate per ton than paper mulches, making them more cost effective.

Terminology

Annual

A plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season. It does not come back the following year. They flower and die; they may reseed themselves.

 

Biennial

A plant that grows and produces leaves in the first season, and flowers and dies in the second season. The plant lives for two years.

 

Perennial

A plant that grows year to year. It lives for an indefinite number of years. It flowers in the second year and every year after.

 

Treated

Poison treated seed. Use seed only for planting. The seed itself must not be used for feed, food, or oil as it has been treated with Captan-Methoxychlor 75-3 Seed Protectant. The treatment does not affect in any way the plant or food crop produced. Treatment aids in control of "damping off" of seedlings caused by soil fungi, insects in soil and in storage.  For antidote empty stomach by introducing emetic or mechanical means.

Weed Control

• Crabgrass will not survive well in shaded areas, therefore by keeping your turfgrass dense and healthy through fertilization and mowing at 3 inches will reduce the number of crabgrass plants in the spring and summer.
• A lawn heavily infested with crabgrass will take a couple of growing seasons to completely control. By reducing the number of crabgrass plants each year, either by using herbicides or other methods, you'll be slowly reducing the number of weed seed production for the next year, eventually wiping out the infestation.
• A homogeneous fertilizer plus herbicide product will provide a more even distribution of the chemicals than a blended product, since each particle contains both the nutrients and herbicide.
• For crabgrass control, replace Spring application with ProScape 20-4-10 with TEAM PRO.