Lawntech and Christmas Decor'

Don't forget Lawntech/Christmas Decor' is an excellent way to brighten your holiday by letting us hang your christmas lights. Call 972-346-2696 today for a free estimate. Have a happy holiday season.

Lawncare and Fall Weather Conditions

Most homeowners understand that when fall comes, ornamental turf grasses go dormant, this miracle of nature permits your lawn to hybernate over winter, causing a dead or dying top growth, your turf appears to have died, however, your turf is alive and well, only the top growth has turned brown and died, beneath the surface the roots have been storing nutrients for the upcoming winter and are very much alive.
Most homeowners equate dead top growth with a break in lawncare, "end of season maintenance" therefore, they have a tendency to overlook their lawn and neglect its care, causing problems over winter and into spring. The average lawn still needs adaquate water to sustain its health over winter, often inclement weather throughout winter is enough to sustain a lawns health, but, in dry years without wet winter conditions turf grasses suffer, causing most turf grasses to experience spring deadspot, a direct result of dead areas not coming back the next year. Don't neglect your lawn this fall by overlooking the obvious, if it doesnt rain, your yard needs water!

Burning Back Stubborn Grassy Weeds

This time of year when the temprature warms up, grassy weeds are commonly sprayed with a selective herbicide such as MSMA. MSMA standard in the industry for the treatment of stubborn grassy weeds, i.e., Dallas Grass, Crabgrass and Nutsedges, all require some attention with selective herbicides. Grassy weeds not controlled effectively with pre-emergents, can be controlled with applications of a grassy leaf herbicide called MSMA.
MSMA can effectively eliminate grassy weeds, however, not without some side effects. Temporary yellowing is the biggest complaint, dissapearing within a few weeks these yellow patches left behind by the chemical residue will eventually go away and areas treated return to normal. Several applications may be required to finally eliminate troublesome weedy areas. Often times several applications are needed to finally rid your yard of grassy weeds. All weed applications are often time consuming and take several weeks, even months to effectively eliminate a pest such as grassy weeds.

Seedhead Concerns

Seedheads in bermudagrass

The "seedhead" issue is much more a factor of management than anything else such as variety choice. If a Bermuda is throwing blooms out every 5 days, then it is stressed. Under stress conditions, even the vegetative sod Bermudas will throw up a lot of blooms. Stresses include-poor drainage, poor watering (too much and too little), drought, low nitrogen availiablity, soil compaction, temperature, etc. Low imputs of Nitrogen is the most common cause of a Bermuda turf throwing a lot of blooms. By improving these management and cultural practice traits a huge reduction in the amount of bloom will be seen. To find out more about Seedhead Formation Concerns, visit: http://www.bermudagrass.com/maintenance/seedheads.html

My yard is not turning green!

Most warm season grasses i.e., Bermuda, can take it's time coming out of dormancy depending on how mild the temp has been effecting groud temperature, allowing the subsoil to remain cold. Consistant warming patterns can help raise soil temps incouraging grasses to begin to green up. As our temperature rises you will notice the change, mowing early can help speed up the process in most cases.

Why is my lawncare price going up?

The link located on this page "Weed Control Explained" has an item intitled "Fertilizer price going up." Texas A&M goes into detail explaining how the cost of fertilizer has gone up, effecting the lawncare industry.

Why don't all my weeds die?

Weed control often can be a chore. Establishing weed barriers by pre-emergent can take several years. Applying pre-emergent over a period of years can cause a weed barrier to develop, one that stops weed seeds from germinating and this can take time. Stubborn weeds like, crabgrass, dallisgrass, Poa annua (annual wild bluegrass) are best controled when temperatures are above 80 degrees. Mild temperatures can inhibit control and cause weeds to fluorish, however, weeds like henbit, dandilions and clover can be controled relatively easy this time of year depending on rainfall. Overall, effective weed control can be plaqued by many factors outside of the control of your lawncare company, i.e., mowing schedule, rainfall, temperature and time of year. Look for the link on this page for weed control explanation.

Should I mow now and if so, how high?

You should mow your lawn as the season starts, or early spring. From a critical standpoint mowing early is not a deal breaker, however the sooner you mow the sooner your yard greens up. Also, if you have stubborn winter weeds and spring weeds, mowing will help control or eliminate them. Mow relatively short on your first mowing to help get rid of dormant dead top growth and open up the root zone to sunlight.

Do I water now or wait till it gets hot?

Believe it or not, watering should be done year round in order to maintain proper health and weed control, although dormant turf grasses need water to survive. Check out the link for water guidelines located on this page.