Think Pre-Emergent as Early Fall Approaches

Pre-emergence critical to a beautiful lawn, must be applied by a certain date to be effective, without pre-emergent’s, your lawn would be riddled with weeds to a point impossible to control. What is a pre-emergent and when should they be applied? A pre-emergent is a class of herbicide designed to create a layer of protection just below the soil surface and remain in the soil to stop new weed seeds from germinating. Herbicides of this nature are designed to be applied in two different ways and some pre-emergent have other benefits as well, depending on the type and brand. Granular and liquid are the two types used in lawn care at different times of the year, some containing post-emergent qualities while others are strictly pre-emergent only. Each having similar benefits when applied at the right time, giving a homeowner the best chance of stopping most weeds from germinating at different times of the year. Spring and fall are times when weeds germinate; some being "Summer Weeds" while other weeds are labeled as "Winter Weeds" Without pre-emergent, the lawn care industry would not be effective enough to stay in business. Pre-emergent’s are crucial and remain the single most important part of lawn care, without the all important spring and fall pre-emergent, weeds are left to grow unimpeded, lawn care companies understand the vital importance of a pre-emergent applied at the right time, and cringe when a customer refuses or postpones a treatment containing one, knowing from experience the all important catalyst to an ornamental yard starts with a correctly applied pre-emergent, when applied at the right time in the right manner most weeds don’t stand a chance of germinating. Take the time to read up on the vital importance of pre-emergent qualities and benefits, begin to understand the vital role pre-emergent plays in the ornamental state of your lawn, realizing the benefits, a homeowner can come to the conclusion that pre-emergence is the answer to a weed free lawn. There relatively easy to apply in granular form with a garden spreader, or a lawn care company can be contracted to apply pre-emergent at the right time to be most effective, leaving it up to the Pro’s so to speak. However, if you want to tackle the chore yourself the following info is vital: In the North Texas region the ideal target window for fall pre-emergent is before Sept 15th for a true pre-emergent with no residual post emergent activity, after Sept 15th you must apply a pre-emergent that contains post emergent activity because some weeds may have already germinated making a pre-emergent without post emergent qualities ineffective. Pay special attention to label instructions or ask your local lawn care professional for help Lawn Tech @ 972-346-2696. Good Luck and may you always have a beautiful lawn.

It's Time To Treat For Grubs

White grubs eat organic matter including the roots of plants. Therefore, damage first appears to be drought stress. Heavily infested turf appears off color, gray-green, and wilts rapidly in the hot sun. Continued feeding will cause the turf to die in large irregular patches. The tunneling of the larvae cause the turf to feel spongy under foot and the turf can often be rolled back like a loose carpet. Once the damage is done, its hard to regain any new turf without sodding or seeding. The best alternative to damage is preventative grub insecticide, however, topical insecticide can be applied once grubs have reached mature stages to kill on contact, preventing any further damage from occurring. Often grubs are found in soft soils or healthy lawns near and around street lamps or outdoor lighting. If you would like to find out how you can prevent grubs from ruining your lawn, call Lawntech or visit our website.

Hot, Dry and Under Restrictions

Summer's here and its hot, Texans are used to this weather, right? Not necessarily. Over the last three years we have broken records each of those three years, the most recent being the hottest, driest months on record. Yes, I suppose in this region North Texan's are more apt to handle hot weather than say our northern neighbors, yet as we look at temperatures for the last century, we find we have been hotter consistently and below average rainfall. So if temperatures are high as usual without any rainfall, drought conditions magnify turf problems, without water your investment is wasted. Bermuda for example does have some drought tolerances, consequently, just like the any living plant, Bermuda needs a certain amount of water to stay healthy. The University of Texas A&M experts in regional turf grasses, have some surprising prescriptions for regional turf grass irrigation recommendations, a suggestion far less than one would expect. 1 to 1.5 inches per week, with longer periods of slow watering the better. The pro's who study turf grass management have done their field work, analyzed the data, to formulate suggested weekly watering tables for regional turf grasses, both Bermuda and St. Augustine require only one to two inches weekly to be healthy. Which is a surprisingly low amount, given the time it takes to apply. With this prescription a homeowner can breathe a sigh of relief in times of drought and forced water restrictions. Your irrigation system should be in proper working order, insuring the heads are functioning properly, however, only needing one to two inches weekly should be an easy chore, assuming your system is working as intended. In this time of what seems to be a pattern of drought we're stuck in, take the time to have your system audited, fixed and maintained. Follow the weekly rule of one to two inches per week and your investment should be fine. Rain will eventually fall again, but until it does, you can be comforted in knowing under restrictions you can still have a beautiful lawn. Check out Lawn Tech's answer to watering restrictions, a product called "Moisture Manager" a unique bio-degradable substance which helps maximize your yards water consumption. Visit our website at: www.lawntech.com to read more or call us at 972-346-2696 for more information.

Got Fireants! Try Top Choice

In years past our industry struggled with eliminating fire ants from our environment, we fought the gallant fight, put up resistance at every turn, only to find fire ants back at work in a week or so, tormenting our customers. After many battles our efforts seemed futile until recently, our industry has finally found a product that works as advertised. Top Choice, a broad spectrum insecticide targeted mainly at fire ants works well and is easy to apply. The active ingredient Fibronil seems to work wonders in riding your lawn of the angry little pest and sends them packing. Designed to be broadcasted out by conventional spreader application rates, these tiny granules breakdown with moisture and create a barrier once penetrated is carried on their bodies back to the mound and causes death. Perfect control is obtained because of the inherent nature of fire ants to forage or move locations based on weather patterns, moisture distribution and food sources. As they forage across areas applicated with Top Choice they come in contact with the chemical and the rest is as they say "history" The good folks at Bayer Environmental Sciences have really hit the mark with a wonderful product that works, as long as this product is applied correctly by a licensed applicator, you can't go wrong with investing in a Top Choice application. There is however some small problems when not applied effectively or watered in properly, the biggest being full coverage of all dirt surfaces, any areas missed and ants will reside there. Secondly, this product is a controlled use product and must be applied by professionals, finding the right company with applicators that are diligent with how they apply Top Choice can make a huge difference in total infestation removal. Proper irrigation following recent applications can make the difference in success or failure, without proper watering, Top Choice doesn’t work. If you are interested in a proven product that our industry is proud to apply, please contact Lawn Tech at 972-346-2696 or visit nofireants.com and read more about this outstanding product with a yearlong guarantee from Bayer.

Did You Know? Proper Mowing and Fertilizing Conserves Water?

From the University ot Texas A&M,comes a great article about proper mowing heights, making a point to show you how mowing can help conserve water. The following exerpt is from the Agri-Life Website:

"Mowing grass at the proper height conserves water. Mow, St. Augustine grass and Buffalograss at 3 inches; for Bermudagrass mow at 1 inch; for centipedegrass and Zoysiagrass mow at 2 inches.
Applying fertilizer to the lawn at the proper time and in the proper amount can save time, effort and money through reduced mowing and watering. Fertilizers also can be a major source of pollution of streams and groundwater if excessive amounts are applied."

Read the rest of this article at: earthkind.tamu.edu

What Sets Lawn Tech Apart From the Competition?

Some Surprising Differences You May Not Know About Lawn Tech Versus Our Competition:


Five Treatment Program (Chemically Responsible)
Free Service Calls
24hr Courtesy Call before Treatments
Only the Best Products Used
No Contract to Sign
In Business since 1985
Recipient of Several Honorable Awards (Angies List Super Service Award)
Dedicated Experienced Staff
A Loyal Customer Base


Letter to Our Customers,

This year we are well aware of a more than average abundance of weeds, this is typical during years of drought or abnormally warm temperatures, causing weeds to germinate and seasonal grasses to begin transitioning.
Pre-emergent’s applied in the early fall of last year have shown to be less effective than in years past, the weather pattern over the last year has made weeds pop up quicker and in more abundance.
Lawn Tech has since 1985, used five timed treatments throughout the scheduled lawn season, while other companies use up to twelve yearly we stick to only five, the practice of using only five well timed treatments helps limit over application of chemicals, and helps our environment.
Lawn Tech practices “Integrated Pest Management” a term coined by the industry to mean you only apply enough chemicals to be effective. This practice helps limit the amount of chemicals in your family’s environment, your children’s environment, and our drinking water.
Limiting our applications to five seasonal treatments can leave your yard vulnerable in the warm winter months especially if we have drought conditions. We could extend our five treatment program to include the winter months, but at what price? Other companies seem to abandon the ethical practice of being chemically conscious and add as many treatments as they feel necessary to make a profit.
Since 1985 we have tried to give our customers good value, free service calls and great customer service without adding winter treatments. In past years our fall pre-emergent was enough to carry our customers until we could service their property that next February.
This year the drought has caused more weeds than usual, however, without abandoning our five treatment program as discussed, we have every intention of resuming your applications as soon as possible. We are now actively servicing our customers with the first treatment of the year and without fail we will be at your property within weeks, if problems arise during the course of the season, please take advantage of our free service call program within thirty days of your most recent application.
Lawn Tech is very thankful for all our customers and we appreciate your understanding our need to limit the amount of chemicals we put in your environment by adhering to our five treatment program. Once again thank you for being a valued customer and we look forward to making your yard look beautiful.


Please Visit Our Website at: www.lawntech.com

Helping You Save Money with "Moisture Manager"

Drought Season is coming up soon and water restrictions may be set higher, so what can you do about it? Most homeowners want to protect their investment and enjoy having a beautiful lawn, realizing that water is the vital ingredient needed, worry sets in as homeowners face spring time temperatures.
With tougher restrictions looming in our future, there may be an answer to our problems. Moisture manager is a new product created by Ecologel Solutions, designed to make the most of water already available in your soil.
Moisture manager is a chemical known as a "Humectants" designed to be sprayed onto your lawn and watered into the soil, once down into the root zone, moisture manager captures moisture vapor before it evaporates back into the atmosphere, converting it back to liquid water and passing it on to your plants roots.
Considered as a "Professional Root Zone Moisture Manager" this chemical works when water restrictions limit the amount of water you can dump on your lawn. This gives homeowners a slight advantage to tougher restrictions and helps keep lawns greener longer despite watering practices.
Learn more about Moisture Managers Hydretain today at www.savingtheworldswater.com, and visit www.lawntech.com were we can apply moisture manager for you within three to five days, giving you the best advantage in drought conditions. Find out the benefits and read more about this amazing product sweeping the industry. A biodegradable technology that conserves water, saves you money, increases the efficiency of fertilizer and pesticides, by reducing runoff.

Watering Your Lawn Under Restrictions? Education Is The Answer!

Most customers understand in order to have a healthy lawn, water plays a vital role, under stage restrictions, homeowners fear the worst as spring is around the corner.

The key word to drought stage restrictions is "education" Learning how much water your lawn needs to be healthy, what alternatives if any, are on the market to help maximize water intake and proper irrigation auditing.
Education starts with the homeowner, taking the time to read up on water conservation, understanding restrictions, undertanding your irrigation system and following up with available alternatives.
From a business standpoint, we as commercial applicators have a role as well in water conservation, irrigation audits, alternative product awareness and education to the consumer.
Each of us have a responsibility to ourselves, the consumer and our environment to properly educate one another as to the "ins and outs" of water restrictions, conservation and proper irrigation management.
Perhaps the biggest concern amoung those in an industry such as ours, is to have consumers being irresponsible with water, in this day and age we have the ethical resposibility as a society to be conscious of our environment and educate ourselves to those aspects of conservation which pose the greatest risk to our existence.
Taking this into question, Lawn Tech has other alternatives to over-watering and stage restrictions to include:

Proper Irrigation Audits
Water Management Techniques
Erosion Practices
Proper drainage Techniques
Chemical Applications to improve water absorption "Humectants"
Consumer Education

Take the time to visit our website or call Lawn Tech for applications that can help conserve water such as "Humectants", irrigation auditing, and water management techniques, we would be glad to show you how to have a beautiful lawn during drought conditions, please visit: www.lawntech.com or call 972-346-2696 we would be glad to assist you. Also you can click on the title of this blog entry to be taken to the Texas State Watering Website. or copy and paste the following website: http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/conservation/municipal/

Lawn Tech is Making Headlines

Lawn Tech is very proud to be the recipient of the 2011 Angie's List Super Service Award! This prestigous award was given to the top five percent of companies that have shown to be outstanding in the area of customer service and positive feedback.
We are honored to have recieved this award and take our customer service responsibility seriously, awards help us realize that our efforts are being noticed and appreciated. Angie's List has become the leading business forum for potential clients to communicate and make judgement on whether or not to do business with us, this award which is the highest compliment a company can receive, is an honor we are very proud of.
We thank Angie's List for this award and appreciate our customer's for taking the time to praise us for our outstanding customer service, we thank you for your business.
Please take the time to visit angie's list today and see why Lawn Tech is the 2011 Super Service Award Winner. www.angieslist.com