Why a Flea and Tick Spray?

Fleas and Ticks are common in our region during the humid to hot months of the year, although they can be around much of the year, you may tend to see them more as the end of spring approaches or at the start of summer.
Understanding how best to handle these pest can be no easy chore, fleas and ticks are blood feeding insects, known to invade the common house pet, livestock or native animals. They can carry disease and left untreated can pose a huge threat to your pets. Fleas and ticks go about their life cycle trying to find a host, not typically feeding on humans, however, they can bite and cause rashes, another reason to effectively treat them.
During the day one flea can bite your pet more than 400 times and lay hundreds of eggs, they eat three times their body weight in one day, their saliva can cause skin problems for pets and ticks can carry a whole host of deadly diseases. So when and how do you effectively rid your environment of these pest?
From now till the fall, a common insecticide application outdoors can be the first step, spraying your yard, surrounding shrub areas, and foundation is a good start, in conjunction with this application the homeowner should treat their pets and indoors as well, giving the little vermin no place to reside.
Then approximately 7-10days later apply the same process again to kill any eggs or hatch lings left over. This process seems to help eradicate fleas and ticks, with the combination of outside and inside insecticide treatment, treating your pets with either a collar, flea dip or other applied medications can finally rid your home environment. Call Lawn Tech today to have us professionally apply flea and tick spray, we will work with you to come back and follow-up with second application, helping you effectively kill your flea and tick problem.
visit us today at www.lawntech.com


*Click on the title of this posting to find out more about fleas and ticks.

Insecticide for Grub Control

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.

Time to Water?

Watering your lawn can be another added expense most people don't have, however, protecting your investment can pay off big time. If you plan on selling your house, landscaping can be the first impression a potential buyer gets, giving you a leg up before the new owner steps their foot inside. So, how much do you water and how often? If you have an irrigation system get to know how it works and how much water volume it puts out. This fact can help you decide how long to leave the system running. Watering this time of year can help top growth rejuvenate and give your yard a boost going into summer.
Deep watering your lawn slowly and for longer periods can make the root system deeper, making your lawn healthier than your neighbors, trees and shrubs need a boost as well and watering them deep can help. With high winds this time of year drying out your landscape environment, watering can be crucial. Pay attention to the amount of water your lawn absorbs, limit run-off by montoring the system, don't just "Set it and forget it."
Once you know your systems output, water throughly once weekly until run-off is visible the longer infrequent watering the better. Check out watering guideline icon over to the right of this blog entry, click on the link and you will get some additional information that may be helpful. Visit our website for the right chemicals at the right time by professionals who care about your yard. www.lawntech.com

When should you mow and how short?

If you pay for a mowing service, having your first mow for the year may be the farthest idea from your mind, if you mow your own lawn, you may miss the exercise. Mowing can be critical at different times of the year, spring is one of those times. The first mow of the year should be this month, some years you may wait, depending on the weather, this year, mowing this month can help control weeds and help the yard transition.
Playing it safe, is the smart play however and most turf management professionals try to mow as late in march as possible or wait till April. The delay is in direct respect to the weather, and in Texas, weather is unpredictable. The worry is a late freeze coming after you have scalped the yard, a late freeze can literally be a killer.
Paying attention to the weather and having some patience can be difference in having dead spots or "Freeze Damage" show up in transition. The best recommendation is to wait till after the last freeze or the end of march as a rule. If you are a gambling man, you would mow now, the odds are with you. This region is not prone to late freezes, so you can be confident in the fact that if you mow, no freeze damage will happen.
Many homeowners have mowed already and let the turf manage itself, in most cases no problems result, yet, a late freeze can damage mowed turf. The height becomes a factor with first mowing's and the shorter the better, allowing sunlight to penetrate the root zone is the idea, making grass transition from dormancy to green top growth. Scalping is part of most turf management programs and scalping is done this month or next depending on the factors listed above. Contradictory however, is this notion of mowing now or waiting, a direct result of unpredictable weather in this region. Most homeowners and mowing companies feel safe to mow now and hope for the best. Good Luck

Ugly Weeds Are Showing Up Brightly

Those ugly weeds your seeing in your yard, are in stark contrast to the gray/brownish dormant grass you've planted. Ugly green weeds classified as winter weeds germinating in the winter months, are common and easily controlled with a broad leaf herbicide, give Lawn Tech a call and we can usually get rid of most of the unsightly weeds so ugly this time of year. Call 972-346-2696 today for help with stubborn weeds.

Thinking About Planting Red-tip Photinias?

Red-tips are great border plants, perfect privacy shrubs, they grow fast, flower in spring and can be beautiful when healthy. Planting them in the right spot can be an added dimension to your landscape. Red-tips however, can have negatives, technically classified as a tree, they can outgrow your existing landscape, without proper maintenance they can overwhelm your property, secondly they are extremely susceptible to leaf spot or entomosporium, a disease when left untreated can spread and kill your investment. So how do you overcome these negatives?
Several options are available to you to protect your investment. First, select a variety of red-tip which is known to be a healthier strain, the "Chinese Red-tip" has recently become widely available in nurseries, prized for it's ability to overcome disease, unlike it's cousin the "American Red" variety normally planted in this area. Secondly, plant your shrubs with distance between them and structure, don't plant so close to your house or fence. Leaving enough room for air to get behind them, helping them to dry out and prevent the build up of moisture. When planting, think about planting them away from your house or fence, planted in a open area to add scale and color will give them room to grow, dry out and be chemically sprayed effectively if needed.
Red-tips can be an excellent privacy shrub, large shade shrub or ornamental shrub to any landscaping design, however, keep in mind to choose a disease resistant variety, and be selective in your choice of planting area. If your heart is not set on Red-tips, be creative and choose a shrub less prone to disease and abandon Red-tips altogether.

Click on the title of this post for a pointed article about Red-tips,(Red-tip Photinia Almost Eliminated). Good Luck

Spring Is Around The Corner

Ah yes, spring, the best time of the year in this region, mild temperatures and beautiful sunsets. Spring is my favorite time of the year, enjoying the mild weather is a luxury here in Texas. Spring signifies to most homeowners the lawn season has officially began, but, your lawn begins to change much earlier than spring. Dormancy transition can come at different times depending on rainfall, temperatures and mowing schedules.
Taking the right steps to insure a beautiful lawn for the season actually begins much earlier than spring. Controlling weeds and applying fertilizer as spring arrives, pre-emergents can be critical to a beautiful lawn. Now is the time to start with a lawn service, applying much needed pre-emergents to start spring off with a pop. Getting rid of early winter/spring weeds and fertilizing the lawn at the right time can help dormancy be a smooth transition.
Mow dates become critical, When to mow for the first time and how short is a practical solution to spring transition. Your first mowing should be after the last freeze and before top growth is in full transition. Scalping or "Mowing Shorter" is appropriate at the right stage and can help a yard transition from dormancy faster.
Call Lawn Tech if you have any questions and need a service to help apply the right chemicals at the right time, spring aeration can also be a big booster to spring transition, let the pros help you make this year a beautiful lawn season, visit our website today for great deals on lawn care, www.lawntech.com

"The Big Freeze" How Does Winter Effect Ornamental Turf Grasses?

As you already know, winter has arrived, stout winter storms have taken a toll on the North Texas region, dumping record amounts of ice and snow. Not necessarily common to this region, winter storms do happen and when they do, ornamental turf grasses suffer. The biggest concern is "Winter Kill" a term often referred to by the experts as; areas of dead patchy grass, visible when the yard transitions out of dormancy, leaving dead areas, unable to green back up.
These areas can be very small or large blanket areas depending on many factors. Some factors associated with "winter kill" are as follows: Areas of constant shade, preventing dry out of moisture, low lying areas without proper drainage, poor soil, or rocky areas with shallow root systems and any area where large amounts of ice or snowfall cannot adequately evaporate.
Sometimes, small round areas are left dead, seemingly without explanation, only to discover a snowman was built and left to melt, leaving the turf underneath without the ability to recover. Areas left with large amounts of ice and snow can cause "Winter Kill" ultimately leaving stubborn areas which refuse to green up, leaving a dead or patchy appearance. Grasses left vulnerable after a hard winter, can be susceptible to diseases like "Spring Dead spot" a big problem with ornamental turf grasses.
Several methods can be used to try and circumvent the amount of area damaged by winter, follow some simple procedures to insure less area is effected.

1. Allow Lawn Tech to apply a high potassium/potash fertilizer in the fall before winter.
2. Allow Lawn Tech to perform an aeration, helping nutrients to absorb.
3. Make a final mowing before the first freeze, insuring an inch and 1/2 height, (higher is better)
4. Insure your yard drains properly, identifying problem areas.
5. Water your yard when winter dry times arrive.
6. Rake up leaves and debris, allowing your yard to dry properly.

Lawn Tech Wishes You a Happy New Year

Lawn Tech wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year, as we face another year of lawncare, our focus needs to be on creating an ornamental lawn our customers can be proud of, with proper, timed chemical applications and proper homeowner maintenance, i.e., proper mowing, watering and weeding, creating a beautiful lawn is a snap! We appreciate your business this year and we look forward to a great 2011.

Take Advantage Of Early Installation Discounts!

Take the hassle out of installing Christmas Lights this season, Let us handle the dangers of climbing the ladder, and fighting with tangled cords. Hurry and call Lawntech today for up to 25% off new Christmas Light Installation. We offer only the best products and service to bring you the best holiday experience, take advantage of our early installation discounts and take the sting out of labor cost, starting early can bring you big savings on your decorating needs. Call us today @972-346-2696

The Holiday Season Is Fast Approaching

One of the neat memories from my childhood happens to be remembering my childhood home decorated with multi-colored lights, tugging on those emotions, I can almost see my home vividly from memory. Those special times in my life, helps me promote Holiday Lighting, and continues to be a big part of why I enjoy helping our customers create memories.
Christmas lighting can be a wonderful mood creating atmosphere and with the right company installing them, a treasured memory. Christmas Decor has been installing lights since 1985, insured and bonded, we offer the customer, quality, value and service. Give Lawntech a chance to help create memories that last for a lifetime, call us today @ 972-346-2696 to get on the list for a free lighting proposal and early installation discount.

*Don't forget if you own a business, holiday lighting can increase consumer traffic, help customers shopping moods and spread holiday cheer!

Fall Lawn Application, "The Importance of Pre-emergents"

Most landscaping professionals would readily admit to the importance of pre-emergent applications. Some agree pre-em is fifty percent of the battle when talking about success with ornamental turf grasses, "making them weed free is the primary goal and pre-em is a big part of that equation." Pre-emergents stop weeds seeds from germinating and some have post emergent activity as well, this aspect can play a big role in how well your yard looks thru fall, winter and into spring of next year. Leading into winter, discontinuing service prior to the fall pre-em application could have disastrous results. Weeds will be allowed to flourish in a time when your grass is dormant and weeds can take over. The importance of proper pre-em application is rarely debated and is a contiguous part of weed control and fertilization. If you want a yard people envy, pre-emergent is the biggest card played.

Soaring Temperatures Can Cause Concern

All to often in this region temperatures soar above 100 degrees, causing ornamental turf grasses to parch and become dry or broom like, without proper water, keeping your yard looking "sweet" is almost not reality.
If you are lucky enough to live in a crowded neighborhood, you may be able to keep some moisture in your topsoil, however, if you live in an open area or rural area, hot winds dry out sod more rapidly. Direct heat is the big culprit however and direct heat can make Bermuda look dead if allowed to go without water.
Your budget will take a big hit, while trying to poor on water to keep your yard looking good, try watering deeper for longer periods at a time, in the mid morning, once a week if possible. Setting the proper mow depth can also prevent burn, by raising mower depth and sharpening blades. Do a self audit of your irrigation system to insure all heads are watering adaquatedly. Water restrictions may come into play, depending on where you live, pay attention to mailers included with your water payment to notify you of any shortages.

How much and how often should I water my lawn?

Proper Irrigation management has been debated often in relationship to ornamental turf grasses. One common theme you can find in most debates stems from the amount of water and what time of day is best, both topics seem to be the most contested argument put forth by all parties.
Most arguments can be put to rest by following simple instructions about irrigation management.

1. Know your irrigation system output.

Knowing how much your system puts out per minute can be beneficial to establishing guidelines. Once you have established your systems output, one can make an educated guess as to how much water is being applied in any given setting. (contacting your irrigation specialist for a system audit, can give you accurate output amounts)

2. Water in the early morning hours after the sun comes up.

Watering in the morning prevents moisture evaporation and can help decrease disease. Watering later in the day can cause evaporation from the sun and watering at night or before the sun comes up promotes disease by leaving water on the leaf blade to breed fungus.

3. Long slow watering is considered ideal rather than short frequent watering's.

Long slow watering helps promote a deeper root system and gives your topsoil a healthier environment for growth, consequently, run-off becomes a major issue when trying to water longer, knowing how long you can water before run-off begins is a basic concept to water management. Water as long as you can before run-off begins, allow the yard to soak up the water and then repeat until run-off begins again, all in the same watering setting or watering day.

4. Soil type and Run-off are often evaluated when setting your system.

Understanding your soil type can help a homeowner gauge how long to allow a system to run, sandy soils leach more water and can cause run-off more rapidly, while soils with less sandy loam and clay can absorb more and prevent run-off. Know your soil and set your system to manage run-off.

In the region we live in, (North Texas) a watering prescription for ornamental turf-grasses has been proposed as follows: 1 to 2 inches per week or a depth of 4 to 6 inches. (how you obtain this amount is with the longest watering cycle possible, in the mid morning with the least amount of run-off, every irrigation system is different)

Look to the left of this blog entry for Texas State Watering Guidelines or
The links below can help you further on the subject of turf-grass watering questions:
(cut and paste this link or click on the link to access website)

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/county/smith/tips/land/waterLawn09.html

http://texaswater.tamu.edu/conference/feb05/havlak.pdf

Why do I have so many seedheads?

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

Why Do Other Lawncare Companies Offer So Many Treatments

Over the last decade, lawn care chemical companies have changed from a maximum of five yearly treatments to over ten, Why is this? Chemical applications for ornamental shrubs and turf grasses have grown with unnecessary applications and frequency, customers have been manipulated by big companies with powerful marketing teams, designed to get the most out of every customer. Each new promotion designed to squeeze more and more from their customer base, leaving them feeling less than satisfied when the final tally is added up at the end of the year.
One of the most common ploys to encourage new customers, is to market an inexpensive start up cost, luring the customer into a false sense of savings, (the old 25.00 dollar treatment ploy!) consequently, those same companies with the low sign up cost, end up adding additional services throughout the year, essentially starting low and ending high, they make up the difference by up selling the customer on services they do not need, i.e., grub control, disease control or aeration.
This is a bad practice to get into, yet most larger lawn care companies find themselves in this habit, offering cheap introductory prices to lure in new customers and then up selling treatments not needed. Training their lawn technicians to be salesmen, giving mandatory up sell quotas and putting their customers on call list.
We understand why other companies offer so many treatments; to increase income, keep employees working in the winter months and fortify their customer base, however, we also know how irresponsible this habit is for customers and for our environment. Over applying chemicals when they are not needed, is bad for the environment and against all ethical standards, secondly, most applications have some type of time frame to be applied, an arbitrary date they must be applied by, if you apply outside of those target dates, the chemical is not effective. And thirdly, affecting your pocket book, by up selling you for services not needed, just so they can keep working in the winter and make money.

Case in point:

I personally met a customer of ours years ago for the first time, he was using one of the other larger iconic companies, I will not mention their name! He told me he was not happy with his service and wanted me to come by in my travels and look at his yard, when I arrived I noticed granules on his sidewalk and driveway, now keep in mind this was in the dead of winter, I asked him if he had just applied something, and he stated that, "his current company had just applied a winterize fertilizer." I asked him to give them a call and ask them what the analysis was, he agreed. He called me a few days later and told me that the analysis was 18-18-18"winter coat" is what they called it. I laughed out loud! promptly apologized, and told him, a proven fact of dormant grass is that 94% percent of chemicals applied in the winter are leached away, not to mention the analysis made no sense, the middle number represents seed stimulation and growth, they had also reccomended an aeration, I had to scratch my head.

At Lawn tech we try to adhere to the same philosophy we have since 1985. Offer the customer value and limit up sells. We rarely ever offer any low introductory rate and rarely offer a discount, we try to apply everything you need in one treatment five times a year, just as all companies did a decade ago before yearly maximum treatments became popular. We never and I repeat NEVER, sell your information or put you on up sell call list, or apply chemicals on the weekend when your family is most likely in the yard, or call you at night when your eating dinner! Our treatment cost are affordable for what you get in return and at the end of the year, you save! We always offer free service calls, other companies use this as a unique opportunity to up sell you! We try to stick to a schedule of timed treatments in order to get the most out of the chemical, if the technician sees you have a problem with your lawn, needing extra services, we will call you and notify you of the need to spend more money to fix the problem, sometimes the up sell is warranted. So now you know the real story behind adding, up selling and number of treatments per year. Their is no need to over apply chemicals to you and your families environment, so call Lawn Tech today and let us show you why we are the responsible company offering you value for your money. 972-346-2696

Pictures of Common Weeds in this Region

The following are just a few of the most common weeds controlled with broadleaf herbicide this early spring, permitting the ground is not frozen. A good rule of thumb for herbicide application would be broadleafs in the cooler months, grassy in the warm months, however, most broadleafs respond to chemical application no matter the time of year, they are easier to kill, have more leaf blade surface for the chemical to adhere to and less of a fibrous root system.

Henbit



Dandelion



Thistle



Plantain



Common Weeds Not Treated Until Warm Temperatures Rise Consistently, which unfortunately is most if not all grassy weeds, consistent 90-degree temperatures or hotter is best for chemical application performance. Sedge grasses are the most difficult to control because of their narrow blade surface, lateral root system and persistent nature

Dallisgrass



Crabgrass



Nutsedge

Wishing Everyone A Happy New Year And Beautiful Lawn Season

Lawntech wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year. This year promises to be a good one, with all of our current lawn customers being notified of our upcoming treatment schedule, we want to express to potential customers the need to call our friendly office staff, and have them explain how Lawntech can help you build and maintain a beautiful lawn, by our dedication, knowledge and years of experience, we have a proven track record of out performing our competition. So take the time to call and give us a chance, to tell you how we can help your yard look wonderful starting today, call us at 972-346-2696 for more information, be sure to continue to follow this blog for more great tips on how you can help make your yard look its best, once again have a great year!

Thinking about Christmas Lighting, Think Lawntech!

Lawntech Christmas Decor has been proudly serving our coverage area with custom Christmas Lighting for 14years. We take extreme pride in offering our customers the confidence which comes with being part of the National Franchise which is Christmas Decor Inc. CDI,Inc., is a National Franchise with over 400 franchises across America, affiliated with Ronald McDonald house charities, Christmas Decor is recognized as the foremost leader in custom lighting.
Lawntech takes pride in our installation projects and sees that each customer gets a professional lighting job with excellent service. This industry is known to have fly by night, quick to start up companies, which gives this business a bad name, Lawntech takes upon itself to try and keep Christmas lighting professional, courteous, and ethical.
What does Lawntech Christmas Decor offer our customers that the other fly by night companies can't?:

Customized Lighting
Insured and Bonded
Trained Installation Tech's
Courteous Staff
Safety trained and conscious
Uniformed installers
No undocumented workers
Outstanding Service call Program
Variety of Products
National Company Recognition
Ronald McDonald House Charities Donation
Competitive Prices
Proven Customer Satisfaction and History
Been in Business Since 1985
Best Products Made
Proud Member of the National Decorate a Soldiers House Program


Lawntech is looking forward to another wonderful year helping our area decorate for the holidays, We enjoy serving our community and providing the best product, service and enjoyable experience for our customers, please take the time to let Lawntech Christmas Decor give you a free estimate for lighting today, call our office staff @ 972-346-2696 for available times in your area.

Attack of the Killer Armyworms

"Armyworms are actually the caterpillar life stage of a moth. Their eggs masses which may contain several hundred new worms are deposited on or near plant foods. Each female may deposit several of these clusters. The caterpillar that hatches from the egg is only about one-eighth inch long, but when it is full grown, it reaches a length of about two inches. The caterpillars, usually feed at night and hide in plant litter just above the soil surface during the day. These moth larvae chew off the grass blades above the soil surface. If there is a major infestation, the grass is eaten to the soil level.
A frost may kill the larvae off, however inspection of areas where armyworms are likely to be found is advisable so that treatment can be applied before serious plant damage occurs and the larvae mature. Although the moths do no damage to plants, they will continue their life cycle and produce thousands of new worms."
Many do it yourself labels advocate only one application without much need for additional treatments, however the best course of action is to allow a trained technician or licensed applicator apply the appropriate chemical, to rid your yard of this seasonal pest, call Lawntech today. If you choose to try and fix the problem yourself and if the infestation is out of control (five or more per square yard) and chemical control becomes necessary, recommended insecticides containing chlorpyrifos, diazinon, Orthene, or Sevin should be applied. Please call Lawntech today @ 972-346-2696 for worry free applications done right.

Reference Cited: http://www.thegardenhelper.com/armyworm.html