Heritage Lawns and Irrigation

Birds need a drink in the winter too

Still no snow in Kansas City yet this year.  The weatherman is saying we are getting close to records for the latest ever,  which is sometime in March back in the dust bowl days of the early 30′s.  That ought to tell you something.  WE ARE GETTING DRY!  Especially the evergreens.  I took two calls this week from homeowners worried about boxwoods and hollies that were turning brown.  The cute birds I found in this picture aren’t the only ones that need water during these prolonged dry spells, hot or cold.  The warmer windy days aren’t helping.  Think of it this way.  The deciduous trees and shrubs that drop their leaves don’t transpire much water during the winter, but the evergreens still do.  So when we have warm windy days they need almost as much water as they do in the summer.  No snow, frozen ground, and windy days all make it hard on our evergreens like boxwood, holly, yews, azaleas, arbovitae, pines etc.

Here is a good article from Colorado State University on winter watering

A slow trickle from a garden hose in the middle of the day when temperatures are over 40 is pretty simple.  Don’t forget to unhook your hose and drain it so nothing freezes and breaks when the temps drop again.

We had a great get together at the Independence Center watching the Missouri Maverics hockey team.  Check out the funny video from the sprinkler guys.  It was great to get together with everyone.    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heritage-Lawns-Irrigation/106660604309

Merry Christmas everyone.

Now that seeding season has been under way for about a month we are getting calls about how tall should the lawn get before the first mowing.
As a general rule we don’t want the lawn to get real tall before we mow it. We still live by the guideline that you don’t want to remove more than 1/3 of the leave blade any time you mow. Therefore mowing at 3″ means you should mow the lawn when it is 4″ tall.
That brings to mind then what to do if the older grass is getting tall enough but the new grass isn’t? You still mow when the old grass is 4″ to a height of 3″ The same thing can occur when some new grass grows faster than the rest. You should still mow when that portion of the lawn gets 4″ tall. You may not have to mow the entire lawn that weekend but you should mow the tall parts until the entire lawn is tall enough to mow.

Check out my cheesy video to get another idea of what I’m talking about  http://www.youtube.com/user/WesOry#p/a/u/1/4WV3qkIbhg4

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to

CORPORAL DAKOTA L. MEYER
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

For service as set forth in the following

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8, Regional Corps Advisory Command 3-7, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on 8 September 2009. Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre-dawn meeting with village elders. Moving into the village, the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades, mortars, and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above. Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off, Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving, Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner’s position in a gun-truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team. Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle, some at near point blank range, as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area. During the first two trips, he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many of whom were wounded. When one machine gun became inoperable, he directed a return to the rally point to switch to another gun-truck for a third trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported the remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out of the ambush. Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun-truck accompanied by four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and search for the missing U.S. team members. Still under heavy enemy fire, he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer’s daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6-hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy’s attack and inspired the members of the combined force to fight on. His unwavering courage and steadfast devotion to his U.S. and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

You are sent to war to defend the Constitution…. but you fight the battle for the men on your left and right.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve to defend us.

Wesley W. Ory

I got into a good conversation yesteday about quality seed and how important it is to your seeding project.  The conversation was punctuated with a small math problem.  Quality seed has 0% weed seed and other crop when you review the label.  I have seen seed labels with .01% weed seed and had sales people tell me that percentage was so small it wouldn’t matter but let’s do the math.
First there are 250,000 fescue seeds in 1 pound of seed so .1% of 250,000 is 25 weed seeds.  The standard bare ground seeding rate is 8# per 1000 square feet so multiply 25 x 8 =200 weed seeds per 1000 sqare feet od lawn.  Our average lawn in Overland Park Kansas is 7,200 square feet.  200 x 7.2 = 1,440 weeds planted in your lawn.

Just to save a few dollars you are giving yourself a big headache.

Good certified seed usually runs around $2.00 per pound.  Times 8 lbs/1000 = $16/1000 times the average lawn of 7.2 = $115.20 just fr the seed.  So what is the guy on the corner leaving out when he says he can aerate and seed your lawn for $100?????

Aeration vs. Verticutting
Should we aerate and overseed or verticut and seed? This question gets asked a lot this time of year, and the answer is it depends. There are many factors that help make this decision but the key being how thin is the lawn and how serious do we need to seed an area.
Aerating and overseeding. Aerating is the process of punching holes in the lawn about ¾ “ around and 3” deep. This allows our clay soils to expand and reduce the compaction from traffic and being baked in the sun all summer. If the compaction is reduced we can get better root development. Aeration also helps control thatch buildup by bringing those cores of soil back up to the surface and having them filter back down into the thatch layer. This adds microbes to the thatch which speeds up its decomposition. It’s like composting your grass clippings. If you throw a pile of grass clippings into a corner and come back in a couple of weeks you just have a stinky pile of grass clippings. But if you turn those grass clippings and add some soil to it they will start composting and turn into good organic matter for the plants. Aerating is for thatch control and relieving compaction. Over seeding after the aeration will allow some of the grass seed to germinate in the holes and help thicken the lawn. But the grass only grows in the holes which are spaced every 6” or so. This goes back to the need for good seed soil contact in order for grass seed to thrive. This isn’t a good process for bare or extremely thin areas. It is better as a routine maintenance practice to thicken fescue lawns since they don’t spread like bluegrass.

Verticutting and seeding. Verticutting is using a machine much like a lawn mower except that it has many vertical blades instead of 1 horizontal blade. This machine is designed to cut small grooves in the lawn down through the thatch layer allowing the seed to drop into the soil. This will give you long lines of grass growing up through the thatch layer. This is a good way to seed in very thin and bare areas.

Aerating then Verticutting and seeding. This brings up the question then if one is good then more is better right? And which comes first? Look back at the concept of You Must Have Good Seed to Soil Contact and you will have your answers. The more you work the soil the better the germination and the seed must get into the ground. So the best of all seeding techniques then for thin and bare lawns would be to aerate the lawn first, then verticut in one direction, apply your seed, then verticut again in the opposite direction. This will give you a good seed bed in an established lawn and work the seed into the soil.

Aeration
Why aerate the lawn? Many people think the point to aerating is so you can overseed when you’ve finished. But in reality that is just icing on the cake.
Aerating is the process of punching holes in the lawn about ¾ “ around and 3” deep. This allows our clay soils to expand and reduce the compaction from traffic and being baked in the sun all summer. If the compaction is reduced we can get better root development. Aeration also helps control thatch buildup by bringing those cores of soil back up to the surface and having them filter back down into the thatch layer. This adds microbes to the thatch which speeds up its decomposition. It’s like composting your grass clippings. If you throw a pile of grass clippings into a corner and come back in a couple of weeks you just have a stinky pile of grass clippings. But if you turn those grass clippings and add some soil to it they will start composting and turn into good organic matter for the plants. You won’t notice a big difference right away but over a couple of years the lawn has better root development which leads to more heat and drought hardiness. It’s a tool to help deal with the crappy clay soil most of us here in Kansas City have to deal with. Aerating is for thatch control and relieving compaction. Over seeding after the aeration will allow some of the grass seed to grow in the holes but if seeding is your goal there are better ways to go about it.

To let your lawn go dormant or not is a question we get asked a lot this time of year.  Really what people are asking is should they water or not.  While it is personal preference it’s a pretty simple process.  If your lawn has already turned brown even though you’ve been watering 2 or 3 times per week then the decision is easy.  You won’t be able to make it green up with temperatures in the upper 90′s so just stop watering and save the money.  You should still water deeply every 2 weeks to keep the crowns (the main growing point) from kicking the bucket, but if you continue to water when the lawn in dormant you will just encourage weeds.  If you decide to keep the lawn green water deeply and every other day should do the trick.  With this hot dry weather you need about 2 inches of water per week.   Here is a good response from Dr. Rodney St. John at K-State http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/2011/07/from-the-email-bag-stop-watering-and-stop-mowing/ He is better at wording things than I am:)

drought stressed lawn

Medium and Small Bagworms

big and little bagworms

3 bagworms in a row

The bagworm attack is in full swing right now!  On some bushes they are still pretty small, perhaps 1/2 inch but there are some that have been feeding well and are over 1″ already.
Now is a good time to give your bushes a thorough inspection for insect pests.  Bagworms prefer evergreens like junipers and arbovitae but can be found anywhere.  They are voracious feeders and a heavy population cen denude a tree in a few short days.
If you don’t have too many you can pick them off the tree or shrub and throw them away.  Be sure to seal the trash bag or they will crawl out and be all over the garage.  If you have a bad infestation you will need to spray an insect contol to beat them back before they kill the bush.  If you need help we have a bagworm spray special for only $49 till the end of July.