No matter how many years I live in Arizona it always surprises me how quickly the temperature goes from 50 degrees to 90 degrees. I can’t say that I’m very excited to see our first 90 degree day this coming weekend. I would be okay if we could make it until April for this to happen but we don’t get that choice. Since we rarely have a winter in Southern California and Arizona February is the month to apply your pre-emergent herbicide to control summer annuals. If you’re from back east or the mid-west you will realize this is about three months earlier than you would apply one but timing is everything in turfgrass. I spend so much time discussing weather in these blogs because every part of the grass cycle is controlled by temperature.

Summer annual weeds can be everything from spurge to any number of broadleaf weeds. These weeds attack weak areas of your lawn and fill in voids because of the lack of competition with your grass. There are a few options to controlling these and the first is to maintain a healthy balanced lawn. The second is to apply pre-emergent fertilizers, and the third is to treat weeds that pop up with post-emergent herbicides or by hand picking them.

Most people don’t want to deal with an invasion of weeds in their lawn so the easiest and most efficient way is to apply a pre-emergent herbicide. One thing you must keep in mind when you apply these is that they won’t control weeds that are already present but they will help prevent new weeds from emerging from the ground. When you’re looking at different herbicides to apply you need to carefully inspect the label and see if the product is okay for overseeded turf, non-overseeded turf or both. Most of the herbicides are okay for both but different rates will be listed on the label.

Read the rest of this entry »

Installing Fresh BOBSod into a Home in Casa Grande

In my last blog I talked about a few weeds that are starting to appear in your lawn that are perennial problems. This week I want to talk about getting down a pre-emergent herbicide on your lawn before all the spring and summer annuals start to show their faces. Weather obviously plays a key role in everything we do concerning turfgrass so it is important to get the timing right. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last few weeks I have really tried to hammer down the importance of getting your lawn healthy by using the proper fertilizers and learning how to properly water your lawn.  Today I want to discuss some of our more prevalent weeds in the desert southwest for turfgrass and what can be done if you have them in your lawn.

Read the rest of this entry »

The weather is starting to break from the cooler winter days and with the timely rain showers you will start to see some summer annual weeds start to appear in your turf areas.  We are getting very close to the time to put down pre-emergent weed control to help with many of these and to relieve some of your future headaches.  Many of the weeds we dread the most can be controlled early with a pre-emergent granular application and in the next few weeks or so I highly suggest you get one down on your lawn.  Read the rest of this entry »

Have you put off installing grass over the last few seasons or has your turf become a little weak over time?  Did you know that there is not a bad time in the southwest to renovate your lawn.  We are lucky to have a year round grass season here and there are several options depending on what works best for you.  

While you often see most golf courses and landscaping jobs installing the majority of their grass in the summer months, it is attributed to a slower time of the year for them.  There is very little play on a golf course during the summer months and it allows them to tear up areas and redo them before the majority of people come back to the club for the season.  The other reason we often see summer renovations is because it is optimal bermudagrass and paspalum planting weather, and before they get golf cart traffic, players, and the everyday wear and tear it is necessary to have a nice bermudagrass or paspalum base.  Golf courses can struggle a little bit with overseeded grass because of the traffic, while homeowners don’t have to deal with these issues.  So why do I bring all that up?  My point is that when these projects are not going on in the summer it leaves many more contractors available to do good quality work at your home. Read the rest of this entry »

Many homeowners in older neighborhoods have seeded their lawns with common bermudagrass to fix areas or to establish new lawns.  Now they have realize they can’t seem to get rid of it when they want to.  This is one of the most difficult grasses to eradicate, but I am going to tell you a way that will save some of the pain and help reduce the problem.  Read the rest of this entry »

Trying to win a battle with nutsedge is one of the most difficult challenges many homeowners face with their lawns.  Many people have noticed that you can spray and spray and spray before you put in that new pristine lawn only to find that the nutsedge just keeps coming back as you start to water.  There is some hope out there to help solve the problem, but patience is going to be right at the top of the list along with a few steps I will outline. Read the rest of this entry »