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Grass Going to Seed

May 10th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters
You might be noticing your lawn is more blotchy and spotted now than normal.  A lot of grass is producing seed right now.  Different varieties of grass produce seed at different times of the year.  As the grass produces seed it uses all of its energy on the seed so it loses its color.  Not all varieties of grass are seeding right now, which is why there is a large contrast in color between the varieties that are seeding, and those that are not.  This is what makes the lawn look spotty.  This a natural process and no amount of fertilizer will darken up grass that is seeding.   In fact, fertilizer may make it appear worse since the rest of the grass will turn darker and grow more and this creates more contrast in color.
Make sure your mower blades are sharp.  Cutting through seed heads and thicker stalks of grass will dull your mower blades fast.  Mow on a regular basis because the seed heads can make it very difficult to cut if you let them grow too high.  Keep you mower blade set high, preferably 3 inches or higher.

The red shapes are hilighting individual blades of grass going to seed.

Frost Damage to Landscape Plants

May 10th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

Remember how nice March was?  We are seeing the consequences of record setting heat that caused trees and shrubs to bud out too early.  Heavy frosts in April damaged the buds and now leaves are curling, turning brown, and even falling from trees.  The frost damage looks bad, but it will not threaten the tree.  The trees are healthy despite their appearance.

Hydrangea with frost damage

This Japanese Maple had no frost damage on the left where it was under a large tree. The right half had lots of damage.

Milky Spore for Controlling Grubs

April 16th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

Crabgrass in Early Summer

April 10th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

This Spring I have been frequently asked how the hot temperatures we’ve experienced in March will affect our crabgrass control. Now that we have finally returned to “normal temperatures” I can better answer this question.

Spring accelerated from snow on the ground on March 3 to 62 degree soil temperatures on March 18. Crabgrass germinates when soil temperatures are at 55 degrees for 3 consecutive nights. We had over a week of soil temperatures above 60 degrees. Forsythia were blooming the 3rd week of March, which usually happens in mid-April. Crabapple trees were blossoming the next week, this usually happens in late April or early May. The grass was growing the last week or March, this usually does not happen until late April. We managed to rocket through 8 weeks of climate change in 3 weeks.

I struggled with the decision to continue applying crabgrass control knowing that it was too late to be effective. I had many discussions with other lawn care professionals and even professors at MSU. We were in unchartered territory and nobody knew what to do.  History and logic told us that “this cannot be happening”, but it was.  80 degree temperatures in March are not uncommon.  However, sustained high day time and night time temperatures are unprecedented.  The temperatures usually plummets 40 degrees after an 80 degree day in March.

I made the decision in mid-March to continue applying crabgrass control with the hope of a frost. A frost would kill any crabgrass that germinated and our pre-emergent would then be effective stopping more crabgrass from germinating.  I am glad I made that decision because this week we finally received that frost.  Hopefully our weather is back to “normal” and we will have effective crabgrass control.  Rest assured that if we applied your crabgrass control and you get crabgrass this summer, we will take care of it.

A day in the life

March 23rd, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

As a small business owner I spend a lot of my time putting out fires.  Correction, this was the first one I ever put out. Darryl’s car had an electrical fire that started shortly after he got to work on Wednesday, 3/21/12.

First Mole of the Year

March 22nd, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

We have officially killed our first mole of the year.  We are hoping to break another record this year.

Warm Temperatures and Your Landscaping

March 12th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters
With a mild winter we might expect to see less damage to plants this spring. However, prolonged exposure to temperatures above average means that plants are beginning to de-harden early. We see several signs of this already, such as witch-hazels blooming in protected locations and sap in maple trees running two to three weeks ahead of normal.  While other trees and shrubs may not show any signs of coming out of dormancy,  They are softening up every day. Despite the lack of winter temperatures, there still is the risk of a hard frost.  A severe cold snap can cause considerable damage to developing buds on trees and shrubs and cause shoot die-back, bud-kill or death of newly-emerging shoots. We will not know if we have any injury until late May or early June.

Forest Hills Expo

March 10th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

Snow Mold

February 24th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

Snow mold is caused when there is an extended period of snow cover on ground that is not completely frozen. It can also be brought on by a badly timed fertilizer application which causes a flush of growth too late in the fall. Snow mold can also occur under leaves that have not been cleaned up or amongst long grass that should have been mowed once more before winter set in.

Gray snow mold (also known as Typhula blight) appears in roughly circular bleached patches up to 2 feet in diameter. Grass is often matted and surrounded by a white to gray fluffy halo of fungus. While unsightly, it rarely kills the turf.

Pink snow molds (also known as (Fusarium patch) appear similar to gray ones, but have a pinkish cast. They do not require heavy snow cover, and may kill turf.

To prevent snow mold:

  • In the Fall, continue to mow turf as it grows.
  • Mow it as short as possible when it stops growing.
  • Mulch up leaves into dime-sized pieces in the fall using your mower.
  • In the Winter, avoid compacting the snow.
  • In the Spring, rake matted grass in mold-damaged areas to encourage new growth.

Fungicide applications are not recommended when snow mold occurs. Spring fungicide applications will not effectively control or prevent the disease, nor will it speed up spring turf recovery.

The best way to speed recovery is to remove dead and matted material by light raking to promote air circulation and drying. A light spring nitrogen fertilization will help speed the formation and growth of new grass from the underground stems that are not harmed by the snow mold fungus. Lawns that appear slow to recover this spring will benefit from core aeration, followed by over seeding with the same grass species already present in the lawn.

Seeing holes in your lawn and bark beds?

February 24th, 2012 by Tuff Turf Molebusters

Voles are field mice and can cause problems by damaging lawns, gardens, tree plantings and other plants. Voles occasionally will use tunnels developed by moles to gain access to flower bulbs and other plant roots. This damage often is blamed on moles by mistake. Moles feed on insects and earthworms and rarely consume plant materials.

Probably the most extensive and costly damage caused by voles occurs to woody plants in winter. At times voles severely damage or kill many young trees and shrubs, including orchard, windbreak and landscape plantings. Voles will eat the green inner bark layer of trees and shrubs when preferred foods are unavailable.

They survive quite well under the snow because the snow cover insulates them from the cold air and predators cannot find them.  Voles chew the grass at ground level and build nests with the grass.  This creates trails throughout the lawn.  Voles are also able to tunnel in the bark.  They leave holes the size of quarters in the bark.

We offer a granular repellent application to deter their digging in your bark beds.  One application in your foundational beds is only $50.00.  Contact us for a price to treat your entire lawn and other non-foundational beds.