Pre Emergent
Post Emergent
Grassy Weed Control
Drought Stress
Compaction
Hot Spots
Thatch
PH Level
Contolled Released Fertilizer
Pre Emergent - This refers to a herbicide that is designed to control annual weeds when they are still in seed form. A pre-emergent herbicide interferes with a weed seed's ability to germinate and develop. this is the most effective way to control summer or winter annual weeds. Some weeds come back each season from roots, and some annual weed seeds are much larger than others. These weeds will most likely not be controlled by a pre-emergent herbicide.
Post Emergent - This refers to a herbicide that is designed to control weeds after they have germinated and began to develop. Some post-emergent herbicides are selective; they are designed to control weeds without causing irreparable damage to the grass. Other post-emergent herbicides are non-selective; they are designed to control all types of vegetation.
Grassy Weed Control - Grassy weed control refers to herbicides that are designed to kill one type of grass growing in another type of grass ( the target crop ) without causing irreparable damage to the crop grass. Damage can and sometimes does occur to the crop grass, but if used at the proper rates during the proper temperature periods, control of the grassy weed can be achieved without killing the crop grass.
Drought Stress - Drought stress is caused by periods of hot, dry weather. Even lawns with in-ground irrigation systems can turn yellowish brown in areas due to drought stress. Natural rainfall, and the other conditions that go along with it, is the best means of watering ornamental turf. Sometimes rocks, gravel, sand, or other buried debris in the lawn can cause areas to go into drought stress. This debris causes the soil to heat up and it burns the turf.
Compaction - Soil "compaction" is a term applied to soil which, deprived of proper aeration (perhaps due to heavy foot traffic), suffers from excessive water runoff and poor conditions for plant rooting. Soil compaction in a lawn can be corrected mechanically through core aeration.
Hot Spots - Hot spots are drought stress areas caused by buried rock, gravel, sand, or other debris close to the surface of the ground. The debris heats the soil, which causes moisture to evaporate. This causes dry, brown or yellow areas to show up in the grass.
Thatch - Thatch is a dense, spongy collection of living and dead grass stems and roots lying between the soil surface and green grass leaves in established lawns. As a grass plant grows, the older plant matter from roots, and stems is often slow to decompose and begins to accumulate at the soil surface forming this thatch layer.
A thatch layer greater than ½ inch thick makes watering difficult, since thatch dries out quickly and is difficult to re-wet. It also restricts the movement of pesticides, thus reducing their effectiveness. Nutrients and water cannot be properly absorbed by the grass roots that tend to grow into this area.
Heavy thatch promotes the grass roots to grow shallow. Shallow roots are more susceptible to damage from freezes, frosts, and wind-chill. Thus, lawns with heavy thatch are more prone to winter damage.
PH Level - The pH level of the soil refers to its level of acidity or alkalinity. The scale runs from 1 to 14, with 7 being neutral, 1 being highly acidic, and 14 highly alkaline. Red clay soils tend to be acidic. We apply pelletized limestone yearly on our lawns to help keep the clay from becoming too acidic.
Controlled Release Fertilizer - These types of fertilizers are designed to release nitrogen over specific periods of time. The most common forms of controlled release fertilizers have the nitrogen source encapsulated in sulfur. As the sulfur coating wears off, the nitrogen releases. Most sulfur coated nitrogen fertilizers release over an 8-12 week period. There are other types of controlled release fertilizers that require microbial activity, warm temperatures, and moisture to release the nitrogen. These fertilizers can take up to a year to fully release.
