The Spring-Green blog is your go-to resource for up-to-date, expert content, created and curated by our in-house professionals. Here you can find seasonal tips, myths and misconceptions, and answers to all your common lawn care questions. We also feature queries that come in from our readers, answered by Harold Enger, the Director of Education at Spring-Green.
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Lookout and Prevent Fall Armyworms On Your Lawn!
In northern climates, where cool season turfgrasses grow, Fall Armyworms attack as summer gives way to fall. In the south, where warm season turfgrasses thrive, their threat begins earlier and lasts longer. As often as not, by the time a serious infestation is diagnosed, substantial permanent damage has already been done. And with a name like Fall Armyworms, you know the news can’t be good. Even their scientific name, Spodoptera Frugiperda spells trouble, as “frugiperda” is Latin for “lost fruit.” Fall Armyworms aren’t really worms at all, but caterpillars, the […]
DIY Core Aeration – Is Aerating Your Lawn Worth It?
Of all the beneficial things you could do to ensure a healthy, beautiful lawn, core aeration is second only to fertilization. By disrupting the surface of the lawn and the soil beneath it, core aeration allows more air, water, and nutrients to reach the turf’s root zone. This in turn encourages better lawn root development below the surface and—you guessed it—healthier, thicker, greener plant growth above. Compacted soils are loosened, restrictive layers of surface-level thatch are broken, and your turf uses these improvements to its natural advantage, growing stronger and […]
Late Season Bloomers: How to Take Care of Fall Mums!
Fall may be fast approaching, but your flowering colors are far from finished. Of course, many summer flowers continue to bloom into fall, at least until the first hard frost. But no plant is more associated with autumn than chrysanthemums, better known as mums. This is because mums tend to continue blooming long after many other flowering plants have ceased for the season. Thousands of cultivars offer varying shapes, sizes and styles, from button mums to single or daisy mums. These perennials come in many different colors, including some two-tone […]
Every year about this time, I start receiving questions on the ugly black spots that homeowners are seeing on their maple trees. These spots are caused by a fungal disease aptly called Tar Spot. In many cases, these leaves with the black spots are dropping early, which adds to the concern. The black spots that look like big drops of tar look ugly, but the disease doesn’t hurt the tree or affect it’s over all health. There are three different, but related fungi. All three produce the similar symptoms and […]
Is it Too Late to Apply Nitrogen Fertilizer to Warm Season Grasses?
The simple answer if you are reading this in late August or early September is “No.” This decision is based on several different factors. A general rule is to apply the last nitrogen fertilizer to a lawn that contains warm-season turfgrasses two months before the first frost. Unless you live in the deep south, the last application of a fertilizer that contains a high amount of nitrogen would be September 15 at the latest. If you live in the more northern areas, you run the risk of turf damage and […]
If your lawn is comprised of cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue or tall fescue, late summer through early fall is the perfect time to reseed your lawn. Soil temperatures are warm to allow for faster germination, air temperatures are favorable for the growth and development of the new grass plants and natural irrigation increases. Having the lawn aerated before seeding is a great way to incorporate the new seed into the lawn. The biggest question is what type of seed should you use to meet […]
Yellow nutsedge, annual nutsedge, purple nutsedge, green kyllinga – these are just a few of the types of sedges that can be found in the US. Sedges grow across the entire world in the temperate to tropical zones. The scientific name for yellow nutsedge is cyperus esculentus, which loosely translates to edible nut, and refers to the tuber that grows on the roots of the plant. Some other names for yellow nutsedge is nut grass, chufa sedge, tiger nuts or earth almond. It is native to the Mediterranean and was […]
Having to repair your grass that has succumbed due to lawn disease can be time consuming and expensive. How the repair is accomplished is different for cool-season grasses than it is for warm-season grasses. This article will provide some basic information for repairing lawn disease. Regardless of where you live or what type of turfgrass is in your lawn, the most important thing to determine is the name of the lawn disease. Some lawn diseases like Red Thread or Rust will exist for a short time and then the grass […]
Rejuvenate Your Lawn with Core Aeration and Reseeding
For cool-season turfgrass, fall is a time of renewal and recovery from the stresses of summer heat. As the temperatures start to moderate and rainfall increases, the turf plants will start growing new roots and new plants to replace those that were damaged or even killed during the summer. Spring may be the time when other landscape plants start to grow, but fall is the time of regrowth for cool-season turfgrasses with core aeration. Cool season turfgrasses like Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue and tall fescue have varying degrees […]
Don’t Forget About Your Trees and Shrubs This Fall
Many landscape plants that are growing in your gardens and flower beds are plants that were brought in from other countries over the last 150 years or so. Being that many of these plants are not native to the US, they may require extra care to maintain them in a healthy and vibrant condition. As we slowly move towards the cooler weather of the fall, most insect and disease activity starts to slow down except for the warmer parts of the country. In those areas, insect and disease activity can […]
