Dealing with Speedwell in your lawn

Creeping Speedwell is most noticible in April to May due to its blue and white flowers.

A little about Speedwell – Like most of the early spring weeds, speedwell is a perennial. Over the winter this weed does not die off like an annual would, but remains in the lawn in a vegetative state waiting for the spring temperatures to come. Speedwell grows low to the ground in dense mats, spreading very quickly once it has established itself in your lawn. This weed prefers moist, shady soils and acts very similar to ground ivy aside from its blue and white flowers.

How did THAT get into my lawn? – Being a perennial, speedwell will germinate and spread through a number of ways. The plant produces from seed that germinates over the late fall and early spring but also will create new root systems from nodes on an existing plant. Even a single piece of root system can lead to new plants, making pulling speedwell from the lawn a bad idea. Often, speedwell spreads into a lawn from greenhouses and landscape beds because it is sold as an ornamental ground cover by nurseries and landscapers.

What can I do?– There are a few ways to combat this persistent weed. Raising mowing height to the proper 3.5” height and increasing the sunlight of an area will help to reduce its competitiveness. If conditions are not good for speedwell, its root system will not be as strong as other plants, like grass. This will keep it from being able to dominate as well and create a good environment for weed control to do the most good. Since speedwell is so aggressive, you may need multiple herbicide treatments to completely control each plant. As the speedwell begins to die off, it is important to maintain a dense, healthy turf that will fill in the areas left behind by the weed removal. Maintaining a dense stand of healthy turf will keep other plants such as weeds from germinating and filling in these areas. Regular applications of fertilizer spread 4-6 weeks apart as well as weed control will keep your lawn thick and green. At the end of the season, mid-late fall, you should consider a full aeration and over-seeding to strengthen the root system of your lawn and help fill in any small patches left behind from weed removal, drought stress, disease, or insect damage. This will ensure that the each spring will be better than the last.

Read More: Lawn Care Programs, Aeration & Seeding, Early Spring Application

Root Development in low pH vs a balanced lawn (7.0)

All soils have a pH reading. pH is the degree of acidity of your soil and can range from 0 to 14. Here at Green Lawn we like to see soils right around 7.0 which is neutral. Soils below 7.0 become more acidic due to both human and natural activities. Here in the Northeastern United States, rainfall removes calcium and magnesium and replaces them with acidic ions leaving our soil in the acidic zone on the scale.

Lime Applications

All soils have a pH level that classifies them as acid, neutral, or alkaline.

Toxic Soil – The biggest problem is that acidic soils do not give the grass the nutrients it needs to grow favorably. It is important to note that there is 10-fold increase in acidity for every unit on the scale; a 5.6 is 10x more acidic than a 6.6 reading. Therefore, by thinking your low reading of pH is not far off from neutral, you would be wrong. If your reading is 5.5 or lower, you are in danger of having a lawn which is high in aluminum and manganese which can be toxic to turfgrass.  Liming improves plant nutrient availability and reduces the toxicity of the soil. Also, soil contains microorganisms that are very beneficial to a healthy lawn. These microorganisms break down fertilizers to allow it to be released into the soil for use by the grass and aid in the decomposition of thatch and grass clippings. Unfortunately these organisms do not thrive in low pH soils; they prefer soil readings between 6.5 – 7.0 in order to be present in sufficient quantities. The most important problem with a low pH reading is that your lawn is more susceptible to weeds. Due to the nutrient deficiencies and lack of microorganisms to break down fertilizer and keep your lawn dense and strong, weeds tend to thrive. They love acidic soils and use it to their advantage to push through the poor lawn, eventually taking control.

Correction & Maintenance – Soil acidity is determined by a simple soil test. Our technicians perform soil tests on each application of our program to ensure that you are at an optimum level. When a low pH is noted, they will leave recommendations on your invoice of how many applications of our granular product is needed to correct and maintain a balanced pH.  It is important that these notes are in regard to our commercial product and are not instructions on what should be applied on your own. These numbers are based on our application rate and the quality of our product. YOU SHOULD NEVER GUESS THE AMOUNT OF LIMESTONE NEEDED. Liming products vary in quality and effectiveness. Our pelletized lime is designed to eliminate the white chalky appearance that most lime applications can leave behind. The application can be applied at any time of year.  

Read more: Lime Applications, Lime Special, Lawn Care Programs

Stop Grubs Before They Start!

Grubs show up in well kept lawns to feed on turf root systems and once you realize they are there, its too late.

Grubs  – Homes in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey are especially prone to grub infestations. There are several different white grubs that are common to these areas and can do major damage. The size of a white grub varies depending on its stage of development but all are similar in appearance: white soft bodies, brown head and six well developed legs. They will usually be seen lying on their sides as little white “C’s”. These beetles have a 12 month life-cycle which begins and ends in the early summer months. As soon as their eggs hatch these larvae begin to devour the roots of your grass until they are driven deeper into the soil for the cold winter months. As the spring arrives and the soil temperatures rise, these grubs move back to the root systems to feed before emerging as metallic green beetles starting as early as mid-June. 

Detection & Damage – While balanced systems do need some grubs to survive and are a perfect symptom of a healthy eco-system, heavy infestations can and will destroy your lawn. Evidence of grub damage includes patches of dead or dying turf. Grubs will attack roots and destroy the plant causing the plant to brown out into large patches of spongy turf that can be lifted from the soil and rolled like a piece of carpet. It is important to note that good indicators that you may have a grub problem are infestations of Japanese Beetles during the summer months; however, infestations are not always obvious until too late.

What can I do? – If your lawn is infested, your lawn can be destroyed very quickly and will not recover on its own. Extensive seeding will be needed to fill in the bare patches left behind and most likely these grubs will return as beetles and lay their eggs continuing the cycle for the next season until stopped permanently.  There is really only one way to ensure that your lawn will not suffer extensive damage and that is prevention.  Green Lawn offers a grub control preventative for our customers that must be applied properly before beetles return to your lawn to lay their eggs. Green Lawn’s grub control, when applied by our experienced technicians, will prevent these eggs from being able to mature into larvae. By not allowing these eggs to fully hatch we are able to keep a heavy infestation down to a normal rate for a healthy eco-system. The product must be watered into the soil in order to work efficiently.  We also recommend a full program of fertilizer to maintain and strengthen your lawn’s root system. The stronger and fuller your lawn is, the less damage grubs are able to cause. Green Lawn’s Grub Control is included in our Premium Program as well as aeration and seeding scheduled for the fall to help strengthen and thicken your turf. We also offer this service as an additional service to our Basic Program.

Call 888-518-LAWN(5296) or CLICK HERE to sign up for Guaranteed Grub Control Today!

Victoria is only 5 years old and is currently fighting Medulloblastoma (malignant brain tumor). Due to the surgery that she has undergone, Victoria has also developed Posterior Fossa Syndrome. Victoria has a long road ahead of her starting with radiation 5 times a week for several weeks, then chemotherapy for one year. In addition to her cancer treatments, she is undergoing intensive speech, occupational and physical therapies to help with her posterior fossa syndrome. Victoria has a brother, Dillon age 13, and a sister, Coral age 9. Her parents are Roger and Renee. Roger is a member of the Army and currently with B-Troop 1-104 Cavalry in Philadelphia. Roger was training when he received the call that Victoria was rushed to CHOP. 

On Saturday April 21^st, Victory4Victoria held a basket raffle to support Victoria Feldman and her family in their battle. Green Lawn Fertilizing and Green Pest Solutions were both proud to help as we donated two grand prizes, one full season of lawn care and one year of pest control service. Attending this great event was a real eye opener as there were donations from over 130 individuals and local businesses! When approached, Matt Jesson, president and owner of Green Lawn Fertilizing and Green Pest Solutions, he signed right up to help without question. Matt states that it is important for a local business to help out in the community whenever possible.

The winner of the lawn care package was Mrs. Janice K of Parkesburg Pa. and the winner of the pest control service was  Jeffery and Jessica D of Boyertown Pa.  Both baskets were presented by our employee Tim Clowney who had this to say “I am quite proud to work for a company who cares about people and has values. We are hoping for the best for Miss Victoria and will be keeping tabs on her recovery as she seems to be getting stronger by the day!”

If you would like to help, please visit Victory4Victoria.org

CLICK HERE for more on Medulloblastoma (Tumors located in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance and other complex motor functions)

CLICK HERE for more on Posterior Fossa Syndrome (This is a symptom complex, including decreased or absent speech, irritability, low muscle tone, ataxia and the inability to coordinate voluntary movements)

That’s a lot of lawn, especially when you consider that it only takes 50 square feet of healthy lawn to produce enough oxygen for a family of four. It is important to acknowledge the benefits of maintained turf. PLANET, The Professional Landcare Network, has established April as National Lawn Care Month to help bring awareness to the benefits of a healthy lawn and importance in consistent care.

PLANET is the international organization that represents lawn care and landscaping professionals worldwide. PLANET has more than 3,800 members and represents more than 100,000 green industry professionals. Together they work to remind everyone about the environmental benefits of a healthy, well maintained lawn. “A Healthy Lawn not only adds curb appeal, but also provides energy efficiency in buildings and homes” explains Gerald J. Grossi, Landscape Industry Certified Technician and president of PLANET.

PLANET works to spread awareness in many ways including events such as The Renewal and Remembrance Project, Legislative Day on the Hill and the recent April event; PLANET Day of Service.

The PLANET Day of Service is held on or around Earth Day each year. This year it took place on April 20th. PLANET stresses the ideas of community service, quality of life, environmental stewardship, teamwork, and raising awareness through the donation of time and education. Green Lawn Fertilizing actively participates in PLANET’s events working with other green industry leaders to give back and network with our local community. It is important to us to share knowledge and strengthen awareness of the benefits of a healthy lawn and maintaining our environment. Green Lawn works in association with PLANET to actively maintain the quality of life in our community. We strive to take the extra step as a local company who cares about our community and the people within it!

With Earth Day being on the 22nd, April is a great time to think about proper lawn maintenance techniques and management to provide you lawn the best care and results. Some items that are important to consider include; regularly scheduled fertilizer, integrated pest management, pre and post emergents for weeds, and correcting pH levels.  A little thought and research now can do a world of difference as the benefits begin to add up!

• Dense, healthy grass slows runoff and will hold onto water better during the hot summer months
• Eight healthy lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air conditioning
• Turf grass traps 12 tons of dust and dirt each year, which helps with allergy sufferers
• Maintained lawns can increase property value and 62% of homeowners who invest in their lawn see a 100-200% investment recovery rate 

Use your “spring fever” to your advantage and invest in your lawn! As temperatures rise and longer day light hours take hold give your lawn what it needs to gain the most from your valuable investment! 

Read More: PLANET, Renewal & Remberance, Day of Service

Quick Tips

Five easy steps to enhance the natural beauty of your outdoor living space:

Take Care of Your Grass – There are many environmental benefits that come along with proper lawn care. A thick, green turf is important to reducing runoff and soil erosion, conserving ground water, and producing oxygen. Lawns also provide benefits that extend past the environmental by increasing your home’s value. This fact is often overlooked, but your lawn is an extension of your home; with proper care, a maintained lawn can significantly increase property value.

Add Some Color – Starting a garden is a great way to add beauty and color to your outdoor space. A garden draws attention to the time you invest in your property and creates an environment that is known to lower blood pressure and reduce tension. It is important to consider choosing plants that work best in our climate such as Bleeding Hearts, Virginia Bluebells, or Rhododendrons. These plants are just a few that work best in our area’s clay soils and will help to ensure a beautiful garden each year with easy maintenance.

Prune Trees & Shrubs – For established landscape shrubs and trees, it is important that regular maintenance be performed to keep them in good standing. Proper pruning is a good way to prevent bigger problems that can arise as the season advances. Pruning can lead to better blooms, stable growth, and even rejuvenate older plantings. However, improper pruning can do more harm than neglect so make sure to do your research BEFORE you start!

Start a Compost Pile – One of the easiest ways to be more “green” is to start a compost pile. Old coffee grounds and filters, banana peels, egg shells, and even dryer lint can add a lot to your yard once they have broken down into compost. Create a space in your lawn (away from the home) designated to combining these materials with leaves, wood chips, and yard clippings. As these items break down, they create a nutrient filled material that can be added to your gardens to prevent disease, repel pests, and help the soil retain moisture between watering. A compost pile also helps by reducing your waste in the community and extends the life of your landfill.

Plant a Tree – As communities expand they often start off without trees due to the construction. A community without trees leads to high cooling costs, less oxygen, and pollution build-up. Trees keep heat out of a home and have been shown to cool the outside temperatures with a difference up to 31*  than areas without trees. Trees also enhance the beauty of your lawn as they change their appearance all year round. There are many inexpensive and fast growing trees that are great additions to neighborhoods to quickly reverse the effects of new construction and improve your outdoor space with little effort.

Read More: Lawn Care Programs, Environmental Benefits of Turfgrass, Tree & Shrub Program

Round Two

Give your lawn its best defense against Summer stressors such as heat and drought.

What We Do –Our late spring application contains your second full rate of crabgrass preventative. This will help secure the barrier in the soil as we enter the hot months of summer while the fertilizer we have put down will provide a continuous feeding until your next treatment is due, giving your lawn the nutrients it needs to maintain a stable root system.

What to Expect – We are continuously treating your broadleaf weeds such as dandelions. We ask that you remain off the lawn for about 2 hours to allow this product to dry. This will prevent the product from being tracked within the home or leave traces on paws, shoes, or hands of those that you care most about. All weed control is a post-emergent and any application will contain weeds in their adult stage. For example, when dandelions are closed, the weed control will not penetrate and kill them, it is only when they are open and noticable in the lawn that they will take in the product and begin to curl and die. This process will take between 72 hours to 2 weeks. We also applied your second full treatment of crabgrass control. This is unique to the Green Lawn program to help ensure the best possible control of this pesky week. By creating an invisible barrier a half inch under your soil line, we are able to prevent crabgrass from germinating and give your lawn a 90% control compared to an untreated lawn.

How to Benefit the Most – Our treatments work best when watered in. Most lawns need about 1-1.5” per week and is most efficiently applied in the morning. This will allow your lawn to absorb as much as possible before the day’s temperature causes it to evaporate. By watering your lawn, you will help break down our product giving you the best results and allow your turf to maintain its health and strength as the high temperatures of summer arrive. IMPORTANT: EVERY TREATMENT WE WILL BE CHECKING FOR WEEDS AND ANY PROBLEMS THAT WE NOTICE. BE AWARE OF THE NOTES FROM YOUR TECHNICIAN AND LET US KNOW IF PROBLEMS OCCUR IN BETWEEN TREATMENTS.  

Late Spring Application Quick Tips:

• Make sure your lawn gets 1-1.5” of water each week
• Schedule waterings throughout the week, we suggest Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 15-20minutes per section of your lawn
• Walk your lawn and take note of areas that may require extra watering
• Water in the early morning, before 10am to allow for full absorption
• Avoid watering at night, it promotes diseases due to prolonged moisture on the surface of your soil

Rate your late spring service!

Read More: Lawn Care Programs, Watering Tips, Crabgrass Germination

An Inside Look into Cross-Training at Green Lawn Fertilizing

Green Lawn Fertilizing works hard to maintain customer satisfaction.

Before the new season begins, Green Lawn Fertilizing takes the time to make sure that all employees are able to assist our customers to the best of their abilities. Green Lawn’s President, Matt Jesson, takes pride in hiring the right people for the job from the start and as each season is different from the last, it is important to keep our employees up to date on practices as well as the changes each season brings.

The Green Lawn Kick-Off Rodeo is a day of learning that ensures each employee the ability to attend to our customer’s needs. During the course of the day our managers and seasoned technicians take time to review our products, machines and techniques that are used each day during production in the field. This includes identifying areas that improve the overall performance of the products that we stand by to achieve the best results on each lawn we treat. Everything from the basics of fertilizing to the precision of aeration is covered through a hands-on training approach.

Green Lawn employees feel that it is important for our staff to have an understanding of what customers report to our service department and what technicians and managers see in the field. This way we are able to provide as much help to a customer no matter where the issue takes place.

The images from Top to Bottom: Pic 1: Tim (Pest Service Manager) describing proper pest control techniques. Pic. 2: Wes (Technician) giving a demonstration on proper aeration and seeding of a lawn. Pic. 3: Kirk (Technician/Mechanic) giving a demonstration on weed control spraying. Pic. 4: Joe (Production Manager) teaching KellyAnne (Office Manager) how to calibrate the application rate of fertilizer and weed control on a commercial rider.

As the rodeo comes to a close, employees come together to discuss the day and answer any questions about what goes on in the field. In lawn care each season differs, bringing new challenges that frustrate both customers and our staff and we are always searching for the answers that give you results. Cross-training each employee is one way that we make sure our company works as a team to ensure complete satisfaction. 2012 started early this year and we are confident that we will bring what it takes to make sure your lawn is healthy, dense, and green.

Controlling Dandelions

Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant.

A little about Dandelions – Dandelions are a perennial weed that we battle every season. They have a long tap root that keeps these plants alive even after harsh weather. These persistent weeds have the ability to adapt to almost every soil type with immense ease making no lawn safe. The bright yellow flower of a dandelion opens and closes with the sun each day until it matures into a seed head and is one of the biggest issues in lawn care from very early spring to fall.

Dandelion seed heads

How did THAT get into my lawn? – Once solely restricted to Europe, dandelions have proven just how resilient and adaptable they truly are. Settlers brought this plant over for medicinal and culinary uses have become homeowner’s worst nightmare when it comes to lawn maintenance. Wind is the biggest factor in how dandelions infest your lawn. At times, a strong wind has carried dandelion seeds as far as 5 miles from its parent plant. Other methods of travel include rain runoff and sticking to clothing and animal fur.  As the plant matures, their bright yellow flower turns into a puff ball of seeds just waiting to release. Each seed is attached to what looks like a little white parachute making travel easy.

What can I do? – Dandelions are extremely difficult to remove due to their long tap root. Pulling and insufficient digging can lead to a bigger problem as they often leave parts of this root behind, allowing a new weed to form. Using a selective broadleaf weed control is the best path for permanent dandelion removal. Green Lawn’s weed control will effectively kill both the visible plant and seep to the root for complete elimination. Remember: all it takes is leaving a fraction of the root behind to make your dandelion problem go from bad to worse! Our application will take care of active dandelions fairly quickly. While the flower is yellow and open, weed control is able to be “taken in” by the plant and distributed for complete removal. Promoting good lawn health will help keep these pesky weeds at bay when managed properly with consistent weed control and fertilizer at the proper times throughout the entire season.

Read More: Spring Lawn Care, Lawn Programs, Aeration & Seeding

Bittercress flowers and seed pods

While typically a winter annual weed, the mild winter and early increased temperatures have caused bittercress to invade nearly every lawn in our area.  

Dealing with Bittercress

Bittercress is one of the first weeds to pop-up in lawns in the early spring.

A little about Bittercress – Bittercress is a winter annual weed that begins to appear in lawns in very early spring and can quickly spread throughout your lawn. Stems range from 3-9” long and keep most of their leaves in the lower portion of the plant. Most recognizable by its little, white flowers and the small round capsules that appear at the end of each branch. The optimal temperatures for bittercress are 45-85°F making this spring a perfect time for this pesky weed.

Bittercress Plant

How did THAT get into my lawn? – A common name for bittercress is also shot weed for one very specific reason; as the plant matures the seed pods literally burst when touched. This causes the seeds to fly far from the parent plant (up to 10ft) and infest throughout your lawn quickly as the average seed count per plant is 600. These seeds also have almost no germination time. These seeds ripen for production at high temperatures and a plant completes its life cycle in 5-6 weeks.

What can I do? – Seedlings should be killed as quickly as possible and can be easily controlled with post-emergent herbicide. Green Lawn’s Spring applications are crucial in preventing this weed from spreading all summer. Once sprayed by our technicians, plants should begin to die quite quickly. However, with the quick life cycle of this weed and explosive seed cast, you may see new plants occurring in between our applications. If this is the case, we can certainly set up a service call for you. It is important to note that these weeds should not be pulled. This weed can quickly regenerate a new plant from a fragment of root system left in the soil. Our selective herbicide will make sure that these root systems are killed off efficiently. Overtime, this weed can be contained by herbicide as our broadleaf weed control exhausts the seed bank that was released into your lawn.

Read More: Lawn Programs, Spring Application, Spring Lawn Care