Autumn Days
As we enjoy the cooling temperatures and the colorful displays on our landscape trees. We need to turn our attention towards our turf.
Fall is the best time to work on building a healthier turf. With a good turf management program in place, your community can reverse the stresses put on by summer drought and heat. Your program should include fertilization, aeration, powerseeding and, most importantly, a soil analysis to tailor a potential liming program.
Don’t forget! Fall is the best time to perform those plant installation projects.
Also, keep in mind that, even with the cooler temperatures, your plants and flowers still need watering.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot Dry Weather
When the hot dry weather approaches, we would like to remind you of the adverse effects hot and dry conditions have on your turf grasses, trees, shrubs and flowers.
Any newly installed trees and shrubs will require additional watering for the first two years after installation. During this period of root development it is vitally important that new plants do not dry out. Doing so can lead to overall weakening of the plant or even death. Please refer to our Watering Guidelines under our Resources tab for further information regarding proper watering.
The effects of extreme heat and drought-like conditions can be equally as detrimental on your turf. The turf grasses become stressed and go dormant and the soil becomes very hard and cracked open. Thereby creating ideal conditions for crabgrass and broadleaf weeds to flourish.
Certain portions of our area will be blessed with some rainfall, but a lot of the time the rain comes in downpours which do not allow enough water to actually soak into the ground deep enough to benefit stressed turf and plants.
Keep in mind that a thick healthy turf is the best deterrent to weed and crabgrass infestation. Fall is the best time to seed and perform lawn renovations with optimal results. Your SLS Account Manager will continue to evaluate your property and submit recommendations that will best suit the needs of your site. If you have any questions, please contact your SLS Account Manager.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s Time to get Buggy
Late Spring and early Summer heat means it’s time again for our buggy friends to return to our landscapes.
Please keep in mind all bugs are not bad! We at SLS try to allow natural predators to work the way they were intended. We believe in spot treatments versus blanket applications of pesticides thus not eliminating both beneficial and harmful pests. Our IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approach allows us to reduce the need for unnecessary chemical applications to your landscape. With constant professional monitoring of your landscape we can address any pest related issues early thus minimizing the impact on your landscape.
During this time of year, a couple of pests to be mindful for are Lace Bugs and Spider Mites. Lace Bugs are typically found on Azaleas and Cotoneaster. You will notice that the leaves of the infested plants will become lighter in color and if you flip the leaf over you can see the pest. Spider Mites are found on numerous plants including Alberta Spruce, Burning Bush and Arborvitae. The symptoms are similar to that of Lace Bug, but the damage done to the plant is far greater.