STOP WATERING YOUR YARD!!!! Everyday we are seeing homes that are running their systems daily. We understand it’s hot and “droughty” outside. You have to remember though that running your system everyday is actually counterproductive to the health of your lawn. What is important is HOW LONG you water. When you run the system fewer times a week but for longer sessions you get a much deeper soak into the soil. This forces the roots to grow deeper looking for water. Letting the lawn dry out in between these sessions is also important as it helps prevent possible fungus damage. Hope this helps!

Side note, we are unsure if “droughty” is a real word but it is one we use almost daily. Feel free to use it in your personal vocabulary moving forward!

It’s hot as HE🏒🏒 out there this week! If you’re not watering your lawn you will see the damage soon enough! We’ve said it 100 times by now though that “HOW” you water matters as much as actually watering. The time of day is one of those “HOW” issues. Watering at night is usually the best option for a few reasons. The wind is usually much calmer during the night for one and this means less drift. The water pressure is also higher since people are sleeping and not taking showers, washing clothes and the such. It also gives the water plenty of time to soak into the ground. When you water during the day you lose a lot to evaporation in the sun. We usually recommend running your system anywhere from 12:00-4:00 this time of year. Hope this helps!

If you have a clogged sprinkler head here is another possible issue you’re facing. All of your shrub heads have a filter installed in them. You get to the filter by removing the head and then pulling it out with your fingers. If you do this while the system is turned on be careful that it doesn’t get shot into the air and lost for good! Once the filter is removed you can clean it out in water to get all of the trash out of it. Then simply stick it back into the shrub nipple and screw the head back down. This simple task will fix a lot of your basic issues with shrub heads. If there is still a problem and you need help, send us a picture or video! Have a great day!

This subject will never get old!  It’s something that is such a simple task yet is over looked.  Most people should sharpen their blades at least 3-4 times a year.  When your blades are sharp the mower does a better job of mulching, it cuts the grass instead of tearing it and is just overall healthier for the lawn.  Watch the video and see what we mean!

How you mow matters…actually matters a lot!  When you mow your lawn the same direction every week you will start to develop ruts or tracks in your lawn.  This happens when the weight of the mower travels the same path every week.  Before long you will start to notice actual grooves in the yard.  This can easily be prevented by changing the direction you mow each week.  Mow at different angles, go from front to back, side to side or any other pattern you can come up with.  In the long run you wont regret it!  If you are starting to see some effects of tracking, consider using a aerator on the lawn to break down the top layer and help give it a head start.

So we have been doing this for a while now and are seeing something for the first time. Bag Worms are a bug that are fairly common to be seen growing on Juniper Trees and other cypress type plants. More recently we have been seeing a species of bag worms growing on Indian Hawthorns. As you can see in the video, they physically eat the leaves away to the point that almost all of the foliage dies and falls off. The plants is still alive but it has no more leaves. It happens very fast and cant be ignored. This is also a good example of why we say getting on a preventive plan in a good idea.

Did you know a mosquito could pay up to 300 eggs in an area the size of a water bottle cap?  It’s true!  The amount of area needed would blow your mind.  This is one of the main reasons we always say it is important to remove any standing or stagnant water from your yard.  It is also why using a quality insecticide is so important.  The bugs will carry the product to the water where they are laying eggs and infect the entire batch of new mosquitos getting ready to hatch.  Watch the video and see more about what we mean.

Have you looked at your agapanthus lately? It’s almost time for them to bloom! This is truly a sign that summer is here. They make a great addition to any landscape and provide a very unique look and color as well. Also referred to as “Lilly of the Nile”, they come in 3 different colors, purple, blue and white. They are very hardy and can come back from even some of the colder temperatures like this last winter. There isn’t much maintenance involved with them either. Let us know if you have any questions about this great plant and how to incorporate them into your existing flower beds!

Some battles are as old as lawn maintenance it’s self…Weed Eaters vs Fences! I wish I could say there was an easy way to deal with this but there is not. Regardless of how careful you are, when it comes to trimming against fences there is going to be some line damage to the wood. There are a few “unsightly” alternatives but Im not in love with any of them.  We have seen people use brick pavers to line the fence.  This could get costly and also can look pretty random.  Some people even will use the metal edging for outlining your landscape beds against the fence.  Again, not very sightly.  The one that seems to make the most sense would be attaching a extra piece of wood to the base of the fence.  There is still going to be some damage to even this piece however the thicker wood will last much longer than the thiner fence boards.  Ultimately, unless you have small animals that will escape, have the fence stop just short of the ground is the best answer to fixing this problem in our opinion.  Hope all this helps!