Sod Webworm

Here is a picture of the frass(excrement) from Sod Webworm.  This is the earliest in the season that I have ever seen damage from a Sod Webworm.  The little green “haybales” are produced from the Sod Webworm.  The damage typically happens during mid summer and looks like the grass was chewed off at the crown resulting in irregular brown areas.  This damage is easily mistaken for drought in the summer.  The color of the frass is a good indicator of how recent the activity was.  The greener the frass, the more recent the activity.

Dethatch vs Aeration

This time of year I get many customers who ask if they need to dethatch their lawns.  We do not recommend it unless there is more than 1 inch of thatch in the yard.  Some thatch is healthy.  Thatch protects the soil from drying out from the sun and also helps prevent weed seeds from germinating.  Also, the dethatching process tends to rip at the crown of the plant, causing considerable damage.  If you have between .5 and 1 inch of thatch, consider an aeration instead.  Don’t confuse dormant turf and thatch.  Some yards are not out of dormancy yet and will green up with the rainfall this weekend.

New stock for Spring

Just got our first load of 2012 material for the garden center.

Earthworm Castings

I got a call a few days ago from a current customer on some “digging and bumps” in his yard.  Below are some pictures of his backyard.  The damage is from earthworms and is very common.  Earthworms are healthy for the lawn but they can do some damage, especially in the early spring when the ground is wet.  Once dry, these castings can be raked into the lawn along with some seed if the areas are thin.  Let us know if you are seeding so we can put starter fertilizer instead of our crabgrass preventer on these areas.  Here is a link to a good article online that I found with some more information.  http://lawncare.about.com/od/turfgrasspests/a/earthworms.htm

 

 

Spring Service Special!

Hi all.  Just wanted to show all of you our spring special for fertilization and perimeter pest control.  Schedule either program and receive a $100 gift card to our garden center or schedule both programs and receive $200 in gift cards.

West Michigan Home and Garden Show

Thanks to all who stopped by this past week to make this show a great success!