August 21, 2003

www.CarrollGardens.com

Truly Outstanding Grass Seed - Black Beauty by Jonathan Green

Featured Items

Black Beauty grass seed by Jonathan Green is truly the most exciting Tall Fescue we've seen. Its two defining characteristics are COLOR and COLOR!  Our exclusive sod-quality Black Beauty mixture offers all the top attributes for your home lawn.  It produces a thick, rich, dark turf that will stand up to abuse.

It is the grass seed of choice for full to half sun areas, applied at the rate of 10-12 lbs. per 1,000 square feet for bare areas and 5-7 lbs. per 1,000 square feet for over seeding.  The earlier grass seed is planted, the better it will establish before winter.  Black Beauty, especially, benefits from early planting.

For shady areas, we recommend Shady Nook™ grass seed (also by Jonathan Green) at the rate of 1lb. for every 750 square feet for over seeding and 1 lb. for every 375 square feet for bare areas. Shady areas are usually subject to a lot of fall leaf litter. We recommend seeding such shady areas immediately or waiting until early spring. Leaf-littered shady areas are the one exception to the rule that fall lawn renovation is better than spring lawn renovation.
 

Black Beauty Grass Seed by Jonathan Green

Shady Nooks™ Grass Seed by Jonathan Green (shady areas)

Chesapeake Green
Lawn Enhancer

Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food

Turf Trust®

SuperBio®

Lawn Care Question & Answer

For more information about lawn care, including our fall lawn care program, please refer to the newsletters from the two previous weeks, listed below:

"Fall Lawn Care Program" (part 1) -08/08/03

"Establishing a Lawn the Old Fashioned Way" (part 2) - 08/15/03

Question
My lawn is solid crab grass.  Where did it all come from?  I have read your newsletter on fall lawn care; is there nothing I can spray now?  I had a really good lawn this spring and although my lawn was brown and crispy in last year’s drought, I didn’t have much crab grass.  Late last fall I did a thorough de-thatching and core aeration and I overseeded the entire lawn.  I am so disappointed.

Answer
First, the source of the crab grass.  Although in last year’s drought each crab grass plant didn’t achieve its full potential of over 40,000 seeds, each crab grass probably matured a couple thousand seeds.  In addition the de-thatching and core aeration brought to the surface old seeds that were too deeply buried to sprout last year.  Then with this year’s favorable growing conditions, every viable seed that was near the surface sprouted and grew into a really large crab grass plant covering up to about one square foot of lawn surface.

There is not much that you can effectively do to control the crab grass at this time.  In spite of what the label may say, post emergent crab grass sprays do not kill mature crab grass.  At best, they will yellow them and slow down the growth and seed production.  The first hard frost will kill the crab grass.  Almost all of your lawn grasses are alive between the crab grass blades.  They are weakened from competition and a small percent may have perished, but most of your beautiful spring lawn is still alive.

You can overseed with a slit seeder amongst the crab grass.  The crab grass blades actually shield the young grasses from drying affects of wind and the burning affects of the sun just as straw does.  If you feel that your crab grass is so thick as to be detrimental to the young grass, you can thatch away the tops of the crab grass before you seed. 

In any event, go ahead and feed your lawn on the normal schedule (after thatching, if that’s the route you choose). This year I am encouraging early feeding, as soon as possible, with Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food -unless you have brown patch fungus or shade.  In those two cases, I recommend Turf Trust®.

Be sure to apply Dimension pre-emergent crab grass preventive when the forsythia blooms in the spring.  Dimension will prevent the thousands of crab grass seeds that are going to be in the lawn from sprouting and maturing into next year’s crab grass crop.

Incidentally, if a few crab grass plants should escape the Dimension and sprout next year, try to remove them manually before they mature and set seed.  You need not pull out all of the roots; just slice off the crown with a sharp knife.

Question
I have a really steep bank which I want to re-seed.  I read your newsletter and I am still concerned about erosion especially if we have a heavy rain before the seed grows.  As you suggested, I plan to cover with green mulch.

Answer
Are you sure you want to grow grass on such a steep bank?  How are you going to mow it safely?  I recommend you consider a ground cover. 

If you e-mail me how much sun you have, I can make specific suggestions.  You might even consider a planting of shrubs and perennials.  If you are determined to plant grass on this steep hillside, I suggest you mix in a little (5% by weight) annual Rye grass.   It sprouts quickly and roots-in with deep roots.  It will hold the soil while the good grass is slowly germinating.

Question
When can I lime my lawn and how much should I use?

Answer
You can lime the lawn at anytime the ground is not frozen.  Lime is usually applied in the fall in conjunction with a lawn renovation program.  Before you apply the lime you will need to determine how much to apply, and that can only be determined with a soil test that will tell you what your existing pH is.  Ideal pH for lawns is neutral 7.0.  If you are making a total new lawn by tilling, you can till in enough lime to achieve 7.0.  (Once you know your existing pH, the lime bag will tell you how much lime to use).  If you are renovating an old lawn, no matter how much your pH needs adjusting, I recommend you attempt to adjust the pH by no more than a half point per year.  Next year you can make a further adjustment of up to a half point, if necessary.  Lime changes pH slowly, so an annual soil test is a good idea.

In general, a lawn that has achieved a pH of 7.0 will not need liming more frequently than every 3 years.  But this is a really rough rule of thumb and, as always, a pH test is advisable.

Question
My large English boxwoods are dying a branch at a time.  It seems as if the process takes about a year.  First the branch turns light green, then orange, then yellow and then straw colored and at that point it’s dead.  I have always had the problem a little bit, but this year it’s much worse.

Answer
Your problem could be nematodes or it could be root rot, but most probably it is a combination of these two plus Volutella tip blight.  This blight is particularly bad in this moist, warm season.  And Volutella is always worse after a tough winter.

In addition to reviewing the spring care for Boxwood tips, (available in The Garden Club section of our website) I recommend you cut out the diseased (off-color) branches and remove the plants that are mostly dead.  With a shop vac clean up all the dead leaves that have accumulated inside the bush.  Most importantly, thin the boxwood by plucking out 1/2 of the growth.  You should thin the boxwood to the point where you can almost see through the plant.  Good air circulation is imperative.  Spray now with Bordeaux mix and spray again just before the new growth starts next spring.  Repeat the spray 3 or 4 more times at 10 day intervals.  If the weather is moist and humid like this year, continue spraying - but at 3 week intervals.   (Bordeaux mix is an organic spray that is used primarily on grapes, but it works really well on boxwood Volutella).

Question
I have white pine and blue spruce trees.  It appears that some type of insect has infested the trees.  I thought that the “sacks” hanging down were little baby pine cones.  It looks as if they had long needles like the tree.  But, at dusk, they were moving and it appeared as if a little worm or something was crawling from the top of the sack.  I only saw the head of the insect.

Answer
You have bagworms - very destructive.  They will eat voraciously and kill the trees.  Hand picking is best.  Alternatively, spray with Orthene.  If you have Leyland cypress and arborvitae, check these as well as your other evergreens.  Both are particular favorites of bagworms.  I have also seen bagworms on deciduous shrubs such as spiraea.

 

Featured Item - Bracken's Brown Beauty Magnolia

The finest evergreen Magnolia ever developed. Bracken's Brown Beauty delivers year-round beauty and hardiness. These trees have been tested and survived several weeks of below zero temperatures. It thrives in full sun and hot conditions. 

The tree is symmetrical, with a pyramid of dense branches of glistening dark green leaves with cinnamon-brown undersides. The fragrant cream-white flowers average 5-6 inches across and are followed by 3-4 inch orange-red fruity structures. The flowers are recurrent throughout the growing season - typically May through October. Mature height is anticipated to be 50 feet.

Carroll Gardens is proud to be one of the select few mail-order nurseries to offer this winner of the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society 2003 Gold Medal Plant Award.

We’re shipping impressive 4+ foot trees at an incredible value. You can bypass the years of waiting associated with small saplings. These trees are ready to fill out quickly. It is not unusual to see very young trees full of blooms.

more information                            place an order

The Garden Club Radio Show

Every Saturday morning from 7:00 am to 9:00 am (Eastern time) you can listen to the highly acclaimed Garden Club Radio Show online through WCBM's website.  Click here for more information about the radio show, including how to listen online.

If you live in or will be traveling in the Maryland or Washington DC area, you can also listen to the show by tuning your radio to 680 AM. Any local listeners that may be traveling out of the area can still tune in to the show online, as mentioned above.  Feel free to call in with your questions at 410-922-6680 or toll-free at
1-800-922-6680.

Happy Gardening,

Alan Summers