Thursday, May 15, 2008

The Perfect Storm for Spring Weeds

The Perfect Storm for Spring Weeds

This year has been the worst spring weed problem I have every experienced.  It all started with a very dry winter, which lead to little to no germination of our usual crop of weeds that starts early and ends early.  Normal condition for North Texas brings us good rains in the late fall and early winter which will germinate most winter weeds from September to December.  Since we did not receive sufficient rain to sprout them they were laying and waiting for the deluge we received in February.  This brought on a late weed germination that we have not seen before. 

Another factor that “normally” helps minimize weeds in the late spring is the grass greening-up, and competing with them as well as being mowed on a regular basis.  We had an extremely cool spring therefore the grass did not come out of dormancy, and begin to grow as expected because of the exceptionally cool soil temperatures.  We estimate that the grass is about 3 weeks to 4 weeks behind its “normal” schedule.  This created a wonderful situation for the weeds that germinated only a few months before.  The weeds had little competition from the grass for water, light and nutrients because of their slow start.  And since the grass was not growing most mowing was delayed, allowing weeds to grow uninhibited. 

We can speed up the grass green-up process by mowing/mulching down most of the thatch material from last year, which will allow the soil to receive more heat.  By increasing soil temperature we get quicker spring green-up of our summer grasses, and increased competition for the winter weeds.  By mowing low, and often in the early spring it physically reduces competition, and gives the advantage back to the desirable grasses.  Also by starting off mowing low in the early spring it forces the grass to grow horizontally for a thicker, denser turf rather than a tall and thin.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Organic Mosquito Control and Treatment

Soils Alive is now providing organic mosquito control for residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

As things warm up this season in North Texas, the spring rains we’ve experienced so far are paving the way for a fairly robust mosquito season.  In case you’ve not visited or seen our newest treatment program, Soils Alive is now providing a season-long mosquito control program using a USDA organic compliant called Eco-Exempt IC.  It is safe and effective, containting as its active ingredients, 10% rosemary oil, 2% peppermint oil and oil of wintergreen. This naturally derived botanical provides quick knockdown/kill and residual protection against mosquitoes.

Signing up for this program will give your property two applications per month from time of sign up through the end of October.  Best of all, Soils Alive can do it all for less than conventional methods. Season long control can be provided for about 1/3 the cost of a mosquito misting system, and there are no ugly tanks to refill, exposed hoses or nozzles to plug.

Learn more about application options and pricing here: mosquito control

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Corn Gluten Meal Question

About every fourth yard I go look at this spring the homeowner applied corn gluten meal last fall and are completely puzzled about why they have so many weeds. The most common comment from them is, “I think I caused a bigger weed problem, look I have more weeds than my neighbor and they didn’t apply anything”. The sad thing is I know exactly how they feel. Soils Alive used cgm for more than 5 years trying to get it to work. We always thought our timing was off or it was not a good product so we would change suppliers, but every year we had many client calls wondering why their weeds were so bad.

The reality is they are absolutely right; they did cause a larger problem when they applied corn gluten meal in the fall. Why you ask? To answer that we have to understand how corn gluten works. Dr. Nick Christian at Iowa State University discovered the pre-emergent qualities of cgm and later Dianna Liu as a graduate student at ISU eventually isolated the five individual dipeptides (combinations of two amino acids) that had the ability to inhibit root formation of germinating seedlings.

It is important that we understand that cgm does not inhibit germination, it inhibits root formation. For cgm applications to be successful it must be applied 2-3 weeks before seed germination, watered in sufficiently then all irrigation shut off to allow the soil to dry out. This allows seeds to germinate then given time to desiccate before the next rain/water occurrence. If the soil is moist after the point which the cgm’s effectiveness is degraded then the weed seedling will produce roots and will “grow out” of the cgm. If this scenario occurs then the weed seed will have the benefit of the cgm’s10 nitrogen allowing it to grow faster, taller, and stronger than if nothing was applied.

The fall/winter application of cgm in my opinion is not a good horticultural decision, and does not provide effective weed suppression. The reason it is not a good horticultural practice is because 20 lbs of cgm per 1000 sq. ft. is the equivalent of 2 lbs of nitrogen at a time when plants are naturally going dormant. That amount of nitrogen will stimulate freeze prone tender growth instead of allowing the plant to harden-off for the winter. Also high nitrogen applications increases the chance St. Augustine grass will succumb to fungal disease, such as brown patch. The weed suppression does not occur as advertised because in the DFW area weeds germinate for several months in the fall and late winter. This would require an application of cgm every 3 to 4 weeks to effectively inhibit the roots from forming. When you add on the challenge of needing a dry period to allow for the desiccation of the weeds then chances are cgm is not going to deliver as advertised.

When should Corn Gluten Meal be used? The only time I would recommend using cgm would be in the spring as the grass is greening up. This application supplies the grass a shot of nitrogen so that it greens up quickly, increasing its density and height so that it can physically out compete the weeds. This approach is the most effective weed suppressing tool there is, physical competition. Any weed suppression the cgm offers is a bonus and thus not a waste of money or labor. I still have a but to inject here. Cgm is composed mostly of nitrogen, containing little to no phosphorus, or potassium. This makes cgm a very “white bread” sort of diet for the plants, and not a well balanced product that feeds the soil and plant in a holistic manner.

I am not a fan of corn gluten meal; it is a by product of the corn syrup industry, and is sold as an animal feed commodity so the price is always higher than products that are waste products that should be used as fertilizers. I think cgm was born out of advertising hype, and a need for an organic weed control. My hope is that we will soon have effective tools that stand up to field trials and not just laboratory studies. Maybe ISU will be able to isolate the effective portions of cgm and create a stable organic weed preventative that has longevity in the field.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Welcome To Our New Blog!

Welcome to Soils Alive’s new blog - a place for stories, anecdotes, questions and answers to organic lawn care related issues.  Please sign up to comment or to ask a question.  We welcome your input.  Thanks!
Michael Bosco

Saturday, March 01, 2008

March: Back to life

March brings us plants springing back to life.  Gardeners begin setting out tender plants after the 15th of March which is considered our last potential freezing day. 

We will begin apply our Round 2 application this month which is a dry organic fertilizer, and Liquid Compost.  Our two step application is very important to feed the soil that will in turn provide plant nutrients for healthy spring growth.  It is critical here in north Texas to get off to a good start, because we have four months to create happy plants before the summer stresses of heat and lack of rain start. 

Environmental stresses are reduced with an organic program by establishing a healthy soil biology that are 100% devoted to being your plant’s care takers, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, because the plant in turn provides them sugars created during photosynthesis, and supplied to them through the root system.  It is this very powerful balance that allows nature to do so well in native prairies and forest with out our help.  By recreating that system that is destroyed by construction, chemicals, over watering and other man made disturbances we can reduce our watering, and allow the soil to care for the plant the way it has been done for millions of years.

Monday, February 04, 2008

February Applications and Your Lawn

February has historically been our third coldest month, which is the time we will have winter kill on plants that are exposed to the elements particularly when dry.  The best defense against freeze damage is watering before the temperature drops.  Water provides thermal protection for root systems, and dry plants will succumb to freeze damage much more readily than a healthy well watered plant.  Watering once every 10 days is very important during dry conditions.  January was the 10 driest on record with most areas of the metroplex only getting 30% of our normal rainfall.

January through the end of February Soils Alive will apply Liquid Compost, Humate and a micronutrient mix to condition the soil, allowing for a deeper and more robust root system.  This is not a fertilizer application, this is a proactive approach to soil health which will translate into a happier healthier plant as spring begins.

As always if you have a friend, neighbor or family member who is interested in making a healthy change to organics, we will credit you an application up to the cost one application for their yard, so be sure they tells us who referred them.  If we have not given you credit for a referral please do contact us and let us know.

Have a wonderful Valentines!
Michael Bosco

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Solutions to Not Enough Sun

We welcome two new clients today, one is in Flower Mound and the other is in Euless.  I visited with each one at their home to see what challenges we had, and how we could improve the look of their landscape.  Each one has heavy shade, and had recently trimmed up their trees to allow more light down to the grass. 

Both yards had lost grass as you walk into the back yard on the side of the house.  These areas are very difficult to keep grass because the house and the fence block all direct sun except for overhead midday sun and during the winter time the sun doesn’t even get there because of the lower winter angle.  I recommend turning those areas into landscaped areas with stepping stones and a low ivy or dwarf mondo grass. 

The house in Flower Mound had lost 25% of their front yard last summer.  We think it might have been from lack of water but the parkway looked fine.  Typically the parkway will burn up first if the irrigation system is not running enough.  It is possible they had a zone malfunction causing the problem.  We will need to fertilize what grass is left in the front heavily to get it to fill in all the bare areas.  This will also be areas that weeds will be a problem in until the St. Augustine fills back in.