BUYER BEWARE: Over-the-Counter Fertilizers Spring has arrived and soil temperatures in central Iowa are right at 40 degrees. Lawns are still dormant currently but with some warmer weather coming we probably have 3-4 weeks before they start to grow. Everyone is excited to get their lawn looking green, now is the best time to [...]
It has been a fairly cool spring here in Des Moines this year. A far cry from last year when we were consistently seeing 90-degree temperatures at this point in the season. This is good news for the lawns continuing to drive their roots down before the heat of summer sets in. Not so [...]
Fall has finally arrived with warmer than normal weather, which has been great for fall seeding and repairs. It was a tough year for grass this season with the continued drought conditions we have experienced. Grubs have taken their toll on a few lawns as well. Commodity prices for fertilizer are skyrocketing and it [...]
We are approaching April here and soil temperatures are still in the mid 40's. Once we hit 50, the grass will start to wake up. Over the past few years, we have been using a liquid aeration product and have been very impressed with the response in our lawns. It is more of a [...]
Most of the leaves have fallen by now and it is a good idea to get those mulched up with your mower. There are a lot of free nutrients in those leaves so mulching them back into the lawn is a great idea. Getting the leaves cleaned up around your house's foundation by blowing or [...]
It has been hot and dry here the last few weeks. Watering a few times a week in the morning will keep your lawn green and healthy. The turf has been holding color and vigor up to this point without additional watering, but here this second week of July, we are noticing the heat [...]
May is here and lawns are waking up and growing. Last year, we were close to hitting 90 degrees already at this time. Soil temperatures are in the low 60's and if you are doing some Spring seeding, now would be a good time to start. It is also a good time to fertilize [...]
With the downtime between snowfalls, I have been going over our lawn treatment programs in detail and attending a few soil and plant seminars. We are continuously striving for better results on our lawns with little-to-no synthetic inputs and just use nutrition and organic materials to achieve these results. We do this by monitoring [...]
We just got through an extreme hot spell last week and as I write this, windows are open and it's in the upper 50's this morning, which feels great. Hope everyone has been watering at least once or twice a week. We have had rain but it has come in the downpour variety of [...]
Spring is finally here after a long, snowy winter. Here are a few ideas to get you ready for a great growing season. Tune up your mower and sharpen your blade. A dull mower blade damages your grass and just plain doesn't look good when done. There are repair shops that have a blade [...]