Newsletter – June 2022

June 2022 Email Newsletter

SOIL SERVICE NEWS- Japanese Beetles, Watering, Fungus Issues, Brush Control, and more!

JAPANESE BEETLES

We all learned last year that the Japanese beetle is definitely here and if you don’t think you had them, you probably weren’t looking! This is an insect that every homeowner needs to understand. We expect the adults to emerge about mid-June.

Read more here Japanese Beetles

FUNGUS GETS GOING IN SUMMER

Late afternoon/evening rains make for happy fungus and sad plants. Although we can’t control the weather, we can control how and when we water our lawn and garden.

WATERING DO’S AND DON’T’S

Watering mistakes encourage many diseases in lawns and gardens, especially with evening watering. At night, grass and other plants expel a nutrient rich broth of sugars and proteins (exudates) that, when combined with wet leaves, helps fungus thrive. Here are some simple watering guidelines for the garden:

• Water only in the morning, preferably before 9AM.
• Mulch to block rain or irrigation from splashing soil borne fungal spores onto leaves
• If possible, water at the base of plants instead of overhead. Soil Service Garden Center stocks Dramm watering wands that are excellent for this purpose.

If you water your lawn, we have enclosed a Lawn Watering Guide from the University of Missouri:

Read more here HOME LAWN WATERING GUIDE

TIPS FROM THE TURF PROS

Here’s a new way to predict when Brown Patch fungus in fescue is active.

PREDICTING BROWN PATCH IN FESCUE

An updated way to predict when Brown Patch (Rhizoctonia solani) becomes active is by using the “flip-flop” rule when nighttime temperatures of at least 68 d F and daytime temperatures of 86 d F or more are present for several days in a row. Kansas City’s infamous hot, muggy days with high dew points (in the 70’s) also gives us a heads up that the disease may be active. Control is difficult but your Soil Service Garden Center will do our best to help with your situation.

VINE AND BRUSH CONTROL

Have you ever cut brush or vines only to see the plants come back with more shoots after cutting? You can fix this problem.

CUT AND TREAT THE SAME DAY

We see this all the time. A customer comes in to get a control product for a stump, vine, or brush that was cut a week or two before seeing us. Unfortunately we have to tell them the train left the station because the plant heals the wounded area within a day of cutting. This quick healing blocks a control product from moving to roots where it kills the plant. Your Soil ServiceGarden Center stocks Ferti-lomeStump and Brush Controlto keep plants from coming back. Mix with water and Ferti-lome Spreader Sticker for foliar applications or apply undiluted, without spreader sticker, to a freshly cut vine or stump. This is the time of year to get rid of these problem plants once and for all.

SHORT TAKES ON TIMELY TOPICS

Trurf Ranger is a highly effective granular control product for lawn insects such as ticks, fleas, ants and many other nuisance pests (not grubs). Each bag treats 5000 sq. ft. and is available at the Garden Center. This is step 3 in our fescue and bluegrass lawn programs.

MOSQUITOS

Rain brings big bunches of hungry mosquitos so once again we will be under attack this summer. Here are a few products for mosquito control:

Mosquito Beater for lawn and gardens is available as an organic repellent or a traditional control product.

Organic Mosquito Dunks are used in birdbaths, water gardens etc.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS!

COME SEE US AND,

LET’S KEEP GROWING!