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Keep your cool in all the summer heat with the best summer lawn tips from Fairway Green. They’ll help you work smarter, not harder.
Do you have a Fescue lawn or want one? You should have received an email from us about how to save 5% on seeding this fall. Didn’t receive it but want to? Contact us and we’ll be sure to help you out.
The email has a link (Reserve Now!) on the bottom that will take you to the customer portal to add this service to your account (no discount code required). Please let us know if you prefer September or October or have additional comments in the comment box when booking from email.
Please be patient for a reply from Fairway Green if you choose to reserve core aeration seeding by phone or direct email. Call and email volumes are very high when we provide this early booking special offer and will cause reply delays. We will contact you by email one-to-two weeks prior to your seeding date (we start core aeration seeding the last week of August to about the second week of October).
Fescue in NC can face many challenges during the year that can create turf damage or injury. This is why it is important to seed your fescue lawn every fall. Diseases like Brown Patch Fungus, Dollar Spot and Pythium can be devastating. Extended dry periods, along with heat, make for a damaging combination, too. In fact, when the ground temperatures reach the mid-80 degrees to low-90 degrees, fescue root systems stop developing and will root mass that supports survival.
Aphids are soft-bodied insects that use their piercing sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap. They usually occur in colonies on the undersides of tender terminal growth. Heavily-infested leaves can wilt or turn yellow because of excessive sap removal. While the plant may look bad, Aphid feeding generally will not seriously harm healthy, established Crepe Myrtles.
Aphids produce large amounts of a sticky liquid waste called “honeydew”. A fungus called sooty mold can grow on honeydew deposits that accumulate on leaves and branches, turning them black. The appearance of sooty mold may be the first time that an aphid infestation is noticed. The drops can even attract other insects such as ants that will feed on the sticky deposits.
Specialized insect control applications can help reduce populations.
Doveweed has become a troublesome weed in many home lawns during the last few years. It is a summer annual weed, and its seeds germinate during the late spring when soil temperatures reach 65 to 70 °F. Doveweed leaves are thick, shiny and up to 4-inches long with parallel veins. Because of its long, grass-like foliage, Doveweed is often overlooked in St. Augustine Grass or Centipede Grass lawns. Doveweed spreads aggressively within the lawn by thick, above-ground, creeping stems, called stolons.
In summer, Doveweed produces small, 3-petaled, lavender flowers that, when in bloom, become more noticeable in the lawn. After flowering, seeds are produced in small, 3/16-inch diameter, green capsules. Doveweed seed can remain viable for several years on the soil before germinating.
Doveweed thrives in overly moist soils because of poor soil drainage or frequent rainfall and irrigation. In these wet areas, you may not realize this grass-like weed is present until large patches of turfgrass have been smothered out.
Fairway Green utilizes a Doveweed Control Program that offers customers some relief from this aggressive weed. There are two applications of the product 30 days apart. Applications are completed in May-June and July-August. Earlier identification and applications can be more effective. They will see roughly 75% control and will need additional applications in the following years as the seeds continue to germinate.
The cost of this product warrants a more expensive application fee, which will be two times the standard application price.
This Mimosa Tree-looking broadleaf weed is thought to have been introduced from Florida from pine straw about 15 year ago. It is a prolific seeder and its seed pods move around NC from straw and other means. It typically germinates in mid- to late-summer and usually appears around pine straw and bird feeders first. It will grow straight up like a tree until mowed.
This is a difficult broadleaf weed to control with the available broadleaf weed control products. We identify our customers that have this broadleaf weed and try to make multiple weed control applications to gain some control on spreading.
It is not uncommon to have some Crabgrass germinating in the lawn around the end of July through August. The pre-emergent applied earlier in the year will start to degrade and break down. Generally, Crabgrass will germinate in areas with thin turf, along roadways and other hard surfaces and in high spots of the lawn. Pre-emergent breakdown is especially important in Fescue lawns because seeding needs to take place starting at the end of August to mid-October. Fescue seedlings would not be able to survive with pre-emergent applications still bonded to the soil particles.
Yellow Nutsedge is a summer perennial that flourishes from April/May to around September/October. During this time, it’s a very prolific and difficult weed to control in many lawns and natural areas. Rather than being a broadleaf or grassy weed, it’s actually part of the sedge family. As such, post-emergent broadleaf weed controls, for weeds like clover and dandelions, will not help control it.
Yellow Nutsedge reproduces from tubers under the soil and can spread by rhizomes (underground stems). Each plant can produce hundreds of tubers during its growing season, which can become new plants in the years to come.
Yellow Nutsedge will have a triangle stem that’s easily felt when you twirl it between your thumb and forefinger. It will also grow much faster than your existing turf and will have a thin, shiny appearance.
There are only a few products available for controlling Nutsedge, and all of them require frequent applications over multiple years to offer acceptable control. Fairway Green utilizes these products as part of the third and fourth rounds of our turf management programs.
Summer is the turf disease season for cool- and warm-season grasses. Brown Patch Fungus on Fescue started in early May, and we have seen sporadic cases of Pythium and Dollar Spot on warm season turfs, too.
Brown Patch Fungus activity continues to be high on actively growing Fescue due to the high humidity and thunderstorms. To prepare and keep your lawn healthy, you should be taking preventative disease control measures.
Heat/dry stress is often misdiagnosed as a fungus or other issue. Signs of it include:
Fescue is most susceptible when it’s growing in poor conditions (i.e., shade, compact soil, etc.) and/or struggling to recover from a harsh winter. Fescue will usually go into a semi-dormant state and shut down through the next two months. Fortunately, most turf will bounce back with help from cooler temperatures and rainfall. However, it’s still important for them to be kept healthy with proper fertility and a 3.5” to 4.0 mowing height before, during and after this time.
We all know Mosquitoes transmit diseases like West Nile Virus, Encephalitis and Chikungumya. Now, we have another one to worry about: Zika!
Fairway Green’s Mosquito program is tailored to your lawn’s specific needs and can consist of up-to eight total applications. Each application will offer control for approximately 25 days. One-time applications are also available and great for special outdoor events.
Give yourself and your family peace-of-mind today! Receive a no-obligation price quote and $10.00 of your first application.*
*New customers only, cannot be combined w/other offers.