When it comes to fall lawn fertilization in Gainesville, one size does not fit all. Lawn fertilizer programs and mixes that benefit St. Augustine lawns are wasteful and may even harm Zoysia lawns, even if they're next door neighbors. Also, soils in different areas of town may differ in terms of soil pH and plant-available nutrients such as sand and clay do, which is why we always do a soil analysis through UF's IFAS department here in Gainesville to assure our lawn spraying program is the right mixture for your soil and lawn. 

For our Gainesville DIY'ers, 5 quick tips for your lawn are:

1. Don't guess which fertilizer is best.

Read the label and know your lawn. If you don’t know what’s in the soil or the turfgrass you have, how can you accurately prescribe a fertilizer program that’s most beneficial? When in doubt rely on soil tests to show you the way, especially for new or struggling properties coming under your care. Personnel at the Alachua county extension office can help you with turfgrass identification and soil tests. Their services are very reasonable, and they can also help you read the report, too. 

2. Now’s the time to fertilize for Gainesville Lawns. 

Gainesville grass is recovering from July and August’s high temperatures and it’s beginning to store carbohydrate reserves, which help it to resist winter injury and disease, and serve as a source of energy for root and shoot growth the following spring. Many professional Gainesville lawn application companies like us offer two late-season fertilizations. They apply one pound of quick-release nitrogen in late summer and another application of Nitrogen in late October or November. The mid- to late-fall application delivers better winter color, enhances spring green-up, and increases root development.

Research at the University of Florida has shown that root growth of turfgrass species occurs during the fall after shoot growth has slowed down substantially. This is because roots grow quite well when soil temperatures are cooling off from our brutal summers. 

3. Look before you treat.

Heed the following caveats when making fall applications of fertilizers. If the turfgrass is obviously not growing and likely dead, don’t waste your fall fertilizer. It’s not going to bring the grass back to health. Install plugs or new sod instead.

Also, don’t apply fertilizer without watering them in or making sure rain is in the forecast because you will be wasting money. While most fertilizers require water to infiltrate the soil, a heavy rain can wash away the fertilizer before it enters the soil, so make sure it isn't a downpour. Don't fertilize to close to water sources or storm drains. Fertilizer will find its way into the water adding nitrogen and potassium to Florida's liquid ecosystem. This can lead to algae blooms and have other negative affects.

4. Fertilize only during growth.

Warm-season grasses such as St. Augustine, bermudagrass, and zoysiagrass are throughout Gainesville.

St. Augustine grass is the most common lawn grass in our region. It is popular because it is durable and recovers rapidly with proper care. Fertilize when it is actively growing, but do not apply nitrogen in December, January, or February.

Zoysiagrass grows by both stolons and rhizomes. It goes dormant with the first frost. Do not apply nitrogen to zoysiagrass after the end of November, advises our local cooperative extension. By contrast, zoysias.com says that while fertilizer requirements are generally lower for zoysia than many other lawn kinds of grass, they do benefit from a fall application as well. 

5. Timing always matters

Fertilization in the Spring, Summer, and Fall are very important - but having the right lawn application at the right time is what makes the difference. Pre-emergent weed controls, preventative insecticides, and proper nutrients all have to be applied with the proper timing to avoid a waste of your time, money, and resources.

Finally, Florida law prohibits applying more than one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet for any application. Follow the rules.

As always, The Master's Lawn Care is proud to serve Gainesville, Alachua, and Newberry with our Lawn Application and Pest Control Program. Please call or text our office at (352) 378-LAWN for a free lawn consultation. 

The major insect pest of crape myrtles in Gainesville Florida landscapes are crape myrtle aphids. Crape myrtle aphids secrete sticky honeydew from mid-summer on through winter, which sooty mold grows in the honeydew.

Crapemyrtle Aphids are Gainesville Lawn Pests that have a narrow host range and is the only aphid species that feed on crape myrtles. Crape myrtle aphids are found from May through September, with peak populations during July and early August. Crape myrtle aphid adults and nymphs are pale yellow-green with black spots on their abdomens. They range from 1/16- to 1/8-inch in length. These aphids generally feed on the undersides of crape myrtle leaves. They feed by inserting their needle-like mouthparts into the soft tissues and extracting plant sap. As aphids feed, they inject saliva into the leaf tissues, which, in turn, causes yellow leaf spots to develop. Heavy infestations can deform leaves and stunt new growth. Buds, branch tips and flowers can also be damaged by the feeding injury.

In addition to direct damage, aphids can damage plants indirectly by secreting honeydew, a sugary bi-product of their feeding. Honeydew is a perfect substrate for the growth of sooty mold fungi and a source of food for other insects such as ladybugs, ants, wasps, and flies. Although unsightly, sooty mold itself does not directly harm the crape myrtle. Instead, it shades the leaves and interferes with photosynthesis. Under heavy infestations, sooty-mold-covered leaves may drop many weeks prematurely. Even the twigs and stems of the plants may be coated in the black sooty mold. That becomes more evident as the plants defoliate.

When we have extreme weather in Florida, we usually find that a few things really like the conditions.  This summer it has been the moths and the 'Tropical Sod Webworm,' which just love the wet yards we've had.

It has been so prolific that our phones have rung with people asking what they are and how to they get rid of them.  Perhaps you've seen some fluttering around in your lawn?

How are moths and webworms connected might you ask? Great question! Much like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, the webworm turns into a moth, and the webworm is what does so much damage to Gainesville lawns. 

How do webworms create the brown spots in the lawn? They chew the grass down to the roots as it's primary source of food, causing a similar effect on the lawn as if it were scalped with a weedeater or lawn mower. 

The chewed or affected areas typically look like brown circular spots in the lawn that are much shorter than the other parts of the yard, and they typically grow overnight, because that's when the webworms are most active. The round pattern comes from the moth's eggs being laid in one place and the webworms eating out from that initial hatching.

Webworms are known for attacking new sod (hence the name 'tropical sod webworm') due to their high levels of nitrogen in the turf from the sod farms using large amounts of fertilizer. They're also known for attacking shaded areas of lawns due to the moths residing in the trees above the lawn and lving the wet areas to lay their eggs.

What can you do to avoid webworms damaging your lawn?

1. Don't set it and forget it - Sometimes modern conveniences like sprinker systems allow us so much peace of mind that they make us think we can eliminte the worry of watering our lawn altogether. However, that really shouldn't be the case. When we experience extreme droughts as we did in March, April, and May of this year, not increasing your sprinkler times to compensate for the higher evaporation (dry air) and lack of rain will cause your lawn to suffer.  Similarly,  when the rainy season comes as we've experieced in June and July, we have to turn the sprinkler settings way down for the opposite reasons, even if you have a rain sensor. Stressing your lawn with too much or not enough water makes it more susceptible to lawn pests and quicker damage. Sod Webworms are very attracted to overly watered lawns, where the grass is weakened for their dining pleaseure.
2. Don't over-fertilize  - The reason that Sod webworms are attracted to new sod is because of the amount of fertilizer sod farms use. This is also the case if you use excess fertilizer to attain a "greener" lawn. More often than not, you will instead find yourself with fungal or webworm infestation damaging your lawn. There's nothing wrong with a lawn fertilization plan - as long as whoever you have doing it understands the need to apply the fertilizer correctly and time it for the right seasonal window to avoid lawn pest encouragement.
3. An Ounce of Prevention - is worth a pound of cure, according to Ben Franklin. It is also true for your lawn. If you're on our Gainesville lawncare pest program, we use a product that basically immunizes your lawn from webworms, as long as it's watered correctly. As I type this, my lawn is completely infiltrated with moths (my neighbor has a ton of webworm damage) but my lawn is protected because one of our experienced lawn care technicians treated it prior to the moths coming into our neighborhood. 

If you do these three things, you can keep your lawn pest-free. If you may have messed up one of the three items above and wonder if you have a webworm problem in your lawn, here are some photos to help you be sure. 

The photo above shows grey leaf spot fungus (from over-watering and common when webworms are active) and the webworms' chewed up grass pellets. Also notice the chewed lower edges of the leaf blades.

The photo above shows a sod webworm feeding on a Gainesville lawn (which gives him the translucent green color)

This photo shows an even closer photo of the webworm in the Gainesville lawn with the remnants of his feeding surrounding him (the green pellets of chewed up grass) 

Have you noticed your lawn turning brown? or noticed moths fluttering through your lawn? Those are warning signs that the Tropical Sod Webworm is about to feast on your grass.

If you think your Gainesville lawn has pest concerns, please don't hesitate to call or text us at (352) 378-5296 or fill out our online request form.  We want to help in any way we can. Below is a video to help you know if you have webworms attacking your Gainesville lawn.

Other Recent Posts of Interest:

• YouTube: Are Sod Webworms in my lawn?
• YouTube: Are chinch bugs damaging my lawn?
• How to get rid of Fire Ants in your Gainesville Lawn

Moths are the parents of a Gainesville lawn pest known as the Tropical Sod Webworm. Do you know how caterpillars go into a cocoon and transform into butterflies? Sod webworms do the same thing, except they become moths. 

Webworms eat the tops of St. Augustine and Zoysia grass down to the tougher stolon, which causes a scalped look, typically in wet areas of the lawn. They also leave behind green pellets, which are the remnants of the lawn after the webworm has digested it.

Here are some quick notes about webworm damage in lawns:

• Moths are typically noticed fluttering in the early morning dew of the lawn when you walk through it.
• They are typically swarming when the heavy rains of summer/fall begin, which in Gainesville is anywhere between late June and October. 
• The webworms are translucent green, and about 1/2" long. They're easily located in the morning dew, but they stay in the thatch during the heat of the day. 
• They're very difficult to treat DIY because most hand or backpack sprayers don't have enough pressure to penetrate the thatch or cocoons.
• Commercial lawn pest technicians (like The Master's Lawn Care) can use more pressure and preventative products that aren't available at home improvement stores. 

If you need help controlling Gainesville lawn pests that are killing your yard, please give us a call or text (352) 378-5296.

Today's Quick Tip on Gainesville lawns is about Chinch bug damage, and how to decipher it from drought stress, webworm damage, fungus, or other common yard issues. There are three main things to look for:

1. Where is the damage? Typically, chinch bugs attack Gainesville yards close to concrete, asphalt, and in areas that are in full sun. 
2. What do the damaged areas look like? When chinch bugs attack lawns in Gainesville, they leave a clear trail. The dead grass looks dark brown (compared to a the typical greyish color of dead grass) and is typically very patchy. Also, weeds typically thrive because chinch bugs do not damage weeds - just the grass.
3. Is there a yellow ring? To be clear, there can also be a yellow ring around fungus, too. However, chinch bugs and fungus attack very different St. Augustine grass. Chinch bugs attck drought-stressed grass, so the yellowed turf would be in typically dry soil (which is why they love the full sun areasof your lawn). Fungus typically leaves yellowing grass in very wet areas of the lawn, from too much water (irrigation or rain) sitting on the lawn.

If you would like help protecting the health of your lawn, please call our office at (352) 378-LAWN. We would love to help.

When and where is this lawn pest the most prevalent?

Although native to South America, they are very prevalent in Gainesville lawns throughout the year. They typically become bothersome in spring and summer due to more lawn-related activities - but they are active year round.

How can I identify this as the problem in my lawn or landscape?

Fire ants are very different from crazy ants, in that they are typically reddish-colored, and swarm. Crazy ants can be seen running aimlessly in circles, which is where they derive the 'crazy ant' name.  

How do they occur and how can I prevent it?

Fire ants naturally arrive in most all Gainesville lawns. Prevention is only offerent by a licensed lawn pest prevention service, like The Master's Lawn Care. 

What can I do to resolve the issue?

If you prefer to D-I-Y, we recommend purchasing lawn insect control products at the local home improvement store and treating the mounds. Unfortunately, this usually means the mound just moves to another area of your yard rather than getting rid of them for good. We have a one-time treatment that lasts for a full year and guarantees your lawn to be fire ant-free. 

If this service, or any other seems to be a good fit for you, don't hesitate to fill out the form above or call our office at (352)378-5296.

When and where is this pest the most prevalent?

Aphids are prevalent on Crape Myrtles anytime they have leaves - which for our Gainesville lawns is from April through October. Typically, their remnants (the black sooty mold) is not seen until late summer, though. Aphids also attack other trees and shrubs in Gainesville yards as well.

How can I identify this as the problem in my lawn or landscape?

The quickest way to know if your Crape Myrtles have aphids is to see a black fungus looking substance covering the leaves. This substance is the excretion from the aphids, which dirt in the air sticks to and becomes black. It really isn’t a mold at all - it’s just a lawn insect infestation (Aphid, white fly, or scale) leaving their mark in your yard.

You may also notice a lot of ants and wasps around your crape myrtle, as these will feed on the aphids if the infestation is large enough to attract them.

How does it occur and how can I prevent it?

Aphids are like most other insects in that they go after unhealthy trees. Whether they’re drought stressed, rootbound, or in too much shade - Aphid infestations regularly are a symptom of a larger problem.

What can I do to resolve the issue?

The only natural way to rid your Crape Myrtles of aphids is to release ladybugs around the affected crapes. These ladybugs are what’s known as a ‘beneficial insect,’ because they protect the plant by feeding on the aphids that are damaging it.  Here’s a photo of them feeding:

The other way to resolve them is treating with a mixture of dish soap and water every couple days for several weeks. This is a slow process, but it’s faster than the ladybugs.

The third option is allowing our lawn insect control professionals spray the lawn. If you need lawn and ornamental pest control, please call our office at (352) 378-5296.

Turf diseases are not usually as common a threat to a Gainesville lawns as Turf pests and weeds, but they are still a concern in certain seasons. Occasionally an outbreak will occur after an extended period of heat and humidity but for the most part, a lawn will remain relatively disease free as long as it is irrigated properly.

However, if there is a dead or dying spot on your lawn, it is beneficial to know if it might be a disease or simply your neighbor taking the dog to its favorite spot in your Gainesville yard. Identifying a lawn disease will also give you clues as to what is causing its presence and if there is anything you can do about it.

5 Common Lawn Diseases

There are numerous diseases that can creep up into your lawn if the proper conditions are present. Five of the popular turf fingii include:

• Large Patch Fungus - Previously termed as 'Brown patch fungus' appears as circular patches in the lawn that are brownish yellow in color and range from 6 inches to several feet in diameter. It effects most all Gainesville grass, but is especially harmful to St. Augustine grass and Zoysia grass. Brown patch is most likely to occur during extended periods of heat, humidity, and rain - which is common in our Gainesville, Florida summer and fall seasons. The most effective treatment is with targeted fungicides and withholding nitrogen (lawn fertilization) to keep it from spreading. 
• Grey Leaf Spot -  Grey leaf spot looks like brown patch fungus at first, but it attacks the tops of the leaf, leaving tiny olive-to-brown oblong spots, which may have velvet growths in their centers. As the disease progresses, the oblong spots become oval or an irregular shape.Grey leaf reduces the ability of the grass to thrive, making it sparse and spindly. It most often occurs from early spring to early fall when the humidity is high and rainfall is heavy (or you’ve over-watered). The moist Gainesville climate allows spores to produce with abundance.
• Dollar Spot Fungus - Dollar spot appears in a pattern of brown circular patches about the size of a silver dollar. A spot by itself doesn’t look too horrible, but don’t let it fool you. Those small patches become very large areas, and dollar spot is merciless. It kills the grass right down to the roots causing a need for new plugs or sod installation.

You can also identify dollar spot by the lesions (infection marks) on the leaves of the grass. They begin as light tan with a reddish-brown border and turn white to straw-colored as the lesions grow into one large leaf blemish. Another clue is when you see mycelium (cobwebs on lawn) early in the dewy morning. Dollar spot starts growing when the humidity is high and temperatures reach higher than 70 degrees.

• Fairy Ring Fungus - In Gainesville yards (and all over Florida for that matter), fairy rings appear annually in the same spot. You’ll see 3-foot to 20-foot rings of dark green or dead grass, most often in hot weather and heavy rainfalls (noticing a tred between the different diseases). Major yard outbreaks will have mushrooms in a circle or semicircle, but not always.

Fairy ring spreads rapidly along the root system of the grass, depleting the nitrogen that is essential for the life of the grass. It also has a second line of attack. It produces mycelium (a web of fine white threads), which, as it dies, hardens and kills the grass by keeping water from reaching the roots. Fairy ring is kind of sneaky. By the time you see the signs, it’s been in your soil for two to three years. Then, you think you’ve taken care of the problem and it’s back several years later.

There are three types of fairy ring found on lawns, those with a darker green flush of growth, a zone of dying grass and mushrooms, those with only a darkened green ring and mushrooms, and those with only mushrooms. Fairy rings do not cause widespread damage and are very hard to get rid of so they are most often just left alone.

• Rust Fungus - Rust fungus is a yellowish-orange powder that turns your lawn to yellow, orange, red or brown rust-like color. In the beginning stages, leaves develop yellow flecks that get larger and become dark yellow. By then, the flecks are pustules that burst and release spores that are the powder you see. When the turf infection is severe, the leaves will turn rust-colored (hence the name) and growth slows down. As the lawn becomes sparse and individual leaves begin to die, it becomes very hard to mistake for other yard problems. However it presents itself, the primary danger is that your lawn is susceptible to more lethal lawn diseases.

Rust attacks grass that is in the shade and stays saturated with water from rain, dew, humidity or due to your watering it too often. Be on the lookout from early spring to fall when temperatures are between 60-85 degrees, particularly if your grass is growing more slowly than usual.

Your TMLC Gainesville lawn experts are trained to determine what is ailing your lawn and if a lawn fungus treatment is really what you need. We can provide valuable advice on how to treat Gainesville turf disease as well as give tips for proper mowing and watering. In addition, the ongoing support they offer can greatly reduce the likelihood of lawn damaging insects or diseases reappearing in your lawn and will fortify your lawn fungus control. Fill out the form above or call (352) 378-LAWN today for more information.

Other Topics of Interest:

• Gainesville Lawn Fertilizing
• Weed Control in my yard
• How to get my Gainesville yard Chinch Bug free

In the past few weeks, I've had multiple clients ask about how to control the number of ants in their lawn. The combination of a fairly dry winter and the extremely dry spring this year has created outstanding conditions for ants to expand their population and build more nests. This is the reason why you may feel like you're seeing more ant beds this year than normal. 

For most people, the bite of an ant is just a painful nuisance. For children, pets, and people with allergies- they can be far more dangerous. Many people believe that fire ants are the only threat, but that’s just not the case in North Florida. There are several types of biting and stinging ants in Florida, and all of them will attack anything that disturbs their nest - whether the disturbance was intentional or not. 

Removing ants from your Gainesville lawn is as much about safety as it is about aesthetics. While they can do all of the damage of less-dangerous ants, stinging ants have the added threat of physically harming people and pets.

Ants prefer lawns that are struggling and patchy, so you generally don't see significant ant issues in strong healthy lawns. However, ants don't eat grass and generally aren't lawn-damaging insects. That's why the first step in controlling them is:

1. Take Good Care of Your Lawn

Although your lawn may be too infiltrated and need a solution that offers quicker results, it's important to know that the first step to a lawn with fewer ants is simply good lawn maintenance practices. Mow the lawn on your mower's highest setting. Water the lawn to avoid drought stress. Fertilize and treat to prevent chinch bug damage (which also helps to prevent most ant species). These 3 things will keep the ants out of your lawn better than any other post-infestation treatment or bait on the market. (Side benefit, you'll have a great looking lawn, too!)

2. A Natural Home Remedy for Ant Control in your Lawn

Don't believe the hype about using grits to control lawn ants. Lyle Buss, in the insect identification lab of the Entomology and Nematology Department at UF, said the idea that grits can be fed to fire ants to kill them is not true.
“The rumor is that they eat the grits, which expand in their gut and make them explode. However, the workers don’t actually eat the grits because they aren’t able to eat solid food. They feed solid food to the ant larvae, which are able to digest it,” Buss said.
An IFAS publication, “Managing Fire Ants in Urban Areas,” states that a home remedy for treating ant mounds is to pour about three gallons of hot or near boiling water on the mound when a number of ants are on the surface, such as on a cool, sunny morning or right after heavy rainfall, which should eliminate about 60 percent of the mounds treated. This will need to be done several times for full control, though.

3. Local Garden Store Solutions

If you still aren't ready to call a professional Ant Pest Control Service after the home remedy, then you will need to visit your local home improvement store. Sometimes home remedies work great, and other times the lawn pest infestation is simply too large.  At most home improvement stores, you can pick up anything from full lawn insecticide treatments (broad species control from chinch bugs to ants) to specific lawn insect treatments (like fire ant bait).

The biggest key to your success is following the label thoroughly. Some require 2-3 applications over several weeks, some will require a lawn fertilizer spreader to get the proper rate of the product down, and some will need to be watered in after the application. Whatever the instructions, follow them precisely - because we don't want you to join the number of calls we get where the homeowner has over-treated their lawn furthering the damage, then requiring a new lawn installation.

Once the lawn ants are gone, practicing proper Gainesville lawn maintenance should keep your lawn healthy and stress-free. The secret to having a lawn you love really goes back to the basics of watering, fertilization, and mowing correctly. If there is any way we can help you get control of the ants in your landscape, please fill out the form above or call us at (352) 378-5296. We look forward to the opportunity to serve you.

When and where is this pest the most prevalent?

Chinch bugs are most prevalent from late spring to mid-fall and are typically found in St. Augustine lawns, although they are occasionally found in Zoysia yards as well. They love hot, dry soil and will almost always start damaging the grass near concrete. They like to start by a sidewalk or driveway and work their way out into your lawn.

How can I identify this as the problem in my lawn or landscape?

Chinch bugs can be tricky because they love to attack yards already weakened by drought stress, and their damage looks very similar to drought stress. Many people assume their lawn is just dry and just increase their irrigation settings when in reality they need a lawn insect control application to control the chinch bugs. 

This is especially important as we experience the worst drought in over a century, as confirmed by the Gainesville Sun. Drought stress and Chinch bug damage not only look similar, but they also compound each other because of how a chinch bug feasts on your lawn. 

Locating chinch bugs can be done by shoving a coffee can into the soil and filling it with water. If you see flea-like insects floating to the top, those are chinch bugs. They are ant-sized pests that range from red to black (depending upon age) and have a white stripe across their back. 

How does it occur and how can I prevent it?

Chinch bugs occur mostly due to cultural practices such as lack of irrigation or the grass being cut too short, however that isn’t the only case. Chinch can also terrorize a neighborhood by going from lawn to lawn, attacking any lawn that isn’t on a lawn pest program.

Lawn pest prevention comes down to a mixture of properly maintaining the lawn’s health with proper amounts of water and proper mowing height, and being protected with a preventive insecticide that repels all lawn-damaging insects.

What can I do to resolve the issue?

To control chinch bugs in Gainesville yourself, there are products you can buy a the local home improvement store. I highly recommend using the liquid products and buying a sprayer, though, as the granular products aren't nearly as effective. The granular lawn insect control products need the perfect amount of irrigation that won't dilute the product down beyond effectiveness, but also not under-irrigate where the granule doesn't dissolve.

If this is something you would like us to take care of, please call our office at (352) 378-5296 or email our office at info@themasterslawncare.com.