The next 12-18 weeks will determine how your lawn does in 2019, so we hope these tips are helpful to you in making sure you have a lawn you love in 2019. During the winter months in Gainesville, Florida lawns, the grass is semi-dormant – growing but at a slower pace and almost barely growing at all. The soil microbes are still busy though, doing what soil microbes do – enzymatic digestion of organic matter – aka composting.

So don’t be fooled into thinking the soil and turf grass doesn’t need food and water in the winter – the turf and the soil microbes are living, sending out roots, and need nutrients to stay healthy. Without an active and healthy turf and soil microbe population in winter, the St Augustine or Zoysia turf grass lawn will lag in the spring, losing valuable time during the prime growing season.

5 THINGS TO DO IN THE WINTER FOR ST AUGUSTINE LAWNS

Water Your Lawn with proper irrigation (1x week is recommended)
Feed Your Lawn (nutrients such as Potassium and organic supplements like Sea Kelp and Humic/Fulvic soil stimulants)
Mow Infrequently but as High as the Mower will Go
Weed Control
Be Patient, Spring is coming!

Master these five activities during the winter and you’ll be rewarded with a healthy Gainesville lawn this spring and well into the summer months.

1. WATER YOUR LAWN

One persistent myth is that St Augustine needs less water in the winter. This is false. Although the St Augustine turf is semi-dormant, it is still living and growing and needs food and water to do so. The soil is teeming with soil microbes that need a moist soil to compost organic matter into plant food. Let the lawn dry out and you kill the soil microbes, starve the turf and turn your lawn into a weed patch. You can irrigate less due to having lower amounts of evaporation with cooler weather - but don't turn your Gainesville sprinklers off by any means!

So remember, the #1 determining factor for the health of your Gainesville turf and soil microbes is water – and about 90% of the water your lawn requires will come from irrigation. Therefore, the irrigation system must run, cover the entire lawn and put out enough water to “fill” the soil. If it doesn’t – then fix and repair until it does.

How Much Water?

Your lawn needs just as much water in winter as the rest of the year. The amount of water needed is not determined by temperature but by our soils. Our soils need the same amount of water whether it is hot or cold. On average our sandy soils in Pinellas County will require watering 3 times per week – even in the winter. Learn more here: How to Set Up Your Irrigation System to Keep a St Augustine Lawn Alive with 2x Week Watering Restrictions

2. FERTILIZE YOUR LAWN

The main goal of feeding a lawn is not feeding the turf, it is for feeding the soil microbes so that they can compost. Nitrogen, potassium, sulphur and iron are not readily available in our sandy soils and need to be replenished on a regular basis. – even in the winter.

My winter feeding program focuses on potassium and micronutrients - especially sulfur and iron – but I don’t neglect the nitrogen. I limit nitrogen to 0.5 pounds per 1000 square feet of lawn during the winter. One good granular application of a 16 -0-8 with a good micronutrient package is sufficient until spring.

3. MOW INFREQUENTLY BUT AS HIGH AS THE MOWER WILL GO

Winter is not the time to mow low – mowing low does more harm than good in the winter. When you mow low it opens up the canopy, exposing the soil and tender roots and stems to drying sun and winter winds. A dry soil and sun parched stems and roots does not make for a healthy lawn. These winter months are a perfect time to skip a few mowings, allowing the canopy to become even higher and reduce wear and tear.

4. WEED CONTROL IS EFFECTIVE AND SAFER

Winter is the best time for weed control. Focus on the persistent perennial weeds like Dollar Weed, sedges, and Day Flower. There are other annual weeds that pop up - but they will melt away with the rising temperatures - so focus on the perennials. I suggest Manor and Basagram as good herbicides to use on a St Augustine lawn in the winter months for control of dollar weed, sedges and day flower.

Be careful with the Weed-N-Feed formulations, as they may have high nitrogen content which could cause a lawn to fail in cold temperatures.

5. BE PATIENT

This semi-dormant period is natural and very important for the health of the turf – let it do its thing. Pushing the Zoysia or St Augustine turf grass out of semi-dormancy with excess nitrogen will create a false signal to the turf that spring has sprung and cause havoc with your lawn. I have heard from many homeowners so anxious for a green lawn they over stimulated their winter lawn with nitrogen, say "My lawn was so pretty - it was the greenest lawn all winter and now it is dead." Don't be tempted to make the lawn green with a parlor trick of high nitrogen fertilizer. Be wise, be patient, and let the grass progress from semi-dormant to spring in the right way for a great lawn in 2019.

QUICK NOTE ABOUT LAWN SPRAYING

The Master's Gainesville Lawn Spraying combines year round feeding of your lawn with insect and weed control so you don’t have to experiment with different brands and formulations. We know what to do and when to do it – that is what makes lawn spraying such a good service at a good price. If you are overwhelmed by the massive amount of choices for fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides, you may want to consider hiring a professional Gainesville lawn pest service. Call us at (352) 378-5296 if we can be of service. 

Many of our clients recognize a black moldy soot covering their hollies in their landscape and wonder what it is. The 'black sooty mold' isn't a fungus, although it is a symptom of a Gainesville lawn pest. It is the secretion from a pest known as scale that releases a sticky substance that dirt sticks to, causing the black fungus-like appearance. The scale pest can be treated with a contact or systemic insecticide as well as organic treatments.

To reduce insecticide use, our team will use horticultural oils in the cooler months to control this common landscape pest. In the warmer months, the best method is systemic insecticides that are soaked into the plant and kill the scale as they Feast on it's nutrients.

If you come across a Gainesville lawn pest or Gainesville, Florida landscape pest, please don't hesitate to let us know if we can help. Contact our office at (352) 378-5296 and one of our technicians would be glad to assist you. We are a locally owned and operated lawn pest control service proudly located in Gainesville, Florida.

The Angie's List award reflects The Master's consistently high level of customer service and professionalism in the lawn care industry. They have earned the home service industry’s coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award for the 5th year in a row for 2018. This award honors service professionals who have maintained exceptional service ratings and reviews for the Gainesville, Florida Lawn and Landscape market.

“Service pros that receive our Angie’s List Super Service Award represent the best in our network, who are consistently making great customer service their mission,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “These pros have provided exceptional service to our members and absolutely deserve recognition for the exemplary customer service they exhibited.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award 2018 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include maintaining an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade, and review period grade. The SSA winners must be in good standing with Angie’s List and undergo additional screening for proper licensing, insurance, and background checks.

"We are blessed to have a team that is committed to exceeding our client's expectations and profesionalism in our industry," said Rusty when asked about the award. "It's one thing to see your job as to do just lawn spraying, or yard mowing, or planting - but it takes it to another level when you have team members see everyhting they do as a way to serve our clients better- and that's what our team does every day."

Rusty Thompson founded The Master's Lawn Care in 2004 after a negative experience with a couple companies as the president of a homeowner's association, and knew that there was a need in the market for a customer-focused company. The Master's Lawn Care has been listed on Angie’s List for over 8 years, and this is the 5th year in a row to have been recognized with this award.

Service company ratings are updated continually on Angie’s List as new, verified consumer reviews are submitted. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in multiple fields ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality. For over two decades Angie’s List has been a trusted name for connecting consumers to top-rated service professionals. Angie’s List provides unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

Brown Patch or 'Large Patch' Fungus runs rampant in Gainesville grass, usually in the fall when temperatures tend to start dipping below 80°F and spring as they head back up into that mild range. Irrigation heads are putting out the water and watering times get pushed to their limit as homeowners each compete for bragging rights of the best lawn in the neighborhood. As we all learn, there’s a balance between being efficient and being effective especially when it comes to watering. As we all envy the plush green lawn.

Turfgrasses Affected
All warm-season grasses, especially St. Augustine & Zoysia.

Occurrence
Brown Patch Fungus usually occurs from November to May when temperatures tend to drop between 75-50°F. Infection is triggered by rainfall, excessive irrigation, or extended periods of high humidity resulting in the grass blades being continuously wet for 48 hours or more.

Signs & Symptoms
Brown Patch Fungus usually begins as small patches that turn yellow and then reddish-brown, brown, or straw-colored as the blades start to die, as you can see in the video on lawn fungus. Patches can expand to several feet in diameter. It is not uncommon to see rings of yellow/brown turf with apparently healthy turf in the center. Turf at the outer margin of a patch may appear dark and wilted. Brown Patch Fungus in Florida tends to get mixed in the Chinch Bug category so inspect the grass closely before attempting treatment.

Gainesville Lawn Fungus Treatment Recommendations
To rid your turf of Brown Patch Fungus, you can do it yourself or hire an expert. Before you try doing it yourself, read up on the chemicals and treatment procedures available to a residential consumer (University of Florida’s Guide) since most of the preferred chemicals might not be available at Home Depot or Lowes. Obviously, we strongly recommend hiring an expert that can guarantee results.

Please note that for the diseased turfgrass to recover, it must be actively growing. Symptoms will not disappear until new blades develop and the old blades are removed by mowing or natural decomposition. As this is a cool-weather disease, the turf may be nearly dormant at the time of infection and recovery is often very slow. Proper fungicide treatments simply help stop the disease from spreading; they DO NOT promote turfgrass growth while it is affected by current weather conditions.

Proper applications of fungicide consist of a minimum of two (2) applications, which is necessary for control of the disease. We usually schedule these applications roughly 2 weeks apart. These applications will prevent the spread of the fungus to other areas of the turf while new growth fills in the damaged areas, weather permitting. This will not prevent the disease from returning completely in later months, in some cases, additional treatments are required.

Bottom Line
Properly schedule irrigation run-times to promote health and growth in the cooler seasons, but keep in mind that irrigation is only a supplement to natural rainfall. If you’re experiencing cooler temps and the rain is still coming, dial down your run-times on your Gainesville irrigation system or turn it off altogether. If you find this cumbersome or time-consuming, consider hiring an all-inclusive Gainesville landscape company so you can forget about it - like our team at The Master's Lawn Care.

If we can be of help in any way to control your lawn disease, repair your sprinkler system, or help solve another problem - don't hesitate to cal or text us at (352) 378-5296.

Timing is critical when it comes to Gainesville lawn weed control. The mistake most homeowners make is to wait too late to treat winter weeds. If you plan to use a pre-emergent herbicide in your lawn to control weeds, you need to apply the product during October when nighttime temperatures drop to 55° to 60° for several consecutive nights. This is when their seeds need to be protected from germination. 

At Santa Fe College, where this video was taken, we did our first pre-emergent weed control application in October but these weeds popping up were tubulars leftover from the year before that had to be treated with a post-emergent weed killer.

Most winter weeds are annuals. Common winter annual weeds include annual bluegrass (Poa annua), chickweed, henbit, hop clover, lawn burweed, and wild geranium.

These and other winter annual weeds germinate from seeds during fall as the soil temperature cools and the day length shortens. The seedlings usually go unnoticed but continue to slowly grow through the colder winter months.  Approaching spring, as the day length becomes longer and the soil temperature warms, these previously inconspicuous weeds put on a growth spurt.

During February and March, the winter annual weeds become very noticeable in our Gainesville turfgrass. They quickly begin producing many flowers followed by thousands of tiny seeds. By late spring or early summer with the onset of higher air temperatures, the parent plants die. But they’ve left behind multitudes of seeds. These will last the hot summer months dormant in your lawn awaiting the cooler temperatures of autumn to begin the next generation. This is the cycle of life for these winter weeds.

Treating them with a combination of pre and post emergent lawn weed controls at the right time is key to your success. 

If you have a history of problems with winter weeds in your lawn, attempt control measures before the weeds go to seed. If you intend to use a preemergence herbicide, apply it during October, just before the winter weeds germinate. Then you'll only have to do clean up on a lot less tubular weeds that come back up.

If you need help with Gainesville lawn weed treatments and fertilizer programs, give our team a call or text at (352) 378-5296. We're local and have been serving Gainesville for over 15 years. We look forward to working with you!

Mowing your lawn properly is one of the easiest ways to fight off Gainesville lawn weeds and diseases. Cutting grass at its recommended height helps it get the sunlight and vital nutrients needed to be lush and healthy. Mowing too short ('scalping') can have some pretty serious negative effects; it can weaken and even kill your lawn. Additionally, cutting too short will limit the grass’s nutrient supply, giving weeds the opportunity to take over your Gainesville turf.

How Scalping Affects Grass

Grass is able to survive thanks to photosynthesis, which is the process of taking in sunlight and using it as energy. Cutting too much of the leaf blade limits the lawn’s ability to store this energy, restricting its nutrient supply and ultimately choking the grass. Not sure if you’re scalping your lawn? If your grass is so short that its stem is exposed, it’s too short. This stem is usually brown in color. Typically, most warm-season grasses should be at least 1 inch high and most cool-season grasses should be at least 2.5 inches high. You may also be scalping if you regularly cut the grass at your mower’s lowest setting.

Things That Make Scalping Worse

One of the worst contributing factors to scalping is mowing with a dull blade. The next time you mow, take a look at the grass afterwards. If it looks torn and frayed, your mower blade needs sharpening. You can buy a blade sharpener at most home and garden centers. Additionally, scalping the lawn in the heat of summer will seriously hinder the grass’s ability to recover. Since hot weather already stresses lawns, scalping will most definitely make matters worse.

Tips for Quality Mowing

It’s better for your lawn to be too long than too short, especailly with St. Augustine turf. Aim to keep your grass about three inches long throughout the growing season. It’s also helpful to leave grass clippings on your lawn instead of bagging them. Decomposed grass will return precious nutrients to the soil through a process called “grass-cycling.” This system works much better when mowing during the driest period of the day, as excess moisture could otherwise cause the clippings to clump up and block out sunlight from the lawn. Overlap your mowing path by two to three inches, as this will keep the lawn at a consistent height and ensure that it all gets cut.

Repairing the Lawn

If you realize you’ve been scalping the lawn, let your grass grow gradually back to its proper height, never removing more than 1/3 of the grass blade length at a time. Additionally, you’ll want to water deeply and infrequently. Proper irrigation will help the lawn recover properly. Check out our lawn watering tips for advice. If scalping has killed large areas of your lawn, The Master's Lawn Care can help you resod those bare and brown spots, or use our Gainesville fertilization programs to get things back on track. 

Now that we are officially into fall, I wanted to address crabgrass and other weeds you may be seeing in your Gainesville lawn. Having a great lawn next spring starts with how you treat your lawn this fall and winter.

The good news about fall is that summer weeds have gone away (or soon will go away with the next cold spell.) The bad news is these weeds have left their seeds in your lawn which means they will return next year unless you do something about them in the next 6-8 weeks.

That is why the Master's Lawn Fertilization & Weed Control Program includes fall and winter visits. These treatments are some of the most important visits we make all year because we apply preventatives that keep these weed seeds from turning into weeds next year.

On our fall visits we apply a pre-emergent that prevents winter weeds from coming up along with a post-emergent for any broad-leaf weeds that have already sprouted. In late winter, around February and March, we apply a different type of pre-emergent to prevent spring weeds, such as henbit or poa from growing.

All of this means when the lawn comes out of dormancy next April, it won't have to compete with a bunch of weeds and will fill in quickly.

I wish I could tell you this prevents all weeds, but unfortunately it does not. There are three types of weeds: annuals (those that come back from seeds each year), biennials (those that have a two-year life cycle), and perennials (those that come back from their roots every year).

Pre-emergents only work on seeds so they are only effective on the annual weeds.  The other two have to be controlled with foliar applications after they have emerged.

Preventing the annuals from growing is a great start though, and allows us to focus on just the other two types the rest of the year.

Another big factor in the success of our fall and winter weed control depends on watering. We apply our pre-emergent in big droplets which makes it fall to the ground instead of misting and blowing around. Once the drops hit the ground they stay on top of the soil. The pre-emergent only starts working when you water the lawn. The water spreads the droplets out evenly across the ground and pushes it down in the soil where the seeds are waiting to come out. Without proper irrigation, it sits on top of the soil and doesn't do any good.

If you have any questions or concerns about your lawn weeds or landscaping, give us a call at (352) 378-5296 or email us at info@themasterslawncare.com.

Written by Adam Dale of the University of Florida IFAS Department

Fall is upon us already, and with that comes the peak of lawn caterpillar pest season. By now, most Gainesville landscape pest control professionals know to expect increased caterpillar pressure in North Florida lawns at the end of summer and arrival of fall. This has certainly held true in 2018, and as we have seen over the past few years, the biggest caterpillar turf pests are causing problems earlier in the year. This year, caterpillar outbreaks began showing up in late June in many areas of Alachua County.

The two biggest caterpillar pests of Florida turfgrasses are the tropical sod webworm and fall armyworm. These insects damage lawns by consuming leaf material above the rhyzome and stolon of turfgrass plants. It is important to remember that these pests are only damaging as caterpillars – that is when they have chewing mouthparts to consume plant tissue. Once the caterpillars complete their development, they turn into moths, which fly around feeding on nectar and depositing eggs on the grass or plant material adjacent to your lawn to re-start the life cycle (and lawn pest damage).

I frequently hear stories of homeowners leaving for a week and coming home to a completely eaten lawn. This recently happened to me, when I returned from an 8-day work trip to a lawn where half of the turf was eaten down to the St. Augustine grass stolons. Since this can happen rather quickly, it is critical that you scout plant material on a regular basis so that you catch the infestation before it becomes damaging.

Quick tips for monitoring for lawn caterpillars

• Watch for moth activity flying within the lawn and along shadier lawn margins
• Inspect light-colored surfaces or ornamental plant leaves adjacent to lawns for fall armyworm egg masses
• Watch for signs of young caterpillar feeding (window feeding) or more mature caterpillar damage (leaf notching) as pictured
• Scout for tropical sod webworms early in the morning when the dew is still on the grass (it will get caught in sod webworm webbing) as pictured
• Look in the thatch layer for green balls of caterpillar excrement. Tropical sod webworms leave behind green poop as they feed and are typically nearby as pictured above.

In addition to looking for those key indicators of an impending caterpillar infestation, you can also utilize the plants in the landscape. Although many people try to keep crabgrass out of their lawns, the reality is most people have crabgrass in their lawns. So, be aware of its location and take advantage of those weeds. Tropical sod webworms tend to prefer feeding on crabgrass. Therefore, in many cases, the path of lawn devastation begins in the crabgrass. Scout your crabgrass, looking for caterpillars or signs and symptoms that they are there, like those mentioned above. One great way to predict a webworm lawn invasion is if you notice a lot of “window feeding” or chewing damage on the crabgrass leaves. Once detected, this can give you enough lead time to treat and prevent the movement into your turfgrass and the subsequent damage, if handled rapidly.

Management strategies

Young, recently born insects are easiest to control with insecticides and cause the least damage. Fortunately, there are several insecticides that can be used to control webworm pests in your Gainesville lawn, several of which are highly selective for caterpillar pests with minimal non-target risks to beneficial organisms and the environment. These products include active ingredients like chlorantraniliprole, spinosad, and Bacillus thuringiensis. Specifically, my lab and others at the University of Florida have evaluated several products for controlling tropical sod webworms in lawns. We have found that the active ingredient, chlorantraniliprole, can provide over six weeks of greater than 80% control of tropical sod webworm caterpillars.

Turf and ornamental pest management always comes back to one thing: cultural practices. How is that plant or plant community being managed? One cultural pest control strategy that many pest or plant management professionals strive for is to identify and plant pest-resistant species or cultivars. That way, pests are not nearly as big of a concern. Unfortunately, fall armyworms and tropical sod webworms do not discriminate when it comes to feeding on warm-season turfgrass species.

Recent research

Unfortunately, pest-resistant plants are rarely an option. To overcome this, my lab has been investigating alternative strategies for preventing insect pest outbreaks in residential lawns. Instead of relying on pest-resistant plants, we are trying to figure out ways to generate host plant resistance using the turfgrass species and cultivars that are already available to us.

So far, we have found that planting multiple St. Augustinegrass cultivars in a mixture may provide benefits like pest-resistant plants. More specifically, we have found that fall armyworm caterpillars preferentially feed on turf cultivars planted with others of the same cultivar and tend to avoid plantings of four cultivars mixed together. For example, when presented with a choice of feeding on a stand of ‘Floratam’ or a stand of ‘Floratam’ mixed with ‘Palmetto’, ‘Bitterblue’, and ‘Classic’, most of the time it will feed on the ‘Floratam’ planted alone.

We have also seen other benefits, like reduced caterpillar feeding damage in mixed cultivar plantings compared to single cultivar plantings. Fall armyworms also mature to smaller individuals when they grow up feeding on mixed planting. We are currently continuing this work in large field plantings to see how other factors associated with lawns play out. Stay tuned for more details.

Helpful resources:

• Fall armyworm identification, biology, and management: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in255
• Tropical sod webworm identification, biology, and management: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in968
• Managing turfgrass insect pests: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig001
• Helpful, Harmful, Harmless - Insects and Other Organisms of Florida Landscapes: http://ifasbooks.ifas.ufl.edu/p-153-helpful-harmful-harmless.aspx

For updates on turf and ornamental entomology research from the University of Florida Lab, follow them on Twitter (@adamGdale) or on the web at https://dalelab.org

The Master's Lawn Care works with UF-IFAS to promote Integrated Pest Management in Lawns within our team, soil tests for pH and nutrient levels to develops programs for client lawns, and for training at their Pest Managment University in Apopka. If you have concerns about your Gainesville lawn pest control and are looking for a team to help you care for it in an ecologically-conservative manner, we are the team to call. Contact us via the form at the top of the page or by calling our office at (352) 378-5296. 

October is always that in-between month that feels like one foot is still in summer while the other foot steps toward fall. It’s a great month to add new landscaping such as sod, trees, and shrubs and to start planning for your fall / winter annuals.

It’s finally officially fall, and there are several things you want to be aware of in this transitional season as the owner of a Gainesville landscape. 

Lawns
While we’re still getting some leftover summer afternoon rains, it is typical that we experience a little dry spell between now and winter. It can be a tricky time of year irrigation-wise. If you don't have a smart controller that knows to increase the settings to account for dry weather patterns, watch your turf closely. When you see grass blades folded in half and the overall turf color turning bluish-gray, run the sprinklers and add some extra time to the run-cycle for the next couple weeks to get us through to winter. It's also a season we commonly notice shortcomings in our irrigation systems (adjustments off or lacks of coverage) as the supplemental rains aren't there to cover up the incosistencies. 

Your turf will still be growing in October, but in general shouldn't grow as rapidly as August and September due to the shortening days and lowering soil temperatures. It’s an ideal time to add new turf or replace problem areas that may have struggled due to lawn pest activity, too much shade, weeds, or lack of water.

If you want your grass to be dense and thick, I highly recommend a good dose of lawn fertilizer to help promote root growth and dense growth. Iron will add some deep green color back into your lawn as well, if it's yellowing. Certainly, fall weed control in the lawn is important as dove weed, basketgrass, crabgrass, and Chamberbitter lawn weeds are fighting to take over Gainesville lawns. There is still some lawn pest activitity in October for Gainesville lawns as well, so watch for chewed and browning grass. 

Flowers
Most warm-season annuals are starting to struggle in North Florida with the shorter days and cooling soil temps. In fact, it’s the month to be thinking about transitioning to cool-season annuals and starting to get beds ready for them toward the end of the month. November and December will be the time to plant cool-season annuals. Popular annuals to plant for high-visibility beds and planters are pansies, violas, flowering kale, dianthus, snapdragons, and petunias.

Keep an eye on your perennials to make sure they’re getting enough water. Refresh mulch layers to a depth of 2-4 inches in the fall to insulate soil and weed pressure. Don’t allow mulch to closely surround the base of the plant as that can lead to root rot. Apply a final ornamental fertilizer treatment for the year.

Citrus
A number of citrus varieties will have ripe fruit that’s ready to harvest, including Satsuma, Ambersweet, navels, Hamlin, Fallglo, Robinson, and Osceola. Some fruit is ripe even though it’s green. Don’t wait for it to turn orange. Taste a sample fruit to determine if the crop is ripe and ready to eat.

Do not spray citrus trees for pest control. You shouldn’t have to because by October, pest activity has lessened. Save the spraying for later, after the harvest has been picked as you don't want the treatment to affect the edible fruit.

Trees & Shrubs
October is a good time of year to add new trees and shrubs to your landscaping. The heat, being less intense, won’t stress the plants as much as summer or spring droughts do. They will need to be watered, however, until they’re established. Water daily for a couple of months, then every other day for several months.

Established trees and shrubs should have been fertilized in September. If that feeding was missed, apply the fertilizer in October. A general florida landscape fertilizer (with no weed killer in it) is fine, cast over the ground from the trunk to just past the edge of the leaves. This will help promote root growth and health for a boutiful spring. 

If we can help you with any of your Fall Gainesville Lawn tasks, don't hesitate to give us a call. We offer Gainesville Lawn Fertilization Programs, Landscaping Installations, and Irrigation as well. Our phone number is (352) 378-5296 or feel free to contact us via the form at the top of the page. 

The shorter days and cooler nights of early September should mean that your lawn is starting to perk up and look better from the summer stress. It's an ideal time for lawns to recover from summer stress and to build a strong foundation and root system for a lush Gainesville lawn next year.

Proper Gainesville lawn fertilization is part of the lawn care regimen needed to help your lawn recover from stress this summer and prepare for winter and next spring. Fertilizing your lawn in September will help the grass fill in thin spots, grow a deep root system, and store energy (carbohydrates) to battle the low temperatures of winter and begin growing early next spring. In addition, fertilizing will provide a deep green color this fall and your lawn will green up early next spring. The Master's is currently fertilizing Gainesville lawns with an organic mixture of Sea Kelp and other soil nutrients to develop healthy roots, some nitrogen and iron to push a healthy green color, and some prevenative products to keep sod webworms and weeds out of the lawn.

By fertilizing in September, it is still warm enough for the grass to take up the fertilizer and utilize it to grow new grass and store energy internally to survive winter and re-grow next spring. Since the air temperatures in fall are starting to reduce, there should be only a modest amount of growth - especially with using the Master's recommendations above, because of it's slow-release mixture and make-up.

Water your lawn in fall if there are periods of dry weather, although Gainesville lawns rarely see dry Septembers due to tropical activity in the Carribbean. Also, keep mowing your lawn by removing no more than 1/3rd of the leaf blade for proper health. Mowing less often and more than 1/3 of the blade add stress to your turf and doesn't allow it to fill in properly. 

Take advantage of the cooling evenings that are coming to help your lawn recover from stress this summer and to get your lawn off to a great start and early green-up next spring!

If you're interested in Gainesville lawn fertilization program options, please don't hesitate to call our team at (352)378-5296 or fill out the form at the top of the page!