April slipped right past us and here we are in mid-May, knocking on summer's door. This is the time of year that we hear from a number of clients who are particularly concerned about their lawn. The typical call may sound a lot like this:

"I'm really worried about my lawn. It started to green up from winter and was looking nice right after you fertilized. Suddenly, it's getting worse. Is there a pest eating my lawn or does it need more fertilizer?"

After spending a few minutes on the phone with the client asking questions, we're typically able to identify one of the 3 primary spring issues.

The majority of problems in Gainesville lawns over the past couple weeks has come from 3 primary concerns:

Drought Stress - This is the most common issues, and luckily, drought stress in lawns is one of the easiest problems to identify. Take a look at areas of your lawn that get some shade throughout the day. Does this area look healthier than the areas that are in full sun all day long? If so, you most likely have irrigation issues to address.

Many clients will increase the length of time their irrigation is running, or perhaps add another day of irrigation. But the answer may not be as simple as that. I met with a client just last week that was certain her sprinkler system was running several times a week because she sees it running as she goes to work. She was correct, the system was actually set to run every other day, which is actually far too often. What the client didn't realize is that only half her system was functioning correctly. She had 1 zone not operating due to cut wires, 2 broken heads, and large shrubs blocking several of her sprinklers from covering her turf. Long story short - just because your sprinklers are running doesn't mean your lawn is getting enough water!

This is why we recommend seasonally inspecting your sprinkler system for proper coverage and operation. Here are a couple photos of shrubs blocking irrigation coverage, broken sprinkler heads, and a close up photo of drought stress (notice the folded leaf blades).

#2 - Winter Damage- This past winter got substantially colder than we're used to experiencing in North Florida (see the link).The cold weather also dragged on for a longer time than normal, giving us a slow start to spring. (We had lows in the 50's in the first week of May!)

January's hard frosts did a lot of damage to Gainesville lawns that didn't have deep roots - especially recently sodded lawns. Many of these lawns are starting to come back, but it will take some time for them to recover from the stress. Most lawns that have been established and fertilized for a couple years didn't experience frost damage due to their roots being deep down in the insulated soil. This is another reason our fertilization program focuses heavily on soil nutrition and root development in the fall - to prepare for frosts. 

#3 - Chinch Bugs (which originate from drought stress)- 

In actuality, we haven't seen many chinch bugs this spring in comparison to prior years because of the lingering cold weather. Chinch bugs rely on two factors to thrive - heat and drought. Because the heat has just really kicked off in the past couple weeks, they have gotten a slow start but will be beginning to spread quickly over this dry and warm weather we are experiencing. Keep a lookout for signs of chinch bugs dry areas near concrete and asphalt.  (see link for YouTube video on identifying chinch bugs). Below is a photo of where chinch bug damage typically begins.

If we can help you with your Gainesville, Florida lawn's sprinkler system coverage, recovering from winter, or protecting your lawn from chinch bugs - please don't hesitate to call us at (352) 378-5296 or fill out the form at the top of the page. 

Broadleaf weeds in North Florida lawns are not only a nuisance, but they actually make it more difficult for your grass recovering from winter frost damage to fill back in and recover. Weed control applications with pre-emergent and post-emergent products are a must for North Florida lawns looking to recover from a tough winter. Proper identification of weeds is a must for targeted control with so many different herbicides on the market. 

It’s a never-ending battle. No matter how hard you try, weeds want to take over your treasured lawn. Using the University of Florida's IFAS website to help you identify types of broadleaf weed and which products control it best is a suitbale method, and if you prefer the DIY method, here are some more tips to hel you in your battle against Gainesville lawn weeds.

3 Tips to Broaleaf Weed Control in Gainesville Lawns

1. Promote a healthy root system - Healthy plants with strong roots naturally fight weeds by absorbing the water and nutrients your plants need to flourish and starving the weeds of those nutrients. Potassium lawn applications in the fall help your turf's root strengthen throughout the winter. 
2. Prevent winter weed growth - The cooler months are an ideal time for winter weed growth because your lawn goes into a dormant state. You can prevent this winter weed growth by applying pre-emergent treatments in the fall, before the cooler temperatures arrive.
3. Ensure proper lawn watering - Improper use of your irrigation system can cause a variety of issues, including broadleaf-weed growth. Plants like dollarweed thrive in over-watered lawns.

Your landscape creates a powerful first impression. At The Master's Lawn Care, our customized Gainesville lawn health program is much more than just lawn spraying. It targets common lawn problems that negatively impact the health and appearance of your turf. If you're tired of fighting the battle for weed control in Gainesville lawns, call our office for a free lawn evaluation today at (352) 378-5296. 

Read our online guide to learn more about spring pest prevention, and contact our lawn pest control company for professional yard pest treatment in Gainesville, Florida.

Spring is the season of life. Flowers are blooming, the grass is growing — and pests of all kinds are coming out of the woodwork to pilfer for your yard. Thankfully, our pest control professionals at Master's Lawn are here to help. In this short guide, we've put together a list of tips to help you deal with pests during the spring season. Read on to learn more, and contact our team for effective pest control and prevention in Gainesville, Florida lawns!

Look After Your Lawn

A favorite place that pests love to burrow and feed during the springtime is the lawn. Soil and turf roots both contain a surplus of nutrients and minerals that insects can eat throughout the spring and summer, and they also love to attack heat/drought stressed lawns that are commonly found in our warm season. Most notable among these lawn-eating insect invaders are chinch bugs. Chinch bugs are ant-sized insects the feast underneath your turf. When left untreated, chicnh bugs will pierce and suck the nutrients from your lawn in days causing patchy dead areas, leaving your lawn weak and thin. At The Master's, we provide comprehensive lawn pest treatments and preventative services to prevent this from happening. For existing infestations, our technicians apply the highly-effective chemical agent Arena to stop the infestation and make sure they don't come back. 

Protect Your Perimeter

Even if you've managed to eliminate all pests from your yard, there's nothing to stop them from entering your property from outside areas — unless you secure your perimeter, that is. For truly comprehensive pest control and continued protection, we recommend making sure all your home's entry points for pests are sealed tightly and then spraying the perimeter of your property with insecticides to dissuade outside pests from making their way into yard — or worse, your home.

Take Care of Your Shrubs

During the springtime, pests like to make their homes in every area of the yard. This includes shrubs and trees. There are several insect species that burrow and feed on larger plants, weakening them structurally and making them more susceptible to diseases. This is especially true in Florida, where insects such as Magnolia Scale, Crape Myrlte Aphids, and White Flies are common. Whether you are dealing with a current insect infestation in your landscape or trying to prevent one from starting in the first place, it's best to hire a professional to take care of these insidious invaders.

When in Doubt, Call a Professional

Dealing with pests is often easier said than done. While you may find some success taking a DIY route, you’ll more than likely end up with incomplete pest control and recurring infestations. For best results, we recommend partnering with a professional team like ours here at The Master's Lawn Care With decades of experience and the industry’s leading products and technology, we are equipped to handle outdoor pest infestations of all kinds in the Gainesville Florida area. For comprehensive pest control and prevention during the springtime, there is no better choice.

Wake your yard up from its winter slumber with the help of TMLC's Gainesville Fertilizer and Weed Control Program. Check out our blog post for more information about the purpose and the importance of yard care.

Long, Cold Winter

Over the long, cold winter while you were snuggled up in front of your crackling fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate, your yard was taking the brunt of what Mother Nature had to throw at it.

Your yard endured it's first eighteen-degree temperature in several years, and is probably showing the effects of it, too. Although your yard’s grass was dormant, it was mercilessly exposed to the elements — no matter how brutal they were. From the very first frost to the last sub-40 degree night (which happened in mid-April this year!) — patiently waiting for the heat and long days to return. This week seems to finally be that time, and lawns are started to rise out of their slumber.

Health and Recovery

After its exposure to the elements, spring is the time to help your yard recover from the trials and tribulations of the winter months. The spring application on our Gainesville, Florida lawn health program that TMLC offers is designed to kick your lawn into gear with some potent nitrogen for vigrous spreading and increased density, enhanced soil nutrients for stronger roots and better drought resistance, and lawn pest prevention to keep chinch bugs and other lawn-damaging insects out of the yard. 

The goal of any lawn care system of maintenance is a healthy yard, and for this we aim to create the healthy building blocks needed to establish a robust lawn.

Application Blend Determination

The purpose of our Early Spring application is to help your lawn recover from the damage it sustained over the winter. Our slow-released yard fertilizer mix is specially made for our North Florida lawns. 

Application Time

The timing of the early spring application is scheduled for March and April to really wake your lawn up from the dormancy of winter and kick the spring off right.

Nutrient Distribution

Our early spring lawn application includes potassium, nitrogen, iron, and other micro-nutrients to strengthen your lawn's density and vibrance for a strong growing season. 

Now’s the Time

Let 2018 be your year to establish the lush, verdant lawn that you have always wanted. Now is the time to consult the lawn experts at TMLC to plan out our lawn application approach — before the Early Spring Starter application needs to be laid down. Our applications are specially formulated to attend to the needs of your yard during various times of the growing season.

Contact us for a consultation and an estimate and get your yard ready for spring at (352) 378-5296!

Fire ants are the true definition of a Gainesville lawn pest, and there are roughly 5 million Americans stung by fire ants each year. Tragically, about a dozen of these individuals die from severe allergic reactions. Even small animals, including pets, are at risk from their stings.

Here are some interesting fire ant facts...

Fire Ants were accidentally brought into this country on a cargo boat from South America. Since arriving in Alabama, fire ants have spread aggressively, though they remain primarily in the South and Southeast because northern soil temperatures make it tough to survive the winters.

Fire ants live in colonies, which can contain over 200,000 ants.

Fire ant colonies are typically comprised of female worker ants and one queen, who is responsible for laying the eggs.

Workers create underground tunnels that can extend up to 200' to 300' feet away from the mound.

Mounds are built to maintain a precise temperature for the colony. Fire ants shift their eggs up and down based on temperature and moisture. The record for the largest fire ant mound? A Mr. Garcia won that dubious record in 1997 with a mound that measured 18" tall and 40" across (Yikes!)

If stung by fire ants, it usually seems everything is normal then suddenly there are dozens or more stinging all at once. That's not an accident. Fire ants quietly swarm but don't sting until they perceive a threat - usually you swatting at them. At that point one will release a pheromone telling the rest to sting all at once.

Fire ants are suspicious. An excellent way of controlling them is with baits, but if you disturb their bed by applying food directly on their mound, they frequently become suspicious and stop foraging.

Fire ants survive flooding waters by creating a pancake that will float in the water, surviving for weeks without losing ants and posing a hazard for rescue workers. You can see one in action by clicking here (interesting but creepy factor warning!) On bare ground they will build themselves into a tower of ants that will repel rain drops.

There is no doubt that fire ants are bad business. Since lawn spraying and pest control is part of what we do at The Master's Lawn Care, we've heard of numerous ways to control fire ants over the past decade. One of my favorites came from a University study that concluded, in an amazingly understated way, that digging up the nest was ineffective because it dispersed the ants. My first thought after reading that was, 'who was the poor undergrad who got picked to dig up the fire ant mound to see if that would get rid of them?!' I certainly wouldn’t volunteer for that study.

Now that you know more about fire ants, how do you control themif they're in of your lawn or landscape?

How do you control Gainesville Fire Ants in your Lawn?

If you want to DIY it, we recommend a combination of fast-acting products such as Bifenthrin (Ortho Fire Ant Killer is a brand name) and a long-lasting bait such as Amdro. This is a one-two punch, but you will be chasing them from March through October (warmer months) to keep them out of your yard. 

At The Master's, we use a product called Fipronil for our customers, which isn't available without a Florida Pest Control license. It is a great product and effective product because It creates a season-long barrier in the soil that fire ants can't survive in.

If you have a question or concerns about pests in your lawn or landscape give us call at 352-378-5296 or email our team at info@themasterslawncare.com. I love getting your questions and often turn the content into a Quick Tip to help educate all of our customers.

In North Florida, where drought stress in spring and summer creates problems in almost every Gainesville lawn, applying more water can't be the only solution. Especially with the Alachua county and city regulations prohibiting any watering outside of the 2 scheduled days per week to conserve our liquid resources. More and more homeowners are looking for solutions to keep enough water in the lawn to keep it healthy and green, while at the same time not wasting our natural resources.

With the added concern of drought stress making lawns more susceptible to chinch bug damage, it becomes a major concern of your lawn's health.

Moisture Manager is a blended application with formulated specifically to reduce watering needs on golf courses, landscape plantings, lawns, and are even used in agriculture.Moisture Manager is the cornerstone of a soil moisture management program whether you are maintaining existing turf and plants or ensuring the survival of new sod, seed, sprigs, bedding plants, shrubs, or trees.

By properly managing moisture levels in the soil you are helping to break the drought cycle in plants. In doing so, you and your plants benefit in a number of ways:

• Minimize Drought Stress
• Control or Eliminate Dry Spots
• Enhance Nutrient EfficiencyApplications
• Increase Transplant Survival
• Reduce Watering Expenses

If you're interested in adding Moisture Manager into your Gainesville, Florida Lawn Application Service, please contact our office by the contact form at the top, sending our team an email or phone at (352) 378-LAWN.

This is the first of a series of 3 blog posts about steps to a great lawn this spring. The first step is having your lawn aeration completed every spring season.

Lawn aeration is a fairly simple process. All you do is punch thousands of small holes in your turf. Whether you want to do it yourself or hire our Lawn technicians to do it for you boils down to the amount of time you want to invest and if you have the proper equipment to DIY it.

But make no mistake, you should be aerating your lawn annually. It is a vital part of your lawn's overall health, especially in Gainesville yards with our compacted soil from traffic and mowers and areas of clay soil that do not allow roots to penetrate without assistance. The longer you go without aerating your lawn the more the soil compacts. The reason this is a problem is that it makes it hard for your lawn to take in three critical items: Water, oxygen, and fertilizer.

If you have traffic on any areas of your lawn, whether it be mowers, people, or pets - the problem only increases. That's why golf courses aerate their greens and fairways several times a year.

As a homeowner, you don’t need to go that far, but it is a wise investment to aerate your lawn every spring. The end result will be a much healthier and more beautiful lawn when you combine aeration with your ongoing lawn fertilization program.

The Master's Lawn Care would love to handle your annual lawn aeration this year and I'll take $20 off the cost if you schedule your lawn aeration visit by the end of this week, Friday, March 9th. If you'd like more info or the cost for your lawn give us a call at 352-378-5296 or info@themasterslawncare.com.

Late February into early March is not the best your Gainesville yard will look this year. Lawns are semi-dormant now and certainly aren't at their best, yet. However, it is the best opportunity to pro-actively prepare for spring. 3 things you should look at doing for your lawn in March are:

1. Starting a pre-emergent weed control program to keep weeds from re-seeding
2. Lawn Aeration  to help water and fertilizers reach the turf's roots faster
3. Irrigation check-up to keep dry spots from happening in the upcoming dry season

The fact that lawns don't look their best is especially true this year, since the severe cold in January forced St. Augustine and Zoysia yards into total dormancy. (It often stays partially green through the cold season in North Florida.) Still, it's well-worth looking over the lawn now and considering a plan that will help it to bounce back and be healthy this summer.

If your lawn has been declining in vigor recently, it's time to determine the cause and consider how to put things right this spring. There are several common causes of lawn problems - including weeds, drought stress, insects, fungus, traffic wear, poor soil conditions, poor drainage, and too much shade. The lawn damage you see now is generally old damage that happened during the prior growing season rather than an active problem occurring now.

1. Pre-Emergent Weed Control

A lot of people are currently concerned about the growth of cool-season weeds, which may appear to be taking over your yard now. The winter weeds that most people have been calling about this year are very aggressive broadleaf weeds, and regularly have little yellow or white flowers. The bad news is that means they're re-seeding. The good news is they're easily controlled with a long-term lawn health application program that includes pre-emergent weed control application. We offer this service, so feel free to contact us if we can be of service.

2. Lawn Aeration

Over time, your lawn becomes stressed by compacted soil from foot/mower traffic, poor drainage, and increased thatch build-up. Aeration mechanically removes small plugs of soil and thatch from your entire lawn, helping your lawn breathe and creating ideal conditions to increase nutrient flow to it's roots for healthier, thicker, and greener grass growth. You can rent an aerator from a local tool company, or you can hire it to be professionally done. Just watch out for your sprinkler heads!

3. Irrigation Start-up

Almost every spring season in North Florida means two things for certain - abundant Azalea blooms and an upcoming dry spell. Historically, Gainesville's driest season is late March to early June. If your sprinkler system isn't properly adjusted and set to run with the right timing, your lawn will struggle with drought stress, which create many other problems such as susceptibility to chinch bugs and weed pressure.

By doing these 3 things, you will be setting your lawn up for a great spring. If we can help you with a weed control lawn application, aeration service, or a spring irrigation check-up, contact our office by call/text at 352-378-5296 or fill out the contact form at the top of the page. Below are some other early spring topics we usually get questions about.

Spring Fertilization

It's too early to fertilize your lawn with heavy nitrogen now. Research has shown that turf grass does better if you wait until it greens up before you start the fertilization program. So, wait at least until mid-March to make the first application of nitrogen. This includes weed and feed products that contain herbicides to kill weeds along with the fertilizer. Do not apply weed and feed products, yet.

If you have a weed problem that you need to deal with now, use a lawn weed control without fertilizer. Atrazine and Celsius have been shown to be the best post-emergent herbicide treatments for most current weeds.

Other products that contain several active ingredients (2,4-D, mecoprop, dicamba and carfentrazone) target a wide variety of weeds and may be used on various types of lawn grasses. Research indicates that these products are more effective when more than one application is made. So, plan on making two applications following label directions carefully. Be very specific to make sure these products are made for your type of turfgrass though, as we get about 25 calls per year from people who have burned their lawn using the incorrect product or mix-rate.

Brown Patch Fungus

Insects and diseases can do massive damage to a lawn quickly. One of the more common diseases is brown patch, which strikes during mild weather and occurs primarily on St. Augustine in late March or April. If you see rapidly enlarging areas of brown grass in areas that green up normally, it's likely brown patch. (Do not confuse this with old damage from last year.) Brown patch disease is caused by a fungus that thrives in cool, moist weather.

This disease can kill the grass, but it is more common for it to just attack the leaf blades and leave the runners alive. So, the grass generally recovers. Active brown patch can be treated when it occurs with a fungicide, but is most often related to cultural practices such as over-watering with an irrigation system, too much shade, or lack of aeration (to break up the compaction of the soil).

Chinch bugs

Chinch bugs are not extremely active now, but could have damaged your lawn last summer, and if they weren't treated, will come back as soon as it warms up for good. They're primarily a problem April through October in areas close to your driveway, curb, or sidewalk (concrete/asphalt). If areas of your lawn died during that time, chinch bugs are a possible cause. Evaluate your lawn in mid March to see if areas that died last summer green up. Unfortunately, these insects often kill the grass completely and sod plugs or new sod installation may be neccessary.

Wear and tear

Lawns that have been damaged by wear and tear from dogs, children, or walking traffic can be helped with extra care. In early spring, aerate your lawn to loosen the compacted soil in the bare areas; fertilize the lawn, including the damaged areas; and water the lawn in that area during dry weather to encourage growth.

Keep traffic to a minimum until the turf has recovered. If the area is large, you may want to lay new sod for faster coverage after loosening the soil. Remember, if the wear and tear continues as before, the grass will disappear again.

All lawns look tired after several years of Florida's brutal summer heat under minimal lawn care. By minimal, I mean doing nothing more than the basics - mowing, fertilizing, pest control, and irrigating.

The problem lies below the surface. Minimal care slowly depletes the soil's nutrients and their fertility. Healthy soil is airy, rich with nutrients, and full of microbial activity. Good soil combines sand, silt, clay, organic matter and a host of beneficial insects to form a growing medium that supports vigorous plant roots. Rich soil holds nutrients and water longer, and makes them available to plants. It also allows excess water to drain off. Healthy soil also holds vital air pockets, providing essential oxygen to roots. It is home to millions of microbes, insect larvae, earth worms and other organisms that break down organic matter, aerate, and improve soil structure.

All of these benefits of healthy soil are started by annual aeration of your lawn in the spring. Creating the holes in the soil is the first step in getting a nutrient-rich soil that increases your lawn's health expenentially. The punctured holes from the aeration service allow your lawn's roots to breathe, thatch (grass clippings and other organic material) to enter the soil and breakdown, and increase the ability of spring's fertilizer to go straight int your soil.

Beyond basic care, there's another reason our soil desperately needs Gainesville Lawn Aeration every spring . As we tramp over lawns to mow, walk, and play and our pets do the same - the soil gets more compacted. This eliminates air pockets and the oxygen grass roots need. Compaction also eliminates water pockets, reducing the soil’s water retention which forces you to use your sprinklersystem more often. The results are predictable: grass browning, thinning, or being choked out by weeds, and lawns littered with bare spots.

A little work each spring can repair the lawn. First, start with the spring aeration. Second, slow down the natural process of soil compaction by avoiding walking on the grass in the same area or pattern and mowing with the same pattern. Lastly, add milorganiite and lime to your lawn health program to increase the soil's fertility and nutrients. This will help you restore your lawn this spring to the Gainesville yard you've dreamed of.

If we can be help in providing Gainesville yard aeration service or soil ammendments, contact our office by call or text at 352-378-5296 or fill out the contact form above for a free lawn analysis. 

It's not a question of if you need a preemergent weed control in Gainesville, Florida ; for homeowners in North Florida, it’s simply a matter of when. After all, it’s hard to be proud of a lawn that is full of weeds, such as crabgrass, torpedograss, Poa, ground ivy, or dollarweed.

Ideally, you would stop difficult weeds before they even appear, but preemergent weed control is merely one part of a quality lawn weed control program. Your local lawn application specialists know that it takes a mix of proper fertization, watering, and weed control practices in order to help guarantee a weed-free lawn.

Dealing with difficult-to-control weeds

Weeds that we consider difficult to control tend to need ongoing visits or tailored strategies for successful lawn weed control. These sorts of weeds can be either annual or perennial, and cause problems for different reasons. However, a quality pre-emergent weed control program helps eradicate these weed before they get a stranglehold of your lawn.

When to apply preemergent weed control

Preemergent weed control uses products that are designed to work before the seeds germinate in early spring. For difficult annual weeds, multiple applications may be required—first at the start of the spring and then at carefully timed intervals as secondary flushes of germination come on as the seasons progress. Our program includes 3 seperate pre-emergent application intervals for most clients, unless their tailored program for their lawn's needs vary. That is the general rule for our Gainesville lawn health program.

Preemergents can be used effectively as precursors to other weed control strategies that take over once germination is complete. A tailored solution can be used to target existing weeds through area or zone treatment with low volume spray equipment. This can control difficult weeds successfully when applied in the right mixture at the right intervals, usually before the weed in question has produced flowers or seed heads.

A tailored approach to lawn weed control

Masters offers a range of services to meet your lawn’s individual needs. The Traditional Lawn Plan, for instance, includes preemergent weed control that targets a variety of annual and broadleaf weeds in a manner that is safe for both families and pets. It also provides essential nutrients your lawn needs to grow thick and lush, leaving little room for competing weeds to grow.

Trust a Master's licensed and certified lawn specialist to determine everything about your lawn, including which types of weeds pose a threat to your turfgrass. When you sign up for a Lawn treatment plan, your specialist will conduct a Lawn Analysis partnering with UF for the soil test and further tailor a plan that addresses your lawn’s specific needs—including fertilization, preemergent, targeted weed control and other services. Your specialist’s work doesn’t stop there; for as long as your plan is in place, they will return to your property as many times as needed to ensure your satisfaction. That is what The Master's Lawn Care is all about—ensuring you have a lawn you’ll love coming home to.

To learn more about Gainesville lawn weed control or the other services The Master's offers, fill out the form above or call (352) 378-LAWN.