It has been a brutally dry year overall for grass. Two years of record wet summers followed by a record dry Spring in decades has been followed by unseasonably high temperatures and humidity. The few long rains we’ve had were welcome, but they didn’t make a big dent in our water debt, and the fast rain from thunderstorms just runs off. People are having a lot of trouble watering their lawns enough to keep them healthy. So lawns are getting sick right now, both from dehydration and a summer fungus called blight or summer patch. You can fix both problems yourself.

Drought injured grass

Blight damaged turf exacerbated by activity on lawn

Think about how rough you feel after working in this heat. After cutting your grass you are dying for a drink of water, and the humidity makes you feel sick. Your grass is out in that same heat and it can’t come inside to cool off.   The drought is bad enough, but the thick humidity and well-meaning attempts to fight the drought are also causing blight. Blight thrives between 24°C and 32°C, sending out spores to infect more grass when the temperature is above 21°C. Infected grass first turns light green, then reddish-brown, then tan, and finally straw-coloured. Many homeowners mistake blight for drought and frantically water the lawn in the heat of the day. But that just makes blight worse.

The key to telling blight from drought is location and context. Blight is most noticeable where it is normally moist and where there has been recent mechanical activity on a lawn which exacerbates the condition. You are more likely to find it in partly shaded and low-lying areas and the north side of lawns. Drought damage appears most on south-facing hills with little or no shade, and prone to dessication.

Both problems can be fixed by the same good cultural practices. First, make sure your lawnmower blade is good and sharp. The tearing caused by a dull mower blade make it easy for blight and other disease to infect grass, and makes grass lose more water from evaporation. Second, mow and water early in the morning. The lawn will be able to heal the cut tips before the sun gets too high in the sky, and any water the grass can’t absorb will evaporate gently, preventing both the dampness that fungus loves and the scalding that hits a wet lawn under full sun. Lawns need about two inches of water a week when it is this hot. Water deeply to train roots to grow deeper- consistently! It also helps to rake out any dead grass or clippings from mowing which may harbour blight spores, and let your grass grow a bit taller to three inches to shade the ground better.

Your lawn care professional can help too. An application of the proper nutrients and kelp can help your grass grow through the injury. LawnSavers also offers our kelp bio-stimulant. This all-natural product is loaded with micronutrients and natural phytochemicals that can really help grass recover from stress injury and disease. Contact us for a quote!

Mature Giant Hogweed Photo Courtesy of: Jean-Pol Grandmont

Giant hogweed, (Heracleum mantegazzianum), is an invasive new weed that is colonizing in some parts of Ontario, eastern Provinces and Western Canada. Locally, it has been found in Ottawa, Halton region, Waterloo, Markham and the Don River valley in Toronto according to a report in The Globe and Mail. Giant hogweed is very dangerous. Its sap contains furanocoumarins and is toxic on contact, causing inflammation. Worse, the sap is phototoxic, which means it gets stronger when exposed to sunlight. When this happens the sap can cause severe and disfiguring blistering.  If it gets in your eyes, it can cause temporary and even  permanent blindness. It is important to note that giant hogweed is currently only being found in wild and overgrown areas like ravines, roadsides, riverbanks, vacant lots and would likely only pose a problem for homeowners with an unmowed lawn.

Giant hogweed lives up to its name, a mature plant growing to over fifteen feet in height. You can identify it by the large, serrated elephant-ear shaped leaves and a hairy, purplish-red stem.  It is difficult to identify in it’s infancy and can be confused with several other weeds- do your homework. It also produces clusters of white flowers in an umbrella-like formation in June and July.  It reproduces by seed each year.

If you find a giant hogweed, leave it alone, and contact a licenced professional weed exterminator like LawnSavers to remove it. Teach children what it looks like by keeping them informed, to keep away from the plant if they see it, and to tell you or another adult.  If you get the sap on your body, immediately wash the area with soap and water and seek medical attention. Keep the exposed area out of the sun for several days.

If you have to remove the plant yourself, make sure you are completely covered in protective clothing, and wear impermeable gloves and eye wear. Put any seed heads in a separate and tied plastic bag and dispose of it in the garbage, not the green bin, so the seeds do not spread. Roots can be deep and should be cut 12 inches deep. If you are just finding juvenile shoots, mowing regularly will kill the shoots and eventually exhaust the supply of seeds in the soil. Just be extra careful and follow the noted safety procedures when disposing of the clippings.  Since it is considered a noxious weed in most municipalities, a licensed weed exterminator like LawnSavers can use a chemical pesticide to kill the plant properly when it is young, down to it’s roots. You can also contact your local or regional conservation authority for additional information.

Please be prudent & careful.  This plant is beginning to spread far too qucikly for our liking.  It’s time for the government to step up and take responsibility and create an action plan to eradicate this imported and invasive species rather than pandering to anti-pesticide sentiment among some well meaning but misinformed activists.

For more information and pictures see: Ontario Weeds

Call LawnSavers Plant Heath Care at 1-888-503-LAWN(5296) or email us through our contact page
For general questions call TeleHealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 or TTY 1-866-797-0007

Scales have a waxy & fuzzy looking protective cover

Magnolias are always recognized as the harbinger of spring.  Their flowers are grandiose and magnificent.  Magnolia scale threatens these trees and is one of the stranger insects you’ll see.  Becoming noticable at the end of June and all through July, it is normally only noticed once the tree is infested.  Scale covers itself in a whitish dome for protection, so it is often mistaken for a fungus or other growth- but is actually an insect. It looks a lot like the puffs on a pussy willow. Scale is a serious concern – if left unchecked it will weaken and eventually kill the tree. We have been seeing them more often in the last few years, and it only seems to be getting worse.

The scale insects drink the sap from the tree, robbing it of nutrients. Then, adding insult to injury, they excrete a waste product called honeydew. Honeydew is a clear, sugary, sticky fluid. It drops onto cars and patios making a gummy mess, and attracts lots of stinging bees and wasps to your yard.

A fungus called sooty mould also grows on the sticky honeydew, turning the tree’s leaves and branches black.

Prevention is the best defence.  If you have magnolias we can prevent this problem with an insect management spray when the nymphs emerge in September or October. If the weather co-operates, we also have a narrow window for prevention in Spring before the tree’s new buds open.

If your magnolias are infested right now, we can reduce the problem with a special injection each year. And as always, fortifying your tree’s health in the Fall with a deep root fertilization will strengthen the trees natural defences by replacing the stolen nutrients.

Price is based on size and number of trees, so contact us right away when you find scale on your magnolias. The sooner the problem is identified, the sooner we can act to protect your tree’s health.

You can also help protect your trees. Scale can be scraped off of lower parts of the tree with a soft, dull plastic knife. Higher in the tree, a strong spray of water can knock some of them off. Do NOT use a pressure washer, though. That will harm the tree’s soft bark.

Multiple scales begin to suck the life (literally) from a Magnolia.

Other common scale insects are “euonymus scale” which appear as tiny white flakes on the stesm and leaves of those shrubs.

L: Chinch Adult R: Chinch Nymph (baby)

Our technicians are finding adult chinch bugs emerging from thatch as well as their young,  commonly called ’nymphs’.  We started finding them earlier in June which is earlier than we normally see them appearing. The hot, dry weather is to blame.  Adult chinch bugs emerge, mate and lay eggs when the ‘bird’s foot trefoil’ weed is in flower.  The nymphs which cause the most damage hatch over several weeks.

Chinch bugs are arguably one of the most common insect pests on home lawns.  What the early appearance of adults means for this year’s chinch populations isn’t clear yet. It is the immature, reddish in colour,  chinch bug nymph that damages lawns, and an early start on adult activity may mean more young are born. On the other hand, if temperatures and rain return to seasonable levels, the red nymphs may suffer some degree of natural abatement.

Are you seeing fist-sized brown spots? Is most of the damage on the south-facing part of your lawn? Are the damaged spots growing together?

Chinch prefer hot, dry, south-facing slopes

Since we can’t predict how heavy chinch activity is going to be we count on you to be vigilant – watch your lawn for the signs and let us know when they appear, so that remedial steps can be taken.

Here is a photograph from last year of an infested lawn. This hill faces south, and you can see the characteristic damage of small patches that will eventually meld together. Chinch bugs suck the juices out of the grass blade and inject a venom toxic to the leaf blade, resulting in the death of the grass blade.  Roots are normally unharmed, but will quickly die if the lawn is not well watered.  Water heavily to help areas recover quickly!

they are very tiny and tend to scurry away fast

You can also look for the bugs themselves, but chinch bugs are tiny. Kyle’s thumb dwarfs them in this photo. The blue circle shows an adult, and the red circle shows a grass-damaging nymph, or immature chinch bug. They live right down at the base of the grass, and the only way to find them, really, is to get your nose right down into the grass. They scurry for cover quickly, so watch for movement.

Adults, adolescents and nymphs can all occur at the same time

The hot weather and frequent rain are creating ideal conditions for fungus to thrive. 

Rings and crescents of dead grass are a telltale sign

 The most serious issue we see in the heat of summer is necrotic ring spot. Caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria korrae, in its advanced stage the damage takes the form of rings or crescents of dead grass.  It’s main host is unfortunately the most common grass on home lawns, Kentucky bluegrass. 

 At early stages, the damage appears as scattered patches that coalesce and pull out easily. The roots and crowns have been killed, so nothing holds the grass in the soil anymore. The fungus spreads outwards in an arc form by spores and mycelia. New grass can grow back in the region the fungus has abandoned, resulting in the characteristic ring shape. Cool wet weather promotes its growth in spring and fall, but the dry hot summer reveals its symptomatic arcs and rings more blatantly. Unchecked over years, the rings of dead grass can grow to over a couple feet in diameter. 

 There is no cure for necrotic ring spot. There is no product registered for use in Ontario or North America for that matter which will kill the fungus or stop it from infecting grass. You CAN make your lawn resistant with good cultural practices.

 If you already have it: 

2) Make a plan for the lawn and garden you want to have. Irrigation is a big investment so if you are planning to do landscaping make sure you and your installer are planning your sprinklers for what will be growing, not just what is growing right now.

3) Find out what warranties are available. Your installer should warrant their work for at least 2 years if they are maintaining the system also, but the manufacturers of the piping, heads, valves and control boxes all offer generous warranties for their products – quality lasts.  An average budget for a typical suburban lawn and for a good quality system will cost about $3300.00-$3900.00 including all parts and labour.

4) Work with your installer to come up with a plan that meets your budget and needs. A lot of things influence what an irrigation installation will cost:

• The number of Zones – that is the number of regions which can be independently adjusted and turned on and off.
• The number of heads and rotors – the more you have the finer control over the shape of the irrigated area, but they can drive cost and complexity up quickly.
• The depth of the buried pipe – deeper pipe is safer from damage but costs more to install. A minimum depth of 8 inches or more is sensible.
• The installation of valve boxes – properly installed valve boxes will make the long-term future of your system less stressful by both protecting key valves and components, and making them easier to service. Spending a little more here for durability and security will save you and your installer a lot of headaches over the life of your system.
• The controller – irrigation technology is progessing rapidly and so are the lawns that govern water use and efficiency.  Make sure your controller allows you to conserve water, is expandable and can be upgraded with newer enhancements as the need arises.
• Planning ahead – being aware of sources of long-term wear and tear on a system and planning to minimize them in the initial design. Choosing a more durable stainless steel component over a plastic one in a hard-to-service area or placing a valve box slightly farther away to ensure run off is not going to collect in it and freeze over the winter. Moving things up a notch here and there at the beginning can save you a lot later.

The saying “pay now or pay later really” applies, our business thrives on systems installed for $1500.00- $2500.00 that need expensive upgrades and repairs to the system, let alone the costly problems created to the plants  whileinadequate and improper watering promotes turf insects and diseases, all caused by an inferior system…

Yellow-headed sawfly are attacking spruce trees right now. 

If something is eating the needles on your Spruce, you have Sawfly.

 These voracious eaters strip needles from spruce, and those needles will NEVER grow back. In three years, they can kill a tree. If your spruce is under attack DO NOT PRUNE the stripped branches. The bud at the tip is still alive, and will produce new needles next Spring which will disguise the damage. 

The adult sawfly - a tiny, non-stinging wasp

The adult stage of sawfly, Pikonema alaskensis, is a small, non-stinging wasp. It’s young, the larva, are what is eating your spruce.

Sawfly larva starting to devour a new needle

 They’re hard to detect at first, because they take on the colour of the needles they eat as camouflage. Look for them carefully though, as waiting until you see damage can result in this: 

A healthy tree can end up like this very quickly

If your spruce is infested, WE CAN KILL THEM, starting as low as $79.95 + tax. Give us a call right away! 

Your best defence is to be proactive. Watch for damage or larva throughout June. If you find only a few larva, and you only have a few trees, you may be able to take care of them yourself. 

You can just pull this pest off with your fingers

Look for the larva at the tips of the needles. They can be picked off with your fingers if there are only a couple. 

If you have many trees, a pressure-sprayer loaded with a mix of 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of plain liquid dish soap in 4 l (1 gallon) of water can be used to blast them off. 

The sawfly only has one breeding cycle a year, so get them quickly and have peace of mind!

The unseasonable heat and terribly dry Spring we have been having  are causing bentgrass and other annual weedy grasses in lawns to brown out much earlier than we normally see it. If you are seeing areas on your lawn yellowing or browning right now, there is a good chance it is Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera),  or one f its close cousins, Poa Annua (annual bluegrass) or Poa Trivialis (Rough Bluegrass).

Bentgrass, or annual bluegrasses,  can invade a lawn through use of a low-quality seed mix, or from a nearby golf course.  It is encouraged by too frequent shallow watering.  Golf courses use bentgrass because it doesn’t mind being mowed very short. It can spread quickly through a lawn during cool, wet weather, taking over areas where the rest of your grass isn’t doing well. But it is helpless against heat and drought. Once that hits, an invaded lawn will start to brown out in large, uneven patches.

Here are some tips on identification, and what to do about bentgrass in your lawn.

The damage in this lawn is easily identified. The dividing line between healthy and dead grass is sharp. You can also see that the blades of the brown grass are much thinner than those of the healthy grass. Bentgrass also roots shallowly, which just makes droughts worse as its root structure quickly dries out in the top level of the soil, while the more deeply rooted desirable grasses remain protected deeper in the soil profile. This patch pulled right out when Kyle tugged on it.

The only way to deal with bentgrass is to replace it with more desirable grass cultivars. If you have a dead patch now, there is nothing to do but rake it all out, loosen the soil, and reseed with a proper seed varietal. In the future though, you can avoid ugly brown patches like this by dealing with patches of bentgrass before they die. In the early Spring, when everything is going well, you can find bentgrass when it is healthy and green. Look for patches of lighter-coloured grass with the characteristic skinny blades. The shallow roots make it easy to pull out at this time, too.

Closeup

Finding a patch early in the year gives you time to spot-seed the area while giving the desirable  grass time to establish itself. Then by the time the heat strikes, you will have stronger grasses among the weak bentgrass. This method also avoids making the kind of large area of open earth that weeds consider an open invitation to take root.

I had an unexpected, but not unwelcome job to do this Tuesday. I had stepped out, as I usually do, to quickly patrol my lawn to see if any dandelions had come up, so I could pull the flowers to stop them from seeding. To my surprise, the grass blades were up over my ankles! With the rain we just had, added to my regular watering, my lawn was recovering from the recent heat and dry spell and was growing super-fast.

Vigorous growth is a sign the lawn is doing well, so I was glad to see it. But an overgrown lawn attracts insects, blocks water and nutrients, and makes it hard for lawn care professionals to see and treat weeds. Plus, cutting overly-lengthy grass risks hurting the grass.

That evening I raised the mower to cut at four inches, and gave my lawn a trim under the warm, orange evening light. Normally I mow to keep the grass at around 2.5 inches, but to cut it that short from the length it had reached would be like sucker punching it in the gut. I don’t want my lawn to be weak, vulnerable and growing poorly right now. I have a corner lot, and there are still dandelion seed-puffs in the air. I’d just be asking for trouble. Only the top third of a blade of grass is safe to cut. Take off more than that in one go, and the grass will go into shock. Some blades could even die.

I’ll cut it again in four days, and lower the mower a notch. I should have my grass back to an optimum height of 3 inches next week and will be mowing every 5-7 days like my normal routine again.

It has been a hot, dry Spring in the Greater Toronto Area, and even the most carefully watered lawns are feeling it.  That same bright sun we are getting can allow properly watered and fertilized lawns to grow strong and thick, with deep root systems. Stay on the ball with all of your care though, or like me you’ll have to play catch-up with your mowing.