June Lawn Care Tips

Summer is finally here! Say good-bye to those cold nights and hello to warm evenings on a nice, green lawn. With the warmer weather, you will need to water and mow your lawn properly to help prevent drought and new weed growth. These habits will be important throughout the rest of the summer to help keep your lawn looking the way you want.

If you still haven't adjusted your sprinkler system, you'll probably be seeing brown spots this month because of uneven coverage. No system is perfect and needs readjusting at least on an annual basis.

For the most part, a good deep watering (about 10 inches of moist soil), between one and two times a week will be sufficient for your lawn. However, it may be necessary (if your soil is dry) to water more frequently during an especially dry and/or hot spell.

How do I know if my soil is dry?

First, look for a smoky green that doesn't spring back quickly when stepped upon. You can confirm dryness by probing the soil with a screwdriver or a butter knife. If it is relatively hard to push in and moist soil doesn't stick to the probe, it's too dry.

Read more about drought

With hotter weather, it is helpful to mow at the second to the highest setting (2 1/2 to 3 inches long). To insure that you don't remove too much green, mow off only 1/3 of the blade at a time, since most of the green in your lawn is located in the top portion of the blade.

This helps to:

• conserve water
• strengthen the root system
• help crowd out potential weeds

In June, your lawn may bear a continually increasing number of annual weeds. The broad-leaf weeds can be sprayed with a selective herbicide. Any existing grassy weeds would need to be sprayed with a non-selective herbicide such as Roundup and the lawn replanted in that area.

In June you may start seeing crabgrass and other summer annuals in the cracks of your sidewalk or driveway. This is an indicator of the weeds that may soon infiltrate your lawn. You should have already received a first application of pre-emergence. A second application will help reinforce the pre-emergence barrier, and therefore prevent many of these weed-seeds from taking root and infesting your lawn.

• Clover

• Crabgrass

• Dandelions

• Mallow

• Morning Glory

• Orchardgrass

• Thistle

• Violets

• Yarrow

We start to see an increasing number of insects damaging lawns during June. These insects are probably Billbugs or Sod Weborm, but may be White Grub or Cranberry Girdler.

How do I know if I have an insect problem?

If you see an area of your lawn turning brown, check for insects. Pull on these areas with your whole hand. If insects are at fault, it will pull up like rug and you will see little white larvae on the soil.

How do I solve my insect problem?

To control the problem, apply insecticide directly to the affected areas and check back weekly for improvement. Repeat this until all signs of insect activity are gone. This means that the brown spots have stopped spreading, there is evidence of new growth, and the the larvae are lethargic or dead.

• Billbugs

• Cranberry Girdler

• Sod Webworm

• White Grub

Helminthosporium, or, "melting out" may be seen in your lawn. It is characterized by a browning of the blade of grass, with purple in the margins between the brown and green areas. To help prevent and treat helminthosporium, aerate to reduce thatch in the early spring, water infrequently and deeply, and mow high.

If you do see signs of helminthosporium, give Turf Plus a call and we'll come out and take care of it for you!