What we’re noticing:

  • This week is HOT!
  • Heat Tracking
    • THIS IS A HOT WEATHER CONDITION AND NOT CHEMICAL
    • This happens when the grass is so hot that ANY traffic over it bursts the cells and kills the leaf blade
      • It is most commonly done by mowing companies coming on their regular afternoon schedule or homeowners mowing when the get home from work.
  • This is very temporary – the grass is not dead; just the blade.

    • It is most likely to occur on the driest areas. South facing hills, full sun, etc.
  • This can be avoided staying off the lawn when temperatures are over 88*. When temperatures are over 88* DO NOT:
    • Mow the Lawn
    • Walk on the Lawn
    • Let the amazon driver drop a wheel off the driveway into the lawn
  • Diseases
    • One we’ve already seen a lot of and will see more of is “Brown Patch”.
      • The “give-away” for this disease is the brown color. This one is often confused with a chemical burn as well but chemical burns are yellow/orange in color as well as a pretty logical geometric shape. Brown patch is a biologic shape and… brown.
  • Ascochyta Leaf Blight
    • This is one is wild! It looks the most horrible but is very temporary and lawns come back fine with cooler temps and improved watering practices
    • DO NOT water between 4pm and 2am if you are seeing this
    • It happens to drought stressed turf in heat – like this week

What we’re doing:

  1. We just started our Fall applications- it’s earlier and different from most companies for a very specific reason. We wrote about it last year here.
  2. We’re wrapping up our 4th of 5 mosquito and insect control visits
  3. We’re two weeks into our Fall renovation season which includes aeration, overseeding and soil improvement. We anticipate 1 week left.
  4. We will be watching the temperature like a hawk to avoid heat tracking (see What We ALL WILL BE noticing section
  5. There’s going to be a lot of skipping and rescheduling because we don’t know exactly what time we’ll hit 88*. We’re sorry. Believe us that it’s very inconvenient for us manage this with our heads up system so we understand any frustration. Please bear with us.

What you can be doing:

  1. DON’T MOW this week unless you’re insanely irrigated!
    1. DO NOT MOW or let your company mow after temps are over 88* (this might be 11am!) – see “heat tracking” in the What WE ALL WILL BE noticing section
  2. Please bear with us on skips/and weather shutdowns this week
  3. Even though the lawn looks good now please consider your renovation work to make it better and more robust for next year (and years to come)
    • Kentucky Bluegrass (the most common in our areas and most common in full sun settings – what got most hurt by drought the last 4 years) requires up to one month to germinate and another month to generate a healthy root system.
    • Our first hard freeze (very tough or deadly on immature grass) happens Oct 15th on average.
    • Take Oct 15th and subtract two months 😬