My Annuals

MY ANNUALS!!!

Annuals were planted the first part of May and were healthy and fertilized. Normally by the middle of June they are big and filled in. Well….. this year with the weather it has been a struggle with all the rain and lack of sun light that most annuals look stunted and in some case are turning yellow due to too much moisture.

The vinca flowers we planted have turned yellow instead of green because of all the water we have received. Yes flowers, like all other plants, require water but in the case of this year have been over watered by Mother Nature to the point that they are dead or on the way out.

As you can see these flowers are yellow and not looking good. The soil is perfect as it is a good mix and held moisture like we normally would like, but with this wet season it has been a bad thing. After speaking with other horticulturist and greenhouses, we have been instructed that they will come back but will take about a month.

In some cases we have replaced them with a different annual that will do well in wetter areas.

Once this weather pattern breaks, fertilizer needs to be applied and they need watered once a day with smaller amounts of water. As these plants have not established a root system because they haven’t had to find any water. Brummel Lawn will be fertilizing the annuals we installed next week and again mid July, and depending on the weather again the first part of August.

We use and recommend a liquid fertilizer. Liquid fertilizers allow the flowers to take up the fertilizer though the leaves vs having to work through the plants roots. If you are planning on fertilizing them yourself more doesn’t always mean better and can burn or even kill your annuals.

10
JUL

Flowers, Weather

Why did you mow….

Posted by: Nick Brummel

Why did you mow… I now have ruts!

This season has been one of the most challenging seasons we have seen. During May we only saw 5 days without rain! It was the 6th wettest May on record!!! With the rain there has not been a perfect day to mow or a way to make everyone happy.

On a normal week Brummel Lawn will run 5 mowing crews with most crews having 3 per crew, and some days 4 per crew. The crews routes are set up to run Monday though Friday. The beginning of the week is loaded with more commercial properties and residential properties are generally scheduled later in the week if its possible. In the Spring with having to double cut and sometimes triple cut, these crews are working hard to be able to keep up and stay current without Mother Nature throwing them a curve ball like this season.

In most cases we try not to mow while it is raining or if we get over a 1/2″ of rain. Also in most cases a 1/2″ of rain should drain and can still be mowed. However it will still be wet. Anything over that we call it a day, pull off the yard, or do a delayed start.

The following day we pick up where we left off and try to play catch up.

This season we have had to go down different avenues to ensure that your lawns were mowed each week. For instance, we had to add an additional 3 crews for a couple of weeks to try and keep up or even complete the weeks mowing before we moved on to the next week. This season, for the first time, we have also had to have all mowing crews work entire weekends to stay caught up. So, unfortunately we have had to mow grass that was still a little bit wet.

The crews were instructed to be as careful as they could and skip any areas that were really wet and we would cut them the following week,. Unfortunately there were times when the following week came and we had to skip those areas again due to more rain.

In a couple areas there were some mud tracking. Mud tracking is when the tires lift the muddy water to the surface and it attaches to the blades of grass. Therefore it gives the appearance of a painted muddy line. Yes it looks awful BUT there is good news, in most cases, yes I said most cases it didn’t rut or harm the grass, it just looks bad

The tires we use are wide to help with compaction and rutting. Did you know that our big mowers put less pressure per square inch than the wheels on a standard 21″ push mower! Another fun fact that a golf course would rather an elephant walk across a golf green than a lady in high heels, as the same applies that the elephants step is softer on the grass then the lady’s heel!

Ok now that we have armed you with some knowledge on how we operate and why we do what we do, hopefully you will continue to be understanding as we fight the battle with Mother Nature, and do the best we can to keep your turf looking better than the rest!

6
JUL

Lawn, Weather

Weather & Turf Factors

Posted by: Nick Brummel

Extreme heat and humidity have persisted in the summer of 2010. The wet conditions this spring coupled with the heat stress have combined for peak turf loss conditions. The cold spring and wet conditions (33” April through July ’10) was not conducive to healthy deep root development. The cool season grasses had to survive on reserves in the root system that ran out in August. In addition, high humidity has created constant high fungal disease pressure.

Dew points, temperatures, wind speed, and soil temperature are the key climactic factors which measure the stress associated with cool season grasses ability to perform its basic physiological functions, (respiration, photosynthesis, evapotranspiration). A brief summary of these factors, their critical values, and their occurrence follows for the period of June through Aug 31th.

Days with highs of 90 or above	42
Days with a low temperature above 70	50
Days with a average dew point above 70	51
Days with an average wind speed of 10 mph or less	71
Days in which soil temperatures have been above 86	72

When all five of these factors occur simultaneously at their critical values (highs & lows above 90 & 70 respectively, dew points above 70, soil temps above 86, and wind speed below 10), cool season grasses are in a state of full blown decline. There is no recover for that day. The plant can no longer perform its basic functions normally. Metabolic activity is sustained solely at the expense of the root system. When this occurs for extended periods of time little can be done to alleviate the issue.

Total days in which all five of these factors occurred simultaneously over the last 20 years, (i.e.# of severe root decline days)

Year	90’	91′	92′	93′	94′	95′	96′	97′	98′	99′
# of days	5	8	1	3	2	14	5	10	12	17*

Year	00′	01′	02′	03′	04′	05′	06′	07′	08′	09′
# of days	9	16	13	9	5	7	11	8	5	6

*1999 had the most consecutive days with 13

In 2010 this has happened 36 days.
We felt with the difficulties that your lawn saw this summer, this information would make you better informed. Now that fall is here Brummel Lawn has placed a fertilizer down on your lawn that will help the plant with developing a better root system and providing the nutrition that the plant will need. We also sprayed the weeds that may have invaded your lawn (unless there was fresh seed on the ground which we encourage seeding or aerating) when the turf couldn’t fight them off. Brummel Lawn is committed to 100% satisfaction, please call us with any questions or concerns you may have, and we look forward to continue to serve your lawn needs.

20
APR

Lawn, Weather