Prime's Clippings March 2018

The beautiful bloom of the flowering quince

Winter Wrapping Up with Heavy Rains A pretty decent winter is wrapping up with several days of cold torrential rains after 3 months of fairly dry conditions. The cool evenings look to persist and the likelihood of a March freeze still holds true for another 20 days. You might be ready for spring, but plant tomatoes at your own risk! The recent rain was sorely needed, but just wait for a few warm sunny days and weeds will explode onto the scene. Pre-emergent applications from the fall were pretty effective this year. We are applying broadleaf control for plants like dandelion and henbit now and applying pre-emergent to reduce the upcoming summer weeds like crabgrass. Remember though that any of these winter weeds that have begun flowering will take at least 2 weeks and 2 applications to control. Our crews are busy wrapping up the spring cut-back of roses, perennials, and grasses, and it is already time to fire up the mowers and get your lawn cut down a few notches. So here is our annual reminder: If you are not on a year-round contract, please let us know when you are ready for mowing. If you did not place your service on hold over winter, we will start mowing in the first two weeks of March. We don’t want you to wonder where we are, but we also don’t want to start before you are ready. There may be a little freeze damage this year to sensitive plants, but nothing has really stood out. We recommend mowing down Asian jasmine and liriope groundcovers now to remove brown tips and give them a fresh start. Now is the time for fire ant control that is guaranteed all season, and dormant oil and systemic pesticide applications for the crape myrtle scale that is devastating crapes must be made now! Ready or not, spring is on the way! Rainy Weather Promises a Bumper Crop of Fire Ants Fire ants are the most annoying pest of all. They do millions of dollars in damage each year to electrical equipment and agriculture, and swarm out when disturbed to inflict painful bites on children, pets, and unsuspecting gardeners. Fire ants can migrate miles when swarming and tunnel up to 20 feet deep! Eradication is not possible, but you can fight the good fight. We offer two fire ant programs. One is the Texas Two Step program recommended by Texas A&M. We broadcast a bait product throughout your property and use a contact insecticide on visible mounds. This will need to be done 3-4 times a year. Baits offer the lowest environmental impact and cost, but are slow acting and do not guarantee control. We also offer a season-long product that we apply over the entire property. It will eliminate existing colonies and create a barrier to prevent new swarms from moving in. When done in March—April we guarantee control for 8 months! Prices start at just $20 each for the Texas Two Step treatments when done with your regular lawn applications and $155 one time for the guaranteed annual service.  Pond Clean-out Season Begins String algae is the bane of pond owners. As much as we love our beautiful water features, we equally despise string algae. Since aquatic plants have not come out of dormancy and cool water temperatures reduce the bacteria colonies in your filters and gravel, conditions are optimal for the growth of string algae. Algae is a natural, healthy organism in any natural water feature, but it can bloom suddenly in a matter of days and become unsightly. We start our annual clean outs this month, changing the water, washing down the gravel and removing the sludge, cleaning the filters, trimming and thinning out water plants, and changing the water to get your pond started on the right foot for spring. Give us a call to book your spot for your spring clean out! A Crape Myrtle Mystery I observed these strange patterns covering several trunks on a crape myrtle. Was this crape abducted and tortured by aliens? Did a drunken tattoo artist mistake a crape myrtle for an arm? If you read my article on crape myrtles last month and note the blackened bark in this picture, you can already guess the answer. These are the marks left from where scale insects had attached themselves and fed on the crape. They fell off in the hard freezes leaving these strange striations.

March Chores Mow 1-2 notches lower Mulch beds Make last major pruning changes to overgrown shrubs Prune low limbs on trees  Prune dormant perennials and fountain grasses Plant and transplant trees and shrubs Apply pre-emergent and broadleaf herbicides Change water and clean water gardens and koi ponds Our goal is to fulfill the needs of the customer by providing timely, quality services and products. Thanks for your business! John Hoover General Manager