Prime's Clippings August 2018

How 'bout a cactus flower to "celebrate" this awful summer

The Drought Continues Most of the metroplex had a decent shower July 30th, but it was just the proverbial drop in a bucket. And how many other places celebrate a week when the highs won’t get above 99? Well, we will take whatever blessings we can get this year. We started this summer without our usual rainy May, and high temperatures set in early. We broke several record highs in July, including some record high lows—meaning our plants didn’t get much of a break even at night. This is one of those summers that has been hard on new plants and those that prefer moist conditions. And it is difficult at best to deeply soak new plants using just your sprinkler system. Getting a water hose out to apply some TLC regularly has been the only way to get most new plantings through their first summer this year. Griping about this drought brings up another point to consider: Our best planting season is just a month or two away. I know it is hard for the typical gardener to get spring fever in the fall, but once our hot dry weather breaks we will have several months of ideal planting conditions for most shrubs, trees, and ornamentals. We normally have cooler temperatures and regular rainfall starting in October and lasting through the winter. Although the plant above ground may not show signs of growth, the roots will be growing and establishing, giving the plant a better chance for surviving next year’s dry spell. So enjoy the pool or the lake and keep your hose handy for another month. Then plan ahead for your fall plantings! 114 degrees- not what you want to see at the end of a long day... Time To Treat For Grub Worms August is the time of year to treat for grub worms. Most of our grub damage is brought on by the larva of the June beetle. Peak flights of the June beetle occur in mid May to mid June and eggs hatch about 1 month later. Grubs are easiest to kill at this early stage of their growth due to the fact that they are closer to the soil surface. Not every yard will have a large enough population to cause damage, but if you have had one in the past you may be in a location that is prone to infestation. Lawns close to street lights where June bugs gather are often hit, and ironically they often attack well watered lush lawn when soil is soft and food (roots) are abundant. They can do serious damage to turf over the next two months. Treatments for most residential lawns start at just $48.00 (up to 5000 sq. ft., prices based on sq. footage of turf, call or email us for more information)  This many grubs in 1 square foot of soil is enough to do serious damage... How Sprinkler Heads Get Hit By Mowers “Your guys hit my sprinkler head with the mower”! Believe me, neither one of us wants to hear that. Our crews mow over 300 acres of lawn each week, passing over thousands of sprinkler heads without a problem. And there is the key- sprinklers are designed and installed as underground systems. A properly installed head should be at or just above grade, and a properly functioning head will retract back into the ground after it waters. In both cases, a lawn mower cannot damage a head that is working properly. Over time, several factors affect sprinkler head performance and may render the head subject to accidental breakage. The seal around the riser hardens with time and springs wear out preventing retraction. Soils settle and move, sometimes leaving the head sitting too high. Heads also sink or have dirt build up around them, leaving the head below grade. This is very common and allows dirt to seep into the head around the seal. This grit causes the nozzle to stick in the up position or not retract fully, leaving the nozzle just high enough to be clipped by a mower, but not high enough to be seen. Tree roots may develop under a head and as they grow they may push the head up, and eventually it will be high enough to snag a mower deck. Heads along the sidewalk, curb, or driveway are supposed to be 2-4 inches away from the concrete. Over time they may shift or settle at an angle and touch the concrete leaving no room for the lawn edger blade to pass by. All of these issues are just routine maintenance and service work that must be performed when the problem occurs, and are not the fault of the equipment operator. Very rarely can you see the head in the tall grass before you hit it with a mower or edger. We will always charge a discounted rate to repair a head that is hit by one of our mowing crews, but please remember that it is not the fault of the mowing service when a sprinkler head is struck.

August Chores Mow weekly and do not bag clippings Hand water newly planted areas & trees Watch for dry spots and chinch bugs in turf Check and adjust sprinkler systems Mulch beds  Treat for grub worms Toby, star of this year's HOT new reality show, "The Dog Days of Summer" Our goal is to fulfill the needs of the customer by providing timely, quality services and products. Thanks for your business!

Prime's Clippings May 2018

Oenothera speciosa Evening Primrose One of our beautiful local wildflowers

Not many shower, but plenty of May flowers Despite a few heavy rains, April was below average for rainfall across most of the Metroplex, but our roadside wildflowers have still put on a pretty good show. It seems every year a different plant may dominate. This year I noticed some incredible displays of Blue eyed grass and Texas blue star.Blue bonnets and paintbrushes will transition to Indian blankets, verbena, bee balm, and other warm weather flowers in our fields and roadsides. May is a great time for road trips to take in our beautiful wildflower shows.May is historically our rainiest month, but can also be our stormiest with hail and tornados. Lets hope for more rain and less storms. Leave sprinklers off until rains disappear for a week or more, but keep an eye on any new plants. We will be jumping 90 degree afternoons soon, and we have been in a windy pattern that can wilt newly planted flowers in just a day or so.Cool nights and frequent rains can bring on fungal problems like leaf spot on hawthorns and photinias but we should celebrate rain and all the cool weather we can get before summer sets in. May is the month for yard work May may be the busiest month for yard work. As the weather warms and rain normally abounds, lawns finally kick into high gear. Along with weeds, new growth on shrubs and trees, insects, pollen in the air, lions and tigers and bears—Oh My! It can be hard to keep up. Here is a list of some of the chores to get to in the next 30 days: Fertilize lawns now and treat any remaining broadleaf weeds. Mow weekly. Letting grass get too tall between cuttings is hard on the grass and your equipment.  Fertilize spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming. Watch for fungal leaf spot and treat as needed. Trim shrubs, each according to it’s needs. Remove rosette infected rose bushes. Apply baits or season-long controls like Top Choice for fire ants. Trim limbs that have suddenly become too low due to the heavy flush of new growth. Plant summer flowers like pentas, zinnias, etc. It is a little early for periwinkles but we are planting if requested. Cool wet weather can cause fungal problems. Poison Ivy and Other Spring Surprises Poison ivy is abundant in our area, and most folks already know if they are allergic to it. Yes, that is correct. Not everyone reacts to exposure. I personally can rub it on my face with no ill effects, but some folks have to get cortisone shots or may even get a serious skin infection from scratching when they are covered with pustules. If you are not sure of your sensitivity, the best thing to do is avoid it. Poison ivy is a woody vine that may climb trees, fences, or any vertical structure. A mature vine may be several inches thick and can be confused for a small tree. The easiest identifier is the 3 leaves with lobed margins. Poison ivy produces white berries in late season and may turn a vivid red in the fall. Blackberry vines are also similar, but of course have thorns. Pretty well unmistakable. Blackberries may also have 4 and 5 leaves. There are several copycats that are harmless and easy to differentiate with just a little practice. The first and most often mistaken is Virginia creeper. Grows in the same places and with the same habit with one BIG exception—5 leaves! A real trickster is the boxelder tree. Young boxelder seedlings look just like poison ivy except for the green stem and fact that they will grow into trees. Cow itch vine is another to avoid. Just like poison ivy it may cause severe itching but does not affect everyone. It is actually in the grape family whereas poison ivy is in the Sumac family. Notice the three leaves? Much more deeply lobed, but still 3 leaves. This vine has an unpleasant odor when crushed, one more sign telling you to steer clear. Bull nettle may be found in numerous places and you may encounter on a hike or nature walk, but occasionally a bird might plant a seed in your garden. This is a vicious plant which creates a burning inflammation. Like a thistle, you can pretty well determine by appearance that it is not to be messed with. Interestingly though, it produces a tasty nut if you are brave enough to harvest it.  My dad used to take me in the woods with thick leather gloves to pick and clean the nuts. I haven’t eaten one in a long time. There are certainly easier nuts to pick! Now for plants that are commonly planted in the home garden. There is no reason to fear toxic plants, but it is always good to have some knowledge of them. It is rare for a dog or child to consume a poisonous plant but it can happen. Carolina jessamine is a beautiful yellow spring blooming vine, but all parts are poisonous and some folks even have a skin reaction to the sap if they get it on them when trimming. Common shrubs that are poisonous include hydrangeas, with their huge blooms, oleanders, yews, and even our azaleas. Narcissus, daffodil, and hyacinth are all poisonous. Ironically, tulip bulbs are not poisonous and have been eaten during hard times by many different peoples. You should not eat elephant ears or caladiums either, but then surely you have better things to do. Knowledge is power. So before you start thinking about yanking plants you have had for years because you just found out they are poisonous, remember that even the mighty oak and it’s acorns are toxic. Now you can process acorns to make them edible, but again, surely you have better things to do! May Chores Mow weekly Finish planting spring flowers Mulch beds Treat for fireants Our goal is to fulfill the needs of the customer by providing timely, quality services and products. Thanks for your business!

Prime's Clippings April 2018

Enjoying a Great Spring 

April began with a beautiful spring morning followed by a cold front that dropped us into the low 40s Monday morning. For folks like me that planted tomatoes and peppers this weekend I hope you remembered to cover them!

The heavy rains have got us off to a good start on watering in new plants but that also means the weeds are happy. Remember that most of the weeds you see now will burn out as it warms up, and broadleaf weed killers will control a lot of our problems. But most weed controls do not work overnight as advertisers like to claim. Weed management depends on many factors—temperature, growth stage of plant, etc, and is an on-going process.

Trees are budding and some are making messes dropping their leaves (live oaks), seeds or tassels, spring flowering shrubs are in bloom, and bugs of every denomination are starting to bug everyone. No complaints here though, this is a magical time of year in north Texas.

April is absolutely the busiest month of the year for gardening, so please be patient with us if we can’t always get right to you. We promise to do our best!

Shades of Purple 

You can’t help but notice some of the beautiful lavenders and blues that make their appearance in the spring. Here are a few of my favorites.

Texas Mountain Laurel Sophora secundiflora 

Native to the hill country, this small tree will grow here if planted with good drainage and a little northern protection. The blooms are sweetly fragrant.

Purple oxalis Oxalis triangularis 

This purple shamrock is a wonderful border for shade gardens.

Chinese wisteria 

If you have the right space and time for an aggressive vine, the reward is a beautiful show in spring.

Iris

So many varieties, so little time to identify each one that a friend has given you. Better to just enjoy. 

Time for Summer Color 

Start making plans now for your summer color. The petunias we recently planted will make a for a big show through May. If you are a petunia person you will need to swap them out for hot weather plants like lantana or periwinkles in early June. But if you just have pansies or nothing at all in your beds then you can start planting many summer flowers now.

So many choices, but low maintenance plants that are not finicky are a big factor for most of us. Few people have the time or inclination to constantly check and treat for insects or diseases, and we need plants that can outlast a long summer season with extreme temperatures. So with this demanding criteria, here are some proven winners.

Full sun or afternoon sun areas: 

Lantana is hands-down the toughest choice for high heat, and the absolute best choice for dryer beds. Some folks think lantana can get a little unruly, but there are new compact dwarf varieties that really perform and grow only to about 12 inches.

For big accents use purple fountain grass, esperanza, sun coleus, or tropical hibiscus.

Scaevola is a great trailing plant in lavender or white, and Blackfoot daisy is a fragrant mounding/trailing plant—both great for rock walls, containers or borders.

Pentas are another heat lover with few problems

Periwinkles love the heat but cannot be planted here until about mid-may due to pythium and rhizoctonia root rot when nights are cool or it is too wet. Dwarf zinnias can have similar issues if planted too early.

Sweet potato vines are another great accent as long as you have the space for them or the time to periodically cut them back, and artemesias such as Dusty Miller or Powis Castle provide silvery foliage. Sunpatiens are a sun tolerant variety of impatiens and perform well with adequate water, but are usually quite a bit pricier.

Other choices for sun include Angelonia, Torenia, Salvia—both perennial and annual types, Blue Daze, Moss Rose, and Purslane. Bronze begonias tolerate sun or shade so are great for those places that go in and out of the sun, but they struggle with uneven moisture, and with twice a week water restrictions it can be hard to keep them looking good in July-August.

Shade areas: 

In the shade, caladiums and begonias are king with impatiens close behind.

Impatiens need a little light to look good all summer. In heavy shade they tend to get leggy in July-August.

Caladiums also need consistent water. You can also use foliage plants like shade coleus, Japanese painted fern, alternanthera, or lamium.

And Dragon wing begonias rule!

Prime's Clippings August 2017

 Prickly Poppy, Argemone Albiflora

an August wildflower and excellent forage plant for quail and bees

Dog Days of Summer

---

After a fairly pleasant June, July came on hot and dry as expected. Rains have been widely scattered so consider yourself lucky if you had any in your part of the world. As I write this on the last day of July we are expecting a very nice start to August with increased rain chances and high temperatures in the low nineties—sweet!  But for the next two months plants and lawns can go south in a hurry. Keep an eye on tender plants like hydrangeas or newly planted trees and shrubs, and check your sprinklers regularly for clogged nozzles, low heads, heads blocked by shrubs, etc. It only takes a week or so to do serious damage to lawns and landscapes that are not receiving enough water, so stay alert!

So why do we refer to the sultriest days of summer as the “dog days?" Is it because the heat makes dogs short-tempered and mean, or lazy and lethargic? Because we eat a lot of hot dogs?

The original meaning actually had nothing to do with heat or dogs, but hot weather is what we in the northern hemisphere now associate with the phrase. The ancient Greeks marked this time of the year by the rising of Sirius the dog star just before dawn, and associated it with a potential for war or disaster. It also happened to coincide with a really hot time of year, but depending on where you are in the world Sirius will rise at different times. And because the stars in our night sky move independently of Earth’s calendar, in about 13,000 years we will be experiencing the dog days of winter. And I bet the dogs will still be lethargic and lazy, laying about by a warm fire.

Time to Treat for Grubworms!

---

Don’t forget! August is the time of year to treat for grub worms. Most of our grub damage is brought on by the larva of the June beetle. Peak flights of the June beetle occur in mid May to mid June and eggs hatch about 1 month later. Grubs are easiest to kill at this early stage of their growth due to the fact that they are closer to the soil surface and very small. Not every yard will have a large enough population to cause damage, but if you have had one in the past you may be in a location that is prone to infestation. Lawns close to street lights where June bugs gather are often hit, and ironically they often attack lush lawns when soil is soft and food (roots) is abundant. They can do serious damage to turf over the next two months. And the application we make for grubs may also act as a preventative for chinch bugs, another bad lawn pest.

Prices start at just $49.95 for customers that are already on our 7 step program!

This many grubs in 1 sq ft of soil is enough to do serious damage.

Summer Surprises

---

While enjoying a late afternoon walk a few years ago we were fortunate enough to be caught in a heavy downpour. Like a couple of kids, we came home soaking wet, chilled, and thrilled to have a good rain in mid summer. Then, just a few days later, we discovered a vast swath of beautiful white flowers held on single stems 8 inches tall, growing in an old mowed field that was once the site of the Pike Drive-In Theater in the fifties. Having driven past this corner my entire life, funny how I never really noticed them until I took the time to actually walk through the field. Sometimes you just have to slow down to find the treasure that was there all along.


These summer jewels are rain lilies. Even though these flowers are called lilies, they actually belong to the Amaryllis family. Rain lily is a generic term that applies to numerous species of plants in three different genus: Zephyranthes, Habranthus, and Cooperia. We dug several clumps to set in our beds and after a few days they went to seed. A second rain brought another flush of flowers a week later. These resilient little bulbs will flush after nearly every summer rain and last virtually forever. Our new wild additions joined some pink ones we purchased at a nursery years ago.

Another plant that will help ease the dog days of summer is the Surprise Lily, Lycoris radiata or Lycoris sqaumigera.

Around the end of August, when you have just about given up on keeping your plants pretty, up jumps a little shoot of fresh green growth. In just about a week it is 2-3 ft. tall and a gorgeous spidery red or pink bloom appears.

Excellent in a mondo grass bed or all by themselves, a few clusters of this beauty will transition you pleasantly into Fall.

Planning for Fall Projects

---

Every year we like to remind customers that Fall is an excellent time for landscape improvements. Everyone gets spring fever and enjoys freshening up their yard in spring, but well informed gardeners know that Fall is really the best season for planting most of our landscape ornamentals.

Trees, shrubs, and perennials that are planted in September through December get to take advantage of our traditionally mild temperatures and regular rains. Plants that go in the ground in the Fall have reduced heat stress and are better equipped to handle the inevitable dry conditions of next summer.

Although most plants will show little or no top growth during the winter, it’s what is going on in the ground that counts. Root systems thrive in our mild Fall weather and grow vigorously all winter, giving you bigger, healthier plants next year.

Use these hot days of August to make plans for your fall landscape projects.

The Big Email Push

---

Experts agree, e-mail is the only way to go!

Once again, we are reminding everyone to sign up to “Go Green” and start receiveing your invoices and newsletter via e-mail. We do not share your address with anyone, and we do not send out e-mail blasts soliciting your business.

You can also pay with your favorite credit card if you prefer.

Just call us at 817-461-4000 to set it up.

Better yet, send an e-mail to: contactus@primelandscapeservices.com

Thanks!

Prime's Clippings July 2017

Ratibida Columnaris- Mexican Hat - a prominent summer wildflower

A Nice Start to Summer

---

We have finally erased the deficit on our annual rainfall total, making up for a dry May with several inches in June. That really helped our soil moisture levels and our lakes are in pretty good shape. Plus we had a bonus on June 24, the fifth day of summer, with a cold front that kept our high temperature under 80 degrees! I’ll give June 2017 an A.

Here’s a fun fact: The high on June 24th was 10 degrees lower than the record high set in the dead of “winter” on Feb. 11 when we hit 88. Okay, I’m wearing everyone out with weather trivia, but this lack of normal patterns plays heck with our gardens. We coupled the warmest winter on record in DFW —great for insect pests, with a couple of 14 degree days in early January that burned crapes and other plants. So what does the rest of summer hold? If the first six months are any clue, who knows?

We can likely count on 2 months of hot, dry weather and a need to supplement Mother Nature’s blessings with regular water from our sprinkler systems. With that in mind, read on for a primer on how your sprinkler system works, and how to get the most out of it.

Horsemint- A wildflower that loves the heat and is great forage for honey bees.

Sprinkler Systems 101
(most likely a lot more than you want to know, but not nearly as much as we could tell you!)

---

Thanks to Murphy’s Law, it seems that right when you need your sprinkler system the most is also when it is most likely to break down.  Unlike changing the oil in your car, there isn’t a whole lot of preventive maintenance you can perform on your sprinklers, but routine inspections are extremely important.

A typical sprinkler system starts at the backflow device, which is usually in a large box located a few feet from your water meter. There are 2 handles here which are used to turn the water off to the sprinklers without affecting the water to your house.  Silt often accumulates around this valve and the handles corrode, making it difficult to turn off the water in an emergency. We recommend cleaning out the silt once a year and replacing your handles with stainless steel handles. Stainless handles will last forever.

Your control valves are located throughout the yard and have an electric solenoid and rubber diaphragm. These parts fail over time, the wire splices may corrode, and fire ants eat the insulation off the wires. If a valve is not coming on it is often an electrical problem. If it sticks on and runs continuously, it is usually a bad diaphragm or debris may have lodged in the valve. In most cases, we rebuild the valve with all new components, or replace the valve entirely if there is internal wear or other issues. Spray heads are typically used for patterns of 4 ft up to 15 ft, rotors for patterns of 15 ft to 40 ft, drip irrigation for ornamental beds or pots, and bubbler heads for trees, large plants, or large pots. Pop-up sprays and rotors have seals that harden with age and leak or prevent the head from lowering after it pops up. This is the main reason heads get broken by mowers. Properly installed, a head that is working properly cannot be hit by a mower. If you see a lot of water pooling around a head when it is running it may have a bad seal. Spray nozzles also become clogged, and heads settle so that they are crooked, too low, or too high. Drip is notorious for being damaged by digging in beds, and rodents also love to chew on drip. Correcting these issues is all part of routine maintenance. Your controller is the brain of the system, and most of today’s controllers have sophisticated settings that allow you to optimize how and when you apply water. Like any computer, they may be damaged by power surges, lightning, or gremlins. But what is the first thing you always check when your controller isn’t working? The electrical outlet! Plug something else in and make sure you have electricity there. If so, then you can call us to come look for the gremlins.

Sprinkler system scheduling: Okay, this is a subject that can get very involved. There are formulas for calculating how much water you may need using actual rainfall amounts, evapostranspiration rates for your lawn or different types of ornamentals, soil types, slope, micro climates, etc. And the truth is that most sprinkler systems are not perfectly designed. There's lots of really good ones, but an equal number with coverage issues. In fact, most spray zones have an efficiency rating of only 60% and rotor zones 70%.


So, for the average property owner with the average system, here are some easy to follow guidelines:

• Most weeks in summer we need to apply about 1 inch of water to our yards. 
• A spray zone applies about 1.5 inches in an hour.
• A rotor zone applies about .5 inches per hour.
• A drip zone applies about 1 inch per hour, but drip can vary considerably because there are so many different products and ways to design it.

So, you will need to run your sprays about 40 minutes a week, your rotors for 2 hours, and your drip 1 hour. Maybe a little more according to how efficiently they are working.

For lawns and established shrubs it would be ideal to apply all that water at one time so you get a really deep soaking, encouraging deeper roots. But flowers, new plantings, and some common plants like hydrangeas and caladiums need water more than once a week. For ease of programming, and to cover the variety of plants that you may have, most properties should be set up to water two to three times per week.

So now we have a  twice a week schedule that looks like this:

• Spray zones 20 minutes, Rotor zones 60 minutes, Drip zones 30 minutes

And here is the last tweak that is not difficult and will really help you get the most out of your water. Except for some lucky folks (like me) that live in a narrow sandy band of the Cross Timbers that runs through north Texas, most of us have clay or clay-loam soils. These soils are tight and accept water very slowly. That means that your water will start running off after just a few minutes of watering. How to solve this problem? Set your sprinklers to run twice in one cycle, using half the water each time. Some controllers have a built in Cycle/Soak function that you can program, but all controllers have the ability to let you set two or more start times. That is a really simple way to get more water to soak in.

Lets say you have 4 spray zones, 2 rotor zones, and 1 drip zone.
What is the total run time needed?

• 4 zones x 20 minutes = 80 minutes, 2 ones x 60 minutes = 120 minutes, and 1 zone x 30 minutes for a total of 230 minutes or about 4 hours.
• Set your sprays for 10 minutes, your rotors for 30 minutes, and drip for 15 .
• Set your first start time for 12:00 AM, then set a second start time for 4:00 AM

That gives your first cycle a chance to soak in and you will have less water running down the gutter! This also works well for watering on slopes.

Again, these are basic guidelines. You may have shady areas that need less than hot sunny areas so adjust those times down. Or a big bed of begonias that may struggle with watering just twice a week in the heat of summer, so you could add a “B” program for an extra day to water just that zone.

As I said at the beginning, this can get very involved. You can follow these guidelines, or consult with us further if you really want to see how much you can do to keep more of your water going where you want it—the roots of your plants.

You are welcome to email questions to me at:
John@primelandscapeservices.com
Texas Licensed Irrigator #0004812






The Big Email Push

---

Experts agree, e-mail is the only way to go!

Once again, we are reminding everyone to sign up to “Go Green” and start receiveing your invoices and newsletter via e-mail. We do not share your address with anyone, and we do not send out e-mail blasts soliciting your business.

You can also pay with your favorite credit card if you prefer.

Just call Olivia at 817-461-4000 to set it up.

Better yet, send an e-mail to: contactus@primelandscapeservices.com

Thanks!

July Chores

---

• Mow Weekly
• Finish planting summer flowers
• Mulch beds
• Treat new fire ant mounds after rains
• Watch for chinch bugs in the lawn
• Treat for grub worms
• Check sprinklers

---

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

Prime's Clippings June 2017

Centaura Americana - American Basket Flower
An early summer wildflower

Ready for Summer?

---

May was a disappointment to much of the metroplex regarding our rain totals. Normally our wettest month, it seems most of the storms split north and south of Fort Worth. There have been blisteringly hot days and a few blissfully cool days as well, but it is a sure bet that hot weather will start to dominate.

We have already had to start supplemental watering in between the scattered rains, and pay close attention to newly planted flowers, shrubs, and trees  to make sure they are not allowed to dry out. Remember, those root zones remain the same size as the pot they were in for several weeks or even months. Many plants will recover from wilting but it always slows their growth.

So here is my early summer checklist:

• Weed beds and mulch everything
• Fertilize lawns and beds
• Spot spray weeds in the lawn
• Check sprinklers and adjust heads
• Hand water new plants
• Plant the last warm season vegetables—it’s a little late, but cantaloupes and a few others can still go in
• Start enjoying the tomatoes, peppers, squash and other garden goodies that are already producing (side note: wage war on squash bugs!)
• Get outdoors and enjoy the last crops of wildflowers

And when it gets too hot, head for the lake or the pool. Welcome summer!

What to watch for as we heat up...

---

Surprisingly, we haven’t observed too many insect issues yet in spite of our warm winter. Mosquitoes are starting to show up but have not been a big problem. We have been monitoring for bagworms on one of our properties that has hundreds of cypress trees, and they have not shown up yet. We are nearing the time for tent caterpillars as well, so we may start seeing both of these critters pop up in June.

Fire ants of course are ever-present and make new mounds after every rain. And that’s possibly the key to why we haven’t had big problems with any of these pests — we haven’t had a lot of rain just yet.

Aphids and azalea bark scale are a constant problem on crape myrtles, and a systemic insecticide is the most effective weapon against the bark scale.

Conditions were optimal this winter for some blight and canker on Italian cypress and similar trees. There is no control, so if you have dead patches in your cypress or junipers prune it out or remove the tree. Some crapes had severe freeze damage, treatment is the same. Most fungal diseases should decrease as it gets hot, but gray leaf spot and chinch bugs are potential summer problems for St. Augustine.

gray leaf spot

chinch bugs

Prime landscapes new ride at Six Flags!

---

We were honored to work on a new attraction at Six Flags again this year, helping them usher in The Joker. This is an exciting ride for the true thrill seeker. And it is exciting for us to get to work with the skilled and dedicated team at Six Flags and observe how they meet all the challenges in bringing these world-class attractions to the public.  Be sure and include a trip to Six Flags in your summer plans!

June Chores

---

• Mow Weekly
• Finish planting spring flowers
• Mulch beds
• Treat for fire ants, mosquitoes, and caterpillars 

---

Our goal is to fulfill the needs of the customer by providing timely, quality services and products.
Thanks for your business!

---

Greg Hamann, Owner