Ever wonder what winterizer is? It's a special blend of fertilizer designed to feed your lawn important nutrients during cool and cold weather. During the late Fall, your grass isn't growing rapidly like it does during the early Fall. Because of cooler temperatures and changes in the sun's spectrum of color, your grass in the Fall slows down its rate of growth, beginning to become dormant. Your grass isn't dead. It just needs a long nap during winter. Like a bear in the winter, your grass goes into hibernation. Winterizer is the food your lawn needs to stay healthy. It maintains the crucial nutrients for next Spring. Adding winterizer to your lawn before the snow hits will build added carbohydrates, giving your lawn the sustenance it needs to develop and survive the winter and wake up fresher and earlier the next Spring.

The difference between your late season fertilizer and Winterizer is the level and balance of nutrients. Apply fertilizer in the late season to take advantage of Fall growth or thickening opportunities. This lawn treatment will still help your lawn keep its lush green, aiding to the health of its roots. As for Winterizer, the lead ingredient is potassium- an essential nutrient that your lawn needs to develop strong cell structure and hardiness for the winter and maintain its health for a bright, fresh start quickly in the Spring.

If you would like to add this beneficial product to the health and beauty of your lawn, ensuring that it will be lush and green early in the Spring when its beauty is just beginning to wake up, give our office a call today.

Pythium blight is among the most destructive of the turf grass diseases, capable of completely destroying established stands within 24 hours after the onset of favorable environmental conditions. More than 148 species are susceptible to this blight, including annual bluegrass, Bermuda grass, colonial bent grass, creeping bent grass, Kentucky bluegrass, rough bluegrass, Italian ryegrass, perennial ryegrass, velvet bent grass, tall fescue, red fescue and red top.

Lesions on individual leaves are water-soaked-green or straw color with no distinct margin separating diseased from healthy tissue. The infected area of turf appears as a circular spot varying from less than one inch to several inches in diameter. In the early morning, the infected plants seem water soaked with a cottony growth on matted leaves. With the onset of lower relative humidity, the growth disappears and the grass blades shrivel and die.

The fungus becomes destructive with an abundance of moisture and warm temperatures (85 F and higher), although infection can occur with temperatures as low as 68 F. Disease development is greater at highly unbalanced nitrogen levels, and in calcium-deficient soils.

Orange colorations indicate rust fungus, and they can affect the stems, leaves, and crowns of your lawn. Low temperatures will arrest its development. Spread and infection is slight during late spring and early summer when your grass is growing rapidly. But symptoms become more evident in the late fall when the growth of your lawn is slower. The ultimate environment for stem rust is 8 to 16 hours a day of high light intensity with air temperatures of 85° to 95°F.

Stem Rust occurs when Kentucky bluegrass is grown. The cultivar Merion is extremely susceptible.

Leaf Rust is widespread, generally found throughout the summer. It's usually of minor importance. In heavily infected years, the leaf blades are distinctly yellowed.

Crown Rust is a common disease of Italian ryegrass, perennial ryegrass and fall fescue. The bright yellow fungus is often found wherever those turf varieties are grown.

Rust can become a major nuisance turning 'Everything Orange'. Rust can be reduced by core aeration and overseeding more resistant grass types or by use of a fungicide.

Yellow jackets' sharp, lance-like stingers can sting repeatedly. Swarms can quickly overtake unsuspecting children, turning innocent summertime games into traumatic childhood memories. An infestation of yellow jackets threatens the sanctity and peace of mind you've come to expect from quality lawn service.

Yellow jackets build their nests in your home, massing large populations in the search for human food. They infest areas where people live, work and play, becoming a perpetual summer-time nuisance, especially from August through October. The freezing temperatures of November and December kill off their colonies, but the eggs are in place for next year, becoming a perpetual nuisance if not dealt with directly using a professional exterminator.

A typical yellow jacket is ½ inch long, short and blocky, with alternating black and yellow bands on the abdomen. The queen is a bit larger, about ¾ inch long. The workers can often be confused with honeybees. Yellow jackets aren't covered in tan brown dense hair and don't have the flattened, hairy hind legs that bees use to carry pollen. Yellow jackets can sting repeatedly, making them especially a threat to young children and older people. Honey bees, on the other hand, have a barbed stinger and sting only once.

If infestations aren't dealt with properly, yellow jackets can prove to be a dangerous pest, ruining outdoor activities, possibly even causing medical emergencies in the case of the young or very old.

Never leave open cans of soda in areas frequented by yellow jackets. This can lead to deadly throat stings.