Month: October 2016

Healthy trees and shrubs depend on continuous maintenance and care throughout the year, including fall fertilization, which should be provided in October or November.

Your trees and shrubs play an important part of your landscaping and are an investment that you would like to protect during every season. The care of these plantings are dependent on not only the time of year, but also the age of your greenery. Fertilization also helps to protect your trees and shrubs from insects, disease, and inclement weather, encourage growth and blooms, and increase the vigor of trees and shrubs.

Benefits of Deep Root Fertilization

A balanced macronutrient and micronutrient fertilizer will help the root system, increasing plant health while getting ready for the cold of winter. The right balance of nutrients is delivered right to the root zone, which is why this process is called deep root fertilization.

Deep root fertilization means that your trees and shrubs will:

• Benefit from proper soil composition.
• Have more resistance to disease.
• Flower more easily.
• Be able to defend against insects.

If your plantings are in a location that doesn’t have optimum soil or sunlight, deep root fertilization can bring balance back to ensure a healthy growing cycle. The fall is when tree and shrub roots become longer and when food is stored for the winter months. Also, nutrients that remain in the soil after this fertilization period will help the plantings again in the spring.

Tree and Shrub Maintenance Programs in Upper St. Clair and Pittsburgh

Superior Lawn Care’s professional ornamental tree and shrub application program is a multi-season service that keeps your plantings healthy and protected from sometimes harsh western PA weather. Our technicians are trained to monitor your plantings as well as provide that all-important fertilizer in the fall. Call us today if you would like to learn more about our maintenance programs for your shrubs and ornamental trees. Superior Lawn Care services all areas in southwestern PA, including Indiana, Cranberry, Wexford, Moon Township, North Huntingdon, and Penn Township.

If you’ve seen yellow flecks on grass that turn yellow-orange and then reddish-brown, your grass likely has a lawn disease, caused by a fungus, called rust. From late summer to early fall, rust disease becomes active in some western Pennsylvania lawns. It typically develops on lawns that are growing slowly when the weather is typically dry.

Why Is It Called Rust?

The “rust” appears as orange to orange-yellow spores on the leaf blades. The turf will also begin to appear weakened and thin. As the infection continues, you may see your entire lawn become rust colored, shredded, and the tips start to turn toward the soil. Even if homeowners don’t notice that their grass has a fungus, the rust-like flecks will stick to their shoes when walking through the lawn. The particles will rub off easily and can be tracked through the house, which is when many people realize that there is something wrong with their lawn.

Why Did My Lawn Develop Rust Disease?

Rust can appear on many different grasses, including Kentucky bluegrass, perennial rye, and even tall fescue cultivars. Conditions that favor the disease include warm and humid days, followed by cool nights with heavy dew. Low soil moisture, soil with low nitrogen, and compacted soil can also be factors in developing rust.

Combatting Rust in Your Lawn

Yes, this is a messy lawn disease, but the good news is that fungicides are rarely needed to control rust. Fertilization in September and October that add nitrogen, along with improved soil moisture through rainfall or supplemental morning watering (don’t water at night!) will help improve growing conditions. Core aeration is another way to reduce soil compaction and reduce thatch that’s lying on the soil. Typically, this disease will grow out of the lawn and begin to thicken again once you take these steps to improve growing conditions. As always, during the fall, you should mow your grass at 2 1/2 inches.

Superior’s year-round, Five-application Lawn Program is a maintenance plan that will help to keep your lawn healthy and disease free during every season. If you suspect that you have rust disease, give us a call. We service all areas in southwestern PA, including Wexford, Indiana, Moon Township, Upper St. Clair, North Huntingdon, and Penn Township.