6 Simple Steps to Having Less Weeds in your Bermuda Grass Lawn

  The following is applicable if your lawn is Bermuda grass and your climate gets cold enough in the winter that your green grass turns brown (dormant).  Zoysia grass and Centipede lawns are similar too.
  Let's just make this simple.  I could write a book, and spend two years teaching you all about the different types of broad leaf weeds, invasive grasses, etc.  But you nor anyone else would read it... and they certainly wouldn't want to pay attention to all the minutia.

Overview:  There are always less weeds if the lawn is healthy.  The watering and fertilizing you did last summer will allow for less weeds this spring.  Quite simply, the best weed preventer is a healthy lawn.

Step 1:  Get good equipment.  You need a good sprayer - a backpack sprayer is best.  It might hold 4 gallons, I recommend starting out by filling it half full until you get used to the weight.  You need a good rotary spreader.  (commonly called 'Broadcast Spreader')  Do yourself a favor and don't go to the Walls Martz - find a good nursery or maybe a farm and garden store. 

Step 2:  Early spring.  Pay attention to it getting warmer outside and your lawns initial "greening up".   Don't panic if you see a lot more weeds this time of year.  It is normal - the climate has gotten warm enough for weeds, but not quite time for the Bermuda grass to green up yet.  This is a good time to spray a lawn weed killer and fertilize. The lawn weed killer can be purchased at almost any Home and Garden store and should have the herbicide '2-4-D' in it.  Fertilize lightly with something like 16-4-8 at about 5 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.

Step 3:  6 weeks later.  Fertilize with higher nitrogen,  (The first number, don't worry about the last two)  something like 29 - x - x.

Step 4:  Water a lot, but not often.  Irrigation systems might run for an hour per zone, but not more than 2 times per week.  Water during the growing season and water in the early morning.... NOT in the evenings.

Step 5:  Mow low and mow often.  Don't bag the grass.

Step 6:  This winter - prepare for next spring.    Ask your nurseryman for a fall feeding and pre-emergence herbicide.  Preventing weeds is way easier than killing them.

Rich

Caring For Your Lawn - Turf Type Tall Fescue

   I spent the day riding with my - (for lack of a better label) fertilization technician.  Her name is Neli, she is from Bulgaria and she is terrific.  Blue Dot Landscaping is very lucky to have Neli and Stan working with us.  They are in their early twenties and are recent grads with master’s degrees in our field.  Neli heads up our lawn care department as well as our fertilization program.
     Our fertilization program, as we call it... is basically doing everything your grass lawn needs to be in its best health.  We not only fertilize but also spread lime, fungicides, preemergence herbicides, weed killers, and insect control.  We try to do what is needed, when it is needed.  We are in kind of a different situation than some in that our area does not have one 'perfect' grass.  We basically have 4 different types of grasses, each with advantages and disadvantages.  Fescue or 'Turf Type Tall Fescue" (Festuca arundinacea) is my favorite.  It is a cool season grass that adapts fairly well to our area (Greenville, Spartanburg and Simpsonville, SC) but does need a lot of work to get its full value.  The other three types of grasses that do well in our area are all warm season grasses.  Bermuda, Zoysia, and Centipede.  I can elaborate more later about the warm season grasses; today I am going to concentrate on  Fescue care.
   There are several things you should be aware of regarding your specific fescue lawn.

• Our climate is not the same every year, hence - timing can vary somewhat.  (We think this is one of the advantages of hiring a professional)
• Not every lawn needs the same treatment.  The amount of sunshine/shade, sloping or flat lawn, irrigation or not - all are just some of the factors that might change the amounts and timing of your treatments.
• You should decide if you want the best lawn you could have... realizing this means a lot more money in time, irrigation and materials... also this means mowing the grass every 3-4 days during the growing season..  The better option may be for you to have a perfectly healthy and nice lawn - but not break your back trying for the elusive perfection.  This can be accomplished by fertilizing and watering less, as well as having a little more patience. 
• A little patience is a good thing.  I have seen just as many people mess up a fescue lawn with too much care, as with too little.

The last thing to realize is that you can get a thousand different opinions about how to care for your lawn.  Most of them will be wrong.  I have found that many people that write about lawn care on the internet have never done this professionally, have no related degree, and are writing from Idaho (or wherever) and act like their advice pertains to everyone with all different types of grass. 
  My advice is relevant to Greenville and Spartanburg counties in upstate S.C. and climates similar.  i.e. near interstate 85.  My advice here is also kind of general.  If you want a specific question answered, or even a more precise schedule as for what you should do - Email me.
   In the summer, when it is convenient for you, spread lime in your yard.  Gypsum works similarly and I like it a little better.  This is good for your soils ph.  It doesn't really make your grass grow better, but it does create an environment that allows your fescue grass to grow better.  You will need a lot more of this than you think, about 300 lbs. for 10,000 s.f. is what we do.
   August is a good time to spray a post emergence herbicide. 
   September is when you aerate, overseed and fertilize.  Aerating and overseeding are not necessary every year-  Fertilizing is.  If you try to overseed with fescue any time other than September 15-October 15... You are doing it wrong.  Find the best fescue grass seed you can find, this will be money well spent.
   November - fertilize again 6-8 weeks after your initial fall fertilizer.
January 1 - or as close to it as you can.  Apply a good pre-emergence (often called 'crabgrass preventer')
March 15 - fertilize.
May 1 - fertilize (very small amount - something like 5-10-30 with iron).

Apply a good ant preventer (will help deter most insects) 2-3 times a year.
Spot treat weeds in your lawn with 2-4-d or some lawn weed killer that has 2-4-d in it.  Do not do this if temperatures are above 85 degrees.

On a side note, we purchase mostly Oregon grown fescue seed.  We have a new friend from the Portland area – JP Stone of JPstonecontractors is a new friend.

Rich

Really?

Woo   Hoo!  Less than a week as a blogger... and I already got my first spam.  (This google blogger program I am using catches spam people like to post on the "comments").  I like honest commenting, banter, insults or whatever... don't appreciate some clown simply posting their 1/2 ass Texas garden website just to be posting.

My Top Ten Favorite Tall Trees for your Landscape

  OK, I started this blog a couple of days ago... I guess it's about time I wrote about some things I really do know about.  In this post I am going to concentrate on tall trees.  In future articles I will list medium trees, speciman trees, different shrubs, groundcovers, and flowers.  Also it is important to note that different trees perform differently (or not at all) in different hardiness zones.  I get irritated when I read articles like published in landscaping.about.com.  That bozo is hired as a writer, but he doesn't know enough to survive in my business.  They place more emphasis on a degree in journalism than horticulture.  A frequent mistake he makes is to paint everyone (every climate) with the same brush (same landscaping advice).  Even in my limited area of Greenville and Spartanburg, SC - there are landscape opportunites in which a specific tree normally thought of as good for our zone - would not be a good tree for that spot.  The top ten trees I have chosen should do well in zones 6,7 and 8.
  My advice about tree selection:  (well, my primary advice would be to hire a Landscape Architect or qualified landscape designer to assist you with your planning)

• Decide what size tree or trees you want and where you want them.  Remember to consider their size at maturity.  Most tall trees like on my list need at least 30 feet in between each one.
• Select your top 3 favorites.
• Discuss these favorites with your landscaper or nurseryman.  They will tell you what is best.

OK, here's a list of my favorites:

1. October Glory Red Maple - Acer rubrum 'October Glory Maple' - This is a good oval rounded form that grows 40 to 50 feet tall.  It looks good in the spring and summer, outstanding color in the fall. To encourage a taller, better look, I like to prune the lower branches every fall for the first 2-5 years.  I like to be able to reach the lowest branch, but not hit it with my head.
2. Legacy Sugar Maple - Acer saccharum 'Legacy Sugar Maple' - A beautiful, drought resistant tree that needs little care.  Grows 60-80 feet tall.
3. London Plane Tree - Plantanus x acerifolia - A fairly fast growing beautiful shade tree.  The scaly bark is one of it's attributes.  Probably best to plant this away from your house, walks and streets.  It needs plenty of room.  Mature height can be over 100 feet.
4. Green Vase Zelkova - Zelkova serrata 'Green Vase Zelkova' - The University of Florida describes this tree perfectly... "'Green Vase' somewhat resembles the vase shape of American Elms, is more upright in habit and tolerant of pollution, makes a great city street tree.  Zelkova is often listed as a replacement for American Elm since it has roughly the same vase shape and grows 70 to 80 feet tall with a 50 to 60-foot spread. Zelkova is massive, with the trunk capable of growing to four feet or more in diameter. It has a moderate growth rate and likes a sunny exposure. Branches are more numerous and smaller in diameter than American Elm. Major branches grow very upright and provide easy clearance for tall vehicles below making it quite suitable as a street tree. Leaves are 1.5 to 4 inches long, turning a brilliant burnt umber in the fall."
5. Cryptomeria - 'Cryptomeria japonica' - Tall, fast growing evergreen tree that is ideal to plant along a property line for privacy.  If you are thinking of a Leyland Cypress - Don't! - plant Cryptomeria instead.  (Space 6-8 feet apart for a healthy hedge.  If you plant them too close their health in the long run will not be so good.)
6. Green Giant Arborvitae - Thuja plicata 'Green Giant Arborvitae' - Same use and similar growth as Cryptomeria but more of a 'cedar' look.
7. Willow Oak - Quercus phellos 'Willow Oak' - My favorite Oak.  Easy to grow, few problems in our area.
8. Brackens Brown Beauty Magnolia - Magnolia grandiflora 'Brackens Brown Beauty' - Since I knew Mr. Bracken personally, maybe I am prejudiced.  This is a beautiful tall evergreen with occasional large white blooms.  You need a lot of area to plant this - at least 40 feet from the nearest tree, house, sidewalk or street.
9. Cherokee Sweetgum - Liquidambar styraciflua 'Cherokee Sweetgum' - This is a seedless (no gumballs) version of a stately tall hardwood.  It is an upright tree that can be planted within 15 feet of other obstacles.   
10. Deodor Cedar - Cedrus deodara 'Deodar Cedar' - Very large growing - "Christmas Tree" look.

Two very good websites for more information about trees:
Clemson
UF

Rich

The Art of SEO

  In the summer of 2009 I phoned my father and asked him about a mechanical issue I was having with my truck.  He may not be an expert mechanic, but he is miles ahead of me.  His response to my issue was "why don't you GOOGLE ...(whatever the issue was)".  While I certainly was familiar with the internet, had a company website and knew what it was to 'google something' - this struck me.  If a 70 year old man who types with 2 fingers and hasn't ever read an owners manual in his life... googles for information - then maybe everybody does.  Maybe our company should focus more on internet marketing.
  So in the fall of 2009 I began redoing the website for Blue Dot Landscaping.  Boy, have I been in for an education.  In addition to not being a computer programmer, the entire vocabulary necessary to read and perform certain tasks was new to me.  It was like looking up a word in the dictionary, only to find the definition written in Chinese. I was determined to do this myself, and not hire a company to do the work.  One reason was that I wanted complete and frequent access to our website so that I could update it.  I wound up with a compromise.  I purchased and installed Microsoft Expression Web.  But then instead of creating a website from scratch, I purchased and installed a template from i3dthemes.com. 
The website was essentially finished in about 3 months, but I have continually updated it.  I would call my overall experience a success.  At least I know the definitions (in english) of a lot more words.
  The next step has been actually getting people to see our website.  Being online, I have found, is only part of the battle.  It doesn't do too much good if we have a website, but no-one sees it.   If I had it to do over again, I would have started with reading "The Art of SEO" by Enge,Spencer, Fishkin and Stricchiola.  As it is, I purchased this book about 6 months ago and have found it an immense help.  In order to popularize one's website with google one must engage in SEO (search engine optimization) as well as SEM (search engine marketing).  SEO is basically making sure your website is a searchable, quality website.  SEM is of course, marketing that website.
  My first mistake, later corrected, was too many pictures and not enough content.  I have designed and used many different brochures for Blue Dot Landscaping (and Regan Landscaping before that).  Apparently Google doesn't recognize pictures and places a lot of emphasis on the text of a web page.  This was contrary to my previous experience. 
  After creating a quality website, an important step is to get others to 'link' to your site.  Two really good landscaping companies might both have quality websites.  The landscaper with the most quality and relevent links to his site is going to rank higher.  Two good examples of landscaping company websites are Peachtree Landscaping, a fine company located in middle Tennessee and Scottsdale Landscaping of Arizona.  According to The Art of SEO - "Links are the main determinants of ranking behavior." The idea of quality links is to get links from websites that rank high in the eyes of Google.  The relevant factor is self explanitory, we would rather have a link from a landscape architect or a landscaping page than a page that sells pink widgets.
  I have been discussing a high ranking with Google.  Certainly every landscaping company knows that a high google ranking is a good thing.  But ranking how?  Finding 'keywords' is another education I have undertaken.  A keyword is the term for what people type in the box to search Google.  I assumed 'landscaping company Greenville' would be enough.  I could not have been more wrong.  I have a page called "Garden Ponds", you might think the keyword "garden pond" is enough.  Well, it is not enough.  There are about 50 different variations of what people enter in the google search when they want a garden pond.  Koi  pond, Koi ponds, water feature, water features, backyard water garden, fish ponds, landscape ponds, etc... you get the idea. 
  Overall, I consider our work a success.  We are now tracking 51 keywords.  "Landscaping company Greenville" and "Landscaping company Spartanburg" are on the first page of Google.  "Back yard ideas Spartanburg", "Lawn irrigation Spartanburg", "Lawn sprinkler Spartanburg" and "Back yard ideas Greenville" are ALL number one in Google Search.  With links from other great landscaping companies like the ones in Nashville, TN and Scottsdale, AZ - we hope to have high rankings in all of our 51 keywords.  Then we might find 51 more to tackle.

Rich

Gotta start somewhere

Welcome to my first post.  I am Rich Regan, partner in Blue Dot Landscaping located half-way between Greenville and Spartanburg, SC.  I must admit that creating and posting on this blog is purely a self centered desire to make http://www.bluedotlandscaping.com/ more popular.  I will, however, try to make most of my writing relevant to landscaping and hardscaping.  I use the term 'landscaping' to include things like design, landscape architecture, new plantings of trees, shrubs and flowers, irrigation and beautiful lawns.  'Hardscaping' is meant to include things like garden ponds, walkways, patios, fencing, etc.
I will also at times write about:

• Creating and marketing our website.
• My twin boys and Byrnes football.
• Politics and current events.

Since I have, based on an accurate count, exactly ZERO subscribers to this blog as of today... I will make this short.

See ya,

Rich