What Lawn Care and Landscaping Companies Advise about Watering In the Fall

To water or not to water in fall? That is the question.

As one of the leading lawn care and landscaping companies in southwest Louisiana, our customers always come to us for information. Most want to know how to take care of their lawns in different seasons. We are glad to help.

One of the most asked questions is whether they should stop watering in the fall. The answer is not as clear-cut as yes or no.

Spring and summer are the seasons of growth and bloom. Most people think these are the only appropriate times to feed the lawn with nutrients and water.

Fall is the season when plant growth slows down. Therefore, the question of whether to water or not to water in fall is genuine and well warranted.

If you have different plants in your lawn, you cannot take a blanket approach for how to treat the lawn in any season. The reason for this is that different plants have different needs.

As part of our landscape maintenance services, we advise a holistic approach, ensuring the overall health of the lawn. Every plant type should be treated individually.

Fall is the time for building strong root systems

In fall, perennial plants and shrubs like lantana, Mexican heather, butterfly bush, rudbeckia, Shasta daisy, shoal creek vitex trees, native willow oak and sweet bay magnolia to name but just a few will be busy building their root network.

Fall comes after the plants have been busy throughout spring and summer building their leaves, flowers and fruits. Thus, in fall, they direct all of their energy to the root system. For this, they will need water.

In fall, your plant roots will anchor themselves firmly waiting for spring and summer. For this too, they need water. There could be some rainfall in autumn, but it might not be enough. Our lawn maintenance services team advises lawn owners to know what amounts of water different plants would need. That way, they can determine how much watering they would need in fall.

Fall dehydration is a big risk for your plants

Because we mostly experience dry autumns, our lawns dehydrate fast. We advise our clients to prepare for fall watering. Those roots will need all the help they can get from you to anchor themselves firmly in the soil.

You can water your lawn a few times a week, and in some weeks, you may not need to water at all. It is best to consult with professional lawn care and landscaping companies. Call us on 313-337-3002 and we will help you determine when to water and when not to.

If the weather is dry or warm in fall, you should water. If it is windy, you should water. These conditions cause your plants to dehydrate, thus starving your roots. You can supplement what the weather has not provided with watering.

As your lawn plants make a transition from active growing to dormancy, the plant juices flow from top to bottom. If the rain stops too soon before all juice can flow downwards, it will dry out.

The result will be plant tissue that is starved of water. If this happens, your plants will be stressed out during fall. When the growing season comes, they may not bloom as robustly as you had hoped they would.

You can help your plants avoid stress by watering them. This will keep their tissue hydrated and encourage the last of the juices containing the nutrients that your roots need to flow down.

What is the worst that can happen when you do not water in fall?

Two things – bad and worse can happen. The bad one is that too little watering or no watering at all may cause the roots to die. Completely!

The worst is that you will not know that your plant roots have died. You will only know in the growing seasons when you notice the absence of healthy bloom. By then it will be too late to rectify the situation.

Lack of water in fall could also make the plants weak and susceptible to diseases, pests and insects in summer. While the trees have deeper reaching roots and may survive dry falls with their health intact, perennials and shrubs may develop a weak root system.

One problem that lawn owners face is not knowing how much water their lawns need in fall. Consult landscape maintenance services to unravel this mystery.

To prepare our customers for fall, we advise them on the best approaches for fall watering as below:

• Water when the temperature is a bit warm. If you water when the temperature is below 40°, the risk of the moisture in the soil freezing is high.
• Water around the noon hour when it is warmer. Water penetrates the soil better at that hour.
• Mulching is very important in summer. It helps retain the moisture in the soil and prevents cracking.
• Too much water is bad in fall.
• Do not water when it is windy.

You have seen how your plant health in summer will be determined by how well you care for them during the cold seasons.

You can also see why you should not skimp on watering in fall, just as grass cutting services advise you.

Definitely, to water or not to water in fall is not a matter of a straight yes or no answer. There are many intricacies involved. With the help of lawn care and landscaping companies, you will know just how much water your lawn needs in fall.


Author         : tclsadmin

Contact us  :Lawn care services

Address      :1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663


Telephone  : 337-313-3002

How Garden and Lawn Maintenance Services Will Help You Control Garden Pests

At different times of the year, there will be different garden pest infestations. That is why you need to consult garden and lawn maintenance services to know what pest is bothering your garden in fall.

If you think you have a pest problem in your lawn, call us. With so many pests being native to southwest Louisiana, it is most likely that you will be dealing with one kind of pest in the lawn, another in the garden and so on. With the help of our lawn care company, it should be easy to identify the kind of pest invasion in your home garden.

Most common types of fall garden pests in southwest Louisiana

Grub worms


There are different species of grub worms. The most common in southwest Louisiana are the C-shaped white larvae of the species Cyclocepha hirta or the C. pasadenae. These hatch from the eggs of the Japanese Beetle, laid in summer.

They hide deep in the soil and they feed on the roots of your plants. You could have a lovely green garden and then start noticing some plants losing their color, and eventually wilting and dying.

If you have grubs in your lawn, they can spread to your garden easily. In any case, you still do not want the grubs chewing on your grass roots. While other worms, such as earthworms help make the soil soft and easy for plant roots to penetrate and spread, grubs are harmful with no benefit in your garden. You have to get rid of them.


Signs of grub worm infestation


Your grass or plants will start having droopy leaves. You could also have brown patches appearing in your lawn. You will realize that there are different shades of green in your lawn. That is an indication of grub worm infestation. However, most people confuse such sign with lack of enough nutrients and water.

The ground starts feeling spongy and springy when you walk on it. If you step a little too forcefully, you can cause it to cave in. That is an indication of very serious grub invasion. Also be on the lookout for sudden unexplained death of shrubs, grass, flowers and other plants. Lastly, if your start noticing animals like armadillos, moles and other rodents and pests, look out for grubs because these animals feed on them.


Armyworms


In Louisiana, there are two types of armyworm. True armyworms are mostly found in northern Louisiana while fall armyworms are found all over the state.

Armyworm is a common fall garden pest in Louisiana. The females lay eggs on just about any surface, but mostly on the grass blades. In several days, the eggs hatch into larvae and in less than 14 days, they will have grown to full adults.

Unless you actively go looking for the armyworm indications, it can be hard to know you have them in your lawn because they do not consume a lot. However, they will stay in one place until they exhaust the food resources there and then they will migrate en masse to another field. This means that by the time you realize you have armyworm, serious defoliation will have taken place.

Lawn maintenance services advise homeowners to check the grass carefully for any small green pellets. These are the fecal matter of the fall armyworm. However, even this can be hard to miss sometimes, especially if you are busy and are hardly at home.

You should also look for clipped grass blades. This is a sure indication of fall armyworm. Another thing to look out for is brown patches of grass. If you also notice a worm that curls into a C-shape when you prod it with a stick, you are, or rather your lawn is under attack.

Fall armyworms are also notorious for boring holes in the stalk of grass. Thus, you should watch your Bermuda grass carefully for such signs.

Get rid of garden pests fast using garden and lawn maintenance services

Once you realize that your lawn and garden have been invaded, you will want to do everything possible to get rid of the grub and armyworms. But as you look for information about this, you may find some sources saying you should use organic methods, and some saying that you should use chemicals.

Confused? Consult professionals to eliminate the guesswork out of the picture. When you call us, we will send lawn maintenance services professionals to your lawn to find out what kind of infestation you have. They will then advise you on the best pest control method.

Be careful with lawn chemicals!

Lawn chemicals can be dangerous if not handled properly. That is another reason why you need professional grass cutting services providers as they will have the means to control the spread of the pesticides. Lawn chemicals should not get into water bodies, vegetable gardens, storm water drains and human and pet inhabited areas. We advise spraying pesticides in calm weather as wind can spread these chemicals widely.

Before you use any kind of chemical in your garden, you should read the label closely and see whether it is approved for use on the kinds of plants that you have in your garden. You do not want to kill your plants, so take care.

You can see how intricate the process of pest elimination is. That is why you should hire a garden and lawn maintenance services team to mitigate the pest problem before they can cause too much damage. At TCLS, we usually advise our customers to call us as soon as they estimate the grub worm or armyworm damage to be about 5 percent.


Contact us  :

Author        : TenderCareLawnService

Address      :1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663

Telephone  : 337-313-3002