What a name for such a harmless creature!  I say creature because a slime mold is neither a plant nor an animal. It is more closely related to the amoeba and certain seaweeds than fungi. This disgusting looking slime mold is often found feeding on the fungus and bacteria that are involved in the decomposition of organic matter, usually on bark mulch or even dead tree roots near the surface of the soil. They are actually helping return nitrogen to the soil, so if you can stand to leave them [...]

Lawn Irrigation Most of us cringe when asked how much and how often we should water our lawns. Well, cringe no more! There is a very simple way to determine how long to run our lawn irrigation, and a simpler way to determine how often to run it!  Better yet, once you determine the “magic number”, you will not have to do it again! (I know that most people pick a “magic number” out of the sky to determine how long your sprinkler will run.) No more guesswork! Each lawn [...]

Is it necessary to water lawns in the winter? Many people are asking whether to water their lawns in the winter. In Central Texas, that can be a loaded question. Some winters, the temperatures do not drop low enough for a long enough time for our lawns to even go dormant. In that case, if we do not receive ½” of rain, we would advise watering about ½” every two weeks. During our colder winters, when grass turns brown and goes dormant, the roots still remain viable and grow very [...]

Remember the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? That certainly applies to the use of pre-emergent herbicides. Who wouldn’t prefer spreading a product on our lawns and beds that STOPS the weeds BEFORE they come up? A real no-brainer for me! The correct product with the correct timing ensures success! Because weeds are classified as “warm-season or cool-season”, according to the temperature at which they germinate, we can address a particular weed we have by timing the application of pre-emergent appropriately. I’ve said it [...]

Weed and Feed Why are Weed and Feed products not recommended in Central Texas? It’s simple, really. For spring application, we address both pre- and post-emergent weed problems early in the season, many times before the grass has re-emerged from winter dormancy. The grass will not require fertilizer until it has emerged in the spring and has been growing well enough to have been mowed at least two times. For fall application, we address the weed seeds early, by using pre-emergent in mid-September to October, BEFORE they have germinated. We [...]

March-April is the time to wake up the SOIL! As we watch our lawns begin to green up and grow enough to mow them, they will benefit from an application of an organic fertilizer to aid in their carbohydrate production. The general "rule of thumb" is to apply fertilizer to lawns after you have mowed it 2-3 times. However, that applies to chemical forms of nitrogen, not organic forms. (Avoid  chemical forms of fertilizer with a very high nitrogen analysis. High nitrogen can predispose lawns to diseases such as Take [...]

Remember the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? That seems to have been written about the use of pre-emergent herbicides. Who wouldn’t prefer spreading a product on our lawns and beds that STOPS the weed BEFORE it comes up? A real no-brainer for me! Because weeds are classified as “warm-season or cool-season” according to the temperature at which they germinate, we can address a particular weed we may have by timing the application of pre-emergent appropriately. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it [...]