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 A green, healthy, more weed-free lawn is one of your most important investments in caring for your home. What do people see first as they pull up to your home, and what do you see first when coming home? It’s often the lawn and landscape! At LawnAmerica, we work hard to make sure that it’s a great impression and feeling that comes from a great-looking lawn and landscape. And, with our service, you actually save time and money compared to the “do-it-yourself” method. (be sure to check out our Lawncare Calculator!)
Successful weed-control is dependent upon a pre-emergent herbicide applied before crabgrass germinates. In this part of the country, that usually means by around the 1st of April. We use Barricade, the best on the market. It needs to be watered into the soil after application, and will provide about 6 months of control for crabgrass, other grassy weeds, along with helping with some broadleaf weeds also. No pre-emergent is perfect, and rainy weather as we’ve experienced the last few years doesn’t help any.
If you are an existing customer, existing weeds should be few. With your Step 1 treatment, we include two additional herbicides, Trimec and Atrazine, to clean up any existing weeds, and provide more pre-emergent control of certain broadleaf weeds. Fescue turf is treated with a different mix, which has Nitrogen fertilizer instead of the Atrazine herbicide in the mix.
 One thing we’ve added to our website this year is a “Lawncare Calculator.” By inputting some basic information, such as your lawn size, distance to the store, cost of equipment, and most importantly the value of your free time, the “Lawncare Calculator“ will automatically provide you with information on LawnAmerica service compared to the cost of doing it yourself.
Most of the time, it costs less to have us do it! Plus, our service is guaranteed, with free service calls if needed for full-program customers.
Visit the Lawncare Calculator now.
We love what we do, and are excited about helping our customers with their lawncare needs in 2009. We would like your help in growing our business this spring, which benefits all of us. So, we are having a special Spring New Customer Referral Contest through April 15th:
For every new customer you refer to LawnAmerica who begins service with our 5, 6, or 7-Step Program, you’ll receive a $40 Rebate in early June, as long as they are still a customer. Plus, you’ll be entered into our Referral Contest, with the customer who refers the most new customers to us receiving their 2009 lawncare for FREE, up to a $500 value!
Click here to refer a friend or neighbor to LawnAmerica.
 Photinia is a common shrub in the Tulsa area, belonging to the rosaceous family. Several species, including Photinia serrulata and Photinia glabra, and a hybrid, Photinia x fraseri, are grown for landscaping. Because of its bright red, immature foliage, Photinia x fraseri, also known as "red tip," is the most popular photinia grown. While Photinia is a fast-growing and beautiful shrub, all of these ornamentals are susceptible to leaf spotting caused by the fungus Entomosporium mespili.).
Symptoms
Leaf spots on photinia first appear as minute, slightly raised dots on either surface of the leaf. Older spots have a slightly depressed center with raised margins. The centers of the necrotic spots are dotted with minute black specks, which are the spore-producing structures of the fungus. Leaf spots are discrete in light infections, but in heavy infections they often coalesce to form large dark red to black spots and blighted areas. Heavy infections cause premature defoliation and even death of the plant.
Disease Cycle
The fungus overwinters as mycelium in fallen infected leaves from the previous year. In the spring the fungus produces spores that are dispersed by splashing water to healthy tissue. Symptoms first appear on the new growth of the lowest branches and spread gradually upward. The fungus continues to sporulate throughout the growing season. Excessive rainfall or irrigation on the leaves will increase the severity of the disease.
Cultural Control
Collect fallen leaves in the winter to reduce sources of fungal inoculum before new growth appears in the spring. Plants pruned in late summer may suffer infections on resultant new growth into the fall. Avoid frequent pruning and over-fertilization, which stimulate succulent growth.
Chemical Control
Fungicides can be used preventatively, but they must be applied on a regular basis throughout the season for effective control. Our Tree & Shrub Program has several services which will help combat Leaf Spot Disease, specifically our Early Spring and Early Summer Insect & Disease Treatments. Each of these liquid drench treatments include a fungicide which will control Leaf Spot, and other common plant diseases. We also include an insecticide and a miticide at certain times of the season to help control any damaging insect pests. A small amount of liquid fertilizer is also included to help supply necessary nutrients for good overall plant health. These treatments are applied not only to Photinias, but on most other shrubs and small trees which are susceptible to disease and insect problems.
Photinias begin developing Leaf Spot as early as late March or early April at bud break, so treatments need to begin then. This season, we have added a new special early spring treatment specifically for early fungicide treatment on Photinias which if applied at this time, should help combat the disease significantly. If you want to tackle this yourself, a homeowner can apply a fungicide with a hose-end sprayer, drenching the leaves with a fungicide that is labeled for control of Leaf Spot. Fungicides that will do a good job of handling photinia leaf spot include but are not limited to Spectracide Immunox Multi-Purpose Fungicide, Ortho Garden Disease Control, Green Light Fung-Away Systemic Fungicide, Feti-lome Liquid Systemic Fungicide, Bayer Advanced Disease Control for Roses Flowers and Shrubs. This is a fairly easy treatment to apply as a homeowner, assuming you have the time to do it. For best results, spray about every 14 days until summer. The severity of the disease lessens as leaves mature and with hotter and drier weather conditions. Since our tree & shrub treatments are on a 4-5 week cycle usually, you may also treat the plants yourself in-between our regular treatments for better control.
Contact us at LawnAmerica and we’ll provide more information and pricing on our tree & shrub services, the new Photenia Early Spring Treatment, and advise you on how to treat yourself if you like.
 Moles continue to be a severe problem in many Tulsa area landscapes and lawns, so we are adding another bullet in our holster in an attempt to battle them. We currently have a Mole Control Program, where our Technicians scout the lawn for moles every time we do a regular lawncare treatment, up to 6 or 7 times per season. If moles are active, we’ll set up to 5 Talprid mole baits into the active tunnels, and follow-up with a service call in about 2-3 weeks to set more baits if needed. In many cases, we’ve been able to control mole activity with this service, but in other lawns, it seems we are still fighting a loosing battle.
Another option to this program, either to try instead of or in addition to, is our new “Mole Patrol.” For a 1-time fee of $150, we will provide to you the homeowner the following, assuming you have the time and desire to help fight the battle against moles yourself:
- Your Route Manager will deliver to you a new professional Magnum Mole Trap, which is far superior, easier to use, and longer lasting than what’s available at the box stores.
- He will also deliver a box of 20 Talprid Mole Baits, the same product we use with our program.
- He will show you how to use the trap, and how to use the baits. Specifically, you’ll be shown where to look and spot the maid active mole tunnels, where to best set the trap, and how to set the baits.
 You, the homeowner, really have the advantage over us because you see your lawn every day. When new mole activity and dirt piles appear, you can move the trap to new areas, and set fresh bait. If you have the time and patience (both are key), you can have success with this. If you run out of Talprid baits, you may purchase more from us for $60, or you can purchase a similar product named Tomcat at the garden centers.
Other methods, such as applying insecticide to kill grubworms, sonic devices, poison peanuts, smoke bombs, etc. are a waste of time and money. From our experience, the best way to combat moles is not to try to move them to your neighbor’s lawn, but to control (a nicer word for kill) them with traps and baits. The population is really out of hand, partly due to the fact that there are few natural predators in the urban environment, such as coyotes, hawks, eagles, etc. And, your house cat is often too lazy to get out and hunt!
Contact us now, and we’ll schedule a time for your Route Manger to come out to your home with the tools needed to do your own “Mole Patrol.” If you currently are on our regular Mole Program, and it’s working fine, you may not have a need for this. Or, you may want to try this instead, because it is generally cheaper than having us do the work. And, if your mole problem is severe, it may justify doing both—using our service, with you helping out with trapping and setting more baits in-between our regular treatments.
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