Play by the Rules when Fertilizing Your Lawn

If you live in VA, follow the rules when you are feeding your lawn!

Virginia Tech and the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation have established restrictions on fertilizing lawns that, if followed, will provide for a nice, thick, green lawn and at the same time help protect our surface waters. Whether you fertilize the lawn yourself or hire a firm to do it for you, making sure these guidelines are followed should be on your spring to do list.

Nutrient enrichment, along with sedimentation, are the two biggest problems facing the Chesapeake Bay. Excessive amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) get carried off by storm water and stimulate algal blooms which deplete the water of oxygen and cause aquatic plants and animals to die.

Homeowners can help in two ways. First, if you have a lawn, maintain it! Folks who let their lawns go in the name 'helping the environment' don't! Weedy, thin stands of grass have more erosion problems and increase storm water runoff. In fact, nothing helps protect soil from erosion (limiting sedimentation), improves water infiltration (limiting run off) and cleans tainted water (filtering out unwanted chemicals) better then a nice thick stand of grass. Secondly, maintain your lawn in a responsible manner. Avoid excess use of pesticides, properly manage your lawn clippings and, most importantly, fertilize wisely.

Managing phosphorus is actually pretty easy. Since 2013, phosphorus in lawn maintenance fertilizers has been banned in the Virginia. The exception is when a soil test shows there is a need. So secure a proper sample of soil from your lawn (see our Bio Green blog post on soil testing). Submit it to Virginia Tech and follow the recommendations for applying the phosphorus your lawn needs (if any). Test the soil every 3-6 years thereafter to see if any additional phosphorus (P) is needed.

Nitrogen is a little more complicated and requires a little math. For total nitrogen applied each year to a cool season grass (most lawns in NOVA are cool season), you should not exceed 3.5 pounds of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 square feet of lawn area.

That total amount of nitrogen needs to be broken up into multiple applications timed to when the turf needs them the most and avoided when the turf is dormant and/or the ground is frozen. If you are using a slow release form of nitrogen (it will say so on the label), these individual applications can be no greater the .9 lbs/1,000 square feet. If all fast release nitrogen is used, the limit is .7 lbs/1,000 square feet.

Do not assume that the lawn care company you hired or the pre-mixed 4-step fertilizer you apply yourself follows these guidelines. Most do not. For example, the popular brandname 4-step program applies over 40%  more nitrogen then the state recommends.

If you would like to avoid the math but still make sure you are not contributing to the problem every time you feed your lawn, feel free to contact me directly at this address (click here). Let me know the fertilizer blend you or your lawn care provider will be using (list the amount of N, P and K and the percentage that is slow release or simply snap a picture of the label) and I will tell you the maximum rate at which it should be applied. If you like, we can outline a lawn feeding program for the entire year.

Happy Birthday to My Grandson

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy First Birthday to my one and only grandchild,  Wayne. He was born in Norway where his dad was working on his master’s degree in International Fish Studies.

Little Wayne was a whooping 10 pounds and 21 inches at birth and has since moved with his mom and dad from Norway to Hawaii! Hawaii is where his mother was born and raised. With the climate being slightly more agreeable than the frozen tundra of northern Norway, Wayne has had no objections!

So, to continue the international and tropical flavors of Wayne’s first year, let's also wish him happy birthday in Norwegian and Hawaiian!

Gratulerer Med Dagen and Hau`oli la Hanau, dear Wayne!

SMART Water Saving Technology - The Best Way to Water Your Lawn!

Conserving Water is Important - and Now It's In an App!

Conserving water used by residential sprinkler systems is finally fashionable and all it took was a cool app for your phone! For the last half dozen years or so, SMART water saving technology for automatic sprinkler systems has improved drastically. Over that same time frame my company, Bio Green, has positioned itself as an industry leader in offering the latest water conservation options for upgrading older systems as well as new installations.

The Early Days of SMART Lawn Sprinklers

It was a struggle early on to convince many homeowners that investing the money to save water would pay off. Folks getting a number of estimates for their new system would see that we were the only contractors offering SMART options. To say they were skeptical is putting it mildly. At one point, we were told by our supplier that we were the only company they knew of outside the Southwest U.S. that ordered onsite weather stations instead of just rain sensors. Slowly but surely though, our persistence paid off. By 2015, more the 50% of Bio Green's new installations were SMART lawn irrigation systems.

Interest in Water Saving Technology - From Trickle to Torrent

This year, the trickle of interest in water saving technology has turned into a torrent. Two of the largest irrigation manufacturers, Rainbird and Hunter, began to offer a control box with Wifi capability that would communicate with local weather stations and modify watering to maximizing efficiency...plus it had a cool app for your phone. Now everybody is interested. 'You mean I can sit on a beach in Cali and operate my sprinkler in Fairfax?' Awesome!

The Next Wave of SMART Irrigation Technology is Here
This new wave of interest is still relatively shallow (sticking with the water metaphor). A weather-based controller can make your sprinkler system water more efficient, but it is just the tip of the iceberg (ice...water...close enough). Multiple additional products offer advances like pressure regulation at each head, flow meters, soil sensors, etc. that should all be considered when designing a truly efficient system nowadays. In many cases, these less sexy options will save a great deal more water than the fancy WiFi control box, but have yet to be embraced by the sprinkler buying public.

The irrigation industry has taken a giant step in garnering the public's interest in water conservation with these new controllers. Now, at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, we need to get those whippersnappers to look past their phones to the other proven SMART technologies available. We’ll be looking in the winter off-season for a celebrity to tweet about them!

Author: Dave Schrader, the NOVA Lawn Guru

Mosquitoes: Pest Control Strategies for Northern Virginia

Mosquito Forecast: Extensive Infestations This Summer

It is looking to be a banner year for mosquitoes. The heavy rains we've had this spring along with the rapid jump into 90+ degree days creates perfect conditions for them to thrive. While you more then likely have encountered some mosquitoes in May... they are about to get thick.

Mosquito Precautionary Options

There are some modest precautions you can take (avoid dark colored clothing, limit outside activities during evening/early morning hours when they are most active, wear long pants and sleeved shirts when necessary).he choices for treatments to significantly reduce mosquito infestations on your property really comes down to applying copious quantities of repellant or initiating a mosquito control program.

Evaluate Mosquito Pest Control Spray Treatment Choices

If you want kill the little blood suckers, fight the urge to try to kill them all. Look for a  program that embraces the precepts of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) rather than an total eradication program. The most sensible thing environmentally is to employ multiple strategies that seek to reduce the population to acceptable levels. Eliminate breeding sites and safe resting sites (after a blood meal, the female mosquito will find the closest shaded spot to rest) wherever possible in addition to timely, thorough but limited insecticide applications.

If the contractor you're talking to sprays 8+ times per year and guarantees zero mosquitoes (or they'll spray even more), you should keep looking. Not sure where to start? Try our Bio Green Mosquito Control Programs page!

Author: Dave Schrader, the NOVA Lawn Guru

Core Aeration - Advice for Northern VA Homeowners

While many folks are familiar with core aeration, most don’t realize the impact aeration has on the lawn. A good aeration is judged by the depth and frequency of plugs pulled. A 2 ½ to 3 inch plug (about the size of your forefinger) pulled every 3 to 4 inches is very good.

There are two basic machine designs:

1. The drum type aerator which has the hollow tines that pull the plugs of soil mounted on a drum or series of weighted disks. This machine relies on its weight to penetrate the soil to pull a plug. If you’re dealing with a nice loamy soil that has sufficient moisture, you will pull an excellent plug. That is rarely the case in Northern Virginia. With our heavy clay soils and often hot, dry conditions well into September, the drum type aerator struggles to do a good job. I have seen cinder blocks wired to the top of drum aerators in an attempt to pull a better plug.
2. The other (preferred type) is a reciprocating or direct drive aerator. This machine’s design has offset steel tines that are driven into the soil by the force of the engine. This machine will pull a plug out of your driveway if you take a wrong turn. The depth, frequency and consistency of the plugs pulled by a reciprocating core aerator are far better than a drum type.

That being said, the vast majority of aerators used by professional lawn care companies and available for rent are drum type. Why? You get three guesses and the first two don’t count. That’s right, they are cheaper. Not only are the machines typically one third the cost, with fewer moving parts and less wear and tear, drum aerators have fewer maintenance issues.

When you are ready to have your lawn core aerated, be sure to ask what type of machine will be used. It makes all the difference in the world. We’re pulling plugs now at at my company, Bio Green, so let us know if we can help.


Photo credit: "AIREADORA 07" by Guipozjim - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AIREADORA_07.JPG#/media/File:AIREADORA_07.JPG

Author: Dave Schrader, the NOVA Lawn Guru

Beautiful Lawns Don't Ever Need to Gorge on Nutrients

Winning the battle of ‘hearts and minds’ is never easy. One of the best examples of trying to change the mind of folks set in their ways was given to me by one of my professors at the University of Maryland years ago. Extension agents all over the country spent a goodly amount of the 20th century trying to convince farmers to decrease their row spacing from the traditional 36” when planting corn. Backed by research dating from the 1930’s showing increased yields, fewer weeds and lower irrigation requirements, tighter row spacing seemed, on the surface, to be an easy sell. With self propelled tractors being the norm, most farmers had forgotten that the origin of 36” row spacing was the width of a plow horse backside. That being said, it still took decades before the majority of farmers decreased the row spacing of corn.

I have gone through a similar experience regarding fertilizer requirements for turfgrass. When my company, Bio Green, first began servicing lawns in 1987, our program applied 7 lbs/1000 square feet of nitrogen and 1 ½ lbs/1000 square feet of phosphorus annually. This was thought to be what a cool season grass needed to look its best.

As awareness of nutrient enrichment problems in the Chesapeake Bay increased, the science of fertilization needs expanded. Research began to show that high quality turf could be maintained at much lower fertilizer rates, but it was still hard to make that leap. Change could risk our entire business if it didn’t work.

Well, Bio Green was one of the first lawn care companies to lower our fertilizer rates. We haven't looked back since. The current Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (revised July, 2014) recommended rates (which Bio Green follows) are for 3 ½ lbs/1000 square feet of nitrogen annually and only applying phosphorus when soil testing shows a need. Not only do our lawns still look excellent, we save a great deal on material costs which have enabled us to keep our prices in check.

Image source: Corn Field in Colorado, wikimedia commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corn_field_in_Colorado.jpg
Author: Dave Schrader, the NOVA Lawn Guru

Soil Sampling Has To Be Done Right

This past spring, I wrote about why soil testing is important (see my Bio Green blog entry for more info). One overlooked point of that blog post was the importance of how the soil sample is taken, which is not complex but does take thought and effort. The most likely roadblock to getting accurate soil test results is poor sampling technique. The soil test labs themselves (we use VA Tech) make so few mistakes, it's safe to assume that any potential errors are not their fault. That little 6 ounce box 'o dirt you send them needs to represent about 500,000 pounds of soil for the average sized quarter acre lawn. You can easily see if the sample is not taken properly, the results won't help you much. I won't get into the step by step of how to pull a good soil sample (visit VA Tech's web site for instructions),but rest assured, leaning out of your truck to pull a few plugs right where you parked is not the preferred method.

Photo Credit: Joseph R. Hunnings, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech; Stephen J. Donohue, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech; Steve Heckendorn, Laboratory Manager, Virginia Tech Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University

Author: Dave Schrader, the NOVA Lawn Guru