2012 Year of the Missing Winter + Coping with an Early Spring

Do you recall? Back on Feb. 2 groundhog General Beauregard Lee predicted and early spring. He was right on target. 

This year it seems that winter forgot to put in an appearance. Mild Fall temperatures blended into Spring and the whole season is so early that it is throwing metro-Atlanta landscapes off a little. Now is a great time to phone your Crabapple LandscapExpert Rep to discuss major league spring training of the properties you manage.  

• There was no snowfall this year and only 3 nights in the 20s or teens 
• Planting and transplanting trees and shrubs continued every month (October, November, December, January, February, March) 
• Daffodil bulbs planted as late as the end of January grew great roots quickly and are already blooming
• Now all the flowers are blooming at once and overlapping their seasons. Camellias at the same times as roses; daffodils and dahlias, flowering cherries and summer annuals all at once
• Likewise, pines, hardwoods and flowering trees, along with pollen from grasses, are all coming into bloom at once, creating a perfect storm for pollen sufferers.
• Weeds got an early start in turf and landscape beds (and some never died off from last fall)
• Fungus and mold growth got a good start in the warm, rainy winter
• Insects wintered over more easily so populations are bigger than normal
• Winter pruning is blending into spring (crape myrtles, grasses, groundcovers)
• Turf scalping is already in demand
• Fertilization to strengthen new growth is early
• Pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides are suggested for lawns and plant beds all at once
• Additional pesticide treatments may be advisable for ornamental shrubs and trees
• In some instances irrigation is already needed, and systems will need to be checked and turned on properly  

We are rolling up our sleeves to provide our clients with the best landscape maintenance services available. Your Crabapple LandscapExperts are here to advise you and recommend the landscape maintenance services are needed to keep the landscape looking great! 

Curb Appeal: Crabapple Earns an A+ from Atlanta BBB

 Property managers and Homeowners Association Reps have a great lawncare option with Crabapple LandscapExperts serving all of metro-Atlanta. Crabapple has been in business 20 years and has earned an A+ on a scale of A+ to F from the Atlanta Better Business Bureau for our professional landscape services. Before hiring a firm to straighten out edging or prune trees, become an educated consumer by consulting with a Crabapple Rep to determine what services will best highlight the properties you manage, rendering them more attractive and boosting your curb appeal.

Choosing The Best Landscape Services 

Some lawn maintenance companies just mow the lawn, while others specialize in beautiful seasonal color beds, installation of ornamental shrubs or tree pruning. Crabapple LandscapExperts does all that and much more.

First, each property under our care is evaluated and then provided with a tailor-made plan.  

• Crabapple offers basic packages of year-round maintenance that include turf mowing, fertilizing, trimming, edging and weed control of any variety of lawn that grows in metro-Atlanta. Our lawn care Techs can even use varied mowing patterns to draw attention to a focal point of your choice. 
• Our Seasonal Color Team plants brilliantly colorful annuals to accent your properties. 
• Crabapple enlists highly trained Arborists to help with your questions and who can repair, restore to health, or remove challenging trees. 
• Irrigation is an important aspect of our maintenance, and our Irrigation Specialists keep your system in top shape, trouble free and delivering the optimum amount of water during dry periods. 
• While lawn maintenance is a relatively simple science, outdoor pest and disease control requires more skill and certification by our LandscapExperts Team. 
• Naturally, seasonal clean-up and mulching services are available. Crabapple recycles all green materials in our composting facility at HQ.
• A drainage plan for your properties, erosion control and maintenance of water detention ponds, along with waterfowl disbursement is yet another aspect of Crabapple’s services.  

 Checklist for Prospective Property Managers or HOAs
Interviewing the property manager and understanding their goals, along with an evaluation of the needs of the particular lawn, trees, woody ornamentals and flowering plants on the property, helps us to know what options to suggest. A few of the questions in our evaluation of prospective properties include: 

• Type of Turf? 
• Factors that influence when and how often to provide mowing, mulching, fertilizing and pruning? 
• Integrated Pest Management Services to determine whether cultural controls or a pesticide is needed 
• Preferred types of weed control? Georgia certified pest controls are safe for children and pets.

Our LandscapExperts Team is insured, licensed and bonded to set your mind at ease, and our 20 years of award-winning performance and credentials make Crabapple the best property care option in metro-Atlanta.

What is the Best Cutting Height for Fescue Turf?

Fescue lawns are one of the most popular grass types in metro-Atlanta, due to the ease of establishment (by seed or sod) and especially due to its bright green color throughout winter when warm-season turfs are dormant and tan. Late winter and spring is often the most beautiful time of year for the well-cared for fescue lawns owned by Crabapple’s clients.  

Old-fashioned perennial bunch-type fescue grows rapidly during spring and fall, and due to its clumping style of growth, may require pre-emergent herbicide to stop weeds. Newer turf-type hard fescues developed and monitored by researchers at UGA and other land grant colleges are:

• more carpet-like, 
• improved disease resistance, 
• improved shade, heat and drought tolerance, 
• handsome dark medium green color. 

This season’s green lawns set off to perfection the brilliant pansies and snapdragons now blooming in adjacent flower beds

.

Late winter and spring mowing by CrabappleLandscapExperts is carefully calibrated to insure that the green top growth balances the hidden roots of the grass. We use rotary mowers with sharp blades to cleanly slice through the grass leaves without tearing. We mow the properties you manage often enough so that we never stress the lawn by scalping, removing only 1/3 of the length of the grass leaf at a time. The LandscapExperts know that mowing too low can cause fescue grass to thin out. At the same time, we inspect lawns under our care, checking for changes in color, health and density.  

Because Atlanta is near the southernmost limit for fescue, this type of turf can become stressed if mowed incorrectly, so it’s good to rely on our expertise. Two to three inches of height (depending on physical and climate conditions) creates an even-textured finish and a smooth, velvety surface that sets off landscapes and architecture while hiding uneven grading. To discuss your lawn with a CrabappleLandscapExpert, phone 770-740-9739. 


Photo Credit Brian Cross and Mooseys Country Garden

Leaves of Grass: Fertilizing Fescue Lawns

Leaves of Grass: Benefits of a Beautiful Green Lawn

A green lawn is a valuable asset to any landscape, framing the architecture and providing a restful green oasis for inhabitants. Landscape plantings, including lawn areas around homes and workplaces, have a positive impact on inhabitants. A healthy, maintained lawn area creates an inviting view for passers-by and provides a pleasing, natural backdrop for other landscape elements.

Even the uniform lawn surface provides a sense of coherence and harmony to the entire landscape scene. This peaceful setting contributes to a feeling of well being and a decrease in emotional tension

Did you know? Restful green lawn areas can reduce:

+ noise levels

+ hot summer temperatures (evapo-transpiration of moisture through the leaves)

+ Carbon dioxide (while increasing Oxygen levels)

+ air conditioning costs

+ glare and light reflection

+ particulate pollution in the air  

Of the two major categories of turf available in Georgia (warm season and cool season) Fescue grass is a cool season grass that remains green all year and looks best in the fall, winter and spring. Fescue becomes stressed during hot weather. Crabapple LandscapExperts maintain a detailed calendar to ensure that our clients with Fescue lawns receive the best possible service precisely when needed.  Best practices include an application of fertilizer in early Spring (February or March) that continues Fescue’s strong growth up to the hot days of summer. 

Crabapple LandscapExperts recommend improved turf-type Fescue varieties with finer blades and deeper, more vigorous root systems. As a rule, they are more disease and drought resistant, tolerating shade and temperature extremes better than some of the older Fescue varieties.

We carefully select fertilizer to best enhance foliar growth, creating a strong, lush, green Fescue lawn. The LandscapExperts determine the amount of fertilizer by careful soil testing. When indicated, lime is added on a late summer schedule to balance the acid/basic soil reaction and make sure the Fescue turf efficiently uses recommended fertilizer. 

Photo credits Crabapple LandscapExperts and CAES.UGA.edu 

Here Comes the Sun! Post-Emergent Herbicide for Spring

Want to take out those evil weeds appearing in your lawn? Call CrabappleLandscapExperts for an evaluation of the property you manage to determine if any lawns require spot treatment of green growing weeds in turf areas. Crabapple LandscapExperts' maintenance philosophy has evolved over the past 20 years as a result of listening to our customers’ likes and dislikes and relying on the combined years of expertise by our knowledgeable team of LandscapExperts. This blend of science, technology and experience delivers targeted, quality landscape maintenance to our customers.

Weed Prevention

While fighting weeds is a year-round job, weed prevention is best practiced in fall and winter to take advantage of the growing season of turf grasses and the sprouting season of weeds. This window of opportunity allows some weeds to be killed before they even sprout.

After Spring arrives, we stop aggressive weeds from getting the jump on the season.  

• A healthy, thick lawn is the number one defense against weeds 
• Crabapple’s regular fertilization schedule ensures the individual grass plants will be growing well  
• We watch mower height to ensure the grass is growing the most vigorously 

Although a well-maintained, densely growing turf typically crowds out weeds, occasionally the odd broadleaf dandelion or flowering onion will appear.

Keep in mind there are many ways that weeds can appear in a lawn: the wind can blow weed seeds from nearby lawns into yours, birds can deposit seeds, or weed seeds can ride along on the shoes of children running across the lawn.

  

Types of Weed Killers

 Targeted post-emergent herbicides are selective, killing only broad-leaf weeds and leaving narrow-leaf grasses alone. 

Other types of post-emergent herbicides are broad-spectrum and will non-selectively kill anything green, be it weeds, lawn, flowers or shrubs.

Weed Control

• Small patches of weeds can be mechanically dug  
• Carefully sprayed spot treatment of liquid post-emergent herbicide can accomplish a lot 
• Crabapple works with our customers to provide organic methods when requested.

Herbicide Safety

As with any chemical product, Crabapple follows package instructions carefully and we only use when it is the ideal solution for the problem. Herbicides can affect surrounding plants when used improperly or in large quantities. By carefully selecting the correct product, we can get rid of those pesky weeds in no time.

Liriope, to Trim or Not to Trim?

A versatile evergreen ground cover for Metro-Atlanta, Lirope (pronounced “lur-eye-oh-pee”) is used as an edging material for walkways, driveways, flower beds, and as a groundcover for shady spots in the garden. Liriope forms close mats of dark-green or variegated strap-like foliage and is a great landscaping plant that tolerates a wide range of soil types, performing well under a variety of landscape conditions.

Call it what you like, Monkey-Grass, Lily Turf, Border Grass or Lirop (common name is pronounced “leer-e-op”) is often used for shady beds. The well-behaved clumping Liriope is known as Liriope muscari.  It is so named because of its blue summer flowers that resemble grapes or blue grape hyacinths with the botanical name of Muscari. The running form is Liriope spicata and is much more aggressive, and while perfect for slopes or street embankments, it can overtake a landscape spreading by both runners and seed. A smaller relative is known as Mondo Grass or Ophiopogon.

Whichever Liriope grows on the properties you manage, Crabapple LandscapExperts will evaluate the necessity of trimming back the narrow, dark green leaves. University of Georgia researchers point out that it is not necessary to remove the foliage unless it is winter-damaged or diseased. With the mild winter we are having across Georgia this season, there has been no winter damage to speak of. Sometimes the plant is susceptible to a foliage blight ( Anthracnose fungus) which often detracts from its appearance during late fall and through the winter. Diseased leaves with fungus lesions are best cut off. They are not composted, but placed in the trash to be removed from the property to prevent the spread of disease. .

Crabapple LandscapExperts recommend that the removal of the old leaves should be done before the end of February, before new growth springs up in the center of the plant. A lawn mower set very high is a practical way to remove the old leaves, or sharp hedge shears can be used, based on the quantity of Liriope. Annual pruning is never recommended for Mondo Grass. At the same time, last year’s tall flower spikes can be pulled for a better appearance. For a blue ribbon appearance, call the LandscapExperts atCrabapple to care for your properties. 

Photo credit thanks to weibelnursery.com and onlineplantinguide.com  

Snap! Cold Damage to Landscape Plants

  

Warm Winter Weather

Landscape plants appropriate for the metro-Atlanta climate go through a cold acclimation process each fall to prepare for winter dormancy, but this year’s exceptionally warm winter has been counter-productive for in many plants. Until last weekend, warmer temperatures were enticing plant buds to break a month ahead of schedule. The 2012 Camellia blooms were spectacular, plus the response to the weather pushed many Saucer Magnolias into full bloom across the city.

Snap!
Then the thermometer fell into the teens this past weekend. Everyone has frozen a head of lettuce by accident, but what causes the change is ice formation within the plant cells. Water expands as it turns to ice and bursts the individual cells, causing plant tissues to become brown and mushy.

This cold snap wasn’t very severe and produced only limited cold injury to some plants. The hardest hit were the flowers, the most fragile all plant parts. Camellia petals and saucer magnolia flowers turned to mush, although daffodils, witchhazel and hellebore flowers held up. Leaves, stems, fruits, trunks, (but hopefully not roots) of borderline hardy plants experienced some problems, along with new transplants and container-grown plantings.   

We also had plenty of wind last weekend. Windy conditions that accompany cold weather can cause plant damage through desiccation (evaporative water loss exceeds water absorption) causing plants to dry out. Marginal leaf scorch on broadleaf evergreens or loss of buds are telltale symptoms. When possible, Crabapple LandscapExperts will provide a deep watering before a cold snap to help landscape plants weather the weather. The rains of the week before helped greatly with this.

Bark splitting can be a problem when tender new bark is exposed to the first rays of sunlight in early morning. The LandscapExperts maximize the chances that landscape plants will survive the winter by carefully selecting our planting sites. For example, locating Camellias with a little early morning and afternoon shade helps with bark splitting.

Although not common in Atlanta, vertical frost cracks on the trunks of woody plants can occur in sections of the state when plants are exposed to extremely cold temperatures. A frost crack is a long, deep, narrow crevice running up and down the trunk of a tree. As temperatures cool down, the temperature of the trunk drops quickly and the trunk contracts and may split.

Care of Landscape Plants after a Freeze

Crabapple LandscapExperts will not rush to prune or remove your damaged plants, because while some plants will look bad, they are not really dead. We wait until the full extent of the damage can be determined to start our corrective pruning.  

Flower damage is immediately visible, but doesn’t threaten the plants. Foliage and shoot damage is noticeable within a few days, but it may be a month before all the damage can be ascertained. We scratch the brown outer bark to see if the cambium layer beneath (greenwood) is still green, toggle leaf buds, and watch for live green foliage to emerge. Once the damage has been determined, we will prune to eliminate any damaged parts.

Timing

Late-winter pruning is best. P. Allen Smith lists 3 benefits: late-winter pruning invigorates the plants for abundant growth when Spring does arrive; the wounds are exposed for only a limited time before new growth begins; and it is easiest to see what exactly needs to be pruned before there are leaves on the shrubs and trees.

Trees known as “Bleeding Trees” produce a large run of sap in late winter, and are best pruned later in the summer. Some of these include maples (well-known Sugar Maple), dogwoods, birches and elms.

And for a great specialty video on pruning tree peonies, watch Felix with Gurney’s. 

Camellia photos thanks to Geri Laufer (white = Shiro Chan C. japonica, red = Bob Hope C. japonica, Cold Damaged Nuccios Pearl C. japonica)

magnolia photo thanks to NeglectedBeauty.blogspot.com