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Schedule Updates

February 2023

Irrigation Start Ups
We will be scheduling Irrigation Start Ups starting in March. Please give the office a call at 913-829-6135 to get on the schedule.

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Turf Maintenance
Round 1

Granular Fertilizer & Pre-Emergent
Provides essential nutrients designed to wake the grass plant and slowly feed it through spring. There is also a pre-emergent herbicide which is the first stage to grassy weed control.

If you are interested in starting your personalized turf health plan please give us a call.

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Plant Health Care
This application is a dormant oil to be applied in February/March. This is applied to Evergreens (except Blue Spruce/Junipers), Magnolia, Euonymus, Burning Bush, Boxwoods, Yews, Hollies, Crabapple, etc.

This will target pests that overwinter in the bark or trunks. These include Scale, Aphids, White Flies, and Disease Spores.

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Mowing Service
If you’re interested in mowing services for 2023 please contact the office at (913) 829-6135 to discuss your needs and pricing.

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Drought stress…the real truth!

The article below is fantastic and explains drought stress.  This is off of Kansas State's Turfgrass blog 5/28/13

We talk about “drought stress” all the time, but what is actually going on inside the plant?

Drought stress affects a lot of tree processes both in the short term and long term. Here is a website with a short (5 easy pages), clear description of physiological effects of drought that may help you to better understand what drought stress actually is.

https://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/for99-010/for99-010.pdf

Here are some “Cliffnotes”, but be sure to read the above link for more details.

  • Lack of water = lack of turgor pressure, hence the wilting symptom
  • Stomates (gas exchange pores) close to reduce water loss, but closed stomates = less carbon dioxide for photosynthesis = less food. (During photosynthesis, plants use the sun’s energy to turn Co2 and water into sugars/carbohydrates.)
  • Trees  shed leaves to reduce water loss. In some cases they undergo the organized abscission process, an active plant process in which they draw materials back in and make a separation layer. But in extreme drought they sometimes skip that step, shedding leaves quickly and therefore losing valuable nutrients and other materials.
  • Reduced growth during the drought year and beyond. The current year’s growth is affected, but to make it worse, the buds set during the drought might have less growth when it is “their turn” to grow into shoots next year. In addition, in the growth ring of the tree, drought stress this year will affect next year’s growth, too. So, growth “upward” and “outward” are affected for at least 2 years.
  • Susceptibility to insect pests and diseases. Plants produce defensive compounds to protect themselves from attack. When food reserves are low, the plants have less materials available to dedicate to those defenses.

 

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