In the Weeds – January 2025

December and 2024 in review

December had something for everyone weather wise. If you like it cold there was a few days of that, if you like it warmer there was a lot of that too. We saw some needed rainfall, but nothing extremely heavy or persistent.

2024 was the best year in terms of rainfall and less extreme summer heat and dry spells in at least the last 5 years.

What to expect in January

Home gardeners, it is the month to stay warm, and if you start your own tomatoes from seed it is time to start. If you have winter crops in the ground good for you.   My indeterminate tomatoes I have talked about every month finally succumbed to a frost on January 6th. Seeing as I planted them about March 1 of 2024 that is a pretty good run. I really do think the fall/winter crop was better than the spring. On Sunday as we were preparing for the incoming weather, we picked gallons of both ripe tomatoes we made sauce with and green tomatoes to be fried up. If I would have had more time, we could have pickled some of those green tomatoes too.

Lawn maintenance should be minimal this month.  The frost and cold overnight temps the week of Jan 6th will keep most growth but a few weeds to an absolute minimum.

Action Items

Ants are showing up nearly everywhere-

  • Option 1 – Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is it must be applied by a professional licensed applicator. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets that’s another benefit.
  • Option 2 – Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill, but acts as a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
  • Option 3 – I have been trying out a new product in some areas that I didn’t apply Fipronil to at my own home and have been impressed. “Tarrow” is a Borax solution you apply to a piece of cardboard and the workers carry the poison down to the colony.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

December weather was fair, but the early January cold snap has cemented turf grass into dormancy for a while. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Hunter Soape

In the Weeds – December 2024

November in Review

November weather returned us to our normally scheduled programming after the extended warm spell. By that I mean many days in the 70s with a few bounces back into the 80s. Also, we saw some sporadic rain which helped us recover from that weird fall dry period.

What to Expect in December

Home gardeners, you should be starting to benefit from your fall planted cool season crops.  My indeterminate tomatoes are producing the most they have all season; we discussed how to do this a few months back. The frost will take them out sometime, maybe tomorrow maybe in January. I am going to grow my homegrown tomatoes until they do, and when frost is eminent, we will make fried green tomatoes with the unripe fruit.

Tired of mowing your lawn? You should get a good break now; our grasses are not dormant since we have not had a frost yet. But they know it is time to shut it down for the season. You may need a cut every 2 weeks to deal with some weeds but the weekly mowings are certainly done for a bit.

Action Items

  • Enjoy fires in the fireplace or outdoor fire pit on cold evenings.
  • Hot chocolate
  • Relax and enjoy this holiday season
  • Watch out for reindeer droppings in your yard following Christmas day

Municipal Drainage Happenings

November brought a break in the drought and perked up our turf since we had moderately warm temperatures. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Districts that were treated with a pre-emergent herbicide look clean, those that did not elect for that have noticeably more weed pressure.

Overall, this has been the best year for turf in the past 5 years. No extreme freezes, consistent moisture for most of the year. Only a 45–50-day dry period and it was during 90-degree temps of September and not 100+ temps of July or August.

I am looking forward to another great year in 2025

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Hunter Soape

In the Weeds – November 2024

October in review

October or August 3.0 …. I am not sure which month we just turned the page on but it was not our normally pleasant weather for October. Furthermore, after a year of generous rainfall, we fell in to a mini drought. Even though it was only 45 days without rain the heat really burned up the unirrigated turf. The most frustrating part of the past month was that we were all teased by some nice cool fall weather back in September. The cooler nights and then dry weather put a halt to most of the growth of our turf grasses, but it also made the weeds go reproductive. So every time a lawn was mowed you where mostly just knocking down seed heads and very little else, but then the seed heads came back within days.

What to expect in November

Last month I said you “you can depend on a reprieve from the heat of our summers” about October and that turned out to be a lie. So, I will just say I hope November is cooler and it’s already starting out wetter than the preceding month.

Home gardeners, again I led you astray about getting fall/winter crops in last month. The good thing is you can try again since most of those plants are directly sown from seed into the garden. If you did get some plants started in October hopefully, they made it through to November

Normally, November would be the month we expect to see mowing frequency reduce. The growing season for our warm season grasses close with this month. Nighttime temps below 65 degrees F will shut down the Bermuda and St. Augustine lawn grass.

Also, this month it is time to switch out your seasonal color in your landscape beds and freshen up the mulch while you are at it. While we are talking about mulch, lets discuss tree volcanos.

  • Use a hardwood mulch, as it breaks down and decays it adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil.
  • Think donut instead of volcano when spreading mulch around the tree. Keep mulch away from the trunk by a few inches at the least, larger trees go up to a foot. Do not cover the flare of the trunk if it is exposed, and avoid covering roots that are visible on the surface.
  • Mulch should be 2-3” thick total, adding 2-3” of mulch twice a year will create the dreaded “tree volcano” that suffocates the roots and prevents water from infiltrating. Stirring existing mulch around will keep it from forming a crust that is resistant to water infiltration. You can do this a few times a year and it gives you a freshly mulched look.

Image credit: Texas A&M Forest Service

Action items for this month- repeats from last month but November is the new October

  • Fertilization- We need to feed our grass to support root and plant health as the turf prepares for winter dormancy. It is very important we use the correct fertilizer currently. Using some leftover summer fertilizer will cause excess growth and stress the grass when it is trying to store nutrients for the winner. Below is my one and only recommendation.
    • Nitro-Phos- Brown bag- Fall Special fertilizer
  • Weeds- This month we need to get down an application of pre-emergent herbicide. Barricade, Dimension or Pendimethlin are the chemicals that you are looking for, I use “Nitro Phos Barricade”
  • Roses- Monthly feedings for roses are still important. Your roses should continue to bloom until the frost. In our area the First frost could be 30-90 days away, but keep feeding until then.
    • A fall pruning of your roses is generally a good idea. Do it before putting down fresh mulch to make the clean up easier. Follow the steps here for best results.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

October was the driest month I we have seen this year, and historically it is the second wettest. Turf conditions have rebounded well this year following 3 high stress years with droughts and hard freezes. The past 2 months have put a strain on turf, but I think this year has been 5 steps forward 1 step back at the worst.

Fall fertilization and herbicide are nearing completion for us.

Mowing schedules for most districts will drop back to monthly service on tractor-maintained areas and from weekly to every other week for shortgrass. However we will keep an eye on this, with a good shot of rain at the beginning of November we could see turf growth take off especially if the weather remains in the 80s during the day and above 65 at night.

Hunter Soape