SPRIGGS BROTHERS Organic Landscape & Lighting

1320 KENSHIRE CT. � ALLEN � TX � 75013 � 972/390-9362

November 2009 Holiday Issue

Lawn & Garden Tips for the Winter and Holidays

Record Rain Fall Causes Lawn Problems - I know many of you are just as confused as we are about theconstant rain we have had so far this fall. Currently, we are on pace to have the highest recorded rainfalls in NorthTexas. While this has been good for our area lakes and water supply, it has caused havoc on our lawns and landscape. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Too much of a good thing can be bad”? Well, that is the case with too much rain. For your lawns to be nice and healthy, the soil needs to dry out between watering. We have not had 5 consecutivedays without rain since the last week of September and the 2 weeks preceding had several days of rain.

(1)The first problem that the rain has caused is the proliferation or return of Fire Ants. The moisture in the soilreduces the oxygen in the soil. The ants tunnel to the top so that they can get oxygen to the colony below. This timeof year, we recommend that you spray beneficial nematodes to kill the fire ants.

Beneficial nematodes are underground pest hunters that control common lawn and garden pests such as grubs, fleas,mole crickets, japanese beetles, and weevils. They are a very efficient organic insect control method and kill mostinsects before they become adults. The strain used in ANTidote™ is a natural enemy of fire ants. Nematodes attackthe fire ants by releasing a toxin, which kills the fire ant queen and larvae to end the colony's life cycle. Call us if youwould like for us to spray and release beneficial nematodes on your lawn & garden. The nematodes need to besprayed before it gets too much cooler or we need to wait till spring.

(2) Another problem caused by the abundant rain is Turf Fungus. For those of you who have St Augustinelawns, the continual wet turf and cool temperatures have made text book conditions for fungus to thrive. The StAugustine root system is so dense that it traps the moisture in the root zone. If you are seeing “brown patch” or “takeall patch”, you need a fungus treatment. Give us a call and we will be glad to look at your lawn and prescribe theright treatment for your particular situation.

(3) The continual rains have weakened the density of your turf and weeds have or will take over your lawn. Continually wet soil and turf causes your grass to be weak and thin out. This is an opportunity for the cool seasonweeds to proliferate. Also, the continual rain may have washed away some or all of your weed pre-emergent. If youused a synthetic chemical pre-emergent, I can promise you that your pre-emergent has washed away into the streamsand lakes. If you used corn gluten meal, the organic pre-emergent, you may be getting some benefit of your pre-emergent if you have thick grass and it held the product in place.

I highly recommend that you put down another pre-emergent in November, or once this rainy season ends. Also, be prepared to see an unusual amount of weeds next February and March. A light organic post-emergent oforange oil, horticultural molasses, yucca and vinegar during December, January and February will help solve thatproblem along with a late fall pre-emergent application of corn gluten meal.

Fertilize Your Lawn & Gardens - If you did not put down a good organic fertilizer in October, you need to doso this month. Even though your grass is going dormant, your grass is still living and requires nutrients. Your lawnestablishes root development during the winter months. You need to put a balanced organic fertilizer @ 20 lbsper1000 sq ft on your lawn and garden. The chemical fertilizers won’t do you any good this time of the year because t

they do nothing to enrich or feed the soil. I can not stress the importance of fertilizing your lawn before the wintermonths. Most of the lawn and garden experts agree that this is the most important time of the year to fertilize.

Winter Weed Control - Unfortunately we do not have long sustained freezes in North Texas that kill off many ofour weeds and other pests. There are a few suggestions that I have to help with weed control during the winter andearly spring months.

(1) If you have not applied a fall pre-emergent to your lawn, you need to do so as soon as possible. Some of youhave already put down a pre-emergent in earlier this fall. For maximum control of weeds, you should consider asecond application to be applied in November. Unfortunately, we do not have a real winter in North Texas wherethe temperatures are below freezing for 4 or 5 days at a time. We have weeds germinating most every month of theyear. It is during November and December that henbit and annual blue grass germinate and this November pre-emergent will help control them and other weeds that germinate in these months.

(2) Have you considered having a winter lawn? Every spring people ask me, “How come my lawn is not green inthe winter like the model home or my neighbor’s lawn?” The answer is because they planted a winter lawn with ryeor a blend of fescue. There are two great thing about planting a winter lawn. First, a winter lawn will help choke outthe weeds from germinating over the winter and early spring, as well as brighten the outdoor decor of your homeduring the holidays. Secondly, if you have areas in your lawn that receive very little sun light, under trees, side lawnsbetween the house and fence, etc., the winter lawn will fill in those bare or thin spots in your regular turf throughoutthe year. If nothing else, sow some fescue seed in the thin and bare spots to ease erosion of your soil in those areas.

(3) Sow Fescue seed in shade areas. This is the time of the year to sow fescue seed where your Bermuda lawn or StAugustine lawn does not receive enough sun light. Remember, the main deterrent to weed control is to have a thickhealthy lawn that chokes out the weed s and keeps the weed seeds from germinating. Many times our lawns do notreceive enough sun light under shade trees, between your house and your neighbor’s house, or along fence lines. Sowing fescue grass in those problem areas will thicken up your turf and keep weeds from germinating where the turfis thin and can not choke out the weeds. Give us a call and we will be glad to analyze your lawn’s problem areas anddiscuss the pros and cons of any solution to your turf that we might discuss.

Clean Up & Refurbish the Flowerbeds - You want your home to have good curb appeal over the holidays. Ifyou have not had your shrubs trimmed this fall, you may need to trim and shape them one last time this year. Be sureand add a good 4 inch layer of mulch in your flowerbed so that it will insulate your plants from the cold and protectthem from possible freezes. We recommend native hardwood mulch, cedar mulch and cypress mulch.

This is also a good time of year for us to add soil amendments to your flowerbeds. We recommend adding lava sand,greensand, humate, horticultural molasses, and expanded shale. Lava sand is volcanic ash that is rich in traceminerals and nutrients. Lava sand is used to improve the physical characteristics of soil by increasing the waterholding capacity and energy in the soil. Greensand is a naturally-occurring iron-potassium silicate with theconsistency of sand but 10 times the moisture absorption. Humate is a mined product that adds organic matter to thesoil and is an excellent source of carbon, humic acid and trace minerals, providing a food source for beneficialmicroorganisms that help make nutrients available to plants. Expanded Shale is recommended by Texas A & M to help loosen the clay soil, hold water, and enhance root placement.

Add a touch of seasonal color to your flowerbeds and home. Pansies, Winter Kale and other annualsare still available at this time for winter and early spring color. Our cost is only $27.50 per 18 count flat. Costincludes fertilizer and Rabbit Scram. Call us asap so while the color selections are still available from the growers.

Spriggs Brothers Organic Landscape & Lighting1320 Kenshire CtAllen, TX 75013972/390-9362

Watering Your Lawn During the Winter Months - If you have not turned off your automatic sprinklersystem, I recommend you do so immediately. Our lawn, native shrubs, and trees do not need regular watering duringthe cooler months like they do during the warm and hot spring, summer and early fall. Under normal weatherconditions, I usually recommend that you manually turn on your sprinkler for 10 minutes every 2 or 3 weeks. Sometimes once a month is sufficient. When the weather starts warming up again in late February or early Marchonly then should you consider watering every other week. This will be good for your plants as well as good waterconservation.

We Hang Christmas Lights - It’s that time of the year to hang your Christmas lights. Give us a call, 972/390-9362, for a free estimate. We’ve been professionally installing Christmas lights for 8 seasons. Our services includehanging your lights and taking them down after the holidays. We use commercial grade wiring and custom cut thewire to fit the roof line or fascia of your home. We offer lighted garland and wreaths as well. If you have any bulbsburn out during the season, we will come back and change out the bulb(s) or fix any other problems that might occur. We also check to make sure that we are under the requirements of the electrical code by checking the amount of ampswe are drawing at the breaker box. When we take down your lights we provide a storage tub for you to store yourlights, and hopefully we do a good enough service job that you call us back next year to hang your lights again.

During This Season of Thanksgiving, we want to thank you for using Spriggs BrothersOrganic Landscape & Lighting. Our company could not exist except for your faithful patronage. We havebeen particularly thankful for you during these difficult economic days. From the Spriggs Family and all ouremployees, we wish you a blessed Thanksgiving season. We look forward to serving you through out the rest of2009 and into the new year.

We invite you to drive by our home, 1320 Kenshire Ct, Allen, TX, 75013, as you drive around looking atthe Christmas lights. We will have an animated light and music show the week before and afterChristmas. Turn your FM radio to FM 97.7 so you can experience both the music and light show.