Mating season is here for this Green June Beetle! Green June Beetles, Chafers, Japanese Beetles and May or June Beetles have started laying their eggs in the soil. Chafers Beetles, Japanese Beetles and May/June Beetles eggs grow into grubs. Grubs feed on a mixture of plant roots and organic matter in the soil. The image above shows an adult Green June Beetle in a Bermuda lawn. Beetles tunnel into the turf and lay their eggs. Depending on the type of Beetle the eggs hatch anywhere between 10-15 days. The grubs are nocturnal feeders that eat organic matter and roots. White grubs grow quickly, reaching full size by late August. Damage to turf is heaviest in September and October. Grubs over winter are deep in the soil, returning to the surface in the spring to feed before pupating a few inches deep in the soil, then the cycle starts over. Depending on the type of Beetle, they feed and damage ornamental trees and shrubs.

Here at Simply Green we offer two types of grub treatments: preventative ans curative. Preventative grub treatment is for lawns that have had grub issues in the past and want to insure they will not be back. Curative is for lawns that currently have grubs damaging the lawn! We have included more images below showing grub damage!

This is what grub damage looks like on Bermuda. This was taken before the sod was dug up to check for grubs.

This picture is of grubs damaging Bermuda sod.

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With the summer weather in Georgia changing daily, your lawn has probably taken quite a beating! If you are delaying lawn care maintenance and want to see what you can do, call us today! We will give you a free estimate and lawn analysis to help you get your lawn back in shape! We offer both residential lawn care and commercial lawn care services. We have included links to provide more information on what specifics services we highlight for both residential and commercials lawns to help you pick and choose the needs for your lawn care challenge.

Residential Offerings:

• Lawn Care
• Tree and Shrub Care
• Core Aeration
• Fescue Aeration & Seeding
• Fire Ant Control
• Save On Your Water Bill

Services for Your Business: Whether you are a property manager for a large office park, a lawn maintenance company looking for help with turf care, or a seasoned landscape professional looking to take your lawn care service to the next level, Simply Green can help!

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Are your “Knock Out” roses getting hit hard with disease? If so, this could be the reason. “Knock Out” roses are widely used in both residential and commercial landscapes due to providing showy and continuous blooms! They requiring very low maintenance and you do not need to spray for black spot disease.

However, recently we have met with two different customers, one is a commercial office park in Tucker and the other is a homeowner in Alpharetta, who both have “Knock Out” rose with similar symptoms. They have found that they have abnormal red discoloration of shots and foliage, witches broom (prolific clustering of small shoots), and distorted or dwarfed leaves.

If your “knock out” roses are having similar issues they might have a disease called Rose Rosette. It is a deadly threat on your roses and one that doesn’t have a treatment or cure. Rose Rosette is caused by a virus and it eventually spreads internally to every part of the plant. If you catch it early and promptly remove the bright-red shoot cluster by cutting through healthy green wood – it may help save your roses. Unfortunately, once a rose gets full blown rose rosette disease the plant cannot be saved. The best course of action is remove the entire plant including roots, bag the plant and remove from your landscape. Do not compose the plants. Either burn the plant or send it out with the garbage.

The virus travels on an extremely tiny eriophyid mites, Pyhllocoptes fructiphilus. This is not the type of mite you can see with the naked eye and the mite itself does not kill your roses. These mites are wingless and can be blown in with the wind. They can crawl from one plant to the next or attached themselves to other insects. Getting rid of the plant completely will help prevent the virus from traveling!

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Help! My lawn turned brown after I mowed and I don’t know what to do! Is this a common concern for you?

Here at Simply Green we hear you and are ready to help! With all the rain it’s understandable why some of us are having a hard time keeping up with mowing our lawn every 7 days (the recommended amount of time to mow your lawn). Last year at this time the concern was turf not growing due to lack of rainfall and high irrigation water bills.

One of the beauties of Atlanta is if you don’t like the weather today wait until tomorrow because it can change from one extreme to the next in 24 hours. Due to the frequent rainfall, we are seeing many lawns with what we refer to as “mower burn” which is caused by either the ground being uneven, which causes the mower to dig into the turf when the mower hits low or high ground spots or infrequent mowing.

The solution for mower burn, due to uneven ground, is to mow at least every 7 days and top dress the low spots. You can top dress these spots by mixing sand and compost at a quarter inch until turf has grown on top of the top dressing then the low spots are even. We see this type of mower burn primarily with warm season turf like Bermuda and Zoysia.

The solution for mower burn due to infrequent mowing is to mow every 7 days. We are seeing mower burn spreading with lawns that are being mowed every 14 days. Mowing every 14 days during the growing season will ensure thatch build up, mower burn, discoloration of your lawn, increased weed pressure and generally poor turf grass heath. The reason is if you are mowing or have a landscaper mowing every 14 days your lawn is going through a lot of stress. An example is if you have a bermuda lawn and are mowing with a rotary mower at 2” every 14 days you are removing anywhere from 3” to 4” of the turf blade when you should only be removing one third with each mowing. Your lawn will turn a yellow/brown color for 5-10 days depending on how much leaf blade was removed and will not start new green growth for 5-10 days. For best results, a healthy lawn and to aid with weed control, you should mow your lawn every 7 days in the growing season. If you are reel mowing (like a putting green) you should mow every 3-4 days depending on how low you are mowing.

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Do you feel like fire ants keep popping up all over your lawn? Frustrated that they keep coming back? Simply Green has the solution! We chosen Top Choice fire ant control because it has long lasting results and gets to the root of the problem!

TopChoice is a granular insecticide that provides unsurpassed control of fire ants. Available only through lawn care or pest control professionals, TopChoice offers several important advantages:

• Apply any time of year. TopChoice works all year long. Fire ants are most active when the temperature is cool and when the ground is moist. In hot, dry weather, deeply embedded ants are not as apt to crawl over or through the insecticide granules. However, applications made to turf under these conditions will be “warehoused” until the ants begin to actively build mounds and forage on the surface. And irrigation or rainfall will bring ants to the surface where they will come into contact with the active ingredient.
• Long residual effect. TopChoice kills existing colonies of fire ants and prevents new colonies from establishing for up to one year. After its initial release into the soil profile, TopChoice binds tightly to the soil creating a lasting barrier, one that’s not affected by heavy rainfall. Because it acts gradually, TopChoice kills foraging workers, but not before they carry the insecticide back to the colony and spread it to the queens and other ants.
• Controls secondary pests. Besides providing effective control of fire ants for one year, TopChoice also controls mole crickets for four months, nuisance ants for three months, and fleas and ticks for one month.
• High safety profile. TopChoice is selectively toxic to insects, and optimum control is achieved with extremely low dose rates. Because of its selective effects, there are no concerns about family or pets when TopChoice is applied by a professional.

If you’re interested in fire ant or other lawn pest control in Atlanta, contact Simply Green Lawn Care Plus today! Also, be sure to follow along on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter!

Simply Green’s water management program, using Hydretain, reduces your outdoor watering up to 50%, saves you money on your water bill, and improves the health and vigor of your lawn. See all the facts:

Q. Where can you use Hydretain?

A. Hydretain is effective on all types of ornamental plants, shrubs, trees and turf grass, as well as food producing agriculture. Hydretain is beneficial for containerized and field grown plants from seed germination or propagation to transplant establishment and throughout the growing life cycle.

Q. Will Hydretain hold too much water if we get heavy rainfall?

A. Hydretain has little moisture holding capacity. Its function is soil moisture management and functions by converting otherwise unavailable soil humidity available to plant roots.

Q. Will Hydretain wash through the soil if we get heavy rainfall?

A. Hydretain may wash through the soil if heavy rainfall follows closely after application before Hydretain has time to attach to plant roots. Hydretain is usually drawn up against roots within the first one-to-two required waterings after application.

Q. Is Hydretain a replacement for fertilizer?

A. No Hydretain is not a plant food ingredient and is not a replacement for fertilizer. However, Hydretain’s soil moisture management function has been shown to improve nutrient uptake, thereby amplifying fertilizer applications.

Contact us at 770-923-0387 for additional details, pricing and schedule your water management treatment. 
Or visit this website for more information about Hydretain: http://www.savingtheworldswater.com/

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Happy customers is our main objective here at Simply Green! Since we began in 2004, our objective has remained the same: We strive to exceed your expectations at every opportunity. We have included a few images from happy customer’s lawns to share with you! If you have any questions, concerns or just want more information – connect with us!

Simply Green Customer’s turf and plants

Simply Green

• We are locally owned and operated, keeping us accessible and attentive to your needs.
• Smaller company, bigger service – we are the answer to corporate lawn care.
• We come when you call. Our well-trained team is easy to work with and determined to exceed your expectations.
• We simply use the finest products and procedures for homeowners who want their landscapes to stand out.
• All our turf, tree and shrub specialists are Georgia Department of Agriculture Certified  and maintain their Category 24 applicators license.

Simply Green Customer

Service Guaranteed

Most lawns require 2-3 treatments to achieve the desired results. In the event you have  concerns with our progress, we offer our service guaranteed which may include guaranteed service treatment,  manager inspection, soil test if needed at no additional cost to you.

Simply Green Customer Outdoor Lawn

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mindbodygreen.com

There is an art to mowing as we discussed in last weeks Simply Green Lawncare blog post: The Art of Mowing and this week we are discussing the science of watering your lawn! There are key steps in prepping your lawn, timing when you water and making sure you aren’t watering too much! Below we have put together a step-by-step guide to make watering your lawn easier this season!

Before watering

• Check the current water restrictions for your area at www.gaepd.org and always adhere to those rules.
• Check your soil moisture to ensure that water is needed.
• Overwatering is expensive, both in higher water bills and the risk of lawn disease.

Water early

• The best time to water is early in the morning, between 4:00 am and 10:00 am, when temperatures are cooler.
• Watering early allows the grass to dry before nightfall, reducing disease and water waste due to evaporation during the heat of the day.

How much water?

• Your objective is to keep the top 6” of your soil moist; most lawns require 1.0”-1.5” of water per week during the growing season.

Deep root water tip

• Instead of watering every other day to achieve the needed 1.0”-1.5,” water 1-2 days in a row, then don’t water the next 4-5 days. This provides deep root watering and allows your soil pores to open for oxygen.

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Are you struggling with a lawn that has turned brown within days? Are you worried you might have a fungus or insects? The solution might be something much simpler – how you are mowing! There is truly an art to mowing your lawn. When Simply Green assess our clients lawn we ask a few questions, “When was the last time you mowed your lawn and how often do you mow your lawn?” Most people will mow their lawn every 14-15 days and see an entire lawn turn brown a few days after they move, if done incorrectly. The most common reason for lawns to turn brown or lose their color is because of improper mowing which can be frequency of mowing, improper mowing height and dull mower blades. Key points to remember: Cut, not tear, rule of thirds, change directions and height matters. (see image below)

If mowing isn’t the issue, your lawn could be effected moisture, disease or insects. However normally these issues are localized to parts of the lawn not the entire lawn. The exception would be a drought or heat wave. In addition, this season we have seen disease in Zoysia turf which includes Large Patch Fungus and Rust fungus which usually affects section of the lawn not the entire lawn.

More on The Art of Mowing your Lawn…

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With Spring upon us and the Summer on the horizon, our lawns and gardens are getting buggy! We have many customers ask us about ground bees, also knows as solitary bees, which nest in the ground of lawns and gardens. Ground Bees create small mounds of excavated soil with a nest opening. With multiple nests it creates a “city-like” community. Damage to lawns and turf is usually minimal and control is often sought because the bees are perceived as a danger or annoyance. Solitary bees rarely sting and there is no mass attack as might be found with honey bees. Outdoor activities, including lawn mowing, can often be continued with no problem.

As a recommendation from our team, we say ground bees are friends more than foes! Unless you are having a severe issue with ground bees we say leave them alone because they pollinate plants which help your lawn! If you feel they are becoming more of a pain we can treat the lawn with an insecticide which usually takes two treatments to control the bees.  As stated, we prefer not to treat but when the nests are unsightly and are located at the entrance of the home most just want the bees gone. The picture below is a lawn that has a large colony of ground bees. Ground bees tend to nest in the same area year after year so keep an eye out!

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