Do you wish you knew more about your landscape? Knew which grass was which and how to take care of each? We understand the feeling! We see lawns everyday with different grasses and each need a different amount of care. We have put together a list of a few different types of turfs and how to take care of each! See below:

• Bermuda (Warm Season Turf)
  • As a rule, mow at .5 “- 2.0”
  • Start low in late April after last frost date and gradually raise the height as the summer progresses.
  • By late September to early October, maintain a mowing height of 1.5”-2.0” to help insulate your warm season lawn from the cold weather.
• Centipede
  • As a rule, mow at 1.25”-1.5”
  • Start low in late April after last frost date and gradually raise the height as the summer progresses.
  • By late September to early October, maintain a mowing height of 1.5” to help insulate your warm season lawn from the cold weather.
• Fescue (Cool Season Turf)
  • As a rule, mow at 3.0” to 3.5”
  • During cool weather (spring-fall- winter) mow at 3.” During the hot summer months, maintain 3.5.”
• Zoysia (Warm Season Turf)
  • As a rule, mow at 1.5” to 2.5” depending on type of Zoysia
  • Start low in late April after last frost date and gradually raise the height as the summer progresses.
  • By late September to early October, maintain a mowing height of 1.5”-2.5” to help insulate your warm season lawn from the cold weather.

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The answer is yes! When you see bagworms, they are usually in their caterpillar stage hanging from a tree or shrub in a little bag they’ve spun together out of plant detritus – giving them the name “bagworms”. The caterpillars will only leave the bag to devour the plants leaves leaving the plant barren. Bagworms can be very damaging to trees and shrubs and can severely defoliate a small tree or shrub – they can cause severe damage to an evergreen tree . The most common plants that bagworms feed on are arborvitae, eastern red cedars, hemlocks and junipers.

If you catch them early and the bag worms are reachable, you can remove by hand. Otherwise the best way to control these pests is to spray the foliage with a approved insecticide after eggs have hatched. If your into bugs take time to watch these guys work. It’s pretty neat to see how they make their own home and come out to eat your favorite plant. It can take a couple of treatments to achieve 100% control. If you have bags, we have a solution! Give us a call if we can be of service!

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Guess what? It’s time to get ready for the fall season! Breathe new life into your lawn’s roots with Core Aeration and the best time is now! We have put together a few help pointers on why, how and when you need to get started on kick-starting your lawncare maintenance. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to connect with us!

Why does my lawn need core aeration?

• Compacted Georgia clay soils impede the movement of air, water and nutrients to the grass roots.
• Roots require oxygen to grow and to absorb nutrients and water.
• When compacted, soil contributes to the accumulation of thatch because restricted oxygen levels impair the activity of earthworms and other thatch-decomposing organisms.
• Thatch accumulates faster on compacted soils and heavy clay soils than on well aerified soils.
• When thatch depth exceeds 1/2” it becomes a problem, reducing water movement and encouraging shallow, weak root systems. Thick thatch also can become a home for insects and disease.
• Many people complain about moss growing in their lawns in Atlanta. Lawns that drain poorly due to soil compaction are displaying a “Moss Welcome” sign.

How core aeration strengthens your lawn:

How does core aeration work?

• Core aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs or cores out of the lawn. Known as a core aerator, the machine extracts 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter cores of soil and deposits them on your lawn. Aeration holes are typically 1-3 inches deep and 2-6 inches apart.
• Core aeration is a recommended yearly lawn care practice to control thatch buildup, especially on compacted, heavily used turf.How will my lawn benefit from core aeration?

• Compacted soil will be loosened, increasing the availability of water and nutrients.
• Oxygen levels in the soil will be enhanced, stimulating root growth and enhancing the activity of thatch-decomposing organisms.
• Your lawn’s drought tolerance and overall health will be improved.
• Your turf will produce new shoots and roots that “fill up” the holes from core aeration, increasing its density.

When is the best time to core aerate?

• The best time to aerate your warm-season lawn (Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, St. Augustine) is spring and early summer.
• The best time to aerate your Tall Fescue lawn is in the fall, in conjunction with fall reseeding.

It’s never too soon (or too late) to start improving the health and appearance of your lawn. At Simply Green Lawn Care Plus, we professionally core aerate your lawn in metro Atlanta using the most advanced equipment and best-qualified personnel.
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With weather changes, disease and bugs and grubs issues, we have stayed busy this summer trying to answer all your questions. We have designed our blog to be a platform to share updates on what is going on with our clients lawncare and work to inform you on topics that might be new to you! For those of you who are new to the blog and to the Simply Green site, here are a few touch points on our services and the areas we service.

What services do you provide?

• Fertilization and weed control services to deliver the lush green lawn you expect. Read more
• Tree and shrub care, including fertilization, insect, and disease control so your landscape plants can reach their growth potential. Read more
• Core aeration to improve the health of your lawn. Read more
• Seeding for a cost-effective way to beautify your property. Read more
• Season-long fire ant control to protect your family and your landscape. Read more

What areas do you service?

Simply Green Lawn Care Plus provides services for all of Metro Atlanta. Please contact us if you aren’t sure we service your neighborhood.

Interested in working with us or just looking for a free quote? Contact us today!

It’s easy.

1. Give us a call at 770.923.0387 or click here and we’ll do the rest.
2. We will arrange an free onsite analysis of your landscape, including a soil PH test.
3. Once we determine the size , type(s) of lawn and current condition of your landscape we will provide you with a cost estimate.
4. Upon your approval we will start service, usually within 7 business days.
5. Request your free onsite analysis today!

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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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