mostman

Had my fertilizer guy out today and he confirmed my suspicion of dollar spot in my yard. Fungicide going down next week.

I thought I had it bad too but then yesterday I noticed the little dew webs in the morning. They look like spider webs but vanish in the sun. Dollar Spot. I’m only watering once a week at this point, but I guess even that’s too much with this overnight humidity. Irrigation is off for now.

Looks like my Sawyer Beetle up thread. Check out my photo and see if it’s the same. I actually sent my photo into the state for confirmation and they said it was a Sawyer Beetle.

I’ve had situations like this. The leaves are still on the shrub but essentially detached/dead. The plant has focused downward after transplant and abandoned those leaves. A good rain comes along and knocks them all off at once.

Quickly. A month of growth for a nest could easily be hundreds of YJs or more. You could also pay someone to take care of it. My daughter stepped on a sprinkler box cover and got chased by a swarm last year. I couldn’t get near the thing without them coming out. I hired someone. He wasn’t messing around when he came out. What he pulled out filled the entire valve box. Probably the size of two footballs. He said we caught it early, maybe two weeks old.

Yeah how much water? You might have overdone it. The good news is that it’s likely ok, you’ll know next spring. Some plants just focus on the their roots when they are transplanted and deleaf. This is especially true when it’s hot like this.

Probably transplant stress. How much were you watering it?

Red Thread is all over the lawn now. Surprising since we haven’t had too much rain and I have the irrigation off. Must be the humidity.

How does the install work on those? Did you just take off your old controller and swap in the Rachio? Did you also add the flow meter?

Tip for anyone in MA - Shaker Hills is back to its old glory and they are often running deals to try to get people back in. If you played there within the last few years and were put off by the course conditions, make sure to schedule a visit out there this year. The place is in near pristine condition, like it used to be a decade ago. One warning. It’s very difficult. I’m about a 5 index and I can’t break 80 from the middle tees. Recent course modifications have really made it a demanding track.

What do you folks think? Sawyer Beetle? Doesn’t look shiny enough to be an Asian Longhorned.

I get that second one where my grass is struggling. Edges of the patio, edges of the driveway, places like that. If you have good grass coverage and apply a general weed killer, it'll be gone. So kill it or pull it, then overseed in the fall in that spot to try to crowd it out next year.

It could be worse. (Note: This is actually rubber. But still...)

I do pine here. I did hemlock for a while - switched to the pine this year. I think it fades better than hemlock. The red dyed stuff is wild. But the reason people use it is that its cheap. Its just wood chips and paint.

Yeah we had our fertilizer company use fungicide last year because it was red thread and dollar spot. No surprise, a billion inches of rain and 90 dews. This year I’m hoping we can just let nature take its course.

Red thread here. Big time. Probably 10 percent of my lawn. Irrigation is being turned off for a couple cycles until it bakes out.

Wow that’s incredible in only two years.

Yeah I’d also like to know. That’s good stuff. What’s the plan for weeds, just let them grow too? Clear cut it in the fall?

Wow. 100x more functional. Doggo seems pleased.

The worst. I try really hard to plant things they don’t like but if they are hungry enough, they will eat anything.

That’s my thinking exactly. But a lot of people don’t see it that way. They say “I’ll just apply spring and fall and be fine.” Once you have a service and you see how much actually goes into a comprehensive treatment, you quickly realize how much work it is. And yeah, it frees you up to do other stuff. I like working on the perennials and the trees and all my planting beds. That stuff is fun. Spreading nitrogen is not. Btw - I used the hell out of the “call us with issues” service last year with the company I use. All that rain and humidity created all sorts of new problems. They were all over it. I may have also called them once because I saw about 5 little clovers in my lawn

Looks awesome. Hiring a company to handle all my fertilizing (including trees and shrubs) was the best call I ever made. It’s expensive (vs doing it yourself) but entirely worth it if you are into keeping your lawn healthy.

Not much. They grow mostly upright and have branches near the ground

River birch might be the right choice, depending on the spot you want to put it in.

I just now realized where you are. The comment about the temperature is right. Give it another month as things warm up. It’ll fill in. When it starts getting weedy, just pull the large ones and wait until next year to apply a pre emergent over the area. As for water, you need about an inch and a half a week. Ideally in two long sessions, not 7 little ones. Deep watering will help make the grass more resilient. If you are getting that much rain still, then you are fine. I know in my area we are actually below normal water. My irrigation will be on starting next week.