Called Lesco for a lawn test for fungus, & they said they only test soil. Who to use?

[chocula]

I thought I read that Lesco would test for diseases on your lawn, but after calling them today, they said they only test soil.

I searched Google and called my county (Union County, Waxhaw, NC), and they said they only test soil as well.

So is there any place that I can have the grass tested?

I have used sites to compare my grass with diseased grass, but have not had any luck finding a match (or close enough to one).

Thanks

[Marcos]

I thought I read that Lesco would test for diseases on your lawn, but after calling them today, they said they only test soil.

I searched Google and called my county (Union County, Waxhaw, NC), and they said they only test soil as well.

So is there any place that I can have the grass tested?

I have used sites to compare my grass with diseased grass, but have not had any luck finding a match (or close enough to one).

Thanks

This is the kind of thing that 'LAWN CARE SERVICE' was invented for!:rolleyes:

Unfortunately...as you probably already know, there are quite a boatload of lawn-jockeys out there right now, running routes, squirting juice & hanging paper, but largely without a clue what they're actually DOING.

[Marcos]

I have used sites to compare my grass with diseased grass, but have not had any luck finding a match (or close enough to one).

Thanks

Chocula, if you physically took a spade a cut out, maybe, a one-to-two square foot section of your turf ( cut out sort of the same way you'd get sod at a nursery), in the part of the lawn where you think this disease appears to be 'actively spreading', then carefully hauled it off to JD / Lesco and plopped it on their sales desk, I think that you'd find that they'd just be chomping at the bit to try to figure out what's wrong with it....so long as you understand that they (usually) make it a policy that they take care of their wholesale clients 1st.
(Of course...they may be showing you things you could use on it...both granular and liquid.)

Heck, for that matter...if there happen to be some LCO foremen in there buying fert or whatever...they'll likely kick their 2 cents in, opinion-wise, if they notice what you're there for.
Any smart LCO foreman would look at that as a potential sales opp, no matter WHERE they are! :)

Do you play golf?
If you are friends with any golf course grounds superintendent in your area, THAT'S the person to go to!

I've got a feeling, though, from the looks of the 1st two pics, that most of this disease has run it's course for this year...whatever disease it is / was.

Bear in mind that it's not any fungicide's job to necessarily 'kill' a turf fungus.
The lion's share of fungicides merely work as a 'protective layer'.
The real expensive fungicides indeed work systemically, but most of these work best when they're applied as a PREVENTIVE MEASURE, before an anticipated disease 'breakout' would occur.
For them...it's all in the timing.

Now that it's the end of Aug...You should probably be thinking now about "how can I keep this from happening next year", by finding out what the disease is, then trying to find bermuda varietie(s) that are resistant to it. Then you'll need to renovate with it this fall, obviously.
You also need to be educated, by whoever gives you the correct diagnosis, as to the 1st symptoms of this problem, as well as how to treat this problem, in either a PREVENTIVE or a CURATIVE manner, if need be, in the future.

Be prepared though....there's nothing 'cheap' about fungicides!

Some of the best ways to combat many disease issues in turf have to do with making sure the specie(s) suits the climate it's being grown in, controlling the amount of 'fast' nitrogen applied PER APPLICATION, ensuring proper mowing frequencies (not mowing more than 1/3 of blade off at one given mowing), when possible keeping foot & wheel traffic off the turf during the heat of the day, and keeping the mower blades good and sharp.

[chocula]

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.


I would love to have a lawn service, but unfortunately, I simply cannot afford it. So I am stuck doing all of this on my own.

I was planning on taking the soil to Lesco tomorrow and will take a piece of grass as well.

Thanks for the information.

[Marcos]

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.


I would love to have a lawn service, but unfortunately, I simply cannot afford it. So I am stuck doing all of this on my own.

I was planning on taking the soil to Lesco tomorrow and will take a piece of grass as well.

Thanks for the information.

No problem! :waving:

And I'll add something I forgot, to my "combating diseases by cultural means" paragraph:

If / when you provide artificial irrigation in dry spells, and you are situated on heavier (clay-based) soils, it is generally better to water the lawn somewhat DEEPLY, but INFREQUENTLY.
(This could encourage deeper root growth, of course...along with regularly scheduled soil aeration, wherever there is 'heavier' soil)

Conversely, if you're sitting on something that might be described as a "sandy loam", or is something silty, and drains extremely well; in these situations it is almost always preferred that the irrigation is set to run somewhat FREQUENTLY, but for relatively SHORT PERIODS OF TIME per sprinkler head.
(The pore space of sand is LARGE, thus it allows for percolation movement between particles, much more so than clay.)

In both scenarios...proper watering is important in minimizing turf diseases.
Some root systems in certain parts of the country hold water like buckets.
Others are as porous as the collander you drain your spaghetti in.

Good Luck!

:waving:

[chocula]

I took a piece of the turf to Lesco and he said it did not look like fungus, but was not sure. It did not have any of the typical signs.

My soil is clay and rocks. I say rocks, because there are a ton of them in my yard.


Lesco gave me an 18-2-18 to get started and sent in a soil sample for me as well.

Thanks

[Marcos]

I took a piece of the turf to Lesco and he said it did not look like fungus, but was not sure. It did not have any of the typical signs.

My soil is clay and rocks. I say rocks, because there are a ton of them in my yard.


Lesco gave me an 18-2-18 to get started and sent in a soil sample for me as well.

Thanks

18-2-18, (a balanced nitrogen / potassium food) is probably as good as anything out there...to stimulate whatever bermudagrass roots, rhizomes & stolons that are still alive in the soil...to hopefully begin to aggressively 'fill in' the voids.

Potassium is key for strong root growth, while nitrogen holds the key to virtually all growth mechanisms.

But, again, you might find that you'll be seeding / sodding some areas before it's all said and done this fall, based upon what some of those pics look like.

If your lawn is that clayey...I'd recommend that you aerate it every year, if not 2x a year.
Make sure the ground is good and MOIST before you, or a contractor, aerates.

And the way to tell a lawn that's been aerated CORRECTLY, is to stand in the middle of your neighbor's yard across the street from your house, after the work's "done".
You should be able to tell if the lawn's been properly aerated (or not)...from there. :)

[chocula]

Thanks again Marcos.

When standing in my neighbor's yard looking to see if my lawn has been aerated properly or not, how can I tell it has been properly aerated? By the number of plugs or a balance of plugs across the lawn?


Also, I forgot to mention......

The guy at Lesco, said that he did not see much root growth in the section that I took with me. The piece I brought with me, had the dirt from the sod on it, but not the clay from below it. He said and showed me that there was little growth of the roots in the sod soil.

Thanks

[Marcos]

Thanks again Marcos.

When standing in my neighbor's yard looking to see if my lawn has been aerated properly or not, how can I tell it has been properly aerated? By the number of plugs or a balance of plugs across the lawn?

By the sheer DENSITY of the plugs lying in the lawn...and the visual brown 'cast' that results from it.

Also, I forgot to mention......

The guy at Lesco, said that he did not see much root growth in the section that I took with me. The piece I brought with me, had the dirt from the sod on it, but not the clay from below it. He said and showed me that there was little growth of the roots in the sod soil.

Thanks

If I'm reading what you're saying correctly...you're telling me that the bermuda sample you brought in was not at all rooted into the clay subsoil.

I'm not surprised.

Would YOU settle for hamburger... if you always had filet mignons within reach? :confused:

This is precisely why you have to train your turf's root system to grow deeper...by the infrequent, but thorough waterings I talked about before.

Another thing you can do is NOT use cheap fertilizers that have all, or almost all quick-release nitrogen, which causes 'surge growth' in turf, at certain points in the year.
The 18-2-18 is an excellent fertilizer choice...because (I believe) 50% of the nitrogen in the bag is coated with sulfur. 50% isn't. That gives you a more gradual release of the main food source.

If your soil's that crummy that your turf won't root into the subsoil...again, I'd plan soil aeration.
If you're hard-core serious about getting it done right, you might even consider an organic program.
Even if the price, or lack of availability (in some regions) of organic lawn care supplies scares you, just going in in the spring and topdressing the lawn with 1/2 to 1/3" of finished compost (after the aforementioned thorough aeration) can help introduce critical biomass into your soil's profile.

By aerating 1st, you'd be "stirring the pot", so to speak, by pulling up some of the clay subsoil and dropping it on top.
The object of topdressing with the compost, is to allow for it to 'settle into' the lawn without smothering it.
If you cover the grass entirely with compost, you put it too thick. That's why you 'feather it in' with a leaf rake.

Then, over the course of the spring and summer, the compost will literally disappear as it decomposes, and works its way into the soil gradually.

All you'd need to do this is a wheelbarrow, a pitchfork, a couple of slaves (your kids) :laugh:, and an appropriate # of leaf rakes.
Figure 1 cubic yard of finished compost (not raw manure!) per 1000 sq ft of turf area.

More info about organics (of course) is in the "organic lawn care" forum of lawnsite.

[chocula]

Thanks again. I have so much to learn about all of this. You have taught me quite a bit and I know it will make a big difference in my yard.

Thanks

[Marcos]

.......................:waving:

[Kiril]

Lesco gave me an 18-2-18 to get started and sent in a soil sample for me as well.

Classic ..... sell the fert before getting the results of the soil test. :hammerhead:

Compost does a soil good!

[chocula]

Classic ..... sell the fert before getting the results of the soil test. :hammerhead:

Compost does a soil good!

I wondered the same thing, but he said it would be three weeks to get results back and by then, it would be about time to fertilize the lawn again. It is time for me to fertilize the lawn now.

[chocula]

Will the compost help level the yard? I need to level it in a bunch of places and if the compost would help do that, it would be great.

[Marcos]

Will the compost help level the yard? I need to level it in a bunch of places and if the compost would help do that, it would be great.

No. Not at all.
1/2" to 1/3" of finished compost degrades down to nothing.

Feathering out 1 cu yd of finished compost per 1000 sq ft of turf, immediately after a THOROUGH soil aeration (as described in blog #9) will result in the compost sort of... 'melting' into the existing turf over a period of, maybe, 3 to 6 months.

Important factors that could make this time lapse vary in different situations could be differences in compositions and textures of compost, soil type and pH variances, mowing height differences, and climate.

You should think maybe blending 90% topsoil / 10% compost together, and completely leveling those specific areas you're talking about.
You could probably do this in conjunction with the aerobic workout:dancing: I like to call "aeration".:laugh:

In fact, if you were to aerate the entire lot, then bring in your topsoil mix where you need it, the cores lying all around, together with the topsoil falling in the holes you created, should help to create a 'meshing effect', that may help your topsoil to keep from running off so much, in the event of things like torrid downpours of rain, etc! :cry:

From there...you should then just go ahead and compost the whole thing.
Look for someone who deals in BULK compost (vs. bagged) That's where the best prices are! :)

Then...after the 1st decent rain or two, after you've finished with the compost, you'll notice the lawn sort of 'swallow up' most everything you've applied.
That's when you may need to go out with a leaf rake again for a few minutes, maybe 2 or 3 times, and, again, 'feather' some of the uneven spots of compost that may have been above the level of the grass, to some degree.
By doing this, your ensuring that any spots in your lawn that could have been composted too thick initially, will be adequately thinned.

Sure would be a cryin' shame to smother a lawn by mistake, with compost!:laugh:

[Kiril]

Do not use compost to level your yard. Personally I would use a mix of compost and topsoil to level.

Damn Marcos, beat me too it.

[chocula]

Thanks again. I was not sure if I copuld level it or not with that compost, thanks for clearing that up for me.

I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all of this to me.

[DC & Sons]

WAXHAW !!!!!!!!! :cool2: