If you’re a gardener, you’re familiar with the color-coded map on the back of seed packets and plant tags. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map informs us which plants can handle the winter in your area. But here in Miami, it’s not the cold that concerns us. Heat plays a significant role in the health of our plants. That’s why it’s important to reference the heat zone map for Miami gardeners. It was developed by the American Horticultural Society (AHS). The heat zone map is divided into 12 zones based on how many days the mercury reaches above 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat DamageThe current heat map shows the average summer extreme temperatures. Global temperatures are rising, so we’ll likely see our temperatures climbing above the 86 degree mark more often. Why should we care? Because the occasional heat damage our native plants suffer is going to get worse. In fact, we may soon be in a different heat zone altogether. Source:Gardening in a Changing ClimateWhen you are designing your landscape or just planting a few trees, try to incorporate more shade to help your other plants stay cool and healthy. Other things to consider are mulch types and fertilizers. What’s The Best Grass Type For Miami Lawns?Our lawn is the most sensitive part of our yard when it comes to heat. If you aren’t careful, a heatwave can scorch your grass leaving it brown and prickly. Here are a few examples of some heat tolerant grasses that are great for Miami lawns. St. Augustine GrassA great turfgrass with a high tolerance for heat and drought. St. Augustine is a fast grower… making it great for lawns. But it does require regular aeration, and it’s not fond of foot traffic. BuffalograssBuffalograss is an extremely hardy grass and one of the only drought-resistant grasses in the country. It’s not as sensitive as St. Augustine grass and can tolerate heavy foot traffic. Bermuda GrassAnother traffic tolerant grass is Bermuda grass. It can flourish in all soil types. It does not do well in cold temperatures and is sensitive to shade and pests. Before you start planning your landscape check the heat zone map for Miami gardeners to determine what kinds of plants will do best in your area. Need help deciding what to plant or what type of grass will thrive in your area? Visit our Miami lawn care page for more info! We offer one-stop shopping for all your landscaping needs. or all your landscaping needs. Feature image: Miami Botanical Gardens, Wikimedia The post Hardiness Heat Zone Map For Miami Gardeners appeared first on Lawnstarter. from https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/florida/miami/hardiness-heat-zone-map-for-miami-gardeners/
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Most Minneapolis gardeners are familiar with the USDA’s hardiness zone map. It’s on the back of those seed packets that tell us when and what we should plant for a fruitful spring. Many gardeners rely on this information to figure out which plants, trees, and shrubs will survive a long winter in Minneapolis. Now that winter’s nearly over, it’s time to take another look and figure out how to map out your spring planting. Planting In MinneapolisSince our growing season in Minnesota is relatively short, you want to get some seeds in the ground as soon as the last frost has passed. You can start prepping the soil now, so it’s ready for the first plants of the season. Those early plants should be cool season crops. Cool VS. Warm Season CropsCool season crops like cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, and lettuce can be planted as seeds at the first sign of spring. These plants need to reach maturity before the heat of summer so either sow early, grow indoors, or go the convenient route and buy starter plants from a nursery. The warm season crops will probably make up the bulk of your garden. They include; tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, squash, cucumbers, and eggplants. Basically, anything that bears fruit. These crops require a long growing season and will not reach maturity if you plant them as seeds directly into your garden. Instead, you will need to either start the crops indoors or buy them from the nursery. Grass TypesBecause we are in the far north of the country we tend to have milder summers. Therefore, these cool-season grasses are the best choice for your Minnesota lawn. Kentucky BluegrassThe king of turf grass in Minnesota is Kentucky bluegrass. This grass is better suited for colder temperatures than most others. It takes a few months to establish itself, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Kentucky bluegrass is often used on athletic fields since it’s resistant to traffic and can repair itself quickly. It’s also mixed with other cool-season grasses to add more texture and to increase resistance to pests and drought. Fine FescueThis grass is great for shady areas, dry areas, or soils with low fertility and pH levels. Fine fescue does not require too much maintenance. In fact, too much fertilizer and water can harm it. Fescue should be blended with other cool-season grasses to bolster turf hardiness in poor soils or shady areas. Perennial Ryegrass Similar in texture and quality to Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass is another cool-season grass that also mixes well with other warm-season grass. In the fall, when some varieties go dormant and turn brown, perennial ryegrass can keep your yard looking green. Although it’s not as tolerant of cold weather as Kentucky bluegrass, it does great in Minnesota where summers are moderate. You’ve got a little time before the snow clears in Minneapolis. But it’s not too early to take a close look at the USDA Hardiness Zone map and pinpoint your exact growing zone. It will save you some time and money and show you how to map out your spring planting well ahead of time. The lawn care professionals at LawnStarter Minneapolis can save you time and money on all your yard chores. Contact us for a free estimate or any questions about creating a lush, beautiful lawn The post How to Map Out Your Spring Planting in Minneapolis, MN appeared first on Lawnstarter. from https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/minnesota/how-to-map-spring-planting-minneapolis-mn/ It won’t be long before we’re out in our gardens prepping for spring planting. It’s easy to overlook the multitude of bugs that see your garden as an all-you-can-eat buffet until it’s too late. Don’t bend to the will of the bugs. Take your garden back by identifying and fighting the worst garden pests in Rochester, NY. 1. AphidsThese tiny pests are hard to spot without a magnifying glass, but the damage they cause is definitely visible to the naked eye. Almost any plant in your garden can be a meal to these pear-shaped insects so an ignored infestation could mean dire consequences for your garden. Aphids feed by sucking the sap from plants and leaving excrement which can cause mold. How To Get Rid Of ThemSince they’re so tiny, you can easily blast aphids off plants by spraying water. However, this doesn’t prevent them from coming back. Try using natural repellents made with chili peppers, garlic, and dish soap. You can also release natural aphid predators (such as ladybugs) into your garden. 2. Japanese BeetlesThese shiny blue-green beetles are a scourge to gardens. If there’s enough of them, they can decimate the leaves of your plants leaving them skeletal and defoliated. You don’t need to be a horticulturist to know this is bad for your plants. How To Get Rid Of ThemJapanese Beetles are active in the morning so shake them off. Be careful, these bugger’s legs are like velcro and can stick onto your clothes. You can also use row covers to protect your plants during the beetle’s 6-8 week feeding period. 3. AntsThere’s nothing worse than ants in your plants! They’re probably the biggest nuisance to gardeners. Your garden could already contain thousands of colonies. They live underground and like to build their nests around the base of your plants so they can feed on the roots. They will also venture out and chew the stems and leaves off of immature plants. This kills the plant before it’s strong enough to withstand pests. If you’re planting from seeds, then you’re hand-delivering them a meal How To Get Rid Of ThemThe most common methods of getting rid of garden ants include:
4. ThripsThrips move in large numbers like a herd of tiny cattle grazing on your garden. These garden pests have a particular taste for beans, carrots, onions, and many more including roses. They choose their targets by identifying light colored blossoms and then proceed to suck out the juices. These pests are also responsible for spreading viruses like tomato spotted wilt and necrotic spot virus. How To Get Rid Of ThemStart by pulling weeds around your garden. Thrips move about by jumping or flying from one plant to another so by eliminating parameter weeds you can make your garden uninviting. Check all plants for thrip activity before you put them in the ground. You can also release beneficial insects to hunt and eliminate the pests. Now that we’ve identified the worst garden pests in Rochester, NY, you should have an easier time getting rid of them. For help with pest control or to schedule lawn care service, check out our Rochester lawn care page to get in touch with a professional near you. The post The Worst Garden Pests in Rochester, NY appeared first on Lawnstarter. from https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/rochester/worst-garden-pests-in-rochester-ny/ Whether you’ve lived in your home for years or recently moved in, lawn care is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to keep the exterior of your home looking great. There are perks and drawbacks to maintaining your yard by yourself. DIY lawn care isn’t for everyone, and some homeowners in Lafayette prefer the convenience of hiring a professional. Here are the pros and cons of DIY lawn care in Baton Rouge, LA. The Pros
The ConsWith the pros also comes the cons, which will make you think twice about investing in a new mower.
The lawn care professionals at LawnStarter can save you time and money on all your yard chores. Visit our Baton Rouge lawn care page for a free estimate or any questions about creating a lush, beautiful lawn. The post The Pros & Cons of DIY Lawn Care in Baton Rouge, LA appeared first on Lawnstarter. from https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/louisiana/baton-rouge-la/the-pros-cons-of-diy-lawn-care-in-baton-rouge-la/ While you’ve stayed toasty in your warm house this winter, your lawn hasn’t had that comfy choice. It’s been out in the cold, perhaps getting damaged. Whether your winter was mild or polar vortexted, spring’s approach gives you a chance to see if you need to make lawn repairs. Here are the steps the experts say you should take: Step 1: AssessFirst, take a deep breath. If your lawn has been through winters in your climate before, and if it was healthy going into the winter, chances are it needs just a little TLC. It has just gone through a stressful period, but probably it only needs some light rejuvenating care — the gardening equivalent of hot cocoa after a day on the ski slopes. People in northern climes generally plant cool-season plants, and they deal every year with winter damage. In the South, as you would expect, warm-season grasses dominate and winter damage is mild to nonexistent. In the transition zone in between, both types of grasses are planted. Transition zone people beware: If you planted a warm-season grass lawn and you had a severe winter, you could have more work on your hands. Below are major types of grasses, and their cold tolerances.
See related story: “Grass Types: Which One Is Right for Your Lawn?“ When the snow and ice let up, get out there and have a look. A close look. You probably think of a lawn as a single entity, but remember that a lawn is composed of thousands of individual blades of grass. At the bottom of each grass plant, just above the ground, is the crown of the plant. All blades of grass emerge from a crown. You are likely to see brown patches, but that’s OK. Get down and inspect closely to see if the crown is still whitish in color. If it is, that grass plant will recover. “The homeowner is really going to have to determine: Is it brown because it’s dormant? Or is it brown because it’s dead?” said University of Illinois Extension office educator Richard Hentschel. “If the crown’s alive, the recovery is going to happen like it does every spring,” He suggests digging up a few of the brown grass plants in your hands and giving them a good rub. If there’s still a crown remaining, showing at least a bit of growth, you’re good. But if your rubbing leaves you with nothing in your hands but dirt, “chances are it’s dead,” Hentschel said. “For those grass plants, it’s no recovery.” But if the crown has also turned brown and dried out, that grass plant likely has died. You’ve got “winterkill.” According to a paper by Dr. Kevin Frank, a Michigan State University turfgrass expert with a specialty in winter grass injuries, “Winterkill is a general term that is used to define turf loss during the winter. Winterkill can be caused by a combination of factors including crown hydration, desiccation, low temperatures, ice sheets and snow mold.” Step 2: Identify your culpritLet’s take a look at each possible source of winterkill. Crown hydration “This phenomenon is related to a sudden change of weather when after very hot weather sudden frost occurs,” said Bryan Stoddard, director of Homewaresinsiders.com in New Jersey. “This is the most common occurrence in late winter or early spring, especially when morning frosts appear.” Winter desiccation Snow mold Ice sheets Voles Step 3: Repair winter’s damageRepairing winter’s damage will depend on how extensive the damage is, and your local weather and soil conditions. Is it really dead? But substantial winterkill calls for a round of remedies. Test your soil At a minimum, your testing kit will test for your soil’s pH level to help you know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline. In general, turfgrass likes soil that is a bit on the acidic side. Apply soil amendments as your soil test indicates. Aerate Consider a pre-emergent herbicide “Unfortunately, the recovery from winterkill seems to be following the common saying of slow and steady wins the race,” says Michigan State’s Frank. Take these steps and your lawn will go from brown to green in plenty of time for your warm-weather activities.
The post Repairing winter’s damage to your lawn appeared first on Lawnstarter. from https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/lawn-care-2/repairing-winters-damage-to-your-lawn/ Artificial turf is making a comeback at Major League Baseball parks and National Football League stadiums, with new high-tech artificial surfaces ending a trend toward playing fields of natural grass. A LawnStarter review found that by the 2020 season, two NFL franchises and two baseball teams will switch from natural surfaces to artificial ones. One team, baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, will make the change in time for the 2019 season The other three — The NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, and baseball’s Texas Rangers — will go to artificial turf for their 2020 seasons. In the NFL, the Rams and Chargers will play their 2019 seasons in separate stadiums on natural turf. For 2020, they will move in together and share a $5 billion stadium expected to open for the 2020 season. It will feature artificial turf. That will mean 15 of the NFL’s 32 teams will be playing on synthetic turf as of the 2020 season. For 2019, here is the NFL grass versus artificial turf lineup. NFL stadiums, teams playing on artificial turf in 2019
NFL stadiums, teams playing on natural turf in 2019
Two NFL teams —the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings — will be getting new artificial turf surfaces in 2019, but they are both routine replacements of existing artificial turf. Baseball: Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers shifting to high-tech turfMajor League Baseball first rolled out its first path of plastic when the Houston Astrodome opened in 1966. Use of artificial turf peaked in the 1990s, when 10 baseball parks had it. Its use waned because players feared injury on it, and no baseball park opened since the 1990s had it. That streak is ending in 2019. In Major League Baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks will install artificial turf for the 2019 season because the team decided the Phoenix sun and heat were too much for natural grass. “The challenges with growing natural grass in our climate and stadium have been well documented and we have considered alternate solutions for many years,” Derrick Hall, D-backs president and CEO, told Lawnstarter.com. “During the testing, all of the players had great things to say about the playing surface,” Hall said. “Over the past couple of weeks during spring training, our players have had the chance to test out the new grass on our agility field and one of the half-fields at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick and have had great feedback.” It will help the bottom line as well by saving 90 percent of the water that had been used to keep the natural turf growing, he said. Their solution was B1K, a new high-tech turf developed by Shaw Sports Turf, headquartered in Calhoun, Ga. The turf is designed to mimic the bounce and feel of natural turf. The synthetic surface has been installed already on spring training practice fields the Diamondbacks’ practice fields in Scottsdale, Ariz. The turf will be laid out at Phoenix’s Chase Field in time for the 2019 home opener April 5 against the Boston Red Sox. Said Hall, “We decided to make this change because the technology developed by Shaw is the best in existence and will provide a consistent playing surface and benefits to our players on the field while enhancing our fan experience throughout the ballpark.” Developing the new turfPhilipe Aldahir, director of turf research and innovation for Shaw, said the B1K turf got its name from the baseball term “Batting 1.000” and was more than two years in development. One key ingredient: coconut fibers. Traditional artificial turf has an understory of rubber, which affects the bounce of the ball and the spring of the athletes. Shaw set out to match natural turf’s playing surface using, among other tools, a baseball launcher. “We set the speed and angle and shot out baseballs,” he said. They recorded the results, brought them back into the lab, and went to work trying to reproduce the natural bounce. Like Thomas Edison going through hundreds of materials before finding the right light bulb filament, Shaw’s researchers went through hundreds of materials before the coconut eureka moment. The result was a next-generation synthetic turf that he hopes will remove the “stigma” attached to playing on artificial turf. Texas Rangers to follow suit in 2020In Arlington, Texas, home of the Texas Rangers, Shaw’s B1K turf will be installed when the team’s new Globe Life Field opens for the 2020 season. The new, retractable-roof ballpark will replace Arlington Stadium, the open-air, naturally turfed home of the Rangers since the team moved there in 1971. “From our first visit with the staff at Shaw Sports Turf, we were clear that a synthetic grass surface for Globe Life Field would only be a consideration if it could deliver the best surface in Major League Baseball and address the concerns we had related to impact on the players,” said Rob Matwick, Rangers Executive Vice President of Business Operations, in a Feb. 1, 2019 news release. “Months of detailed research that included extensive input from our Baseball Operations group from both a health and performance aspect have resulted in this decision.” When the Rangers make their move, it will double the number of MLB teams playing on turf to four. The two existing baseball parks with synthetic playing fields are Tropicana Field in Tampa and Rogers Centre in Toronto, homes of the Rays and the Blue Jays. Photos of NFL Stadiums with Natural Turf Arrowhead Stadium
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