Lawn Care
October is a key month for lawn care as many lawns are stressed from the summer. See the lawn care guide for this month below. Fall is a good time to sod or use plugs to fill in bare areas as well. In shaded areas that do not support good grass, consider using shade tolerant ground covers or mulch to finish the areas. Fall is also a good time to check your irrigation system as we get inot our drier seasons and will likely have to irrigate more, you want to make sure your system is functioning correctly. Clear grass from all heads regularly and make sure they are spraying appropriately. Repair broken heads or lines.
Water Regulations:
Cooler weather and Eastern Standard Time also bring changes in watering. Even though it is not as hot and plants don’t require as much water, watering is still needed- just more judiciously.
*Watering regulations change in Palm Coast with the arrival of Eastern Standard time: Watering is now restricted to one time per week- odd numbered homes can water on Saturday and even numbered homes on Sunday (between midnight and 10 am.) Homes, with in ground wells can water on Saturday or Sunday as well (depending on your house number) however may water between 10am and 4 pm. Irrigation is limited to 3/4 of inch per zone so check your output by placing some tin cans around and measure how much water you get during your set times.
Eastern Standard Time:
Odd Number or No Address – Saturday. Even Number Address: Sunday
Water only when needed and not between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Water for no more than one hour. Restrictions include private wells, and pumps, ground or surface water.
Key Exceptions: New landscape irrigation allowed anytime for the first 30 days and every other day for the next 30 days. Water in chemicals is allowed within 24 hours of application. Irrigation systems may be operated anytime for maintenance and repair purposes, not to exceed 20 minutes per zone.
Allowed Anytime: Micro-spray, micro-jet, drip or bubbler irrigation. Irrigation using a hand-held hose with a spray nozzle. Discharge of water from an air-conditioning unit. Use of water from a reclaimed water system. Recycled water from most wet detention treatment ponds.
Conserve our water, it is a precious commodity! Mulching your plants, of course, lessens how much water your plants and trees will require and monitor the rain we get. Just because you CAN water on Saturday or Sunday, doesn’t mean you need to.
St. Augustine & Zoysia Grass
Ferti-lome Weed & Feed
Apply this product at the END of October. Ferti-lome Weed & Feed should be applied to a lawn that has been moistened prior to application. It contains the active ingredient Atrazine, which should take care of all of your pesky broadleaf weeds such as dollar weed, oxalis, chickweed, and dandelion. After applying Weed & Feed make sure to water it in well. This activates the Atrazine and allows it to do its work on your weeds. This product is used for pre-emergent control and post-emergent control of weeds.
Bahia Grass
Ferti-lome Weed-Out Plus Fertilizer
Fertilome Weed-Out provides excellent post-emergent broadleaf weed control on cool and warm season grasses. Lawn should be slightly wet before application, but do not water for 24 hours after application. Contains three weed killers to stop Dandelions, Spurge, Dollar Weed, Wild Onion, Chickweed, Clover and over 200 broadleaf weeds, which are listed on the label.
Hi-Yield Bug Blaster II
Hi-Yield Bug Blaster II Bifenthrin Granules control a broad spectrum of lawn, landscape, and perimeters pests around home and buildings. These water-dispersible granules control fleas, ticks, chinch bugs, mole crickets, scorpions, fire ants, and many more. Use in landscapes and for perimeters around residential, institutional, public, commercial, and industrial buildings, in parks, recreational areas, and athletic fields. Hi-Yield Bug Blaster II Granules contain Bifenthrin, the same active ingredient as Talstar PL and Talstar EZ granules.
*Notes on weed and feed products:
Many people are confused about weed and feed products. Often, it is assumed that weed and feed products will kill your weeds and feed your lawn. To some extent, this is correct, however, the weed component of these products is a PRE-emergent which will kill any dormant weeds in your grass NOT EXISTING. If you have existing weeds you need to use a POST emergent weed killer as PRE-emergent will not do anything to eradicate them. Over time, however, by using pre-emergent weed killers, the number of weeds that appear will be lessened. Weed and Feed as well as Weed Out does have a small component for both however, if you have a lot of weeds existing, you may require a product that is post-emergent.