 As Tom said, we're gonna talk about turf tonight. I have about 25 minutes and we're gonna talk about a variety of topics I might go through some of a kind of quick, but ask your questions I can stay as long as you want as long as time Anyway, let's let's begin. All right I want to talk about voles first of all. Yeah, this as Tom said this is the first day of spring and typically we're gonna start We should see the beginning of a Snowmelt about now, but looking across the state. I think most of it's gone Some of you might have some in your yard north side, whatever But as the snow melts back you might notice traction your yard. Where did that come from? Are those ice cracks? No, typically not. It's typically there. It's vol activity vol VOL not moles, but voles These are small mice mouse like creatures. Okay, that are active 12 months out of the year Okay, they're even active under the deep snow cover. In fact, they like it down there because it's warmer than the air We're exposed to they have a herbaceous diet So they're gonna eat any plant tissue that they come across those little tracks You see in your yard or crack like features are the trails and they're there creatures of habit They go up and down those trails and search of food and they dig little burrows if they're frightened for whatever reason They head down those burrows When they're out and about they're eating if they run out of food They are going to work on your turf and if they're really hungry They're gonna destroy your turf over the winter months and you're not going to see it until this snow melts back But first of all those shallow runways Are evidence of vol activity? Okay, a little Side-by-side Comparison of a vole and a mole. Okay a vole on your left screen left is again a mouse-like creature But then they have a shorter stub of your tail that actually they can actually be bigger than a mouse Factor called metal mice But they have a shorter tail that should be a clue right there. This is a vole. All right Now a mole on the other hand is much larger Well, like about the size of a hotdog bun and it doesn't create surface trails They create or it creates subsurface tunnels that are very destructive to your lawn They are also active year-round except they're not gonna do much destruction to your turf or the ground is frozen They're much deeper down eating whatever insects that come across grubs earthworms, whatever But back to voles. Okay again surface trails active all year round they feed on vegetation. So how do we control voles? well as I said they have a herbaceous diet. They're gonna go after tree bark and turf Okay, and they're also gonna attack your garden during the growing season What you want to do is keep the cover to a minimum or in other words control the weeds Try to keep the weeds down in your garden And if you have brush around your garden try to cut it back to try to maintain about a 15 foot barrier around your garden Okay, they again they like cover they prefer cover their afraid of predatory animals like hawks snakes house cats And so on they don't like to venture out in short grass So keep that barrier around your garden not much you can do about snow cover in the in the wintertime that they love it down They're very active Okay, but um, but in the summertime there are a few things you can do as I said to go after tree bark if they're hungry enough So use a plastic tree guard or you can use a quarter inch mesh Fencing look at the lower left hand side of your screen for an example. It's a quarter inch mesh right there The important thing is get this down One to three inches below ground because they do they can tunnel somewhat again They like to scurry around on the surface, but they will tunnel slightly if they have to so again a few Tips on bowl control you can use baits The old anti-coagulants are still out there de con makes one anti-coagulant they take that bait in and they're actually going to bleed to death over two to five day period Okay, now the drawback there is that if your pets get ahold of it a bowl a dead bowl That is taken on one of these anti-coagulant baits here your pets going to suffer the same symptoms But keep in mind they have two to five days before they actually die So get them to the vet the bed will give them a shot of vitamin K. They're gonna be restored to health again Okay, they have newer baits out now Tom cats one Talaprid is another one They have a an active ingredient called Bromethorin bromatherin, okay, it is not an anti-coagulant. In fact, those are being phased out But the drawback here is that if your pet gets ahold of this this new generation bait the the There is no antidote. So they're somewhat safer than the anti-coagulants, but there's no antidote if they get ahold of it So I get don't know what to tell you do there as far as baits go Well, you're probably better off calling in a professional rather than doing it yourself You can buy some of these over-the-counter and nurseries, but you're better off getting a professional to bait your yard Okay, I Think we've covered everything about vole activity like I said, I'm gonna move through these topics kind of fast Just write down your questions and ask away once we're finished Let's move on to turf diseases The snow melts back. Is there any chance of seeing disease activity? Well, yes, there is Snowmold pink snowmold gray snowmold a very common up here in North Dakota. I'm not going to go into that particular Desire those diseases in depth I'm gonna talk about cultural practices for the most part and again if you have questions just ask them Diseases are caused primarily five fungi bacteria and viruses now. I'll notice I have nematodes up there A nematode is not a disease It's it's it's an animal It's it's a microscopic worm with a piercing sucking mouth part called a stylet The reason I have it up there is because they are very Effective vectors of diseases and they do attack turf grass. Okay as do the other Disease organisms I just mentioned so these are the causal agents of diseases And like I said as soon as the snow melts back, you might see evidence of snowmold so we can experience Our sea signs of disease activity even in late winter or early spring Okay, what causes disease activity? Well For the most part improper cultural practices on turf grass and the number one improper cultural practice is overwatering Homeowners do this more than well. This is again the number one cause of disease infestation Overwatering. This is just what the disease organisms like an extended wet leaf Okay watering too much and watering at the wrong time Watering and after supper is the worst thing you can do you want to get your watering done in the morning? Okay, the again You water in the morning The soil saturated the leaf dries out by 10 o'clock Okay, the problem with watering in the evening is that well mother nature is going to give us do You can give us wet leaf tissue from about 9 p.m. To 9 a.m. That's 12 hours of leaf wetness that we can't do anything about Now let's say you go out there after supper and water at 6 o'clock Well, you just added three hours of leaf wetness now the diseases have 15 hours to work with Okay, so evening the wrong the worst time to water your lawn try to get your watering done in the morning The problem with watering in the afternoon is that you lose most of it to evaporation? So try to get the watering done in the morning, especially if you have an automated system Make sure everybody's gone through the shower You're all off the work. The irrigation system comes on. That's the best way to go about it Okay, using the wrong turf species to turf cultivar for example you use Kentucky bluegrass in shade The plant Kentucky bluegrass in shade. Well that turf is weakened Okay, it's susceptible to disease infection at that point because it's in a weakened state improper mowing mowing too high or too low As far as nutrition over fertilizing or under fertilizing for example, you over fertilize brown patches of possibility You under fertilize dollar spots of possibility. So try to apply the proper amount of fertilizer and we're gonna talk about fertilizers here in a few minutes Soil physical properties compacted soil low oxygen availability Can lead to a weakened turf again making it susceptible to disease infection Thatch that is a big problem, especially when it's over a half an inch thatch is an accumulation of dead in organic dead in living organic matter below the turf canopy, but above the soil surface Half inch is beneficial because it provides cushion to the turf. It conserves water Okay, cools the roots, but anything over half an inch is detrimental. It provides shelter for insects Okay, it's where disease spores rest until they're ready to become active and so also try to manage your thatch To a level of half inch or lower in fungicides I listed fungicides because some can be very harsh PCNB is an example of a fungicide that Has a nine month residual believe it or not. You put it down at full rate. It's active for nine months And it also kills beneficial soil microbes So let's say PCNB is very effective in controlling snowmold, but if you use it every year without without Without rotating fungicides. Well, your beneficial microbes are Killed off next year your snowmold problems can be worse. So in proper cultural practices now You added that the heat of summer It throws your turf in decline and this is when they're very susceptible to disease activity or disease outbreaks Okay, now let's say you see a disease and you can't figure out what it is Okay, there's no shame to it disease diagnosis is very very difficult Well, what you want to do is take a sample and send it on to the diagnostic lab here at NDSU or a private company But you want to take the right type of the sample The best way to go is in the middle of the infected area and cut a pie-shaped wedge out So that you get the the damaged area you get the healthy Damaged interface area and you get a little bit of the healthy turf Okay, and we recommend that you take about three inches of a root sample just in case it's a soil-borne disease Okay, the reason you don't want to take a full sample from the dead area is because that trip is gone There's there's very very little disease activity going on there You want that interface the dead and healthy tissue because that's where most of the organisms are at and we asked that you take a Little bit of the healthy tissue just in case they're advancing back attacking that healthy tissue But remember try to get about three inches of root sample to okay Put it in a plastic bag You do not have to seal it all the way because it could turn the mush by the time it gets to the diagnostic lab Try to mail it early in the week rather than late in the week because it might sit in the Post office room over the weekend and the sample could be terrier Okay Let's move on to core airification I mentioned earlier that improper watering applying too much water is the number one cause of turf diseases as far as residential homelands The turf care goes Okay, what you want to do is provide conditions of To promote good drainage and this can be done through core Airification Okay, and it does more than that it provides good drainage and it also stimulates soil microbes that will break down the thatch layer Okay, and it also enhances turf vigor, especially if you can time it with fertilization Okay, so core airification again to help promote surface drainage, especially if you see puddling in your yard Okay, this is a picture of a core airifier you can pick up one of these machines at any rental outfit Any any again any large size rental outfit usually cost about $25 for a two-hour period and that's about what it's going to take to airify your yard. They move about as fast as a lawnmower Okay, you get done with the job take it back Okay, now again, this is what you're gonna see after you airify These are the cores that are pulled out of the ground by the machine these cores are not gonna hurt your grass at all You can leave them in place. They are not gonna hurt the grass at all now If you're managing a golf course a different story, you have to pick them up They usually vacuum them up because these cores will affect game of golf Okay, there will affect ball roll I should say but as far as a residence or home line goes You can leave them in place not gonna hurt your turf at all You're gonna break them up the next time you mow the only problem with leaving them in place If it rains and you have children, they're gonna track them inside and mess up your car So but if you leave them in place not gonna hurt your turf one bit Okay, and here's a picture of a cutaway picture of how the turf is going to take advantage of those core holes that you Providing you see how the root teacher grows down into them, especially if you top dress afterwards Okay How much should I core airify as far as affecting the surface how much should how much of the surface area should be Cultivated let me use that well if you're working with a very compacted area like a football field or a playground At a grade school you want to cultivate about 15 to 20 percent of the surface area per year now If it's really compacted you might core air fight in the spring and the fall well Effect about 7 to 10 percent of the ground every time you core airify So by the end of the year you've actually cultivated 15 to 20 percent of that severely compacted turf as far as a Residential hold on three to three and a half percent is good enough Now how many how many times do I need to go over to get that three and three and a half percent? Well, that depends on core diameter and core spacing. We'll talk about that in the next slide But if you want to read more about What it's going to take to achieve that three and a half percent is the UMass Extension has a good publication and hopefully with your notes you can pick up that website They have a good publication as far as core diameter core spacing or tying diameter time spacing And how many passes you should make? Okay, so pick up that a pamphlet or that bulletin if you can't it's available online Okay, a little bit information about tying sizes Quarter inch three eighths an inch up to three quarters of an inch. These are hollow time They're gonna spit out a core, but you can also get a what we call a solid tying airifier. It's a solid tying just as I Mention it's not gonna spit out a core He's just gonna punch a hole in the ground the problem with using a solid tying airifier over and over again It's subsurface compaction at the bottom of that time or the bottom of that time Yeah, they should say you're gonna start to develop a pan layer That's gonna be impermeable to water So using a solid tying airifier is not a problem, but remember don't use it continuously Okay, try to go to a to a solid tying that's gonna spit out a core Okay, again the huge advantage of a solid time is that there's no mess to pick up afterwards Okay Let me let me back up let me back up one more thing as far as airifying goes You can do it in the spring or fall the problem with doing this spring is That you're cultivating the turf you're pulling up weed seeds and you're you're creating a nice seed bed for weed seeds Okay, so weed encroachment can be a problem if you airify in the spring fall is the best time if you're gonna choose between Spring or fall either or but if it's a fairly compacted ground You're probably gonna want to airify in the spring and the fall now when you airify in the fall Make sure you have at least one month of growing water left because you will damage the turf when you airify to some extent You're not gonna kill it, but you're gonna damage it give it at least one month to recover before winter sets in Okay Let's move on to our next topic. It's nice if you can fertilize after your spring airification Okay, if you could time it and we'll talk about fertilizer timing here in a bit But when you pick up a package of fertilizer, you'll notice three numbers on the front This is called the analysis season the three numbers sometimes a fourth number We'll talk about that, but this is called the analysis those three numbers stand for nitrogen phosphorus and potassium in that order and what those numbers indicate is percent bag weight of those actual nutrients in this case 27% nitrogen would be found in that at 3% phosphorus and 3% potash Okay, I should say phosphate not straight phosphorus and again not straight potassium, but But in this case potash, okay, there's an oxygen molecule attached to it We're not going to go into that tonight But these numbers indicate percent bag weight and you might find a fourth number this this stands for a minor It could be sulfur could be iron copper whatever zinc But these are minors the plants need them to survive but not in numbers as great as the Macronutrients, but typically you'll see the three numbers. Okay, and maybe a fourth Okay, how when do we fertilize here in the upper Midwest in North Dakota? Well, these are your three target dates The three big summer holidays Memorial Day Fourth of July and Labor Day We recommend that you put down a pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet Okay on Memorial Day Fourth of July and Labor Day now these three target dates do not stand true across the nation They work well for us in the upper Midwest. I'm from Kansas our target dates down there late April early May Then again in September and then again in November those target dates don't work for us up here in North Dakota Remember the big three summer holidays if you can fertilize on those days or a week before a week after you're in good shape Now if it's really hot on the fourth of July What I mean by that is anything over 75 degrees you want to hold off You could injure your turf if you fertilize when it's really hot out But our summers are usually mild enough that we can get by with a fourth of July nitrogen application without causing any damage Okay, some information. I mentioned that homeowners typically for life three times a year Okay, you can see that most homeowners try to manage a median type quality lawn Two to three applications per year and I'll explain that due to you in a bit golf course managers Might actually put down four five or six pounds of nitrogen for thousand square feet per year because their turf is typically Always under stress from foot in vehicular traffic and because of low mowing height that they try to maintain Okay, again homeowners two to three pounds a year low quality about one pound of nitrogen per year Now let's go back to the medium quality again. Why would I say two? Well, if you collect your clip if you do not collect your clippings you return him to the soil that equates to one pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet per year So if you do not collect your clippings you can actually skip one of the applications. That's what I'm getting at there okay, so Yeah, what determines whether you're gonna put down a typical three pounds a year or maybe six pounds a year as I said If the turf's under stress, you're gonna put down more in that depends on soil texture Okay, do you have a compacted soil? Is it always under stress because a low oxygen? Do you get a lot of rainfall on sandy soil? Well, that might require more than three pounds of nitrogen per year clipping management If you don't collect the clippings you can get by with less than three pounds per year Intense use like on a golf course. Is it always under stress? Well, you might have to apply more than three pounds for here Okay, so try to use these as a guideline But typically homeowners are gonna put down about three pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet per year unless Yet you return your clippings you get by with two Okay Fall fertilization when do you fertilize in the fall? Well, you're better off applying on Labor Day Now sometimes people doing this far north will apply their fertilizer late in fall late September early October You can get by with that and it's okay when you apply a fertilizer at that time Most of the energy the nutrients going to go to root development rather than canopy development But the risk you run is snowmold infection. You don't you want that turf to go dormant You don't want to encourage growth late into the season. That's just what the snowmold disease organisms want Okay, so try to get that last application down around Labor Day, okay? Again, you're taking your chances if you apply later than that, but it happens a lot, okay? Maybe timing doesn't allow for it. Okay, but You you'll get by you'll be okay, but you do run the risk of a snowmold infection Okay Once a year if you're gonna fries once a year your most important application is in late September You help the turf get through or recover from a hot summer and you prepare it for a long winter And it also allows for stored energy so they can green up the following spring If you're gonna fertilize twice a year, you can skip the first application hit the July and September Application three times a year there again over all day fourth of July and Labor Day Okay, we recommend that you apply at half a pound for thousand square feet in two different directions to avoid skips Okay, by the time you get done going in both directions north to south and east to west you will have that full pound Okay, look at that somebody use a drop spreader Maybe thinking it was a broadcast spreader and they didn't get the job done, but you can see the effects of fertilizer Okay, it does do its job. It's very important. Nitrogen is a very important macronutrient Here's another example of improper application again somebody use a drop spreader probably thinking that it was a broadcast spreader Okay fertilizer calculation, how can you determine how much you're putting out? Okay, we're gonna move kind of quick here a quick calculation for you You want to put that one pound per thousand solve for X equal and you're applying to a 12,000 square foot lawn X over 12,000 one times 12,000 divided by a thousand Maybe you need 12 pounds of nitrogen using a product that has a 2935 analysis Divide the 12 by 29 you will need 41 pounds of actual 2935 to get the job done Okay, I've been start moving kind of quick here. Let's talk about weeds right now. Well, what is a weed? It's a plant that interferes with your objectives. Okay, or it's simply a plant out of place Well, who coined the term weed? Well an agronomist named Jethro toll. He was a 17th 18th century agronomist. He's a very brilliant individual invented the seed drill invented the first metal plow that eventually developed into the mole board plow Okay, he coined the term weed after my age remember group called Jethro toll back in the 70s. It's not the same guy Okay, a lot longer 200 years before that Okay, weeds are not the cause of a poor lawn. They are the result. Okay, no competition Weed encroachment you lose your lawn Okay, your best offense against weeds is a nice healthy vigorous lawn proper cultural practices Okay, let's talk about some let's say Again, you don't have the best lawn some weeds broke through What are your options or weeds typically do break through well? You can put down a pre-emergent the name pre-emergent is misleading. It doesn't kill the weed seed It actually kills the weed as it's germinating. So the word pre-emergence misleading But if applied properly it kills the weed seed as it's germinating Okay, when the radical emerges it touches the treated soil absorbs the poison and the weed seed dies But it actually has to germinate first pre-emergence are ineffective if you apply them after germination occurred Or if you disturb the soil after application, for example, you core erify after you applied your pre-emergence Okay Pre-emergence herbicides no need to use them in shady turf Okay, because weeds aren't gonna have much of a chance to get established you want to time it as far as crabgrass germination Goes here in North Dakota. That's usually Mid-May so you want to get the pre-emergence out and about early May Okay, and crabgrass usually is the first warm season weed that germinates will not weed is actually the first one But crabgrass is one of the first ones and the most prevalent weed Okay, try to apply two to three to weeks two to three weeks earlier then then Then germination so typically germination occurs early May so you want to get out maybe mid-April Okay, now the problem is our weather varies from year to year But using the calendar method it works eight out of every ten years or 80% of the time you can use indicator plants We don't have any solid research to indicate which is the best indicator plant, but a lot of people go off of for sythia bloom Okay, another option is to monitor soil temperature What you want to do is get a digital thermometer and monitor soil temperature when the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees at a four-inch depth Usually warm season weeds or seeds start to germinate So when you when you notice that the seed temp the soil temperatures around 50 degrees you want to get out there or apply your pre-emergence So that it's in place when germination occurs Okay common pre-emergence herbicides pre-M team Dimension which is the best another good one pen the mathlin Barricade 2% I want to mention 2% it's a week pre-emergence But it's the only one that can be used at the time of turf seeding. Here's one that will not kill turf seeds Okay, but the drawback is it has to be applied every four to six weeks Okay, the other ones can offer season-long coverage most of the other ones. Okay, barricade dimension required all but barricade dimension require season-long Let me say that again all but barricade Require repeat applications. Okay, I'm going to speed it up here a little bit again barricade dimension will Provide season-long coverage if applied at full rate Okay dimension is the best pre-emergence herbicide because we'll actually kill weeds up to the three leaf stage So if you don't get it out in time, you're still in luck if you're working with dimension Okay Now let's say you didn't get the pre-emergent out on time you have grassy weed problem You can use a couple products one is a claim. We'll kill crabgrass and other summer annuals without hurting your Your your turf a claim. Okay, it can cause problems to Kentucky bluegrass and creeping bank grass So use it with caution highly injurious to banker Bermuda grass, but we don't grow Bermuda grass up here So not an issue another product is called drive Okay post-emergent Weed herbicides grass weed herbicides. Let's move on from there non-selective roundup I won't say too much about it because I'm not out of time another non-selective is called finale another good Product, but it doesn't do too. Well on warm season grasses, but we can grow buffalo grass and blue grandma up here Okay, post-emergent broadleaf the phenoxys been used since World War two 240 and MCCP. Okay. These are synthetic oxins. They grow to plant the death dicamba is a Is a let's see benzoic acid. That's an oxen inhibitor all three together We're very good gives you broad spectrum control of weeds. This product is called trimet classic Okay, getting that broad spectrum weed control broadleaf weed control. The thing is dicamba is mobile in the soil and it can be absorbed by Ornamental tree roots and so on so be careful. Don't get too close to your trees if you're using dicamba Okay, let's move on from there. And then we have our new generation broadleaf phenoxy speed zone is an excellent product It's essentially trimet classic with another chemical called carpentry zone Where it breaks through the cuticle allowing the the product the pesticide to enter the The weed for an effective kill. Okay power zone is another one MC. Oh, I'm sorry MCPA rather than 240 because some communities will not allow 240 Uh california montreal in that case you can use power zone up that way q4 broadleaf weed control with crabgrass killer blended in Okay, so there it is a quick rundown. I'm through We're ready for questions. I think oh, I kind of went over. Sorry about that Okay Okay, now we've got some good questions here from the people and we're happy to take some more questions from others You mentioned about proper mowing height Right But what height do you recommend? Well, I varies with the turf grass. Kentucky bluegrass Two to three inches two and a half to three inches is ideal fescue Three to four inches is ideal. So it varies it depends on the turf grass you're using That you have in your yard Good How about let's say they were unfortunately a victim of Vole damage. Okay got those runways in the turf. Okay, what are we going to do about it as far as the runways go They're going to heal over All right, if you have a creeping type of a grass like Kentucky bluegrass is rhizomaceous Creeping red cashew is going to fill in too if it's a bunch grass like rye grass or fescue tall fescue, you're out of luck Okay, uh, but typically moles. Well, let me backtrack. They are active under the snow They don't care what kind of grass you have and they don't care if it's growing taller Not the snow provides cover for so but a creeping grass will cover those trails Okay, once once it warms up About this person has some dark green patches in their lawn, but it's not the neighbor's dog Okay, are they circular? Dark green patches. I'm thinking fairy ring Okay, fairy ring is quite common. Usually we see it in a big arc. It could be 30 40 feet Across circular ring the circular rings and they can be small the size of a hubcap I've seen them that's that small before. Um, gosh without a proper diagnosis. I can't say what that's a possibility You know, so that's a good, you know, it's a good Introduction that if anybody has an unusual situation like that We've got digital cameras. It's a great right and we got access to alan or your local county extension agent I'm gonna take a picture and send it to extension and then we can identify that situation for you or Or lead you to the next step. Sure. Sure. Send me a picture. I'm glad to have a great tool How about moles? How do we kill a mole in the lawn? Well moles, okay baits Applied effectively will do the job And they're tough. They're just tough. You can get these over to counter baits Uh tomcat is one of them. Another one is called towel period Okay, these are the new generation ones. They're they're not and a co an anticoagulant Okay, the active ingredient is bromethylene Again, not an anticoagulant, but the drawback with bromethylene is is there is no antidote if your pet gets ahold of it They're done A lot of harpoon trap harpoon traps are effective, but very effective. They are effective now look for movement You can see that animal moving under the trail. They're screwing around They're feeding try to put the harpoon trap a few feet ahead, but they are very sensitive to movement So once they feel that vibration of that harpoon trap going in they're gonna back off But be patient eventually they're gonna go into it. Hopefully they go into it Now there's a misconception that moles are blind and they're deaf whether or not They have very tiny eyes and they have very small internal ears But they do operate a lot off of ground vibration Okay, okay, you gotta keep the rapid questions going here How do you control crack grass? You can't the only option you have is roundup. Okay, there is no product that will kill crack grass without harming your Your your gyroble turf now there was a product called Certain T certain T lost his cool season label So we can't use it. He was very effective in suppressing crack grass. In fact, sometimes it killed it outright But we can't use that product on cool season grass anymore Now the good news is we're talking about spring lawn care and crack grass will green up before your lawn does So it's a good way to identify the grass And do a target spray and as far as target sprays Right, right. I would get a straight line and box out the contaminated area And um and go out a little further because they do produce rhizomes. Okay, and kill off that area and then reseed it That's all you can do. That's the only chemical option that we can legally apply to get rid of crack That's what we're about legal stuff. You know, it's all being recorded here How about what's the best thing for K and thistle? Canadian thistle Inter, well, I mentioned a speed zone It's essentially triment classic with a chemical called carcinogen It will eat through that waxicuticle and do a good job Now and apply it in fall, right? That's one. Yes. Yes. Yes fall That's when it's going to pull the the pesticide all the way down to the deepest roots and kill off all those rhizomes down there and so on there's a Oh, well, there was an effective ag product called milestone. It's not labeled for lawns But if you have a field for this Okay, okay, we can't use it. No, you're just no too much information. I got How about uh After someone does a core aeration should they top dress their lawn? It would help, but it's not necessary. Those holes will fill in again Okay, you're in break up those cores. A lot of that dirt is going to go back down into the holes You can core aerate. I mean, I'm sorry. You can top dress with soil, but it's not necessary. Just keep that in mind Okay, so this person has some mysterious two inch diameter bumps all over the lawn. All right What can be doing this? Okay? Those are worm castings. What can we do about it? Okay? There is no chemical that you can legally apply So what you have to do the only thing you can do is go over it with a verticutter Okay, knock them down, but I'll tell you what they're going to come back Okay, that's just an indication you have healthy soil a lot of earthworm activity down there And you another option is to roll the turf if it's moist enough, but they're going to come right back Okay, you legally cannot apply a pesticide to control them. So I'm not going to say any more about that Stay with the legal stuff your vertical more great idea or roller. How about an infestation? You got any legal solutions? Oh, sure. There are a lot of a Insecticides labeled for ants seven will do the job. Okay other ones just again There's a lot of products out there Oh, what looks like white spots in the lawn like white spray paint White spray paint powdery mildew possibly, you know, it affects our lilacs or zinnias and so on It can be the same thing out there in your lawn Normally, we don't recommend the chemical control for it because it's going to go away as soon as the warm weather arrives A little too early for it right now, but if you see it in spring or fall It's probably powdery mildew about the size of a dinner plate or hubcap That's typical. I'm assuming that's what it is. But uh, it'll go away once the warm weather returns How about you know Now when you talk about all these toxic weed control recommendations, right about a nearly non-toxic weed control recommendations Let's say for a high traffic area or with you know, one of the kids and pets Okay. Oh, that's a tough one. There's there's there's really Well, I mentioned pre-emergence Corn gluten meal is an effective pre-emergent if it's applied at 20 pounds per thousand square feet What is corn gluten meal? It's chicken feed. Basically it's chicken feed, but it does have Some pre-emergent activity if applied at 20 pounds per thousand square feet Again, it's not going to be as effective as the synthetic chemicals that we use But if you're looking for the organic approach, there you go As far as a post-emergent organic, oh, I just I'm not aware of anything. I hear people spraying vinegar out there, but I I doesn't get to the It's it's right How about this person has has a severe vol problem sounds like poor Daryl is worried about his tomatoes, right? Okay, I guess they'll go after everything. They'll go after always 12 months out of the year Try to keep your garden weed-free and try to maintain a buffer around your garden If I don't know what the grass is like around your grave as tall mow it down Yeah, 15 foot barrier. These voles do not like to go out in shallow turf. They're afraid of puritatory animals So I try to ox them get them right ox snakes cats And we answered about nightcrawlers julian that had to do with the vertical mower How about cactus out in the west, you know that uh prickly pear bear? Yeah issue. Do you have any magic solutions for that? They're waxy cuticle. That's how they survive the summer months, especially in the south In the american southwest so something that's going to cut through that cuticle I can't recommend something. That's something I normally don't go after so I read the label I might point you in the area of uh speed zone I don't know if it's labeled for cactus, but it does carpenters on etho will cut through that waxy cuticle I just can't say because that's a normal. That's a weed. I'm not too familiar with Okay, how about uh, we'll just hand it with this. What's the best way to treat a pet spot in the springtime? Pet spots. I should have been ready for that one. Um, you know, once the damage is done receding Okay, now there are some dietary supplements you can feed to the dog to help neutralize the uh, the acidic effects of their urine Okay, um, you can pick those up at at Well from your vet, okay, and maybe at a nursery too But dietary supplements and this is a question I got last year and you know what I forgot the answer it's um If you can get that person to call me back. I'll get the answer Okay, there you go Again dietary supplements it out leech it out. It but if the damage is done, they're gonna have to recede it. Okay Actually, it burned the turf the actual wheel. Yeah Okay, I think we covered everything there was a baby's breath as a weed but I think the same type of situation you mentioned all your Uh, you know chymic solutions, right baby's breath would be a broad leaf. So again I understand music for your horrible. Well, there you go. Yeah, I'm a pleasant smell to there you go Okay, alan, I want to thank you for getting in the soft push. You're on the start Let's thank alan for our first time in spring figure this year and thank you alan And we're gonna take a very short five minute break here and learn about Soils in our garden and containers. Okay