April showers have produced an amazing amount of precipitation across the Antioch- Gurnee -Waukegan area this spring.  Antioch received over 6" of rain throughout the month of April, well over the historical average of 3.5" for the month.  Although temperatures were slightly above normal in the early part of the month the last weeks of the month were mostly cloudy, cool and slightly below normal or at normal.  The result was a cool, wet month leaving many lawns soggy, saturated but green and growing.  Wet springs encourage growth of all plants including grasses, perennials and even weeds.  As we dry out and warm up a lot of weeds will begin to pop up as temperatures raise.  Late spring should bring a lot of leaf tissue growth from all plants and flowers should produce full vibrant blooms in May just as the old saying goes. Wet springs are great for turning grass green and germinating new seed. A wet and cool spring has brought many delays to ...

Summer stressed lawn Summer weather has definitely arrived for the 2016 lawn season.  The last 4 weeks have brought many sunny 80 degree plus days and little rain to the Antioch-Lake Villa- Lindenhurst-Gurnee-Waukegan area.  Temperatures above the 80 degree mark for an extended amount of time and few summer storms have led to many brown lawns across the area.   Summer stress affects the lawn in several ways.  It leads to cool season grasses goin dormant, summer stress prevents the lawns ability to repair itself, it creates a changing appearance to the lawn and promotes new growth of summer weeds.  I bring up these factors because they seem to bring a lot of questions from customers and are easily explained.   As the soil and air temperatures pass the 80 degree mark, cool season grasses like fine fescues, ryegrass and bluegrass begin going dormant.  This is the natural process of survival for the grass without causing permanent damage to the...

Lawn Early April 2016 The spring of 2016 has brought just as many surprises and challenges as any in the past few years since we began writing this blog.  The spring began with a lot of early sunshine in March and no snow cover, which resulted in little to no snow mold on the lawn this spring.  The early sunny days allowed for the grass to begin greening up as the sun began slowly rising higher in the sky.  Although the temperatures did not rise early the sunlight allowed for the first phase of the lawn to begin waking in spring.  The lawn goes through two stages in spring, greening up- which allows for sunlight absorption to begin producing food for the plant through photosynthesis.  The second stage of spring lawn is growth which comes after photosynthesis begins and soil temperatures rise with warming temperatures.  Various weather conditions each spring is what causes varying spring green up and growth.   Lawn Early April 2015 ...

Dull blades cause browning of leaf tissue tips There are many cultural factors that can influence the appearance of the lawn in addition to irrigation and fertilizing.  These consist of proper mowing practices such as proper mowing height and sharpening your mower blades regularly.  Commercial lawn mowing companies sharpen their blades daily and or weekly.  This insures that the blades make a smooth clean cut to the leaf tissue.  Most homeowners fail to keep up with this practice and as a result their lawns can suffer.  As a homeowner mowing your own lawn you should insure that your blades are sharpened every 4 to 5 mowing's or monthly throughout the mowing season.   Shredded leaf tips from dull mower blades Dull mower blades can create damaging effects on your lawn.  A dull mower blade shreds the leaf tissue instead of cutting it clean.  This shredding causes damage to the leaf tissue and can leave your lawn with a light brown have c...