In Collin County Texas we are in Stage 3 water restrictions which severly affect your plants and house foundation. Lake Lavon in only 50% full and Collin County anticipates going to Stage 4 restrictions. For instance, in Stage 3 in Plano you can water once every other week, in Frisco it is once a week. Be sure to check with your individual city’s restrictions. But in Stage 4 there will be no watering allowed by irrigation except drip or soaker hose or hand held hose. We can help before it is too late. By placing a soaker hose system around you plants and around your house foundation you will give the plants the water they need to survive the summer. The soaker hose can be automatically programmed through your irrigation controller.
Call us today at 972-491-2511 or email althea@seasonslandscape.com to have us install a soaker hose system before it is too late. If the drought goes into next spring and summer and with no watering allowed, most plants will succumb to the lack of water.
Below is a picture of a soaker hose that is put in landscape beds. 
Posted in Gardening and lawn tips
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Tagged drought, irrigation, Irrigation in drought, landscaping Celina texas, landscaping Frisco Texas, landscaping McKinney Tx, Landscaping Plano, Landscaping Prosper Texas, Stage 3 water restrictions, Stage 4 water restrictions, Water restrictions Frisco TX, Water restrictions McKinney Texas, water restrictions McKinney tx, Water restrictions Plano Tx
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We all want a weed free lawn. Pre emergents are great for preventing broadleaf weeds when applied at the appropriate time. We apply pre emergents in September, November, January and March. But no pre emergent will prevent grassy weeds such as Dallisgrass, Johnson grass or nutgrass (nutsedge). Since the EPA took MSMA off the market there is little to be done to kill dallisgrass. We are currently working with an agent that helps supress it but it may take several applications. Digging Dallisgrass out leaves a large hole as it spreads to the size of a dinner plate, but it may be the only remedy. Nutsedge can be treated iwth Image but requires several applications and you still may have sporadic growth. Weeds are most prevelant in areas where the grass is sparse or thin. Thin areas are seen in shady areas on the sides of houses and under trees. Spraying with a broadleaf weed killer works temporarily, but without thick grass, weeds quickly come back. Homeowners with Bermuda grass that dies out due to shade generally replace their Bermuda grass with St Augustine or Fescue. Another option is to extend your landscaping into shady areas and use shade tolerant plants and flowers. If you need options on how to deal with thin bermuda sod please contact us.
How do you keep your lawn green in this record drought and 100+ degree temperatures? Many turf specialist say that grass only needs water twice a week. But in this heat, twice a week will leave you with a struggling light green or yellow lawn and dying shrubs and flowers. With city restrictions of watering twice a day, many water twice on their designated day to keep their plants alive and lawns green. Cities mandate twice a week but as many times on those two days as you want. So if you water early morning (3am) and at night (10pm) then you are essentially watering 4 times per week. In addition the cities do not mandate time limit. Right now watering should be about 20 min for pop ups & longer for roters. You are the best judge of your lawn so if 20 minutes is not enough then up the time to 30 minutes. If your property is on a slope it is best to water 10 minutes for a cycle then cycle immediately again for another 10 minutes to avoid runoff. Then there are the new drip lines (brown soaker line) that cities have mandated for new houses. If you have this drip system note that most systems put out 1/2 gal to 1 gal of water per hour! Per Hour! Your timer for that station should be set on 40 minutes. A few hours after it turns off test the soil. If it is still dry increase the minutes. Many homeowners do not realize that the soaker hoses must be run longer than the pop ups in their lawn – so check your timers.
Irrigation systems need to be checked several times a year – we recommend quarterly. Turn the system on and look at all the heads – did they pop up high enough? Is there a gyeser (head popped off) and lastly after it is turned off did the heads retract all the way under the grass. Irrigation heads have small springs and they wear out over time causing heads not to pop up all the way or not to retract when off. If they stay above soil level, mowers will hit the irrigation heads. You also want to look for coverage – are all areas getting irrigated. As shrubs grow, heads need to be raised or lowered.
There are other factors that cause yellowing of lawns. The most common is sod on a rock base. Many areas of town have rock just below the surface. You can overdose the sod with fertilizer but to no avail – it still will not get dark green. The solution is adding mixed soil to the top of the grass. The grass grows through it, then you add another layer of top soil and the grass grows through it. Usually 2 applications will work very well. Now the roots have soil instead of rock and your lawn can flourish. Many people are surprised how much mixed soil they have to add – it can be 10 yards or more at a time and it all has to be brought from the drop site by wheel barrel then leveled and raked. I hope these tips will help you maintain a healthy lawn during this heat and drought and you too can be Yard of the Month.
Posted in Lawn Maintenance
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Tagged Custom Fireplace designs in McKinney Texas, healthy lawn, landscaping Celina texas, landscaping Frisco Texas, Landscaping Plano, Landscaping Prosper Texas, Lawn Maintenance Celina Texas, Lawn maintenance Frisco texas, Lawn Maintenance McKinney Texas, Lawn Maintenance Plano Texas, Lawn Maintenance Prosper Texas
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