You are not connected. The newsletter may include some user information, so they may not be displayed correctly.

The Benson Letter - March 2024

The Benson Letter - March 2024

The Benson Letter
March 2023

Greetings friends. It's definitely spring even though today on 3/23/24 it feels more like winter now than it did much of February. My target start day is next Tuesday and my hopes are that most of the freezing temperatures are behind us so I don’t freeze my truck like I did last fall. This month we will talk about some old reoccurring issues as well as develop plans for you to take care of your own health regime for your landscape, starting with the turf.

Lots of calls this month. This one, “why do I have green spots in my lawn?” always is a classic.

 

Dog pees will kill lawns in the summer but this time of year it provides a real difference in color making the grass greener where their urine’s nitrogen gets those spots growing earlier. Magic is just checking out who’s been where since she was here.


Cicada Killer Wasps

Jimmy my guru from the days before I went Apple called to ask about the huge bees in his lawn. It was great to hear from him again but his seemed a scary problem..

 

These are huge bees and certainly scary but relatively not a problem. First time I encountered these was 30 years or so when I got to play with the Entomologist at WVU following a flood on the Preston Golf course where all the sand dunes got pushed to one long area along the river in the cleanup. That created a perfect home for the Wasp and if you build it someone will live in it. It seemed suddenly there where hundreds of these giant bees that golfers were supposed to play through. It really didn’t matter that they seldom bite. Once more pestilence was the key to protecting the golf game and the golf courses reputation. Yes, I’m a little prejudiced but it's my newsletter. Note that the only place I know of these in Morgantown is Jerome Park and it turned out that was where Jimmy was calling from. Call me if you need to learn how to kill these with pestilence, remember the two-brick method is viable here. Please wear goggles when using the bricks.


Fire Your Lawn Service and Do It Yourself

Honestly many think growing grass is hard, but they are mistaken. It takes no rocket scientist to grow grass and even less to kill it, as I have proven for the last 48 years. Let's demystify the process. Note that for 28 years I managed a hardware store owned by my parents. We sold a full line of products which currently no one does anymore that I have found in the Morgantown area. Remember this is only the prescription for Morgantown so I had to turn to Amazon to find the products you will need. There are two plans one allows seeding in the spring and the other doesn’t.

Not seeding

This is the easy one because its so easy to kill the seed after you plant it. You will need to buy two types of fertilizer. First, Scotts Halts Crabgrass and Grassy Weed Preventer, used in the first application before the 1st of May in the spring. Secondly Scotts Turf Builder with no plus this or that just plain Scotts Turf Builder and this you will use in early September, October, and November. Note follow all the labels for how and what cautions to follow. Weed control comes from hose ready sprayers that say mystical things like lawn weed control. Look for that photo of the dandelion and again you just spray places with weeds and follow directions. This will give you a great lawn unless you misapply.

Seeding

Seed when you want and look at the wisdom on Seeding on Bare Soil for help on selection. Hyperlink here The selection decision is based on how you’re going to care for it, period but just please read. Because you are seeding you can not prevent crabgrass nor kill weeds for a couple months after you seed. You only have to buy one fertilizer as you can’t use the Halts as it would not allow your seed to germinate. You just need Turf Builder, first at seeding and then 30 days after seeding, followed by early September, early October, and early November. This means you will be holding on all weed control for a couple months and can’t prevent crab grass so the ready to put on the hose weed killer will now be Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Killer.

Summary

Those of you who know me well know how blessed I am. One of my greatest blessings is a friendship with an amazing human, Grant Stewart. I have so many bni folk that watch out for me but Grants just so special at knowing what my soul needs, and he sent me this photo a few weeks ago:

 

This photo was taken off his deck at his new home on the Goshen Road. I’m just a little old plant death angel and I do not have words to express the power within this image created by the universe, or as I would say by God. Thank you Grant for this gift, and I hope sharing it gives you all joy.


See you in your lawn soon!!

Benson's Lawn Systems, Inc.
3360 Collins Ferry Road • Morgantown, WV 26505
(304) 599-6611BensonsLawnSystems.comjay@bensonslawnsystems.com
With his monthly newsletter, The Benson Letter, Jay answers questions about Morgantown flora.
 
Through his Around Town video library, Jay talks about lawn and landscaping problems in our area.

Find out what makes Morgantown flora unique in Wisdom Unencumbered by Facts. Jay's stand on flora initially developed as a hobby, followed by over 42 years of growing Morgantown.

Visit us on Facebook and at BensonsLawnSystems.com to learn more.

We also refer vetted professionals through the remarkable business network we have built through Benson's Hardware and BNI Excellence.

Call Jay to talk about any issues you face in your home. He can help.
For most of our pest treatments we can start any time a crisis comes up, no matter the time of year. In this case, though, the snow covering on the ground makes this a not-great time to address ticks. Let’s look forward to spring instead and get serious about addressing the problem as early as we can.