Thursday, May 21, 2015

SOIL IS SATRURATED DO NOT WATER - IRRIGATION OFF!

If if wasn't already obvious. not watering this week, this month of May even. Wait till grass or plants show signs of stress and turn you irrigation back on, probably, June 1st-ish

Hand water any new planting, let the soil dry out. 

I have seen more moss and crazy fungus growing all around town. With the wet an cool weather , we need a few sun days for the grown to dry out and stop the spread of these fungi and molds.

Have a good Memorial Dat weekend, stay warm and dry.

Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension
Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension
Watering recommendation for "Cougar Austin Redbud" for the past 7 days:0.34 inches*
DateEToMax TemperatureMin TemperatureMin HumidityTotal Rainfall
05-14-20150.148666600.05
05-15-20150.077770650.35
05-16-20150.148567630
05-17-20150.138467592.98
05-18-20150.148773570.01
05-19-20150.168776550.01
05-20-20150.168972530.18
NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows.
*Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall):
Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period.
TexasET Weather Station :Austin (LCRA Redbud)
Plant Coefficient :Warm Season
Adjustment factor :Normal
This information is provided by the "Irrigation Technology Program" under the direction of Dr. Guy Fipps. If you would like to discontinue service please click on the link above to log into your TexasET profile. To discontinue service for only this station select "modify" from your site list and delete the site. To discontinue all TexasET emails select "Modify your user profile" and uncheck "Receive watering recommendations by email".
This email was sent to cougar.irrigation@gmail.com by Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension
Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension 600 John Kimbrough BLVD, Suite 509 7101 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-7101

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

No need to water this week.3-5 inches of rain last night OY!

Serious rain last night, the Lake Travis basin only 1-2" of rain, but Central Austin took the brunt of it.

Storms clouds had been taunting us all day  with brief burst around 1pm and 5:30pm, but no accumulations, just trace amounts.

At 8:45pm, the kids are in bed and asleep and the "thunderstorms", have finally hit central texas.

Here are some of the recent numbers from my favorite tracking sites.
http://hydromet.lcra.org/full.aspx

These are rain totals in the first substantial hour since the ran started around 7:45pm tonight


Lake Austin at Cortana Shores 1.5 inches
Lake Austin at Quinlan Park 1.7 inches
Bull Creek at Loop 360, Austin 1.25 inches

Remember, these are 1 hour rainfall totals and it is just starting to rain harder around 8:45 pm

Storm is taking a break, the totals as of 10 pm

Lake Austin at Cortana Shores 3.44 inches ( 3" in 2 hours )
Lake Austin at Quinlan Park 2.57 inches ( 2.5" in 2 hours )
Bull Creek at Loop 360, Austin 3.47 ( 3.2" in 2 hours ) 
Lake Austin at Bunny Run Farm 3.71 inches ( 3" in 2 hours ) 


Wave # 2 just started at 10:10 pm 

Overall totals this morning

Lake Austin at Cortana Shores 4.44 inches ( 3" in 2 hours )
Lake Austin at Quinlan Park 3.21 inches ( 2.5" in 2 hours )
Bull Creek at Loop 360, Austin 4.45 inchs ( 3.2" in 2 hours ) 
LCRA Redbud Center 3.95 inches
Mansfield Dam 1 ENE 3.46 inches

And the winner in central Austin area is

Lake Austin at Bunny Run Farm 4.82 inches ( 3" in 2 hours )



Saturday, May 2, 2015

Why is my lawn so bare in April? 5 reasons

If your lawn is still having ares that are not doing so great, it s probably not water related as we have had anywhere from 14" to over 20" of rain in the first 4 months of the year, depending on what part of central Austin , TX area you live.

here are 5 reasons we commonly see

1, Wear and Tear during Winter dormancy for warm season grass. Dogs will tear up a lawn during Dec,Jan,Feb,Mar while the grass is dormant. So will kids and various other animals and critters. Best solution is to overseed with something during the winter months. Most common is to overseed with annual or perennial rye grass, but I like to plant clovers since they affix nitrogen to the soil and provide nectar for local bees and provide some visual interest.
 


2. Insect Damage - Grub worms being the # 1 cause. If you see "ant mounds" in your yard after a rain or night animals ( racoons or possums )  dig holes in your lawn , it is because of white grubs or mole crickets. These small mounds,  if you brush them away you will see a "small stick or pinky sized" hole in the ground. If you were to get a watering can and slowly water this hole, you may get lucky enough to see a cricket jump out ( kids thing this is magic, even big kids like me.)  Theest organic solution is beneficial nematode or milky spore disease treatment. There are quick fix treatments available at big box stores, but I don't recommend quick fixes, I recommend using nature and good strong soil microbiology for long term solutions to grubs and pests.
Grub Worm Control
To learn more http://www.nematodes.com/   Or this wensite http://www.ecolandscaping.org/05/pests-pest-management/controlling-grubs-milky-spore-disease-or-beneficial-nematodes/

3. Fungal Damage - #1 cause of our issues in this cooler weather. Brown Patch and Take All Root Rot (TAAR ) are rampant in shady areas and gets spread like wild fire when mow and blow crews scalp lawns in hte early spring after period of moist weather and high humidity. Also our high clay content soils do not let the ground dry out so this fugus tends to spread easily. I have seen lawns essentially disappear in less than 1 month in the early spring. Using high nitrogen fertilizers to early in the season will also stress the grass and exasperate the problem by accelerating the decline.



The best remedy  I have seen is the Natural Gardner process. We have successfully implemented this process on several lawns http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/images/stories/media_files/take%20all.pdf

The Natural Gardner has also a good chart on lawn problems.  http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/lawn-problems-guide.html

This video on YouTube is a great visual explanation. Granted this is in Florida, but we in Texas have almost identical spring time weather, high humidity and high moisture. https://youtu.be/yPJec1-5la0

4. Low nitrogen levels present in soil.  I like to think about grass coming out of dormancy the same way a black bear needs to put on weight or a squireel needs to store nuts for he winter. Grass needs a "winterizer" dose of nitrogen to store to make it through the winter and green up. Most people think the SPring is the most important time to fertilize, but in reality the fall application ( Late Oct, around Halloween ) is the most important. I like to apply a organic fertilizer ( 8-10 lbs of Nitrogen , first @ on the bag ) on the "Holiday schedule"  Easter, Memorial Day , 4th of July ( optional, if over 100 degrees, skip this application, Labor Day, Halloween. I think smaller doses or organic fertilizer and slower organic release of nutrients will benefit the lawn long term versus any quick high nitrogen applications.

5. Mow low and go, blow, etc. For some reason "people", this could be the lawn service crew or the homeowner, think that to get a grass started and going after winter,  it is best to SCALP the lawn and get more sun to the soil to warm it up and  bring the grass out of dormancy. Yes, more sunlight will hit he ground and raise the soils temperature and bring the remaining grass out of dormancy, but it also opens up a huge amount of real estate for weeds to take hold and out compete the grass.  The other issue is every 2 week mowing schedule takes off too much of the blade of grass ( more than 1/3 ) and forces the grass to  "go vertical" to replace its solar collection and generate more sugars.  If you take off 1/3 grass blade, the grass will run lateral and become denser. Her is the most uber dorky article I could find to explain the 1/3 mowing rule, inmore detail than I could explain.
http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/2012/05/how-to-mow-your-yard-rebuttal-of-a-consumer-reports-article/


My best suggestions for trouble areas, compost and compost tea. If there is an area that is struggling, add some compost,  top dressing and apply a compost tea. This is the most natural way to encourage the grass to grow into the area and retain moisture. Although we are technically not in a drought in Austin for the past 2 years this is a great program and a good cultural practive, so I encourage anyone able to participate in this program. http://www.austintexas.gov/news/drought-survival-rebates-your-yard

Cougar Matt out.

p.s  I leave you with this video
https://youtu.be/GYLbtXonvPc?list=PL12014F227CDE3E5B