Hold on. Help is on the way.

With the strangely mild weather we've had this Spring, the weeds have popped early and once again the collective murmur has begun about the ineffectiveness of organic weed controls under a bylaw.

Well, if it's any consolation, the powers that be, now say, they may have jumped the gun a wee bit by going cold turkey on banning pesticides instead of phasing in the ban.

Yet, I'm here to tell you, technology is catching up to legislation and new alternate organic controls are coming soon. Forget Sarritor, it's junk. There are so many variables, I could spend a few hours trying to explain why this product, for the most part has been ineffective, but that's a post for another day.

Certain larger companies who horded the product line over the past few years so small operators couldn't join the parade are doing some fancy dancing. Can you hear the sound of me laughing?

When you tell your customers that Sarritor is God's gift to weed control and will do everything including take out your garbage and drop your kids off at school, there's bound to be some repercussions, but that's a post for another day.

But I'm not here to tell you about products that don't work. I want to tell you of those that, hopefully will. I say hopefully, because I have not used these controls yet. I've only seen the information.

The one that really turns my crank is Phomamicrostoma, a mouthful indeed, but that's not going to reach the market until 2012 just beating the end of the Mayan Calendar. So you'll have a weed-free lawn for one year, then BOOM! Again, that's a post for another day.

Or you could convert your lawn to a self-sufficient one by using Eco-Lawn low maintenance grass seed. Eco-Lawn eventually becomes allelopathic, or in other words; emits a natural pre-emergent herbicide that prevents other plants from germinating within it. You guessed it...a post for another day.

The alternate organic weed control that will be out on May 1st of this year and available for use, officially May 8th 2010,is called....wait I can't tell you what it's called until it receives finally approval from the PMRA.

Anyhoo....this new product seems like a pretty cool control. It's an iron based liquid, I guess that's where they get the Fe in the name. This product is also target specific unlike Horticultural Vinegars, and will cause little or no damage to the grass. It boasts a 90% control after two applications. So, if this is true, it's the closet mimic to 2-4-D we've had yet.

And as for the the picture at the top of the page? Why that's the new FIESTA by Ford....I've said too much.

Perhaps that's a post for another day too?

And they're off!

Although it may be Easter, they were actually out of the gate in mid March- the big boys that is.

It's easy to understand, after all the weather has been great and there's a huge market place to try and conquer, plus an equally high volume of current customers to service. So like being the first to the top of Everest to plant your flag, lawn company signs have been springing up faster than the dandelions that will soon infest lawns.

Yet, not all applications are created equal and education is the best defence for you the consumer, from finding yourself on the wrong end of the satisfaction quotient.

So here are a few things to remember at this time of the year:
An aeration can cause more damage than benefit if done too early. Usually It's a judgement call, but I feel the middle of April is a safer bet to start.

No matter what you are promised, your hundred dollar Nematode treatment before August is not going to get you 100% control. You'll be lucky to get 20% effectiveness.

Companies assuring you of $25 an application may seem wonderful at first glance, but is it? If they're giving you 5 fertilizations, aeration, 4 weed control, a couple soil stimulants, surface insect and grub over the course of a season it's suddenly not such a great deal. Do the math.

It's a numbers game and someone has to be first, but if you haven't had time to prepare your lawn, then that first fertilizer could be a wasted application. Many companies don't have the luxury of waiting for the right time and conditions to do your lawn. It's more cost effective for them to do the work and then send someone back, if you complain.

Don't be afraid, if you use a lawn company to demand a call the night prior to an application for your consent. This will help you in two ways. 1) You'll have the power to hold the application off if you feel it's too early, or you're just not ready. And 2) If you haven't signed for the year, it will stop those companies from just showing up without your consent and billing you for an unwanted application.

Remember, you as the home owner have the right to choose who you want on your lawn and when you want them.

Take back control of your lawn. It was yours in the first place.

January is for cold and calling

You look outside; there's snow on the ground, it's cold out and you feel miserable from the lack of sun/ flu/ winter blahs. Bah! You just feel miserable.

Yet, the phone is ringing off the hook with annoying lawn care telemarketers like pesky summer mosquitoes, all wanting your business.

"I can't even see my lawn," you say.

It doesn't matter. They know you have one and now is the "unofficial" open season on potential lawn care customers.

That's right. As we speak, freckled-faced twenty-somethings with no idea of what your lawn health is about, other than it should be green, are ready to take your abuse.

For minimum wage and commission, they are going to try to sell you on their company for the next week to 10 days- the average life span of the telemarketer before they quit in a huff.

Then a new recruit will take their place and you'll probably get another call from the very same company.

So much for the National Do Not Call List.

What do they hope to accomplish by pestering you and pissing you off?...

That they pound you into submission, by wearing you down and get your business. "OK! I'll sign up! Just stop calling here."

This tactic doesn't work on everyone of course, but in baseball a batting average where the player gets on base twice out of every 10 at bats, is considered quite respectable.

And for those two new customers, you can expect that a lawn care technician, with about as much knowledge of your lawn as the telemarketer, will show up at your door when the season begins and start doing applications.

The sad, cold reality of it all is; no one seems interested in cultivating relationships with the customer anymore- they just want the money.

Is it any wonder the Lawn Care industry has such a bad name?

Ending on a positive note

I felt my initial,(final) post for the season was a little harsh and decided to end things on a more positive note. After all the holiday season fast approaches and those feelings of good will toward your fellow brethren eventually seep in to your being.

So, let me just say, I hope everyone heeded my advice to aerate, over seed and put down the late fall fert to help your lawn respond quickly next Spring?

If so, give yourself a pat on the back, kick back and enjoy the holidays. For me, that means Christmas with the family and a, no cover New Year's, with my favourite band, Knuckle Babies at the Tilted Kilt in Whitby.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. See you in 2010.

The horror...the horror!

So now that you've been through your first season without your precious juice, how's everyone dealing with the pesticide bylaw?

No, this is not a Halloween post. It is merely to see the effects of the chemical free society we now live in when it comes to our lawns. Many of you now co-habitate with a text book of every weed known to man lurking on your lawn, yet, no effective means to rid yourself of all of them.

Personally, I can live without the pesticides, since there are effective organic methods to control pests; Nematodes, Neem etc. However, herbicides? Well, that's a different matter altogether, especially since Weedman has, supposedly, God's gift to lawn care, Sarritor, all tied up and available to the highest bidder only.

It takes small operators, like me, out of the running and I'm forced to play mad scientist with Top Gun, (based on fatty acids), and Horticultural Vinegar, trying to dumb the mixtures down so they don't kill your grass along with the weeds.

But even if I could get Sarritor, would I use it?

I've seen it be quite effective and fail miserably. Why? Probably a number of factors.

Back in the Spring I did a blog on the product amid extensive research and determined, like previous weed control methods, Sarritor had to be applied in certain conditions to be effective. As you know, the larger the company, the less likely they are going to give a damn about ideal conditions for the application, (see my post on Nematodes last month).

Therefore, you have adequate control on some lawns and not others.

If this product was the bomb in weed control, do you think that my business would have tripled in 2009; most of it from dissatisfied customers from bigger companies who say they use Sarritor?

If this product kept the lawns weed free, do you think Green Lawn, who also have Sarritor in their arsenal, would still be pulling weeds naturally as the first line of defence?

People are starting to wake up from the scare tactics of, "we are the only company who offer effective weed control for your lawn".
Fool me once.

Six bills a year for lawn care is too much, unless you have the larger square footage, especially for an application that is so hit and miss.

As long as the bottom line is, how many applications per day and maximum profit margin, do you think these companies are going to take the time to do what really needs to be done to keep a lawn looking good?

Or is this frightening scenario going to continue?

Beware, be aware

This week I was out performing my fall applications when I saw a rival truck from one of the larger companies spraying a lawn down the street.

Thinking that it was a new weed control other than Sarritor, I stopped to ask what he was spraying.

The dude told me he was doing a nematode application.

Well it was quite sunny and hot and as I looked up at the sun I said, "Really?"

"Yup," he said.

Fact: Nematodes should never be applied in full sun, the UV rays kill them.

I looked at the tank on his truck that he was spraying from. "The tank refrigerated?" I asked.

He looked at me like I was from another planet. "No," he said.

"Hmmm."

Fact: Nematodes are a microscopic worm that should be kept refrigerated until time of use.

"Didn't you used to spray pesticides from that tank."

"Yes," he said. "But you can't spray pesticides anymore."

Finally something knowledgeable.

Fact: Nematodes should be sprayed from a tank that is strictly used for that purpose. Any residual chemical will kill them.

"Well, good luck getting those nematodes to work."

"Look," he said, obviously becoming a little agitated by my banter. "I just do what I'm told by the company."

Fact: Just doing what the company tells you is not always in the best interest of the customer. Especially one who's paying a C note for dead nematodes.

Tis the season to be seeding

Fa,la,la,la,la....la,la,la,la

Now I know many of you out there swear by Spring seeding, but if you listen to the argument, Fall is actually the best time to over-seed your lawn.

Labour Day is the bench mark I tell people who want to ensure the health of their turf come next Spring.

The reason I feel so strongly about seeding at this time of the year is simple. The weeds are virtually done for the year, having gone through their germination process. There just isn't the same competition for the soil that you have in the Spring.

The nights are cooler with an abundance of natural precipitation, yet the days are generally, still warm with lots of sun- an ideal condition for any grass seed.

You are also utilizing the benefit of two growing seasons- that's right- this Fall and next Spring.

One other important item that I will stress is, to use a premium grass seed. The cheaper the seed, the more weed seeds you will find lurking in the bag.

Why go to all the effort of over-seeding your lawn when you are simply compounding the problem by planting weeds that may spring up next year. It's bad enough that tons of weed seeds already lay dormant in your soil, or the top soil you have delivered, waiting for ideal conditions to break free.

Most premium seed have undergone a testing process for weed seed and will have little to none.

I use Eco-Lawn when over seeding mainly due to this. Each and every bag is tested and the results are displayed on the back as my guarantee.

Sure, the seed costs a little more than other brands out there, ( about $40 after you factor in tax), but we're talking about grass that is slow growing, (9 inches a year), has a deep root system that needs very little water, (9 inches in clay soil, 14 in sandy soil), will eventually choke out any weed's ability to germinate, has a natural endopyte to ward off Chinch bug and even survive any grub infestation.

It is also a seed that does not need the addition of top soil to germinate, as long as you have good seed to soil contact.

It's not high in protein, so you're not putting out expensive bird food and it grows well in full sun as well as thriving in deep shade.

To me, it's worth shelling out a few extra shekels to have a lower maintenance lawn.

Remember you get what you pay for and by seeding with a high-end seed now, you won't have to pay later with your time, pulling those nasty weeds.