Unhappy with the way your St. Augustine lawn is looking? You’re not alone. St. Augustine sod is the single most popular grass choice for residential and commercial lawns in Palm Beach County, Florida and is even a requirement for some HOAs and cities. Its natural resistance to saltwater and high tolerance against heat and humidity make this warm weather turf grass a perfect choice for South Florida. St. Augustine grass is unsuitable for areas where temperatures are regularly below 55 degrees. Below this temperature your St. Augustine sod grass goes dormant and stops growing. It may even appear to look dead. But as long as the temperature is the only factor in play, it should return once the weather warms up.
There are several primary types of St. Augustine sod grass that include: Floratam, Palmetto, Bitterblue, CitraBlue, ProVista and Seville. If sugarcane mosaic virus is a concern to you, then you should avoid Floratam and put the Bitterblue and Palmetto types at the top of your list for new St. Augustine sod. The State of Florida suggests using Palmetto type St. Augustine sod.
Unfortunately over fertilization, fungi, drought, weeds, chinch bugs and other pests can turn your Palm Beach County St. Augustine sod grass lawn into an unsightly mess. But there is hope.
Rejuvenating Your St. Augustine Grass Lawn
- Have Your Soil Tested First – The only way to properly understand what nutrients are lacking in your soil is to perform a soil test. In South Florida, it is generally recommended to have soil with a neutral pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Soil tests can also detect diseases that can’t be determined by the naked eye
- Have a Soil Amendment Done if Needed – A soil amendment is anything added to your soil to improve its condition, whether it be nutritional content, pH levels or draining ability.
- Dethatch St. Augustine Sod Grass – Dethatching can aid in proper drainage that preventing water from pooling which leads to fungal growth and disease that can be devastating to you St. Augustine lawn. Dethatching can also allow pesticides to get down to where they are most effective at the soil level
- Make Sure Lawn Pests are Not the Problem – Palm Beach County is home to many lawn pests that can damage your St. Augustine grass including chinch bugs. Understanding which pest or pests is making a meal out of your St. Augustine lawn is the first step in determining what action to take.
- Proper Weed Control – Use the correct pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides to control unsightly weeds from overtaking your South Florida St. Augustine lawn.
- Proper Irrigation – Make sure your St. Augustine lawn is receiving the proper amount of irrigation. St. Augustine sod grass is not drought tolerant
The best way to maintain a healthy St. Augustine lawn in Palm Beach County is with regularly scheduled lawn treatment service that includes fertilization, weed control and pest control. Ensure your St. Augustine sod grass is receiving the proper irrigation and lawn maintenance along with these essentials and you should be enjoying a beautiful, lush, green St. Augustine lawn year-round.
Why not leave your lawn treatment problems to the professionals. Our locally owned and operated company can keep your St. Augustine lawn looking great with complete professional lawn fertilization and pest control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
Eco-Friendly and Pet Safe Lawn Fertilization & Pesticide Products Available
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
How to Get Rid of Chinch Bugs in St. Augustine Grass
What chinch bugs lack in size, they make up for in their voracious appetite for sod grasses. In Palm Beach County the most common type of chinch bug is the Southern chinch bug, which seems to have a fondness for St. Augustine grass and have been known to cause millions of dollars in damage each year. Chinch bugs are one of the most notorious lawn pests in South Florida and can destroy your beautiful St. Augustine lawn in no time at all, so early detection and treatment are paramount.
Catching Infestations of Chinch Bugs Early is Key to Limiting Damage to Your Lawn
Chinch bugs are a sucking insect that damage your Palm Beach County lawn by injecting individual blades of grass with their poisonous saliva. The damage causes loss of nutrients and water to the grass blades which leads to a yellowing and dying off of large patches of your lawn that may be mistaken for a disease or drought damage. Chinch bugs reproduce quickly and have been around long enough to have developed a strong resistance to many natural and chemical pesticides. But again, when detected early chinch bugs are fairly easy to remove and control.
Controlling Chinch Bugs in Palm Beach County St. Augustine Lawns
- Some DIY yard enthusiasts swear by Dawn or other dish washing liquids as an effective chinch bug control measure. A simple mixture of water and detergent will suffocate the pests without harming your lawn or other ornamental landscaping. But this method can be unrealistic for large infestations.
- Chinch bugs can be difficult to treat through heavy thatch where they like to hide, so a proper de-thatching may be necessary for effective treatment. De-thatching your St. Augustine lawn also reduces the likelihood of a return infestation.
- Not all insects are bad. In fact some are a great natural enemy to other insects that can cause more damage. Our logo is a lady bug beetle, which is a natural predator of chinch bugs and other lawn pests.
- Unfortunately, once the infestation has reached the point where you really notice it an insecticide treatment will probably be needed to cure you chinch bug problems.
Why not leave your chinch bug problems to a professional. Our locally owned and operated state certified pest control company can keep your St. Augustine lawn looking great with complete professional lawn pest control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for chinch bugs and other pests for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
West Palm Beach Crabgrass Weed Control & Prevention
Crabgrass is in the grassy weed family and thrives in Palm Beach County because of the year-round warm climate. And to make matters worse, it is extremely difficult to kill adult crabgrass weeds because most herbicides that eradicate it will also harm St. Augustine sod grass and many other South Florida turfgrasses. But you will have good luck preventing crabgrass weeds using the proper pre-emergent herbicide. This product works extremely well on preventing future outbreaks of crabgrass, but unfortunately does not kill existing adult crabgrass weeds. It is usually best to apply pre-emergent herbicides to your West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter and Wellington commercial or residential property lawn in late December to early February.
Pre-emergent Herbicide Products are the Best Prevention for West Palm Beach Crabgrass Weeds
Crabgrass will compete with your St. Augustine sod for nutrients and water, so once again the healthier and thicker your lawn is, the harder it is for crabgrass weeds to take root in the first place. Professional fertilization service and pest control combined with weed control is the best way to maintain a healthy, beautiful lawn in Palm Beach County.
Why not leave your crabgrass weed problems to a professional. Our locally owned and operated company can keep your lawn looking great with complete professional weed control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
Are All Lawn Treatment Companies the Same?
No, not all lawn treatment companies in South Florida are the same. Just because someone can cut your lawn and trim your hedges, does not make them an expert in fertilization and pesticide applications. First and foremost, you should make sure your lawn treatment company is properly licensed and insured. In the State of Florida, the company must have a Florida-certified operator on staff full-time in charge of the pest control operations. Furthermore, the operator must be certified in all the categories in which the business conducts operations.
There are separate certifications for:
- General Household Pest and Rodent Control
- Termite and Other Wood-Destroying Organisms Control
- Lawn and Ornamental Pest Control
- Fumigation
The majority of the chemicals for weed control, pest control, fungus control and disease control that a professional lawn treatment company uses are not available off the shelf at a big box store. The primary difference is potency and regular landscapers and the general public do not have the proper license to purchase and apply these professional-grade fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
A professional lawn treatment technician should be trained to notice the first signs of possible problems like disease and pests before the problem gets out of hand. It is much easier to deal with a major lawn problem in the early stages than after it has become a full-blown mess.
Having the knowledge of when to apply pre-emergent herbicides is another distinction between a quality lawn treatment company and someone that is under-qualified. Palm Beach County is notorious for crab grass and it is a lot easier dealing with these noxious weeds before they become seed-bearing adults. And not all herbicides work the same, so you need to know which ones will work for your specific problems without harming nearby plants and sod grass.
A quality lawn treatment company like ours cares about its customers and will make every reasonable effort to satisfy them. We guarantee it!
Our locally owned and operated lawn treatment company has professional technicians that provide quality fertilization and lawn pest control services for your Palm Beach County residential or commercial lawn. We can keep your West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington or Jupiter, Florida lawn lush, green and disease free no matter what type of sod you have.
How to Get Rid of Sandspurs in Florida
Sandspurs, also known as sandburs, are a common grassy weed in Palm Beach County with spiked seed pods that can be quite painful to humans and pets when stepped on. These nuisance weeds thrive in the sandy, dry soil of South Florida. Sandspur weeds tend to resemble normal grass in the early stages of development until they sprout their infamous spiked seed pod and are very difficult to remove once they become mature.
A pre-emergent herbicide is the best way to control future sandspur infestations in your West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington or Jupiter lawn. A pre-emergent herbicide will reduce the number of seeds that can grow into future sandspur weeds. In fact you can probably kill two birds with one stone and use the same pre-emergent herbicide on crabgrass because they are both in the same grassy weed family
Pre-emergent Herbicides are the Best Prevention for Sandspur Weeds in South Florida
Using Roundup® will kill just about everything green, so be careful when using this product as it will damage your lawn and ornamental landscaping plants as well.
Sandspur weeds compete with your lawn’s sod grass for nutrients and irrigation, so once again the healthier and thicker your lawn is, the harder it is for sandspurs to take root in the first place. Professional fertilization service and pest control combined with weed control is the best way to maintain a healthy, beautiful lawn in Palm Beach County.
Why not leave your sandspur weed problems to the professionals. Our locally owned and operated company can keep your lawn looking great with complete professional weed control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
How to Get Rid of Whiteflies on Your Palm Beach County Palm Trees?
Spiraling whiteflies or rugose spiraling whiteflies (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus) are an invasive species that were first introduced into South Florida around 2009 and rapidly became a serious problem in Palm Beach County disfiguring and killing many different species of palm trees and ornamental landscaping shrubs in West Palm Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter. Coconut Palm trees and White Bird of Paradise plants were especially hard hit. The spiraling white fly feeds by sucking out nutrients and water from the infected host plant causing major stress and stunted growth.
Rugose spiraling whiteflies also are a major problem because of the mess they create to pools, patios, outdoor furniture and other outside valuables by excreting what is called “honey dew”, which causes the rapid growth of a black mold which then covers everything in the infected area with a hard to remove layer of black soot. Pools beneath trees infected with spiraling white fly can become covered in a milky white “snow” and the honey dew will deplete chlorine and stain the decking. Ants and other pests are also attracted to the honey dew, which can be the start of a whole new problem.
Removing these nuisance pests before they cause too much damage is the answer. It is a lot cheaper to treat spiraling white flies than it is to replace your beautiful trees and shrubs and pressure clean all the black soot off your patios and driveways.
Arborjet Tree Injections are Currently the Best Treatment for Whitefly Infestations on Palm Beach County Palm Trees
Our locally owned and operated company has trained pesticide professionals that have been treating Jupiter, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach palm trees with Arborjet tree injections for spiraling white flies and other pests for decades and have the expertise to get the job done right the first time at a price you can afford. And unlike pesticide sprays or soil soaks, Arborjet tree injections put the insecticide inside the palm tree which limits impacting the environment and is safe for you and your pets.
Eco-Friendly and Pet Safe Lawn Fertilization Products Available
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn and landscape pest control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
Who Can Diagnose South Florida Lawn Problems?
A professional lawn treatment specialist can usually diagnose your South Florida lawn problems by checking for lawn pests, unusual discoloration, fungi and diseases, or even deficient irrigation problems via a simple visual inspection and possibly a soil test. In extreme situations, a soil sample may need to be sent to The University of Florida for further review.
South Florida lawn problems can be caused by a variety of different issues from something as simple as improper irrigation to something as complex as sugarcane mosaic virus, so getting the proper diagnoses can mean the difference between a simple fungicide application to a complete removal and replacement of your sod grass. Lawn pests, drought damage, fertilizer deficiencies and lawn diseases all can cause your lawn to appear to be under attack, but understanding the root cause of your problem early can save you a lot of money down the road. Our Palm Beach County professional lawn treatment technicians have the knowledge to detect the signs of lawn pest problems, lawn diseases other possible lawn problems before they become overwhelming.
Symptoms of Possible Lawn Disease
- Does your lawn have unusual spots or lesions on the sod grass blades?
- Does your lawn have repetitive spots covering the turf grass area?
- Does your lawn have patches of discoloration for no apparent reason?
- Does your lawn have seem to be covered in baby powder?
Lawn diseases are commonly overlooked because they are easily mistaken with other lawn problems such as chinch bug damage or drought. A lawn treatment professional should be able to catch lawn diseases at an early stage before it becomes too late to repair the damage caused by them.
*A viral infection like sugarcane mosaic virus can’t be treated with fungicides and can be devastating to Palm Beach County lawns. In severe cases it may kill the entire lawn, which is called LVN or lethal viral necrosis. Beware of any lawn treatment company that says they can cure sugarcane mosaic virus. Also, it may be necessary for us to send a soil sample to The University of Florida to positively identify sugarcane mosaic virus.
The best way to maintain a healthy, beautiful South Florida lawn is with the proper combination of fertilization, weed control and pest control. Add in adequate irrigation, disease management and lawn maintenance and you should be enjoying a beautiful, lush, green lawn year-round.
Why not leave your lawn treatment problems to a professional. Our locally owned and operated company can keep your lawn looking great with complete professional lawn fertilization and pest control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
Eco-Friendly and Pet Safe Lawn Fertilization & Pesticide Products Available
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.
How to Get Rid of Chickweed in South Florida
Chickweed, scientifically known as Stellaria media, is a common broadleaf weed in South Florida that if not eradicated can damage your lawn. Chickweed has the distinction of being one of the most widespread weeds in the world. Left alone, chickweed will branch out and form dense, close-to-the-ground, carpets of the noxious weed. If possible, it is best to remove chickweed before it flowers and spreads its seeds into the wind to cause more infestation. It is easily removed by hand in small, affected areas, but once it has spread to large areas an herbicide will probably need to applied. As with most weeds, when removing chickweed by hand try to remove the entire root or regrowth is only a matter of time.
A proper pre-emergent herbicide is the best way to control future chickweed infestations in your West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington or Jupiter lawn. A pre-emergent herbicide will reduce the number of seeds that can grow into future chickweed.
Pre-emergent Herbicides are the Best Prevention for Chickweed in South Florida
Using Roundup® will kill just about everything green, so be careful when using this product as it will damage your lawn and ornamental landscaping plants as well.
Chickweed, like other weeds, will compete with your lawn’s sod grass for nutrients and irrigation, so once again the healthier and thicker your lawn is, the harder it is for chickweed to take root in the first place. Professional fertilization service and pest control combined with weed control is the best way to maintain a healthy, beautiful lawn in Palm Beach County.
Why not leave your chickweed problems to the professionals. Our locally owned and operated company can keep your lawn looking great with complete professional weed control service. We have been treating West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Jupiter, Florida residential and commercial lawns for decades and have the experience to get the job done right.
We offer natural, environmentally friendly and pet friendly lawn weed control products as an option to our clients. Our experienced technicians can discuss your concerns and the options available to you.