An innovator, who changed the lawn care world for the better, died on Saturday from natural causes at age 85. George C. Ballas introduced the Weed Eater in the early 1970’s and had created a multi-million dollar business by 1976.
Ballas’ invention, more commonly known as the weed whacker, is said to have surfaced when one of his lawn care workers was bit by a poisonous snake while trimming his hedges with sheers. The ingenious creation began as a wired popcorn can and an edger, and has since flourished into the weed whackers we see today.
JP McHale salutes George C. Ballas, a pioneer who changed homeowners’ views and expectations for their lawns.
Today Postbulletin.com published a short article with some tips to keep your lawn green, whether its is sunny or cloudy, dry or moist outside. A local lawn expert says you should water each section of your lawn for only 15 minutes each day. The soil can only absorb so much water and after 15 minutes, the water will just wash away the soils nutrients. The best time to water your lawn is between 6 am and 8 am. A common problem homeowners do is cut their lawn too short. Cutting your lawn too short will stress the grass. You should keep your lawn 3 to 4 inches tall. By keeping your grass at this height, it will shade the ground so it will not dry up. JP McHale is a New York lawn care company and for more information on how JP McHale can help you protect your lawn, visit our tree and turf department or contact us by phone 800-479-2284, email, live chat, twitter, or facebook.
Q. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year, how do I protect my house from rodent activity?
Answer: As colder months come up on us, rodents will seek into warmer areas. It is important you examine potential avenues of entry around your house to exclude these commensal creatures. Openings around garage doors, pipe chasings and foundation cracks can provide access. Seal these openings! Establishing bird houses or feeding bread to birds within 25 feet of your home will attract rodent activity. Do not store bird feed, dry dog food or any other type of feed in bags. Transfer the contents of these products into plastic storage bins if kept under your sinks or in basement areas.
As winter nears, your home needs the protection of a full service pest solutions program.
Q. How do I best prepare my plants, arbors and shrubs for the blustery winter months ahead?
Answer: Winter temperatures and weather can wreak havoc on your arbors. Deep root fertilization aerates the soil and constructs a pathway of vitamins and nutrients directly to your arbor’s root system. Your trees and shrubs will retain these essential nutrients in its root system, pulling it from them when required, for early spring growth.
Q .What are the benefits of lime applications to my lawn?
Answer: Weeds grow best in acidic soil while grass benefits from a neutral base. Lime neutralizes the soil ph and mitigates any adverse reactions to organic fertilizer. Making a long story short, healthy soil leads to healthy grass. Healthy grass combats weed development. You cannot get any greener than that!
“There’s no weapon like experience.” JP McHale Pest Management Inc. is a family owned and operated pest management company since 1971, we are one of the top 50 largest pest control companies in the United States. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about the services we offer.
1. Why should I aerate my lawn at this time of the year?
This is the optimum time to set your lawn up for success next spring. Aerating your lawnscape will relieve soil compaction and break down the barrier of thatch resting between soil and new grass seedlings. This exercise will make soil more receptive to water, and essential nutrients, simultaneously expanding root growth.
2. What is the most effective way to prevent wind burn or halt winter damage to my evergreen trees?
Applying an anti-dessicant application to your conifer trees will give the needles a healthy shine, while assisting your arbors in retaining important moisture levels. This environmentally sound, wax based product, seamlessly melts off in spring when your plants are ready to commence the growing season.
3. How do I best prepare my plants, arbors and shrubs for the blistering winter months ahead?
Winter temperatures and weather can wreak havoc on your arbors. Deep root fertilization aerates the soil and constructs a pathway of vitamins and nutrients directly to your arbor’s root system. Your trees and shrubs will retain these essential nutrients, in its root system, pulling from them when required, for early spring growth.
4. Describe the benefits associated with Lime applications to my lawn.
Weeds grow best in acidic soil while grass benefits from a neutral base. Lime neutralizes the soil ph and mitigates any adverse reactions to organic fertilizer applications. Neutral soil optimizes the effects of organic fertilizer. Making a long story short, healthy soil leads to healthy grass. Health grass combats weed development. You cannot get any greener than that!
5. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year. How do I protect my house from rodent activity?
As cooler months come upon us rodents will seek entry into warmer areas. It is important you examine potential avenues of entry around your house to exclude these commensal creatures. Openings around garage doors, pipe chasings and foundation cracks can provide access. Seal these openings! Establishing bird houses or feeding bread to birds within 25 feet of your home will attract rodent activity. Do not store bird feed, dry dog food or any other type of feed in bags. Transfer the contents of these products into plastic storage bins if kept under your sink or in basement areas.
Please contact us if you are interested in any of our services. We service New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Everyone loves athick green lawn. The growing season is about two months away. Once the soil temperature drops below 55 degrees, power seeding and core aeration is highly recommended.
Power seeding will make small slits in the solid and fill them with seeds. This can nearly guarantee germination, and grow grass in the weak areas of your lawn.
Aeration is also a recommended service during the growing season. During the winter and spring, your soil will become compacted, and strain the growth of grass. This will make your grass appear thinner and less healthy. Aeration is done with a machine that removes soil about the size of a cork, every 3-6 inches. This will loosen up the solid and allow “breathing room” for the grass roots.
After all lawn services it is highly recommended that you water your lawn as it is the main backbone in growing a green lawn.
Please contact JP McHale’s Tree & Turf Department so we can schedule you with our lawn and tree inspector to develop a custom plan for your property.Its Free!
Nutsedge is a weed commonly found on lawns. Nutsedge is green, with yellow tips that grow faster then grass. Nutsedge grows flower-like, spouting from one central steam. This bottom of the nutsedge, is often called “tubers”, which are also referred to as “Nuts” or “Nutlets” is found underground. If you can eliminate the tuber, the nutsedge can no longer survive.
Lawns will begin to see nutsedge growth because of the massive amount of rain the northeast has seen. There are several control methods you can follow.
There are many different ways to control nutsedge. The first is to remove the weed along with the soil around it. You must then replace the hole with topsoil and grass seed. Dehydration of the weed can also be down, but poses a risk to surrounding grass and plants. You must disable the irrigation zone near the nutsedge and make sure rain doesn’t help feed it. This method is also very hard to carry out because that risk of rain. This method can only be used in early stages of the nutsedge’s lifecycle. If more then 3-5 blades of nutsedge are spotted, more intensive measures must be taken.
Nutsedge is also commonly found in beds of mulch. When mulch is applied, a weed fabrics is typically installed. Many over the counter fabrics cannot protect from nutsedge because the tips of the weed are so thin. The University of California did a test of the most effective weed fabrics. The results showed that Geoscape landscaper fabric and Dupont Typar 307/ 312 are the most effective.
Herbicides can be used to manage the weed, when applied correctly by a pest control operator.
This information is brought to you by the Tree and Turf Department of JP McHale Pest Management.
Weed Eater in the early 1970’s and had created a multi-million dollar business by 1976.
Q. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year, how do I protect my house from rodent activity?
1. Why should I aerate my lawn at this time of the year?
5. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year. How do I protect my house from rodent activity?
Everyone loves a
Nutsedge is a weed commonly found on lawns. Nutsedge is green, with yellow tips that grow faster then grass. Nutsedge grows flower-like, spouting from one central steam. This bottom of the nutsedge, is often called “tubers”, which are also referred to as “Nuts” or “Nutlets” is found underground. If you can eliminate the tuber, the nutsedge can no longer survive.
