Miller's Lawn Care

09/16/2025

Armyworms are rare, but when they are here they destroy fast.
Just in a day or two time.

09/16/2025

09/16/2025

Here's how to test for fall Armyworms

09/16/2025

"Good Morning everyone

Starting to get some grub calls from a few different areas. We have seen some Armyworms up North as well. It’s been a crazy season. "

I got this email from chemical rep.

Lawns are browning due shallow rooting with now dry conditions, so may have to do soapy water test for armyworm.

Call now to connect with business.

04/08/2025

We going backward.
Be patient. 😡

03/30/2025

I'd love to be doing the first application at this time, but my conscience won't allow me to do it.
It's too early.

03/29/2025

Snow can be a good thing for turf because it acts as insulation. Winter desiccation occurs when turfgrass does not have moisture in the way of snow cover or other protections during wintertime, leaving it exposed to dry wind and low temperatures.
After the winter we just had, we can expect to see slower green up and some spots really struggle.
Especially in newly seeded areas.

09/12/2024

Hard to believe after all the rain the first few months of growing season that lawns turned dormant so soon. Roots never had to go down in search of water, so the roots are not very deep now.
Thought this customers lawn had dried out really fast also, but looked alittle strange. Grubs have invaded.
Be on lookout for slightly discolored areas and see if Grass pulls up like loose piece of carpet .
Treated this with a fast acting contact insecticide.

03/19/2024

If you're only in it for the money and don't care about treating your customers right, that's when you apply pre-emergent this early. Even with the warm days, the soil temperature is still way to cold.

06/07/2023

Do you see bleached tracks on your lawn that typically follow the path of your mower?
It’s not anyone person’s fault. Here is very good article about it.

It could be Ascochyta Leaf Blight, which is a grass fungus that is found primarily on Kentucky Bluegrass, the most common grass in Iowa. This disease causes irregular patches of straw-brown color and will make your grass appear dead. This can pop up overnight, having a great looking lawn one day and a streaky yellow lawn the next. Weather can have a factor in it as well, as it is typically preceded by wet weather that turns hot and dry. You will start seeing these damaged lawns near the beginning of June, but they can also occur anytime throughout the summer.
This is a foliar disease that kills the leaf tissue, not the root system. This also means that the disease is transferred by infectious spores that sit on the surface of the grass. The “dead” patches are commonly seen where your mower tires track because your tires will easily spread the spores as you mow your lawn. Given that the outbreaks are so random, you typically won’t notice your lawn is affected until after the patches are already there. Once they appear, there is little you can do to make them go away. The good news is that recovery should only take 3-4 weeks, depending on how the growing conditions are over that time. There also are some practices you can perform regularly to relieve stress on your lawn and lessen your chances of a yellow, patchy lawn appearing overnight.
The four main cultural practices you can do properly for a stress-free lawn are: fertilizing, mowing, watering, and core-aerating.. Mowing frequency, height of cutting, and blade sharpness are very important. Please be sure 2.5” – 3” of height remains after you’ve cut the lawn. Anything shorter than this causes stress on the lawn and allows w**d infiltration. Never cut more than one third of the grass blade when mowing. And avoid mowing in the heat of the day, especially if the lawn appears to be wilting or starting to dry out.
A healthy lawn needs 1” – 1.5” of moisture a week. It is best to water over night. Keep in mind, recovery will be slow and over-watering will not speed it up and may cause more problems. Keep up with fertility to promote re-growth. Core-aeration should be an annual practice especially for lawns that frequently have disease issues. Aeration reduces thatch levels and increases air movement, which allows the grass plants to dry more efficiently.
With this particular disease, curative fungicide treatments are not recommended.