Author: Colin

WOW, ever since the snow has melted, the first issue we noticed was how bad the vole damage was this year! Since we had a longer winter, the little buggers had more time to hang out in your lawn and eat the precious grass roots, that we as your lawn care company, try to keep strong and healthy! 

We want to share ideas for how to keep these rodents at bay in the future as well as what you can do now that the vole damage has already been done. 

So, what do voles actually do to your lawn? These rodents eat the crown of grass roots and the bark on trees and shrubs during the winter. Typically, they move in from nearby rangeland areas under the snow and then once the snow melts, they’re gone and your property might show signs of damage like below:

Now if you have these unsightly tunnels right now, stay patient, typically by June everything will look back to normal and you will forget that this was even an issue!

But…WHAT CAN YOU DO RIGHT NOW?

First things first, go ahead and rake up the dead grass. Many times after doing that, you will see that there is already newly established grass in those tunnel areas and it’s going to fill in and look fantastic. However, if you have extensive damage, we would recommend applying a half inch of topsoil to the area. This soil will keep the roots moist while the grass continues to grow back. 

If you have any additional questions or whether you have vole damage, send us a photo of your lawn at 406-312-7633. Our team would love to help you!

With the crazy spring weather, we have seen a huge increase in brown lawns all around Bozeman and Livingston, MT. There are two main circumstances to attribute this to: drought and lawn fungal disease.

DROUGHT:

How is drought possible with the rain we got?!

Yes, even with the rain we received, your lawn still needed much more water. You probably noticed that as soon as temperatures warmed up, your lawn started to get a slight yellow tinge if you hadn’t turned on your sprinklers yet.

With good soil, cool season grasses need one and a half inches of water per week to maintain a healthy profile. The rain was giving it a half inch at best.

What can you do if your lawn looks like this?

1. Turn your sprinklers on!
2. Set your mower blades at max height. This will help shade your soil to retain water.
3. Be patient, if your lawn has already gone dormant and it may take up to a month to recover.

FUNGAL – LEAF SPOT “MELTING OUT”:

What is this?

Leaf Spot occurs when there is a rapid change in temperature and/or moisture in the lawn. In a weeks time the disease can overtake even the healthiest lawn in the neighborhood.

Your lawn can start to appear burnt or “melting out” as the fungal spores spread through the grass blades. Mowers help spread spores around which creates the pattern you see in the top photo. This is why you will sometimes see it stop right at property lines. The good news is once temperatures cool down lawns can usually recover on their own.

What can you do if your lawn looks like this?

1. Continue to water, fertilize, and mow at 4″ height
2. Using a fungicide every 14 days will help the recovery time, focus on the affected and surrounding areas. We recommend using something with the active ingredient Propiconazol like this product: Fungus Control For Lawns
3. Be patient, fungicides will help but you won’t see real results until temperatures start to cool again.

If you’re not sure whether you are experiencing leaf spot or drought, please text us a photo and we’re happy to help diagnose it! 406-222-1152

There has been a growing demand for organic lawn care programs due to several reasons:

• Drought
• Concern of what products our families and pets are surrounded by
• The sustainability of pollinators, etc. 

The challenge for Yard Guard is: how do we satisfy our customers’ requests and provide a lawn they can be proud of?

About Blended Organic
There are two modes of thinking for organic lawns. First, customers want a fully organic program and have never tried it before and second, customers who have tried fully organic and realized that it does not work. Our Blended Organic program gives you the best of both worlds. 

Organic lawn care programs target different areas of the yard than a traditional lawn care program. Think: organic treats the soil and traditional treats the blades of grass. Over time, if you’re feeding the soil the proper nutrients it needs to maintain strong turf, your yard is going to look amazing, but BE PATIENT. Organic programs take time (think about 1.5 years) to get to a place where you are happy with the turf health. Traditional lawn care provides immediate results if you need control over weeds.

Most organic programs do not offer any weed control which means that the lawn is never able to outcompete weeds. If you are fine with this, then a 100% organic program is for you. However, if you want to get rid of the weeds and have a beautiful lawn, then our blended organic program would be a great option! This program is ever evolving for us. Containing 70% organics, it provides excellent nutrients for your lawn while maintaining weed control with our minimal application of herbicide. It does require some work on your end as the customer, though. 
| Be sure to follow our mowing and watering tips below to get the best results. | 

Add Carbon Back Into Your Soil
We use a blended organic slow release fertilizer that binds nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, sulfur, calcium and other micronutrients to carbon. Adding carbon back into the soil is key because it reduces greenhouse gasses, builds up your soil’s makeup and allows it to store water and nutrients better, creating a quality profile for healthy grass.

Our blended organic program follows the Trout Friendly Clean Water Coalition Guidelines. 

Our Five Step Blended Organic Program:

• Step 1 – Blended organic granular fertilizer application. We’re using a cutting-edge, carbon-based product that’s bonded to peat moss to help retain moisture while returning carbon to the soil.
• Step 2 – Combination liquid product based on kelp, molasses, traditional fertilizer for some nitrogen and weed control.
• Step 3 – Blended organic granular fertilizer application. We’re using a cutting-edge, carbon-based product that’s bonded to peat moss to help retain moisture while returning carbon to the soil. We spot spray at a minimum rate to control weeds.
• Step 4 – Liquid fertilizing product based on kelp, molasses, and traditional fertilizer for some nitrogen. We spot spray at a minimum rate to control weeds.
• Step 5 – Blended organic granular fertilizer application. We’re using a cutting-edge, carbon-based product that’s bonded to peat moss to help retain moisture while returning carbon to the soil.We’re able to take advantage of the cooler temperatures to put down a higher amount of nutrients.

Best Watering and Mowing Tips: 

1. We know you may want to cut your grass shorter, but please set your mowing height to 3.5″- 4″. It will require less water and look better!
2. Less frequent, deeper watering’s early in the morning between 4:00 am – 8:00 am, are best. Start with every other day and adjust if necessary. We recommend increasing your watering times once temperatures heat up in July. Let us know if you have any questions or need more help!

At Yard Guard, we offer the blended organic program to our customers in Livingston, Paradise Valley, Bozeman, Belgrade and Three Forks, Montana. 

Give us a call or send us a text at 406.222.1152 to find out more about the program and to get a quote for your property!