Archive for the ‘Leaf Blower Articles’ Category
The extensive semi-dormant root system of the nutsedge grasses makes their permanent removal from infested lawns difficult. However, a relatively new herbicide has tested fairly specific for this invasive lawn weed. Halosulfuron-methyl will effectively control purple nutgrass when it is applied to any new sprouts on a regular basis. It appears to work on yellow nutgrass, too.
Purple or yellow nutgrass is often seen as the course faster-growing grass blades appearing a day or two after a lawn is mowed. Its three-to-five green shoots per plant have strong vertical veins going down their centers. Because of its invasive wide-spread, not-always-interconnected root system, nutgrass gives new growths after the current above-ground ones have been destroyed. For this reason, most herbicide treatments are ineffective unless done repeatedly until all of its root systems are completely destroyed.
Results from a comparative study.
A study by a southwestern university showed halosulfuron-methyl has the same root-killing power as does the kill-all-vegetation herbicide, glyphosate. However, halosulfuron-methyl has two distinct advantages over the kill-all herbicide.
1. It does not harm most other lawn grasses.
Halosulfuron-methyl does not harm the typical lawn grasses, such as, the fescues, bluegrasses, and ryegrasses. It will yellow certain burmudas. Yet, it is safe to use on the warm or cool-season grasses, and to use near the well-established ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees. However, it should not be applied to any bedding plants or garden vegetables.
2. It is easy to apply through spot sprays.
For the above reason, this water-diluted chemical is easily applied to the nutgrass growths as a spray treatment from a small hand-held one-gallon can without being careful about getting it on the surrounding lawn grasses.
Because the spraying of an entire lawn with this herbicide can be proportionally expensive, these spray applications are done only on the individual sprouts or small patches of it. If an entire lawn is heavily infested with nutsedge, a homeowner might want to have a professional lawn service treat the whole yard with its own less-expensive bulk chemicals first. Another option is to redo the entire lawn by killing it first, and then re-seeding it from scratch. Otherwise, it could take several gallons of this herbicide solution to do the job.
How to use halosulfuron-methyl on moderate infestations of nutgrass.
The written instructions and safety precautions that come with this product, which is sold under brand names, like, MON-1200, Manage, Sedgehammer, and Haolsulfuron-Pro, are straightforward and easy to read entirely. Currently, one form of the product comes as a solid in a 0.9-gram water-soluble packet ($15) which is diluted to one-gallon in water together with a small amount of leaf-sticking surfactant ($5) if desired. One or two drops of dish-soap might work as well. Then, simply spray the mix onto the nutgrass sprouts until its shoots or leaves are covered (wet and shiny).
The nutgrass will start to yellow in four-to-seven days. It will die-out in about two weeks. After that, freshly made solutions can be sprayed onto any new sprouts until they and their root systems are eliminated.
For more information on the effectiveness of halosulfuron-methyl and other treatments, see the following websites.
1. W.T. Molin, A.A. Maricic, R.A. Khan, Y. Peng-yam, and C.F. Mancino The Effect of Manage (Halosulfuron-methyl) on the Growth and Tuber Viability of Purple Nutsedge http://ag.arizona.edu/turf/manage.html
2. eHow – How To Do Just About Everything How to Kill Nut Grass by Carole Vansickle http://www.ehow.com/how_5150535_kill-nut-grass.html
If you’re ever taken a look at the lawn equipment that professional landscapers use you would have noticed that they tend to use what are called Zero Turn Mowers. A Zero Turn Mower or Zero-Radius Turn Mower is a lawn mower that has the ability to turn 180 degrees on the spot, completely changing directions without missing any grass. With Zero Turn Mowers, the amount of edging that you will have to do is drastically reduced, which will cut down on the overall time it takes to cut the grass.
Zero Turn Mowers have been used by commercial landscapers for a number of years but have recently caught on with homeowners as well. Consider a homeowner with a large lawn to cut, reducing the time it take to cut the grass is important. Also important is cutting down on the number of different machines that have to be used during on lawn cutting. Traditionally large lawns were cut with a riding mower, then trimmed with a push mower and then more trimming was done with a trimmer. This is a very time consuming.
By using a Zero Turn Mower, trimming can almost be eliminated. Zero Turn Mowers are able to navigate close to obstacles without having to backup and go forward multiple times. This is especially important for the aging population as trimming with a push mower can be quite physically demanding.
Zero Turn Mowers operate much like bulldozer with a lever on the left and right of the driver that essentially causes the speed of one of the wheels to vary, which causes it to turn in the direction of the slower wheel.
The normal configuration for a zero turn mower is to have the engine mounted behind the driver and the cutting deck in front. The rear wheels are usually powered and the front wheels are able to swivel in whatever direction the mower is turned, much like the front wheels on a shopping cart.
For a homeowner with a large lawn or a professional landscaper it would be beneficial to buy a Zero Turn Lawn Mower rather than a traditional riding lawn mower. Although they do cost slightly more than a riding lawn mower, the efficiency achieved will make it well worth the purchase price.
Blake Hygate is the owner of http://ZeroTurnMowerWarehouse.com which specializes in helping consumers find Zero Turn Mowers for sale throughout the U.S at affordable prices.
Mention vacuums and most people think of cleaning carpets. There is a niche of commercial vacuums designed for the outdoors and they are powerful.
The fall season creates some problems for the maintenance of large lawns. Smaller homes and smaller lawns can deal with the leaf problem with a rake. Some larger lawns can make use of a blower that uses the force of air to replace the muscle power of the rake. Both of these methods have a similar drawback. They move the leaves from one place to another, but they do not remove them. A second step is needed to either burn or bag the piles of debris raked from the yard.
The solution for the maintenance of a large lawn is the commercial leaf vacuum. The leaf vacuum works in the same manner as a vacuum cleaner. A powerful motor creates a suction that sucks leafs into a hose and deposits them in a large container. The container can be rolled to another location and dumped. The vacuumed lawn looks well maintained and manicured with a minimum of effort.
There are two major styles of leaf vacs available. The first type is a push and walk behind model. The container is usually a large, but light weight wheeled cart. The engine assembly resembles a push lawn mover. In fact, most of them are equipped with Briggs and Stratton or Honda lawn mover motors. The user starts the motor and pushes the machine around the lawn in the same manner as he would vacuum a rug inside.
For larger lawns, there are several units that are designed to attach to riding lawn mowers or garden tractors. These are designed for the largest lawns. The cart is much larger as it can be easily pulled by the tractor. Most of these models are designed to work in conjunction with the lawn mower. Grass can be cut and the clippings removed at the same time that the leafs and other small litter is being vacuumed.
The leaf vacuum is a valuable tool for a landscaping operation that is concerned with creating perfectly maintained lawns. The size of the lawn is usually the main determining factor. The type and amount of trees spread across the grounds or nearby also makes a big difference. When there are large numbers of trees in the area, the total volume of debris on the lawn becomes too large a job for rakes or a simple leaf blower. It is then that the leaf vacuum is needed.
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