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Ask the Gardener/Lawn Care Expert

Welcome to Ask the Garden and Lawn Care Expert!

Our expert - Brian - is a resident of Whitby Shores and has been in the Lawn Care/ Gardening business for over 15 years.

To ask Brian a garden or lawn care-related question, click here.


Disclaimer: The expert and this site accept no liability or responsibility for any advice/information provided.

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How do I prepare my lawn for the Fall/Winter?

Whether you care for your lawn yourself or hire a company to do it for you, now is a good time to evaluate your lawncare program and make adjustments for the coming year.

Timing is everything when you apply fertilizer. First, adopt this mantra: Fertilize in Fall, Fertilize in Fall, Fertilize in Fall. Fall is when the roots that will sustain the plants through the following summer are actively growing.

Spring fertilizing encourages leaf growth at the expense of root development. It also feeds weed species and can lead to disease and insect problems later in the season. In addition, you will have to mow the lawn more frequently. If you must fertilize in the spring, limit it to a light feeding (half-pound of 10-10-10 per 1000 sq. ft.) after the initial flush of growth has subsided in May.

Never fertilize in the summer. Most lawn grasses in our area are cool season species, which die back during the heat of the summer.

The ideal periods for application are the first two weeks in September and between the last mowing and Thanksgiving. Effective lawn feeding after Thanksgiving often is hampered by wintry conditions, during which time precipitation will wash the fertilizer into local streams, contributing to waterway pollution.

If you decide to leave lawn care to the professionals, carefully research a company’s methods of operation. Does the company offer a variety of pest management approaches from which you may choose? Does it apply pesticides on a regular schedule regardless of need or does it limit pesticide use to only when needed? Does it evaluate and treat your lawn as a single entity, or does every lawn get the same treatment? Does the company routinely combine fertilizer and pesticides in each application?

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How should  I prepare my garden for the winter?

You should already be taking care of fall cleanup. If not, you’d better hop to it. If you are, good for you! Now you’re ready for the next step. After cleanup, cover your garden with finely mowed grass clippings and leaves, and overspray the debris with a mixture of:

  • 1 can of regular cold cola (not diet),
  • 1/2 cup of Plant Shampoo, and
  • 1/2 cup of chewing tobacco tea*.

Apply this mixture with your 20 gallon hose-end sprayer, filling the balance of the jar with warm water. A week to ten days later, you should lightly spade this material, and then let it set for winter.

*Chewing tobacco tea: Place half a handful of chewing tobacco in a small piece of cheesecloth or pantyhose, and soak it in a gallon of hot water until the mixture is dark brown.

But, wait a minute! There are a few other last minute things that may need to be taken care of:

  • If any of your trees are in the way of heavy winter winds, brace them with nylon cord threaded through pieces of garden hose, then use wooden stakes to tie them down.
  • Wrap the trunks of all young trees with tree wrap, burlap, or roofing paper panels taped with duct tape.
  • Clean up your mowers, rakes, shovels, and other tools before you put them away for the season.
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I have a lot of clover in my lawn. If I dig it out at the roots, I have large patches with no grass. Is there a quicker way of getting rid of the clover than digging it out?

Clover is a tough broadleaf weed to kill. It is usually better to take steps to prevent it rather than deal with it when it is a problem. It's not the worst weed you could have and some people are now promoting it's use.

If you have a lot of clover, and you want to get rid of it as soon as possible, then you may want to use a commercial weed killer product or company. You can purchase the product from any nursery in Durham (apply as directed). I would think you would have to apply the product two or three times to get results. It is best to do this in the fall, but you can try it now. Make sure you apply it on a calm day, no wind.

Before you apply it, and to improve it's effectivness, spray your lawn with the following "tonic":

  1. Combine 1 cup of strong tea (steep two tea bags in a cup of water for 10-15 minutes, 1 cup of ammonia and 1 cup of dish soap in a 20 gallon hose end sprayer.
  2. Top up with warm water.
  3. Spray on affected areas to point of run off.

The best, and safest way unfortunately takes a little longer.

Start cutting your grass at a higher hieght (3"), and don't over fertilize. Depending how big an area is involved, get a bag of top soil and a couple pounds of grass seed. Now over seed the areas where you have clover. keep the ground damp for a couple of weeks.

It has been proven that a thick healthy lawn is the best way to prevent weeds. So in the fall, after you have raked up any dead thatch, spread a good amount of grass seed around, special attention to the areas that are not growing very well. You can use a fertilizer spreader to spread the seed, and get a large 20 lb "name brand" bag minimum (you can't apply too much). After a couple of seasons, weeds such as clover will be history.

Water well and deep all season. Allow soil to dry between waterings. This will improve root growth.

Any further questions regarding the above, please contact me. Let me know how everything turns out. Just be persistent, and you will win out. It will just take a little bit of time.

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My neighbour has a bad ant problem in his lawn. What's a good environmentally safe way to get rid of them?

There are two ways to kill ants. The first is to dehydrate them by laying out piles of instant grits (a corn product possibly located in the cereal section of the grocery store) at the point of entry and along their trail. They will think of the grits as a food source and consume the pellets. The grits will in turn absorb moisture from the ant's body, thus killing it (instant grits are specially formulated to absorb water more rapidly than regular grits, thus they are more effective).

If you can't find instant grits try this second method to kill ants. Feed them a mixture of 1 part active dry yeast, 2 parts molasses, and 1 part sugar. They will be attracted to the sugar in the mixture and will eat it readily. Once consumed the yeast will produce gas in the ant, and because they can't expel the gas, it will kill them.

Another method of elimination involves the elimination of the nest. If you can find the nest, you can try pouring boiling water over the nest. If that isn't sufficient, you can try adding cayenne pepper to the boiling water, or using citrus extracts. If you have multiple nests, you could dig up a bucket of ants from one nest and dump it on another nest. Ants are very territorial, and they will readily hunt and kill invading colonies.

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What's a good way to deal with grubs in the lawn? How do I help my lawn recover from a grub infestation?

Grubs have been a pain for quite awhile.

The problem is that there are different varieties, and they have different feeding cycles, and usually the damage to the lawn doesn't show up till it's too late. Personally I have found that a lawn that is well watered and fed, doesn't seem to have a problem, or maybe doesn't show the problem.

What you can try is a product called Grub Out. It is applied with a hose end sprayer, at the end of May/early June. Apply as per instructions. Allow the product to dry before you let the pets out though.

Another product that is better for the enviroment but may take longer to work is a predator called the Nematodes. These very small "critters" are consumed by the grubs, and then the grubs are consumed from the inside out by the nematodes. This product is safe for the enviroment, and since it's a live organism, it will multiply. Most garden supply shops carry both these products.

In any case, it will take several applications, over a couple of years to work efficiently. Do it whether the lawn looks good or not.

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