Weed Control Guy.com

Plants are much like people. We all need food to survive. I moved to the Phoenix area in 2003 and I can tell you that the summers are brutal. People always tell me, “You live in a dry climate.”, which is true. But that doesn’t mean that there is no humidity. For about 6-8 weeks in the summer the ‘Monsoon’ takes over the Sonora Desert. Most people think that monsoon means rain, which is true if you live in South Korea and you experience a wet monsoon. But we live in the southwest and we have a dry monsoon. The humidity and dew points both rise. During most of the year dew points are well below 30 degrees and the humidity can be as low as 2%. Summer temps outside the monsoon can be as high as 122, during the dry monsoon temps can drop to an average high of about 107. With the cooler temps the dew points raise to over 55 degrees and the humidity raises to an average of 25%-50% on most days. I noticed last week during the first week of the monsoon here in the Valley that it was harder on my body to complete my tasks at work. Jobs that should have taken me 15 minutes to complete were taking me 20-25 minutes complete. Imagine the same stresses on your turf and plants. During these difficult times I have to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more fluids (not the ones that you have to be over 21 to purchase). Most people think that it is bad to fertilize plants in the summer. Now is a great time to fertilize. I try to fertilize the 1st of every month. I use a fertilizer that is made locally and can be bought at an independent nursery. The stuff at the big box stores will work but living in the Sonora Desert we need a little extra in our fertilizers for the best looking landscaping and the locally made ones have that little extra. Another extra Monsoon tip: if you use cotton AC filters in your home, switch to the cheap fiberglass ones for July and August. The cotton ones clog easily with all the dust storms. The fiberglass ones allow better air flow for less stress on the air handler.

This question is asked by many in the Valley of the Sun. On one side we are tired of pushing the mower, but on the other side we want to one up our neighbor and have a green lawn all winter. Others might look at it differently. I myself would like to save the money from not having to water the grass, the maintenance on the lawn mower or having to fertilize the grass. For those that dont want a winter lawn I would suggest putting down a pre emergence weed control. This will keep the winter annuals from germinating. As the temps drop below 100 lower your watering by 10%-15%. As the temps continue to drop lower your watering. During the winter you can lower your watering to as little once every 10-14 days. When you put the pre emergence on the turf it would be a good idea to also put another pre emergence on the desert area of your property. Coming in the next few weeks I will give you advice to seed that winter lawn that you want.

Bill