3/7/11     Now that the freezes have come and gone, and left damaged spots in your grass  the perfect place for weeds, weeds, and more weeds!!  Any bare spot, weakened area is now prime for weed invasion. As a matter of fact there is already a high likely hood there are weeds there now. It only takes 3 days for a weed to germinate and come forth from the earth.

  If you were one of those who didn't bother to mow all winter, you now have a lawn loaded with new weeds. The grass didn't grow because of the freezes, however the weeds loved that cold,  grew nice and tall, literally letting lose tens of  thousands of seeds everyday. Yes everyday.

   Weeds are a problem through out Central Florida at this time, recent rains and warm weather have created the perfect conditions for germination and development.

   Our Able Care Programs always address the ever changing Florida landscape. The on going process of weed control is something we address each and every visit. Depending on the time of year and current weather conditions, we must always be switching our control treatments so as not to damage your existing good turf.

  Call us now so we can help you get a handle on those stubborn weeds!

  Frost damage in Central Florida

   1/2/11     Recent early frost & hard freezes have damaged many plants and lawns all over Central Florida. Many plants just recovering from last winter's 5 hard freezes. Some of these plants will not recover, however we don't want to replace them until the cold is once again behind us. Usually at the end of February for the Orlando Central Florida area.

     St. Augustine lawns have browning through out caused by the frost. Areas out in the open were and continue to be hit the hardest. Since the frosts have come so early here in Central Florida it's very likely more are to follow.

      It's very important to continue to water every week as the water restrictions allow. Do not wait for the weather to improve. Consistent watering and nutrition are still important to help your lawn and shrubs in their recovery. Extra supplements of potash to strengthen root growth, and aid in food storage will hasten their recovery in the spring. It is still important also to mow every two weeks to help stop weeds from re-seeding, spreading thousands of weed seeds every week. When you mow, be sure mower is high, a scalped lawn in the winter is an invitation to extensive frost damage.Do not mow if frost is present, and also do not walk on frozen grass, this can cause permanent injury.

       Able Lawn Spray! has developed a frost recovery program for your landscape supplying the correct supplements to help your lawn, trees and shrubs recover.  We also give you advice in our hand written service reports on just what you need to do to help in this recovery process.Just as people need help getting better when they are injured, so your landscape needs the extra care to save as much as possible cutting down on expensive replacement costs in the spring.

     Trees and shrubs which have browned leaves as a general rule of thumb should not be trimmed back until the end of February. If you do trim off the browning- blackened parts, further damage can occur by frost getting down deeper into the plant possibly even killing it. So even though the landscape doesn't look good now, hold off on trimming, but continue to feed, water, and care for it as we move towards warmer weather.

1/17/11     Heavy showers and storms today are just what the doctor ordered to help our landscapes in their recovery process. Good soaking rains and some warmer temperatures will really help speed spring green-ups. However we're still in the middle of winter and the jet stream could still dip down and touch Central Florida with more freezing conditions so be aware and hold back on trimming until the end of February. Further freezing temperatures could go deeper int plants that have had past damage trimmed, possibly even killing the plant.

1/26/11      More heavy storms swept through Central Florida last night, some with damaging winds. Even though we had another lite frosting recently, grass ares continue to show slow, but sure improvement,, a bit more green peaking out. Some new fresh growth noted here and there. We just hope for no more hard freezes this season. We still have about a month left where we could still get a drop in the gulf stream and end up with another hard freeze, so we're not out of the woods yet. Continue to hold back trimming of dead shrubs and palms to avoid further damage if another freeze does come.