Bill Lamson-Scribner

Let’s first look at the grilling type activities and general outdoor play. Dad or mom are cooking on the grill and the kids are playing in the yard. If your

We are entering the "Dog Days of Summer." Heat, humidity, grassy weeds, broadleaf weeds, confused weeds, mosquitoes, mowing, trimming, pulling vines, pruning, dry areas, insects, diseases, heavy rain, no rain, well you get the idea …

Although still hot, August is when you have to plan and prepare for how you want your yard to look like in the spring. Weeds? Spring-flowering bulbs? Flower beds with annuals for color? Vegetable garden? Collard greens for Thanksgiving? Fungus? Dead areas? Insects? Transplanting this fall or winter?

While walking and driving around, it seems that brown patch/large patch/Zoysia patch (I will use these names interchangeable) has invaded the Lowcountry. As the cooler weather comes and the grass growth rate slows down, large patch/brown patch/zoysia patch fungus began to show up in our lawns. Does it seem to you that right when we got the army worms and sod web worms under control, here comes the large patch? Proving once again, the Lowcountry is the hardest place in the world to grow grass and why it is so important to have a program for your lawn. Do you see areas of your grass that are brown when other parts are green?

The pollen and the gnats are here and so is spring! Spring is like St. Patrick's Day when everyone is Irish for the day. It seems like everyone is a gardener in the spring.

Another dry spring. Do you have mites trying to come into your house for some water? I did a little shopping on the broken bag pallet at Possum's and have been putting out organics to bring my grass out of dormancy — Perk, SeaHume, Organic Dethatcher, 04-04-04, and dolomitic lime (based on soil test). I also used a broken bag of fungicide, insecticide and pre-emergent. The one thing that probably saves me the most time is something I put on my shrubs called Cutless Growth Regulator — no pruning or picking up after pruning!

We finally got some rain! Last week after the air show was cancelled, I went to plant some native pollinator attracting plant seeds that I picked up from the Native Plant Society at MUSC's Greenest Day celebration, and just below the mulch the ground was still bone dry! I love walking this time of year and getting to smell the wonderful magnolias. What a Lowcountry signature tree! Here is a quick list of questions about events in the yard.

I still hear that we are 6.5 to 8 inches in deficit for rain in the Lowcountry, depending on where you are located. Not good! Extreme Drought conditions! I'm seeing some trees that are weakened and being attacked by secondary invaders.