The KPRC Radio Gardenline Tip By Randy Lemmon For 11-20-03 Printer-Friendly Version



After the Rain... What do you do?

After all the flood waters and excessive rains, there are going to be a bunch of questions to GardenLine this coming weekend regarding "WHAT NOW?"

I'll try to break this down into four simple areas in this "what do I do now" time-frame following the excessive moisture.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm suffering not only from two of the four situations, I've also lost three hundred dollars worth of dirt on the new house we're having built.

First, let's look at what happens if you had the worst of all these situations, FLOOD WATERS, for more than a hour soaking your lawns and gardens. The simple way to look at fixing this is sort of like a bio-remediation for the lawn. This requires lots and lots of soil activators like Medina. Use it once every two weeks for up to six applications and break down the bad things that might be hurting the soil. Then, specifically for the lawns, you'll probably have unwanted guests galore in the name of weed seeds. Immediately get a pre-emergent herbicide like Barricade or Pedimethlin down to block any weed seeds from germinating for the next 30-40 days.

Second, what if you just put down your winterizer this past week? Well, if you had 2 or more inches of rains (I know-who didn't?) then you should consider putting down another application of a winterizer - plain and simple. You can also consider putting it down at half the strength (spread rate) than you did the time before.

Thirdly, what if you put down pre-emergent herbicides in the past week or so? Sort of the same thing - if you got two or more inches of rain (or flood waters, as noted earlier) then it may be worth another application of pre-emergence.

Lastly, what about Brownpatch controls? All this moisture and 60 degree lows, just gives more ammo to the brownpatch spores. Even if you treated in the past 30 days, if you feel like you've gotten a lot of rain (Again, I know - who didn't?) It certainly wouldn't hurt to put down at least one more layer of Brownpatch control. Click here for the Brownpatch control tip sheet:
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    If none of this helps, or isn't clear to you, then feel free to give me a call this weekend. Special Note: This will be the last email tip for November. Since they go out normally on Thursdays, we will be taking a break for the Thanksgiving Holiday next week. Look for you next GardenLine email tip to come your way December 4th.

    Until next issue, here's to Great Gardening from the GardenLine, heard exclusively weekend mornings from 8 to noon on Talkradio 950 KPRC.