FAQ

No, not usually. That requires a different pesticide license and we are only associated with turf. Often, other plants, like flowers or shrubs, may be in the vicinity of weeds and the herbicide may damage or kill plants you want to keep. We use a high pressure system to get rid of weeds and the small droplets from our equipment can easily be displaced by a light breeze. As much as we want to help, there isn’t much we can do in that department.

Most likely, it’s not a grass, but a weed. A common weed in recent years with this characteristic is yellow nutsedge. Nutsedge is a type of sedge, which is caused by an abundance of water. “Nut” refers to the roots. At the bottom of the roots are nuts (bulbs). If the bulbs are not appropriately wiped out, this weed will come back each year. Nutsedge can double in population in one year! Many herbicides are labeled for nutsedge, but very few control it. Every pesticide labeled for this weed will state “suppression or control of nutsedge”, you are left to figure out which one you get. The goal is to get control, killing this weed down to the bulb. Suppression looks like control, the plant dies, but the bulb remains intact. A bulb that was suppressed may not send a new plant until the following year, making results of the herbicide difficult to assess. If you take the time to spray for nutsedge one year and next summer, it is not any better or worse, use a different herbicide! Since this is a very fast growing weed, reproduces rapidly and is only up in the summer months when you are limited at spraying herbicides in the heat, will make this a very difficult weed to control. It may take a couple years to completely eradicate nutsedge, but most of the population shoud be controlled in the first year . Control of this weed is included in our program, no additional charges. If this weed comes up in between visits, that is a good time to take advantage of our free service calls. The more we stay on top of it, the better control we are going to have!

Bad. This is a weed called kyllinga. The spiked balls are actually seed heads of kyllinga, which you do not want to reproduce. Unfortunately, this type of sedge is the most difficult to control and resembles grass very closely. Kyllinga is about the same height of grass, but has a different shade of green and tends to have a glossy appearance. Very few herbicides even have this particular weed on their label and to get control of it, requires a lot of extra care. When this plant is killed, it will get a reddish-brown when most plants would get a yellowish-brown. Many times this weed will look it was killed (controlled), but it was only suppressed and can easily come back! Using the right herbicide and limiting water flow to these areas is the only solution. If negelected, kyllinga coverage could double in just one year.

Mowing height should be at a minimum of 3 inches (length of the grass blade). Ideally, you want to be at 3.5 – 4 inches. Taller the grass blades, deeper the roots. This will lead to a healthier lawn and it will increase durability. It is a good idea to leave grass tall during hot and dry periods, as it will help prevent the lawn from burning up. Be careful not to mow too short, especially on the edges. Grass mowed too short can be burned up easily by the sun and most edges are surrounded by paving, which gives off even more heat. Never mow more than 1/3 of the grass blade at one time. Also, please keep n mind, settings on the lawn mower may be different than the height it will cut the grass. Sometimes a lawn mower could cut 1″ shorter than the setting. Using a ruler, measure grass blades after the lawn is mowed, starting at the soil surface.

If you are only mowing one property and depending on the size, once a year should be plenty. Cleaning and sharpening the lawn mower blades should be scheduled, at least, with the time of tune up to the mower. When grass blades don’t get a clean cut, their end become frayed. The split ends of the grass opens the door to disease and becomes weaker against other stresses. In order to tell if the blades of the lawn mower need sharpening, look for frayed ends on the tips of grass after a mowing. Keep in mind, if you go a long time without mowing and grass gets long, this could lead to split ends as well.

By mulching grass clippings, you are keeping nutrients in the soil longer. Many think it may contribute to the thatch layer since dead grass clippings may come up when you de-thatch, but is not necessarily causing the problem that are associated with thatch. The grass clippings decompose and adds organic matter to the soil, increasing the availability of nutrients in the soil. A significant amount of grass clippings would be needed for it to cause problems associated with thatch.

You want to avoid going more than 10 days, during the growing season, without mowing. By the time two weeks comes around, there may be too much grass to mulch. This would be the only time you want to bag. You do not want clumps of grass clippings! The clumps will smother out the grass underneath and could eventually kill grass. Wet clumps will make matters worse! Also, mowing when the grass is high, could lead to frayed ends of grass blades, making the lawn more susceptible to disease.

The watering schedule depends on the type of soil, sandy or clay, and whether the property is flat or on a slope.  If too much water is applied, nutrients will leach through the soil faster, taking them too far down for grass roots to reach them.  With too much water, grass won’t be as green, may lead to disease, and it will encourage weeds to thrive in that area.  Not enough water will cause grass to go dormant and turn brown, eventually leading to death.  Depending on the age and type of grass, sometimes grass can survive a drought.  In order for grass to survive a drought, nutrient and pH levels need to be optimum and grass needs a couple of years or more under its belt for the roots to get fully established.  So if you have fairly young lawn, make sure grass is taken care of during the summer months until roots are well established.

Light rain will not affect this product. Heavy rains should be avoided. Soap product mixed with the oil increases residual, so most rainfall will not render this product ineffective.

The natural oil used disrupts the functionality of certain insects, repelling them for up to 30 days . These applications also cause insects’ exoskeleton to dry out, leading to death.

At worse, within a few hours. Most applications works within minutes.

No, it will not discolor these areas.

Every lawn should be watered as early as possible, 4-7 am is ideal. If you have to water twice in one day, water a 2nd time 12 hours later. Watering in the afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, could have the reverse effects. Wet grass could act as a prism for the beaming sunlight and make it easier for the sun to burn up your lawn.

See sandy soil.  This will prevent water runoff.

Every lawn should be watered as early as possible, 4-7 am is ideal. If you have to water twice in one day, water a 2nd time 12 hours later. Watering in the afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, could have the reverse effects. Wet grass could act as a prism for the beaming sunlight and make it easier for the sun to burn up your lawn.

You have to use heavy watering to get where the roots extend. When temperatures are above 90 degrees, you may need to water once a day, 30-40 minutes each zone.  Below 90 degrees, water once every other day, for the same amount of time.

Every lawn should be watered as early as possible, 4-7 am is ideal. If you have to water twice in one day, water a 2nd time 12 hours later. Watering in the afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, could have the reverse effects. Wet grass could act as a prism for the beaming sunlight and make it easier for the sun to burn up your lawn.

Water leaches through the sand much faster than other soils.  This requires less water than other soils to get the soil moist four inches down where the roots extend.  Unfortunately, sandy soil dries quicker than other soils.  Instead of increasing the time the lawn is watered, just water more frequent.  When temperatures are in the 90’s and above, you may need to be watering twice a day, 15-20 minutes each zone.  In cooler weather, water once a day for the same amount of time.

PHOTO A

PHOTO B

Photo A, no bueno! Notice the difference between A and B, the vertical spray. In photo B, from the start of the sprinkler head to where the water ends, grass is getting wet and it is noticeable. If you cannot see the mist between the top of the spray and the grass, it is not enough water! That mist should be easily visible. The condition of the sprinkler head, water pressure and the proximity of the sprinkler heads all play a role into creating an effective irrigation system. Photo A will also cause issues when seeding in the fall time!

SIGNS OF HEAT STRESS

Gradual browning in-between brown spots is a clear indicator of heat stress. Textbook disease still has green around brown spots. Now, you will always find disease in heat stress, but when grass is stressed out, it can easily get sick, like us! Take a look at pics below, sections of brown, then sections of green. Same amount of sunlight, why disease in just one spot? The type of grass does play a role and small sections of certain types of grass can have similar browning, but that is not the case in these pictures. If you have these issues, don’t increase the duration of your water schedule! Over watering will cause more problems by watering down the products, increasing the chance of disease, and it will bring on more weeds. Adjust the heads, check water pressure and make sure heads are not too far apart (up to 20′). This is, by far, the most common problem in summer months, especially during long, hot periods with no rain.

 
 
 
 
  EXCELLENT  
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
 Based on 157 reviews 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 John P profile picture 
 
 
 John P 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
Pat and his team exemplify everything you want in a service company; they are professional, very responsive and most importantly, they get results!  'Ive only been using Dirt and Turf for a few months and my lawn has been transformed from a baron, patchy mix of weeds and grass to no weeds and significant new grass growth. Im surprised how quickly D&T achieved these results. Pat is extremely knowledgable and knew exactly what my lawn needed and Im confident it's only going to get better from here.
100% recommend Pat and his team.
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 Ramprasad Kotagiri profile picture 
 
 
 Ramprasad Kotagiri 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
Happy to see positive outcome from the lawncare program. Weeds are gone and now i see only healthy green grass in my lawn!
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 Aniela Sullivan profile picture 
 
 
 Aniela Sullivan 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
Very responsive and courteous.
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 Jude Welsh profile picture 
 
 
 Jude Welsh 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
The program they provide for someone like me who struggles with keeping up a lawn is a no-brainer. I have neighbors are jealous of the way my lawn looks ALL season long whether wet or drought conditions my lawn remains green with minimal watering. Service is outstanding and environmentally safe.
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 Carole Masters profile picture 
 
 
 Carole Masters 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
We have had a very good lawn with no worries since using Dirt & Turf.
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 James Grenafege profile picture 
 
 
 James Grenafege 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
They have a five phase seasonal schedule that addresses weed and bug control that works for me. They offer other services, such as full lawn seeding, that I may use in the future. This is my fifth season with them and  I am very satisfied with the results—lawn has improved each year.
  
 
  
 
 
 
 Posted on Google Google 
 
 Jamie M profile picture 
 
 
 Jamie M 
 
 
 
 Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5 
I have been using Dirt and Turf for more than 10 years.  My lawn looks great!  They are very reliable and helpful.

Free Instant Estimate

Your information is private and will not be used for other purposes.

About Us

Environmentally Friendly, Experienced and Economical. We offer 5% Off For Military and Seniors. Dedicated To Customer Satisfaction.
Dirt & Turf Office Phone 732.673.9061

Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2009 - 2026 | Website Design by SL Design | All Rights Reserved

Go to Top