Submitted by AppointmentNo3240 t3_122w4kd in Maine
AnxiousWillingness t1_jdsjl25 wrote
You can thatch and put out your spring fertilizer anytime after dormancy ends. So south of Portland, probably no later than early April this year. Just make sure it's firm enough that you don't rip up everything.
Bugs is pretty broad, and varies widely on the product you're using too. We use a lot of acelepryn for grub control and hump that out anytime between mid April and late early June depending on where in Maine we are that day. Down south, should probably be done by the end of April. Or you can make a fall app, after 8/15.
Crabgrass preemergent needs to go out by mid may, maybe sooner this year because it's been so warm.
AppointmentNo3240 OP t1_jdsqu7w wrote
Super helpful! By bugs I meant grubs, so your guidance is perfect. Thanks!
AnxiousWillingness t1_jdsxu61 wrote
Im going to throw a little more at you.
First, I'm a state licensed applicator, with qualifications in turf, biting fly and tick, and outdoor ornamental, among 3 or 4 others that aren't relevant.
That all said my experience and recommendations are largely limited to the products I use. I buy product by the pallet, not by the bag from Skillins or Ace.
Some quick notes on grub control chemicals:
Acelepryn is a lot less dangerous to pollinators than neonicotinoids (Merit, a Bayer product, is the most common of those products, but there are 4 or 5 common ones.) Acelepryn is still on patent, so only Syngenta makes it, and it's more expensive, so most DIY weed and feeds are still using neonics.
As has been explained to me by various groups in the trade, this is the last year for neonics in Maine, because they are so hard on bees. But the state let them go this year, because Acelepryn is set to come off patent the end of the year, so the price should fall after this season as other manufacturers begin to produce off brand versions.
Personally, we still sell Merit, because it's cheaper its what a lot of people want, but we've swapped almost all the applications we make over to acelepryn over the last few years, because it has a better PR image, and frankly it works better, is less dangerous to us and has a larger application window making it easier to get out across a varied client base.
So my advice is for an Acelepryn based product based on an average year, because that's where I'm most versed.
With Merit, off the top of my head, anytime in late May through maybe the 3rd week in June, earlier if it's a warm spring. You want to get the stuff down a couple weeks before you start to see a lot of Japanese beetles.
Most grub control applications work better if you water them in. Most of the commercial labels I work with specify watering in. So ideally, on anunirrigated lawn, you'd make your application right before a light rain.
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