Deterring pesky Yellow Jackets

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, everybody. Welcome. I'm Ron Wilson, and you are
in the garden here on news radio six to ten
WTVN eight two to one wtv IN eight hundred six
to ten wtv IN talking about yard day. That's getting
hot again. Sorry about that thought. We were gonna have
all this great weather and then cruise right into the fall.
But you know it never happens. Kids go back to school.
Hot weather moves in no doubt about it. Anyway, that

(00:22):
doesn't stop us, right, we keep right on trudging on,
gonna do this, saying gonna be done. Hey, you know
what I'm looking forward to next Sunday? Why is that
because we will have experienced the first book Buckeye football
game and all be happy campers on Sunday. I'm sure,
I'm sure of it. And secondly, it is the start
of the meteorological fall. It's actually here next weekend. Both

(00:46):
of those things happened on the same weekend. That's pretty
darn cool. But you know what's happening today, Well, we're
gonna kick off our show like we normally do with
the buggy Joe Boggs. Important, mister Joe Boggs. It says
the Professor Commercial Orders. Cond yougutther Deo, I say chromology
anything else? I miss her. The website Buckeye Yard and Garden.
It's at byg il dot always you. I'd eat of you,
ladies and gentlemen. The one, the only, mister Buggy Joe

(01:08):
Bos Good morning, sir, And I know you're excited, not
only because of the fall, but of course so you
are one heck of a large well not you personally,
but big Buckeye fan.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, yes, I can't wait. I'll tell you I think.
I mean, this is the year. Just mark my word,
this is the year.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
I've been saying that for the last three years and
it hasn't been a year, but this is it.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
But you know what, I still look at this and say,
we could be all those other schools that were below us.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
You know, I'll tell you, I know we want to win.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I know it's all changes, Nat, I know I get
all that, but you know you got it. There's a
positive side to it too.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
You know. Actually, actually, Ron, if you and I are
old enough to remember, you know, these just these dominant
teams every year they were us. They were the teams
that and you know we've kind of been through that,
except it's on any given Saturday. I know I'm stealing
the you know, any given Sunday, but any given Saturday,

(02:12):
you just don't know. And I think that's what makes
college football so much fun. You just don't know. And
you know, the transfer portal and parody amongst you know,
amongst these schools, and just really good players coming out
of high school. Uh, it makes it. It makes it
exciting and interesting to watch, no matter who's playing or

(02:35):
the perception that they are a dominant team. Of course,
I'm still gonna keep helping. You know, the buck Eyes dominate, right,
you have.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
To ye, it was a big fight for the Rose Bull.
You know who was going to make it to the
Rose Bull.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, that was that was
That was the big thing. That was a big thing.
And it's kind of yeah, you know, things move on,
and I'm trying to come up with a with some
type of you know, Allen and I were talking about
the weather, you know, so I'm trying to segue here
because you know, we're we're definitely not moving through football weather.

(03:17):
But I heard this thing and it was it came
from somebody from Minnesota. I think recently and that was
just remember, you don't need to shovel the heat it
What did I get cut off?

Speaker 1 (03:31):
This howny Hello?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, you know, I think I said that last week
or week before, but I heard that saying and I thought,
you know, that is true. You know, January February. Now,
we've been kind of lucky without a lot of big snowstorms.
But but that's the time when Okay, I kind of
would like it to be ninety in January, you know,

(03:58):
and not having to, you know, shovels. So I like
that you don't need to shovel the heat. But I'm
I'm gonna switch gears because I'll tell you this is
this is also one of my favorite times of the
year because in extension, this is county fair time. Now.
There were county fairs earlier, obviously, but we're really moving

(04:20):
into a lot of county fairs right. They were traditionally
started around the harvest, and that's not just in Ohio,
that's everywhere. So county fairs that are really have really
been rolling. And who's the you know, I shouldn't say
who what is the number one visitor to county fairs.

(04:40):
There's probably data on this somewhere.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
I don't know what who.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yellow jackets with yellow.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Jacket yellow jackets, yeahs and lemonades and.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
So I I and the reason I just oh, oh,
I wish I hadn't said that deep fried deep fried butter. No.
I love butter, but that's just you know that I
had a bite of one. I had a bite of
one one time, and you know, everybody says, yes, everything's

(05:20):
better with better on it. But I have to admit,
you know, that was a little bit too much. It
was just a little It was good, but it was
there was you know, the taste profile wasn't quite you
know what I wanted. It needed to be on something
maybe in large massive a quantities or inside something, but
it just wasn't quite. But but again, I'm not integrating it.

(05:43):
You know, you got to get try. I think that's
the Deep Pride movement. You know, it's been incredible, but yellowjackets.
I what prompted is is I I received an email
message UH this morning actually from UH a person and
located up in the Cleveland area and she actually works

(06:06):
tending some of the flowers for a pretty nice restaurant
on their patio. I should say, let me get back up.
So they have flowering plants, they have potted plants and
hanging baskets on a patio and they're being driven off
the patio by yellow jackets. And that's happening at this
I mean, this is when it really starts happening, and

(06:27):
it'll just get worse, obviously, because this is the time
of year when the yellow jacket nests start to shift.
They haven't quite gotten there yet, but you and I've
talked about this before. The nests have been getting larger
and larger, and this also applies to bald faced hornets
nests and even paper washed nests. They in a very

(06:52):
short period of time they will switch over to start
producing more queens, new queens and drones, which are the
the mails. Now they don't you know this, This this
royal entourage does not ever leave the nest to get food.
And so the adult yellow jackets and adult bald face

(07:15):
hornets their food are is high carbohydrate food, so sweets,
and that has to be brought in by the workers.
So you have you know these uh you know, these
royal yellow jackets and hornets just kind of lounging around,
you know, waiting for food to be brought in. Of
course the workers are visiting, you know, maybe a county

(07:39):
fair or maybe a restaurant, and and and that's the source.
So to answer the the problem, first, there's no magic bullet.
You and I both know that. I mean, it's you're
you're still going to have them coming in. But you
just said it. Trash cans, food dropped on the floor,
on tables, that's what's gonna pull them in. And that

(08:01):
means that, you know, people need to be aware of
just keeping the trash empty. And then the other challenge
is where are the dumpsters. If they're located, you know,
behind a privacy fence right next to the outdoor patio,
that's not going to be very good, right, that's just
going to make it matters worse. So even moving those

(08:22):
away to maybe the opposite end of the parking lot,
someplace far away will help to reduce the problem. And
I think we have a break. And there's more that
we didn't talk about this we do.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
I'll throw this out for you to think about. Do
yellow jackets and ball faced hornets are they competitive? Do
they stay away from each other? And the reason I
asked this is because there are a couple of companies
that sell artificial ball faced hornets nests that you hang
up as a yellow jacket deterrent. So think about that, Yeah,

(09:00):
think about that, and we'll return with more of the
Buggy Joe Boggs Report here on news radio six '
ten wtvn Okay with all about prices that we I
went the movies yesterday, first time in a year and
a half. Didn't realize that I needed to take a
loan out of the bank to have popcorn and whatever
at the movies. Anyway, Buggy Joe Boggs is with us,

(09:20):
part two of the Buggy Joe Boggs Report. Then I
was asking Joe earlier talking about how do you know
how do you get rid of yellowjackets to keep them away?
And there are many companies that make these fake They
actually call them hanging fake wasp nests, paper wasp nests,
or look like to me a hornet nest to hang
up under an umbrella or whatever. And of course the

(09:42):
reasoning behind it, what they say anyway, is the two things.
One is that they are territorial, so that they won't
go there if they think another nest is there or
a computer. Do you have you ever experienced those Joe,
do we lose Joe hilarious?

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yes, yes, come back, you know there. I've looked into
them before. They're really they're really kind of pretty. I mean,
you know, a few years ago, I drove past the house,
I had a few of these hanging. I didn't know
what they were. I actually thought they were like a
Japanese lanterns, but I.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Didn't figure out, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Well I suppose you could. I mean, that might actually work,
put a little flame in there and so. But but here,
here are a couple of problems with that, the whole thinking.
First of all, you know, I don't see how they
could prevent Well, let me back up. I don't know
of any research. And again I'm saying that very deliberately.
I don't know of any research, you know, where there's

(10:47):
been clear scientific data collected to say that these will
do what they say they will do. So I'm I'm
just not aware of anything that we're someone's and that
could exist. And I and how we were on break.
I was looking into it because I got to thinking, well,
maybe if I could find a study, and I found
nothing so far. But here's why I don't believe that.

(11:09):
Let's first start with they prevent, for example, a bald
faced hornet's nest from being built, you know, somewhere. Well,
keep in mind, they look like a full fledged bald
face hornet's nest, but it's a single queen in the
spring that starts the nest, she builds it through the season,

(11:33):
and that colony, her colony that eventually develops, will never
use that nest again. So it's it's very common to
see old bald face hornets nests, you know, on a building,
and it would appear that there's no reason for a
queen to say, well, wait a second, there's already one there,

(11:53):
because that's you know, you wouldn't have a full fledged
nest in the spring, It's what I'm trying to say.
So I don't I don't see how that would connect now,
you know, presumably maybe it would, you know, they would
trigger them to say, well, I don't want to build
close to that because there was one last year and
it may be full of all kinds of different bad things,

(12:14):
maybe disease pathogens. You know, that's kind of the thinking
as to why they don't reuse a nest. But I
don't see how that would happen. And then if we
look at this time of the year with the idea
that you hang these around your patio and bald face
or I'm sorry, yellowjackets won't show up because they think

(12:35):
bold face hornets are in the vicinity. Well, that kind
of flies in the face of what we've often seen
when we have a real yellow jacket problem coming in
to drop food or unempty trash cans. Yes, there will
be some bald face hornets, not nearly as many, and
that's because both face hornets and paper wasped they tend

(12:57):
to stay with nectar. They tend to be quite the visitors.
And in fact, you won't hardly ever see paper wasps
coming to an adult beverage. The bald face hornets will,
but not in the same numbers. However, if you just
observe and sit observe, they're not. The bald face hornets
aren't chasing yellow jackets and vice versa. So you know,

(13:22):
there really isn't you know, kind of an enemy thing
going on. And here's something I've always thought that was
kind of interesting. Yellow jackets and occasionally bald face hornets
they will take honey bees. Now, not like the non natives.
I only be very careful with this because I do
not want to apply to anyone, particularly beekeepers, the yellow

(13:43):
jackets and bald face hornets can be a real threat
to honeybees. That's not what I'm saying. What I am
saying is that, okay, they will occasionally, you know, grab
a honeybee, but that's not a territorial thing. That's meat.
You know what I'm saying. It's not. And you know,
I have seen baldpacee hornets chase after yellowjackets, but not

(14:08):
on a patio. I mean, if you're just looking at
flowers and you're watching flowers, well, occasionally you know, the
two will be on the same flower, and you know,
the baldpacee hornets will chase. Well on the yellow jacket
will chase the bald pace hornets because they're just, hey,
you know, this is my flower. But it doesn't appear
that there are any kind of mortal enemies. It doesn't

(14:30):
appear that that territorialism is something that I think it's
a little overstated. But on the other hand, I have
to say, after looking at these pictures and then like
I said, when I went past that house, they were
they were attractive things, and I wouldn't say these wouldn't
be something you know, to hang just as a point

(14:54):
of interest. But no, I don't think that they're going
to really do much good. The main thing is just
keeping keeping up with spilled food. That's the main thing.
I thought you were going to mention yellowjacket traps for example,
because they can be highly effective as long as they
are down wind. You think about that, and you can

(15:18):
use you can use the bait that's provided with the trap.
It's pretty effective. You can make your own. You can
make your own traps, and there's all kinds of information
posted online as how to do that, and there are
studies they've shown and these are the best. One I
ever saw was conducted with food vendors at a county fair.

(15:40):
But there were two challenges. And these are big challenges
because they do drawing in yellow jackets, for example, particularly
if it's a beata with something like tuna, something that's
very aromatic, they will draw them in. But if that
wind shifts, they will still draw them in. You know,

(16:00):
there were instances where you know, the trap was hung
in one corner down wind and uh and it was effective. However,
when the wind shifted, you know it. You know, people
just fled. You know, it was like it was an
Alfred Hitchcock movie, you know. But so you need to
have someone dedicated to that, which no one can really

(16:25):
easily do that. And also keeping them emptied because they
come into a trap and it's already full, and you know,
they'll just buzz around looking for you know, whatever it
is that drew them in, and that could bring them
into food on a table or you know, uh yeah,
an elephant ear, which i I'm talking about one of
my favorite fair foods.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
Right.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
So yeah, so let's just you know, focus on what
we know we'll draw them in and what we can control,
and and that will reduce that will seriously reduce the
problem them. On the other hand, it's gonna get a
lot worse before it gets better, right, I mean, I'm

(17:05):
doing this right now because it's the end of August.
I'm just saying September that should be declared National Yellowjacket
month in my opinion, because that oneess really ramps up.
And I'm going to be posting an alert about this
because the timing is just perfect. The nests are getting
big now and people are really starting to notice all
these nests. Absolutely common sensical.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
That's right, common sensical, right there, Ladies and gentlemen. Well,
I've seen the yellowjacket traps work. I mean obviously they
do draw them in. Yeah, it's almost like the Japanese
beetle trap. It does positioning and all that is very
important as far as making these things effective, and it
does work. But I've never, like you, I've never found
any actual research ever done using the artificial fake nests,

(17:55):
horned nests, or washing ness as truly as a deterrent
for yellow jackets.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
And there's a lot of places that make them and
sell them, but I've never seen anybody ever do any
research on how effect is those really could or are aren't.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, like I said, if you look at them, they're
they're and and they're not very expensive. I mean, I'm
just just I hope no one else is listening. This
is just tween you and me, right, I mean.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah, no, nobody's listening. I'll send somebody and you can experiment.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
They're they're they're they're interesting looking and and and really
kind of pretty. I mean I just have to say
that they It would it would be a point of discussion,
you know, if you hung them around your patio and
you had friends over and what are those? And you
know as long as you launch into well, they are
fake hornets nests. But let's talk about hornets, you know,

(18:52):
now that's what irnets nests?

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Why is there a problem?

Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, and then you sit right under it.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, I say, see they don't bother me.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
I don't know, I don't know. This is another cartoon, right.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
You know, absolutely absolutely, Joe Bogs. Always great information. We
appreciate you spending time with us this morning. And look,
I know we're both looking forward to next Saturday. We'll
be all, oh yes, probably talking like this, will be
so excited.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Right, that's exactly right. We'll be talking a lot faster
because we'll just be wanting to want to get off
of the air. Yeah, all right, you take care, have
a great weekend.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
Talk to you next Saturday. All right, that's buggy Joe
Bogs again. The website's byg L dot O su dot
e du quick break. We come back. Guess what no
guests today purposely did it so that you and I
can talk yarding, have a question, tip you want to
share whatever? Maybe eight two to one w TVN eight
hundred and sixty ten WTVN here on news Radio six

(19:52):
y ten WTVN Talking yarding here on news radio six
' ten WTVN eight two one W eight hundred and
six to ten WTVN. Phone lines are open for you
have a tip you'd like to share, let us know.
We try. We try to share all those tips with everybody.
And of course I've folks sometimes to say, you know what,

(20:12):
I'm too embarrassed to do that, It's probably a stupid tip,
or whatever works for me. Hey, if it works for you.
You know, I've always said there's more than one way
to garden, and so you know, I always like hearing
from other folks. I learn a lot from other folks,
sometimes even change my own ways of gardening listening to
other folks. So there you go. So anytime you have
a tip you'd like to share that works for you,

(20:34):
let us know, love to hear from you. Talking about
pumpkins a couple of weeks ago with our good friend
Jerry Rose up in northeastern Ohio and the giant pumpkins
where they stand right now, how he looks what the
general consensus was. And I came away from that conversation
sensing that so far, so good when it comes to

(20:56):
the pumpkins, the giant pumpkins that most folks for having
a pretty good season so far, whether it hasn't been
too bad protecting from those quick showers that come through,
but otherwise looking like there's gonna be some pretty good
sized pumpkins out there. And of course, once we get
to late August and the first September, these giant pumpkin
growers start to become silent because they don't want anybody

(21:20):
to know what they have at that point, and now
the fence has come up and the things get covered
and you can't see what they're growing. Last, Jarry I
kid with him about because he uses blankets and all
kinds of stuff to cover them and keep them warm,
and he actually sleeps with him sometimes if necessary. So
he sent me a picture this past week of his

(21:41):
giant pumpkins. And he's grown them in a high tunnel
by the way, and he sent me the picture. The
pumpkin leaves are huge. They look like elephant ears. I mean,
they are absolutely unbelievably large. They look great, they look
pretty much disease free, and within them there are pumpkins.

(22:03):
There's a few pumpkins scattered. They're giant pumpkins, but he
covered them over with blankets, so I can't really tell
how big they are. He did it on purpose, of
course I kid him about doing the blankets too, But
he's got some pretty good sizes looking in there. But
they get real quiet right now. But I can tell
you that he definitely has got some big ones growing.
But I'm looking forward to that. And of course don't forget.

(22:23):
I think it's the second weekend in October. We'll be
at the Oakland Nursery on Dublin Road doing the one
sixty one there in Dublin, doing the Pumpkin Way off
National Pumpkin Way off there. So yeah, one sixty one
in Dublin, and I think it's the thirteenth or something
like that on that Sunday. I think it starts usually
around one thirty for the way out. We had some

(22:45):
big ones there last year. They were well, there was
a lot of lot of big ones last year and
it went right down to the last pumpkin as far
as who was the winner. So pretty cool. It was
a lot of fun. So stop out in this. I'll
keep you posted, but you stop out and say hello.
We got about a minute before the break here, so
Jeff and Bob hang on, we're going to take the break.
Then I'll come back after that. I do want to

(23:06):
remind you though that and in case you have questions
right now, we have gotten into the time for seating, launch, reseating, seating,
over seating August the fifteenth through the end of September.
And if you're doing and again, depending on the weather
we get the end of September, Fescu's rise, we can

(23:27):
still put those down then, you know, for that next
week or so because they're quick quicker germinators bluegrass done
September thirtieth, probably don't want to do it anymore. At
that point it would become dormant seating. We'd hold off
to a little bit later on. But we are in
the time and I've gotten a lot of questions recently on.
I got this area with a lot of crab grass,
got this area a lot of different grasses that I

(23:49):
want to get rid of. I've got this area that
you know, it's just done horrible. I want to kill
everything out. What do you suggest I use? And of
course we've got the new formula in round up and uh,
it's different than what the old formula was. And there
are other options. Because I've had some folks say I
don't want to use glyphosate. I don't want to use

(24:11):
you know, some of those chemicals. I don't want to
use anything besides something natural. Well, I've got a list
of things that we can talk about after we take
the break and talk to Jeff and Bob. Uh. That
would be your all things that you can take consider
using if you're looking for a non selective vegetation killer
to kill out grassy weedy areas before you go in

(24:32):
and reced. And we'll talk about that after the break
and after we talk to Jeff and Bob. Here on
news radio six to ten WTVN. Should we just keep
music gone? I won't say anything turn into it. We
are I like it. You play such good bumper music.
What can I say? Well, we are talking you Yarning
here on news radio six y ten WTVN. I am

(24:54):
Ron Wilson, your personal yard boy. To the Arning phone lines.
We shall go Jeff, good morning, Ron, Yes, sir.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
I love your program. Hey, I got to quick I
think to answer one of my questions about if I
got a brand new yard. I did all the fertilizing
the starter fertilizer. I talked to you earlier this year
and you said, with this heat, water, water water, what
is would you recommend when I air rate an overseed,
the best seed and what name brand or best fertilizer

(25:26):
for the fall leading into the spring. I'm wanna hang
up on the list. Your answer, buddy, all right, sounds.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
Good, Jeff I I tell you that, you know, I
don't sure that there are a best grass seed. And
by the way, La he was going to hang up,
So there we go. Uh there, I don't know if
there is a best grass seed, but we'll talk about that.
But you know, as we're looking into this fall season
and seating, of course, right now is the perfect time
between now and the end of September, as we were

(25:53):
talking earlier. Uh, and the when you look at the
turf and you say, well, you know, what is it?
What can I what is the best type of seed
for me to use? And what's interesting is in the
Columbus area, we're right in the middle, right, so we're
not in the south, not in the north, right in
the middle, and you see a combination of either a
lot of lawns still in our area with bluegrass, a

(26:14):
lot of folks still like that bluegrass feel, the bluegrass look.
There's a lot of new improved varieties of blue grass
on the market today that are, you know, more drought tolerant,
heat tolerant, and a little more disease resistant, et et cetera.
And you'll typically find blue grasses sold in a mix,
not a blend, but a mix where they use blue
grass maybe one or two or three different types of

(26:35):
blue grasses as the primary grass, but they don't also
work in some perennial rye, which is a quick germinator.
It comes up first, and then of course the blue
grass comes up behind it, and they mix together real well,
and sometimes a little creeping red fescue which is a
finer bladed fescue to kind of add into the mix,

(26:55):
and it's a nice mix and they all come together
and work together nicely. And you'll still see that out
there and it's still available for you. It's a higher
maintenance turf because typically blue grass is like a little
bit more nitrogen, a little more feeding. They are a
little more suscessful to disease and insect issues. And even
though they've got better selections out there today, they still

(27:17):
will shut down when it gets hot, you get three
or four days, and there's a lot of them. They're
just starting to shut down immediately. But it's still available
and still out there and still used and still sold
and still very popular. So that's still out there for
you personally. I like the turf type tall fescues. It's
a little bit more of a coarser bladed grass. It

(27:37):
would be like talking about a second cousin to Kentucky
thirty one, which is like you see along the expressway
and you talk about a tough, durable grass that roots
in deeply, gets bush hogged twice a year and look
at how it holds up. That's Kentucky thirty one. Now
you don't want a lawn of Kentucky thirty one. It's

(27:58):
extremely coarse, bladed claw, all that stuff. Although if it's
just by itself, you don't notice the clumping because they're
all clumping, right. But the turf type tall fascues have
been bred as a highly desirable fascue grass that's a
little bit, like I say, a little bit more coarse
than like a blue or a rye, but definitely not

(28:19):
like the Kentucky thirty one. So it's a much more
desirable grass blade, tough, durable, deep rooted like the Kentucky
thirty one drought, pretty tough when it comes to the
drought and the heat. It can eventually shut down as
well if it's really really bad, but it hangs in

(28:39):
there right to the end. I mean, it does a
nice job, and insect and disease wise, really not a
whole lot of issues. There are a few things that
can get on it, but not like the blue grasses
all right, So a little bit more of a lower
maintenance type of lawn. It would be the turf type
tall fescues and feeding wise a couple times in the

(28:59):
fall well, which we talk about all grasses needing those
two in the fall, you could really get bye with
that on turf type tall fescue, although I still like
sometime in the spring giving and a feeding at that point.
So there's no one best grass seed out there. But
I personally, if it was a new lawn or a
lawn that had really thinned out and you just want
to come in and start it all over again, that's

(29:21):
what I would recommend. And if I look at the
turf type tall fescues, I would look at a blend
a blend is a combination of two or three or
more different types of the same species of grass seed.
A mix are different species blue grass rise and tall
fescue or a creeping fescue, whereas a blend would be

(29:43):
three or four different types of two or three to
four different types of turf type tall fescues or bluegrass.
All right, that's the way those work, and so I
would look at a I like the blend, so you
get two or three or four different types. Talked about
TLC for a long time, uh, and there's still available
out there for you. I still highly recommend it's a

(30:03):
great blend, and they upgraded every year. TLC was a
first one to come out on the market with the
with the turf type tall rescues that actually rizome a bit.
They were the first ones to develop those who have
the mount Of course today they've been such improved. Pennington
I think has theirs now, but I do like the
turf type tall rescues, and that would be my recommendation. Now,

(30:25):
if you have an existing bluegrass lawn and you want
to come in and oversea it with turf type tall fescue,
you can do that. But over time, if the bluegrass
shuts down in the summer and it's from the drought,
and you've still got turf type tall rescue, you're going
to see a difference. There're going to see the turf
where the turf fescue is is green and where the

(30:46):
bluegrass is is going to be shut down, dormant, and
over time sometimes it can start to clump a little
bit like Kentucky thirty one. So I if it's a
if there's a If it's a less than fifty percent
turf and you're going to come in there other types
of grass, I think you're okay. But if it's more
than that, then I think you need to kill everything
out start all over again. And that's when I use

(31:07):
the turf type tolf ascues. Otherwise, you try to work
in the same or compatible type of grass seed that
you've been using in the past. And that's why it's
important to hang on to your labels on your grass
seed bags, so you remember what you put down the
last time you sowed grass seed, all right, so then
you can always have something that mixes or will be

(31:28):
compatible with what you already have. They're growing. Timing wise,
we are there from now until the end of September
obviously hot and dry, not exactly the best time in
the season for doing a lot of these projects. So
if you want to wait it out till after next weekend,
remember we got all the month of September to see
what the weather's going to do, So you might want

(31:49):
to hold off if you haven't done it already and
wait till we get after next weekend and see where
we are weather wise. But you've got all of September
to figure this out. But good time for renovation, good
time for overseating, good time for you know, killing out
some areas and then reseating in those areas. Do use
a starter fertilizer no matter where you're seating. If it's

(32:12):
an existing law and use a starter fertilizer. It'll feed
the existing lawn and the new grass coming up as well.
Is there a specific one I like, you know, I
think Fertilome does an outstanding job with their fertilizers. I
think Scott's does a great job with their fertilizers. So
you got two big name brands there that do a
lot of research in the and have great products, Scot's

(32:34):
and Fertile Home, And there's many others out there, I'm sure,
but those are two that I'm very familiar with have
worked with over the years. But either starter fertilizer would
be fine to use. Then there's always that second feeding
in the fall, and that's usually late October or early November.
Then I would go back with your regular turf feeding
at that time for both the new seed and the

(32:56):
existing grass, and give it that second feeding before we
go into the winter winter time. And I'll tell you
what one thing I'm going to throw into this whole mix,
and Bob, you're gonna have to. We're running out of
time here, but I needed to explain this. If you're
thinking about doing all of this with the lawn, don't
forget to throw in core air rating. I think core

(33:17):
air rating is we don't do it enough in our
lawns and with the soils that we work with. With
most of the lawns around here, you know, in many
cases is what was in your basement was brought up
to the top, used to level everything out, a little
bit of top soil put on top, and that's it.
So it's important to try to get organic matter back
down into that soil. And with existing lawn how do

(33:38):
you do that well. Top dressing with a really fine
compost is a way to start just going in and
actually top dressing it very lightly on your existing turf.
But if you can come in and core air rate
and core a rate is the machine that it has
prongs to go down, pull a plug of soil out
of the ground deposited on top of the ground. When

(34:00):
you're done, looks like a herd of dogs came through
and dumped on your lawn. That's what it looks like.
But then those dry and you kind of dissipate, you know,
kind of spread them out over the lawn and it's
good to go. But wh after you've done that, if
you can bring in again a fine, fine compost and
spread that out over the top of the lawn as
a top dressing, it also goes into those pores that

(34:23):
you just pulled out to open that soil back up.
Now you get some organic matter on top and down
in the soil to start to really start to amend
that soil and change that structure. And if you do that,
you know, every year, every other year, every third year. Boy,
over time, you'll really start to see your lawn really
change and the areas where you really will notice that

(34:44):
are on hillsides you get baked all the time. Where
the water runs off alongside your sidewalk or your driveway,
that hell strip out between the sidewalk and the front street.
You do those areas and you get that compost in
there and start changing that around a little bit. You'll
see your turfile spawns so much nicer because it now
absorbs the moisture, deeper, rooting, more organic matter. The soil

(35:06):
is alive, it'll perform a much better for you. So
core air rating, then slice seating or slit seating or
overseating that starter, fertilizer, water as needed, and boy, you're
good to grow for the fall season. You should look
really good come next spring. All right, quick break, we
come back, Bob, stick with us. We'll where you're coming
up next. Phone lines are open at eight two one
WTVN here on news radio six ' ten WTVN