Alternative Environments

Weed Control, Fertilization, Landscaping and more...

Serving West Georgia for over 25 Years

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Easy Winter Lawn Care Tips

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Snow Covered Yard and Stone House

With Winter here, there are some unique challenges regarding caring for your yard and outdoor plants. Thankfully, Alternative Environments is here to help with your winter lawn maintenance!

Here are some easy winter weather lawn care tips to help care for your Villa Rica lawn:

  • Make sure to mow to the correct height! You may be tempted to mow low so that you don’t have to cut your grass as often, but it’s important to set your mower height to over 1.5 inches during the winter. This length will help keep your grass insulted during the colder months.  
  • Always avoid foot traffic when your grass is dormant or frosted. Dormant or frosted grass is much easier to weaken or damage. If you don’t have a clearly marked pathway to your front door for holiday guests, give us a call to discuss options for walkways and hardscaping. Your lawn will thank you!
  • Choose the right plants. It’s important to know which plants need to be covered or brought inside when the outside temperature reaches freezing. If you don’t want to have to cover your flowers or bring them inside, make sure to choose flowers that can withstand winter weather.  

Of course, the easiest way to care for your lawn this winter is by hiring Alternative Environments to do it for you! We offer top-notch lawn care services to keep your residential or commercial lawn healthy all year long. We are currently servicing, Acworth, Bremen, Carrollton, Dallas, Douglasville, Lithia Springs, Hiram, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs, Temple, and Villa Rica, GA. Contact us today for a free estimate.

Heat & Drought Stress

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What you need to know about Heat and Drought Stress:

  • Normally occurs with seasonal high temperatures and lack of rain.
  • Blades become dried out and turn “ off color”
  • In extreme cases,  lawn will turn brown and mimic dormancy stage.  Also, grass will remain matted if walked on and “crunch” under your feet.  You will see tracks from lawn mowers or anything driven over the sod.
  • It can take up to 1-2 weeks to recover, once adequate rainfall or watering occurs.
  • During drought conditions or if inadequate rainfall occurs,  in order to prevent heat/drought stress, supplemental watering needs to be done before yard gets into extreme drought condition.  Once this occurs, it is almost impossible to have the sod recover with routine irrigation. 
  • Rule of thumb is to water your sod infrequently but DEEPLY!  When watering you need to water each area/zone at least ½” or more (35 min-45min in each location/zone).  This keeps the root system deep and the lawn properly hydrated.
  • If you water a little bit everyday, you are encouraging the roots to stay “shallow” and Increases the change of heat/drought stress damage., especially in high heat and drought conditions.

More information about proper watering can be found at this UGA Extension article Watering Lawns. 

Minor Stress/Isolated Dry Areas
Extreme Stress

 

URGENT WARNING: DOLLAR SPOT FUNGUS IS RAMPANT

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Dollar Spot fungus is widespread in many lawns this 2020 Season, and without treatment, it can spread swiftly and end up devastating your turf. The disease starts out as small honey-colored circles about the size of a silver dollar and left untreated it will start to form larger brown patches.

Dollar Spot usually starts when our nighttime temperatures are higher than 68 degrees F, and the turf stays moist from higher humidity or PM showers. The disease will infest yards with different degrees of fertility (green) and is not picky.

Dollar spot quickly spreads and can join together and “melts out” lawns. This damage can be so severe that it may not recover and require replacement.

Mycelia the vegetative part of a fungus – its appearance looks like thread-like webbing may be present in the active area during heavy dew.

The most severe cases of dollar spot occur on turf receiving closely-spaced summer irrigation. It’s best to water turf in the early morning while the dew is still present. Do not water during the day! The disease may also occur on non-irrigated turf when humidity is high from prolonged muggy summer weather.

The causal fungus spreads via mycelium on infected plant parts (mostly clippings). Mycelium may be carried by the wind, water, shoes, and even your lawn equipment. Fungicides are almost always applied on a curative basis for controlling dollar spot. Both contact and penetrant fungicides are effective in controlling this disease.

Please call our office at 678-840-4449 or fill out the form below to get pricing and availability of our treatment programs.

Get An Urgent Dollar Spot Quote

Spring Fescue Brown Patch

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URGENT ALERT: We have seen fescue Brown Patch appearing in an alarming number of lawns this spring (2019). It’s imperative that you contact us immediately before your entire lawn is destroyed by this disease. Don’t wait until it’s too late!

Pathogen- Rhizoctonia Solani aka Brown Spot

The beauty of a lawn can be quickly destroyed by brown patch or large patch, which are serious fungal diseases (each caused by different strains of Rhizoctoniasolani). Generally, symptoms of brown patch begin on cool-season grasses (tall fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass, and bentgrass) during the late spring.  The disease can develop rapidly when daytime temperatures are warm (75 to 90 °F) and humid, nighttime temperatures are above 60 ºF, and there is an extended period of leaf wetness.
 
Symptoms of brown and large patch diseases may vary greatly with the type of grass and soil conditions. The diseases usually cause thinned patches of light brown grass that are roughly circular in shape. These areas range in diameter from a few inches to several feet. Often the center of the patch will recover, resulting in a doughnut-shaped pattern. Close inspection of cool-season grass blades reveals small, irregular, tan leaf spots with dark-brown borders. Bentgrass may not show individual lesions, but leaves will turn brown and shrivel. Infected warm-season grasses rarely have leaf spots but instead, have rotted leaf sheaths near the soil surface.
 
Brown patch is the most common and important disease of tall fescue in the Southeast. In most cases, affected areas are able to recover, but tall fescue lawns less than a year old can be completely killed.
 
If you see these patterns in your lawn, PLEASE CALL US IMMEDIATELY!  Brown patch spreads rapidly and can kill your entire lawn if left untreated!
 

We have seen Brown Patch appearing in an alarming number of lawns this year. Fungicides are almost always applied on a curative basis for controlling brown patch. Both contact and penetrant fungicides are effective in fighting this disease.  It’s imperative that you contact us immediately by either completing the form below or calling our office at 678-840-4449. One of our experts will design a treatment program specifically for your lawn’s condition. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Get An Urgent Fescue Brown Patch Quote:

Healthy Green Lawns – Core Aeration

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Spring is right around the corner! Here’s a tip to get your lawn off to a great start – Schedule your Core Aeration!

Core aeration is one of the best ways to ensure your lawn has a healthy growing season. Benefits of core aeration include:

  • Improved air exchange between the soil and atmosphere
  • Enhanced soil water uptake
  • Improved fertilizer uptake and use
  • Reduced water runoff and puddling
  • Stronger turfgrass roots
  • Enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance
  • Improved resiliency and cushioning
  • Enhanced thatch breakdown
  • Soil decompaction that promotes root growth and strength

Core aeration is also an excellent way to mitigate soil compaction. Core aeration reduces compaction and allows water and oxygen to get to the roots. Core aeration can also stimulate root growth in sod lawns that need to connect to the soil. Thatch, a mat of above-ground roots that prevents air and water from getting to the soil, will also be broken up with core aeration.

For many years, professional golf course greenskeepers have known that the secret of a beautiful course is to aerate two or three times each year, allowing the healthy grassroots to thrive. Now your lawn, too, can enjoy the benefits of professional aeration.

Now don’t confuse spike aeration with core aeration. Core aerators actually removed plugs from your lawn providing all the benefits. While spikes simply puncture and cause more compaction. And, the best results come from expensive commercial equipment.

Warm-season lawns should be aerated in mid-spring to summer. The team at Alternative Environment is currently taking reservations for Core Aeration. If you book early, in addition to guaranteed a spot, you also receive $25 off this service.

Signup for Core Aeration

Contact Us

628 Old Town Road
Villa Rica, GA 30180
United States
(678) 840-4449

Services

  • Landscape Design
  • Lawn Services
  • Tree & Shrub Care
  • Construction Services
  • Commercial Maintenance
  • Green Solutions

Connect With Us

Service Areas

Our service area includes but is not limited to the following cities:
Acworth, GA
Bremen, GA
Carrollton, GA
Dallas, GA
Douglasville, GA
Lithia Springs, GA
Hiram, GA
Powder Springs, GA
Temple, GA
Villa Rica, GA