Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 106

June in review

For the second year in a row, June was unusually WET! Usually, I am hoping for one good rain of an inch or more to give us some good ground moisture before the typical summer high temperatures dry everything out. Ants were bothersome, mosquitoes were thick, and the ground was mushy.

July – Action items for your lawn and garden

Garden

Cooler temperatures in June, thanks to the rain, may have kept some of the more temperate crops going longer than usual. Okra, melons, and purple hull peas are the Southern garden staples that continue to produce in the heat we can expect over the next 60 days. Tomatoes are unlikely to set any more fruit for a few months. If you have indeterminate or “vining” type tomatoes you can propagate new plants from their suckers and use this time of year to get those plants ready for a later summer planting for fall harvest. Last year we were harvesting tomatoes in December. Just cut the sucker when it 8” long or more, and put it in a cup of water for a week or so. It will make roots from the hairs, and those can be potted to strengthen them. I usually make sure these are in the ground by September 1.

Lawn

• Mowing
  If you are following our fertilization system, your lawn probably needs to be mowed at least every 7 days and possibly as often as every 5 days.  The Rule of Thumb is to cut no more than 1/3 of the leaf when you mow.

• Fertilization
  Good news, we don’t have to fertilize your yard this month! However, don’t forget to continue feeding your landscape plants.

• Pests/Insects
  Fire ants and mosquitoes are going to be a problem at least for the first two weeks of the month. Webworms are continuing to attack oak trees (last months post had details on treatment).

  We do want to keep an eye out for “gray leaf spot,” it is fungal, and Consan, Daconil, or Banner fungicides will deal with it. Making sure you are watering intermittently and the top of your soil is drying out between watering days will help a lot.

Warm weather and green grass,

Hunter Soape

TLDR- “too long, didn’t read”

• It’s irritating pest season- ants, mosquitos, caterpillars that eat tree leaves. PG 2, 2nd bullet point

• Fertilize your grass, then get ready to mow

• Triple check your irrigation Pg 2, 4th bullet point

• Enjoy Summer

May in review

May was relatively dry until the end, when we experienced wet conditions for a brief period. Temperatures have been pretty mild, despite my prediction of summer hitting you in the face this past month. If you are an early riser, you may have noticed the mid 70-degree mornings.

June — Action items for your lawn, landscape, and garden

Garden

If you have a home garden, you should be enjoying the fruits of your labor. You can expect to see tomatoes stop setting fruit later in the month when high temperatures get up around 95 degrees. The heat-loving crops will really take off this month. Melons, okra, peppers, and purple hull peas become the garden staples for the next 75-90 days.

Lawn

Mowing

Father’s Day is coming, and if the dad in your life is responsible for mowing the lawn, here are some things that might make it more enjoyable: noise-canceling earbuds, a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off, and someone else who mows while he sits in the shade and sips lemonade. I am joking about the last one…. unless he doesn’t enjoy mowing.

In seriousness, if you are fertilizing on schedule the recent rains and heat are going to send your lawn into overdrive. Weekly mowings are the bare minimum and cutting every 4-5 days may be even better. The rule of thumb is we don’t want to cut more than 1/3 of the leave off. Again, frequently sharpening the mower blades are good for the health of your grass and the appearance of the lawn.

Fertilization

It’s time to fertilize again. I am a big fan of the silver bag Nitro-Phos Super Turf this time of year. It has a very slow-release nitrogen, so you don’t get excessive growth to mow extremely frequently. It also has extra Iron that helps with a nice dark green color.

Pest/Insects

Pest problems are likely to show up in the next month. I am seeing lots webworms in trees. We previously referred to these as “fall webworm” but now we are seeing them as early as May. Here is a great pamphlet about webworms and treatment options.

Fire ants will continue to be a problem, especially with the upcoming rains. Last month’s article had the full gamut of fire ant treatment.

Mosquitoes are likely to appear in force after the late May rains, and we are now expecting another rainy week in the second week of June.

Herbicide

Spot treatment of weeds may be needed in the summer, but we tend to see more grassy weed problems, such as crabgrass. If you have followed the pre-emergent plan, the pressure from those should be minimal. However, the big box stores do sell some crabgrass killer products, which are advertised for crabgrass control on the label.

Irrigation

Yes, it rained a lot in late May, and we are expecting a wet week in the second week of June. It isn’t likely that the rain will continue every week of the summer. Ensure that your system is ready to operate effectively, but manage it accordingly during periods of rain.

Early summer rains and green grass,

Hunter Soape

TLDR – “Too long, didn’t read”

• Get ready for summer
• Ants bite (actually sting) PG 2, 1st bullet point
• Mow frequently
• Irrigation check-up

April in review

April mainly had “chamber of commerce” weather, as expected. We did have a few rainy days, but overall, it was dry enough that we didn’t have persistent soggy conditions.

May – Action items for your lawn, landscape, and garden

In our area and for my money, Summer starts this month. I can’t tell you which day, but one morning you will walk out the door in the morning to temps in the mid-80s and 90% plus humidity and the sun will just be coming up and you will know, “it’s summer”.

Garden

Gardeners should expect their work to pay off heavily this month. Many of our traditional crops, like tomatoes and squash, produce best this month. True high heat crops like peppers, melons, purple hull peas, and okra, will start to take off as well

Lawn

• Mowing – Weekly mowing should persist until late October. Let me ask you one question though, “when was the last time you changed or sharpened your mower blade?” Sharp mower blades make mowing easier especially on a push mower, they give you a sharper finished look to your lawn, and the clean cut of the grass is healthier for your lawn.
• Fertilization
  • Lawns – if you still have not fertilized your lawn yet this year go ahead. Otherwise, let hold off and plan our next application for the first of June.
  • Roses – monthly applications of a quality rose food will give the best rose bushes on the block.
• Herbicide – The following is a rehash of what I said last month, but it works and weeds happen. I recommend using a spot treatment with a sprayer for any weeds that appear. Here are a few options that come ready to use Spectracide Weed Stop or Bioadvanced All in One. Either of those will treat weeds and crabgrass. Wait 2-3 days after you mow to treat, and don’t mow for 2-3 days after treating.
• Pest – “April showers bring May flowers” is a song or nursery rhyme, in reality, “showers bring ants.” With more heat and humidity, we tend to have more showers this time of year, and the ants come out to play….. or sting. Three approaches have proven successful for me.
  • Option 1 – Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is that a professional licensed applicator must apply it. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets, there is another benefit.
  • Option 2 – Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill but is a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
  • Option 3 – “Tarrow” is a Borax solution you apply to a piece of cardboard, and the workers carry the poison down to the colony. I have observed significantly higher kill rates than many of the mound treatments, where you see dead ants on top of the mound, followed by a new mound 5 feet away. It is also cheap, and you pick up the cardboard with the chemical on it and discard it a day or two later, and you are not leaving ant poison in your yard. I like this option if you have children or animals you don’t want to expose to the chemical pesticides used in other treatments.
• Irrigation – this is your last warning: “CHECK YOUR IRRIGATION SYSTEM!” Will you need it to save your lawn and landscape this month? Probably not, but next month, you likely will. If you have a busted backflow preventer from a freeze, now is the time to deal with it.

Gentle rains and green grass,

Hunter Soape

TLDR – Too long, didn’t read:

• Enjoy nice weather this month, the heat is coming
• Ants are in full force- PG 2, second bullet point
• Feed your lawn and plants, treat weeds before they get worse
• Mow frequently

March in review

The winter and spring were quite soggy, but March brought a change of pace, with some weeks experiencing no rain. If you have applied fertilizer and granular herbicide as recommended, it may have been watered in just recently, but that’s still okay. If your grass is not green and your landscape is not blooming, it’s time to take a close look at what’s going wrong and consider seeking help.

April – Action items for your lawn, landscape, and garden

This is likely our last pleasant and mild weather month for a while to work on your lawn, garden, and landscape. Hopefully, rainfall will continue to be moderate and timely.

Garden

If you’re a home gardener, this is the month you’re expecting to see some of your first harvest. Furthermore, it is a big month for planting more heat-tolerant plants. If you have drip irrigation systems in place (I highly recommend), you should be checking for problems this month before the May heat kicks in.

Lawn

• Mowing – It’s time to get back to weekly cuttings. Remember, we don’t want to cut more than one-third of the grass height at a time when we mow. I know I recommended cutting your lawn close on your first mow for the spring, now it’s time to raise that mower deck back up to at least 3 inches. I mow mine even higher where I have St. Augustine. The higher mower setting will allow the grass to naturally suppress weeds by shading them out and help maintain soil moisture.
• Fertilization – the question of when to fertilize is based on when you fertilized previously
  • “I can’t remember the last time I fertilized, or I haven’t fertilized” – then fertilize NOW!
  • “The last time I fertilized was in February or March” – we want to fertilize 45-60 following your last application with Nitro Phos 10-4-10 Super Turf.

Do not forget to feed your roses monthly. If you haven’t fertilized your shrubs and trees yet this spring, now is the time. 1 pound of fertilizer for 1” of trunk diameter.

• Herbicide – If you have applied a pre-emergent herbicide, you should not be experiencing many weeds at this point. However, it will not give you 100% control. I recommend using a spot treatment with a sprayer for any weeds that appear. Here are a few options that come ready to use Spectracide Weed stop  or Bioadvanced All in One. Either of those will treat weeds and crabgrass. Wait 2-3 days after you mow to treat, and don’t mow for 2-3 days after treating.
• Pest- Ants are the worst, right? They seem to have multiplied over winter at my house and probably yours too. Fire ants will become more active with warmer weather and pop up new mounds after every coming rain, it seems like. Three approaches have proven successful for me.
  • Option 1- Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is that a professional licensed applicator must apply it. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets, there is another benefit.
  • Option 2- Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill, but it acts as a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
  • Option 3- “Tarrow” is a Borax solution you apply to a piece of cardboard, and the workers carry the poison down to the colony. I have observed significantly higher kill rates compared to many of the mound treatments, where you see some dead ants on top of the mound, followed by a new mound 5 feet away. It is cheap as well, and you pick up the cardboard with the chemical on it and discard it a day or two later, and you are not leaving ant poison in your yard. I really like this option if you have children or animals you don’t want to expose to the chemical pesticides used in other treatments.

Spring rains and green grass,

Hunter Soape

TLDR – Too Long Didn’t Read

• Spring has sprung, get started with your lawn and landscape NOW for a beautiful yard. Action items are listed as bullet points below.
• Watch out for Fire ants, and have a plan to control- Page 2, 1st bullet point
• Your landscape would also like to be fed.- Page 2- Landscape section

February in review

In the past month, we experienced a wide range of temperatures, but rainfall was consistent on a weekly basis. If you read carefully last month, we discussed February 14^th being the average last frost date, but to look at the 10-day forecast before planting any sensitive plants. Well, we had that frost and even freeze, but it was well predicted by the 14^th, so hopefully, you heeded the advice in last month’s article.

March – Action items for your lawn, landscape, and garden

Our average last frost date has passed, while something unexpected could happen the long-range forecast doesn’t signal any fronts coming. However, for the record the latest spring freeze in Houston was on April 10.

Garden

If you are starting a garden, take the risk, and get your tomatoes in the ground as soon as possible to increase yield before the summer heat prevents fruit set. The February article has a planting chart to help you know the best dates to seed or transplant most garden plants. Here is a link to that chart.

Lawn

If you did not get down a fertilization and/or pre-emergent herbicide in February, there is still time, but hurry. Warm nighttime weather will cause weeds to germinate and begin to emerge; the principle of a pre-emergent is that the seeds do not germinate.

• Mowing – The start of the season is a good time to ensure your blades are sharp. While I advocate for mowing your lawn around 3 inches or more throughout the season, an initial shorter cut can help clean up the brown dormant leaves on top. Some physical removal of the clippings may be required.
• Fertilization – We want to switch to Nitro Phos 19-4-10 Super Turf. This is a slower-release nitrogen fertilizer with extra Iron to get that dark green color. If you put down a February fertilizer as recommended, wait 45 days from that application for this one. If you did not use fertilizer in February, now is the time.
• Herbicide – Barricade or Dimension pre-emergent is my choice, as they help control crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. You probably won’t find it at the big box store, but most nurseries or Tru Value / Ace Hardware will carry it.
  • AVOID “WEED AND FEED”!! – The herbicides used in this are not very safe in a granule form. They are very toxic to trees and shrubs.
• Pests – Fire ants will become more active with warmer weather and pop-up new mounds after every coming rain it seems like. There are 2 approaches that are successful.
  • Option 1 – Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is a professional licensed applicator must apply it. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets, that’s another benefit.
  • Option 2 – Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then, follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill but acts as a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
• Irrigation – While we may not need to turn on the irrigation for a month or 2 still, check that everything is working correctly now. We had a couple of hard freezes and back flow preventers are very susceptible to freeze damage.

Landscape– If you have not already, get to pruning dead vegetation and pruning back any plants that have become overgrown.

• Roses – March is the month to start feeding roses. A quality rose fertilizer is all you need, but skip the Miracle Grow and go with Osmocote or Nitro-Phos rose fertilizers.
• Shrubs and Growing Trees – These plants can benefit from a spring fertilizer application; our rule of thumb is 1 pound per 1” of trunk diameter.
• Seasonal color – Now that the risk of freeze is diminishing, you can start changing seasonal colors.

Hunter Soape
hsoape@cdcltd.com
CDC Unlimited, LLC

Previous month in review

Just like last year, January once again delivered some extremes regarding moisture and cold. Hopefully, you took the necessary precautions, took care of any cold-sensitive plants, and protected your external pipes. Backflow preventers can be susceptible to cracking even when drained, so check those out in the next month or two and deal with any issues before the heat of summer sets in.

February – Action items for your lawn, landscape, and garden

Garden

Feb 14 is our “average last frost day” for the greater Houston area, with northern parts of Harris County and Montgomery County et al. seeing that date push back toward the end of the month. If you’re a home gardener, these dates are the jumping-off point for the spring garden. There are plenty of cool-season crops that you can begin working with now, and by the end of the month, you will also be working toward some warm-season plantings. Check out this chart for a handy resource for the best time to plant different crops.

 

At my house, we will start potatoes any day now. Lettuce will be seeded on a weekly basis for us; it is far superior to what you buy at the store. Tomatoes will go in the ground in the middle of the month if the 10-day forecast keeps us above freezing and there are no “arctic blasts” in the long-range prediction models. Then, March will see us transition toward warm-season crops in full earnest.

Lawn and Landscape

Despite 3” snow on the ground Tuesday and persisting in places for a few days. I am seeing green Bermudagrass at ground level already. This month is forecasted to kick off with days in the 70-degree range. The nights will still be cool, limiting the major seasonal shift from winter to spring in our lawns and landscape. However, don’t be surprised to see some color return to your brown dormant lawn this month. With all this said, the steps below will give your turf a strong start to the year.

Barricade or Dimension Pre-emergent is essential now to keep broadleaf and grassy weeds away. This treatment and another in 75-90 days will make a big difference if you have crabgrass.
If you have clover, it probably looked like the freeze knocked it out, but it will rebound quickly. I will have the Clover control plan at the end of this newsletter.

Fast-acting 15-5-10 fertilizer will get your yard greened up and strong early. Nitro Phos Imperial 15-5-10 is widely available and our choice here; they also make an organic alternative called “sweet green,” which is a good choice if you’re looking for that. Skip the “weed and feed.”

If you want to put down a pre-emergent in your landscape beds like “Preen,” now is the time to get it out and dress with fresh hardwood mulch.

Before you refresh that mulch, complete your landscape pruning. We want to prune the roses and crape myrtles in the middle of the month.

Stay Warm and Dry,

Hunter Soape

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Clover action plan-

Identification

Control methods-

We need to use different chemicals depending on what lawn grass you have.

Saint Augustine

Broadleaf, large stolons (stems) above ground, in the majority of residential lawns

St Augustine Controls-

Spectracide Weedstop for St. Augustine lawns – Purple Label

Bermuda Grass

A fine-textured leaf (1/8” across or less) with a very fine stem/runner has increased in popularity in the past 5-10 years but is a small portion of suburban residential lawns.

Zoysia grass- looks much like Bermuda and falls into the same chemical families to be used.

Treatment—You can use hose-end sprayers (the most straightforward method) or mix in a pump-up sprayer to treat. I have provided links to products at Lowe’s Hardware, but they can be found in many other stores.

Spectracide Weed Stop -Yellow Top

Ortho Weed Clear- Orange top

Now is the time to treat your clover. You need a 4-hour window without rain and preferably some sun. Don’t be surprised to see signs of plant stress in under 24 hours after treatment.

Also, treating while your grass is dormant is preferred; it is dormant right now and will be for at least the first few weeks of February. When your turf grass breaks dormancy as the temperatures warm, it is under much stress, and adding a herbicide adds more stress. Zoysia is very susceptible to herbicide stress in that stage. Cleaning up the clover now will improve the uniformity of your lawn in the spring, as the turf grass has less variability of sunlight and soil warming.

December and 2024 in review

December had something for everyone weather wise. If you like it cold there was a few days of that, if you like it warmer there was a lot of that too. We saw some needed rainfall, but nothing extremely heavy or persistent.

2024 was the best year in terms of rainfall and less extreme summer heat and dry spells in at least the last 5 years.

What to expect in January

Home gardeners, it is the month to stay warm, and if you start your own tomatoes from seed it is time to start. If you have winter crops in the ground good for you.   My indeterminate tomatoes I have talked about every month finally succumbed to a frost on January 6th. Seeing as I planted them about March 1 of 2024 that is a pretty good run. I really do think the fall/winter crop was better than the spring. On Sunday as we were preparing for the incoming weather, we picked gallons of both ripe tomatoes we made sauce with and green tomatoes to be fried up. If I would have had more time, we could have pickled some of those green tomatoes too.

Lawn maintenance should be minimal this month.  The frost and cold overnight temps the week of Jan 6th will keep most growth but a few weeds to an absolute minimum.

Action Items

Ants are showing up nearly everywhere-

• Option 1 – Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is it must be applied by a professional licensed applicator. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets that’s another benefit.
• Option 2 – Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill, but acts as a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
• Option 3 – I have been trying out a new product in some areas that I didn’t apply Fipronil to at my own home and have been impressed. “Tarrow” is a Borax solution you apply to a piece of cardboard and the workers carry the poison down to the colony.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

December weather was fair, but the early January cold snap has cemented turf grass into dormancy for a while. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Hunter Soape

November in Review

November weather returned us to our normally scheduled programming after the extended warm spell. By that I mean many days in the 70s with a few bounces back into the 80s. Also, we saw some sporadic rain which helped us recover from that weird fall dry period.

What to Expect in December

Home gardeners, you should be starting to benefit from your fall planted cool season crops.  My indeterminate tomatoes are producing the most they have all season; we discussed how to do this a few months back. The frost will take them out sometime, maybe tomorrow maybe in January. I am going to grow my homegrown tomatoes until they do, and when frost is eminent, we will make fried green tomatoes with the unripe fruit.

Tired of mowing your lawn? You should get a good break now; our grasses are not dormant since we have not had a frost yet. But they know it is time to shut it down for the season. You may need a cut every 2 weeks to deal with some weeds but the weekly mowings are certainly done for a bit.

Action Items

• Enjoy fires in the fireplace or outdoor fire pit on cold evenings.
• Hot chocolate
• Relax and enjoy this holiday season
• Watch out for reindeer droppings in your yard following Christmas day

Municipal Drainage Happenings

November brought a break in the drought and perked up our turf since we had moderately warm temperatures. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Districts that were treated with a pre-emergent herbicide look clean, those that did not elect for that have noticeably more weed pressure.

Overall, this has been the best year for turf in the past 5 years. No extreme freezes, consistent moisture for most of the year. Only a 45–50-day dry period and it was during 90-degree temps of September and not 100+ temps of July or August.

I am looking forward to another great year in 2025

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Hunter Soape

October in review

October or August 3.0 …. I am not sure which month we just turned the page on but it was not our normally pleasant weather for October. Furthermore, after a year of generous rainfall, we fell in to a mini drought. Even though it was only 45 days without rain the heat really burned up the unirrigated turf. The most frustrating part of the past month was that we were all teased by some nice cool fall weather back in September. The cooler nights and then dry weather put a halt to most of the growth of our turf grasses, but it also made the weeds go reproductive. So every time a lawn was mowed you where mostly just knocking down seed heads and very little else, but then the seed heads came back within days.

What to expect in November

Last month I said you “you can depend on a reprieve from the heat of our summers” about October and that turned out to be a lie. So, I will just say I hope November is cooler and it’s already starting out wetter than the preceding month.

Home gardeners, again I led you astray about getting fall/winter crops in last month. The good thing is you can try again since most of those plants are directly sown from seed into the garden. If you did get some plants started in October hopefully, they made it through to November

Normally, November would be the month we expect to see mowing frequency reduce. The growing season for our warm season grasses close with this month. Nighttime temps below 65 degrees F will shut down the Bermuda and St. Augustine lawn grass.

Also, this month it is time to switch out your seasonal color in your landscape beds and freshen up the mulch while you are at it. While we are talking about mulch, lets discuss tree volcanos.

• Use a hardwood mulch, as it breaks down and decays it adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil.
• Think donut instead of volcano when spreading mulch around the tree. Keep mulch away from the trunk by a few inches at the least, larger trees go up to a foot. Do not cover the flare of the trunk if it is exposed, and avoid covering roots that are visible on the surface.
• Mulch should be 2-3” thick total, adding 2-3” of mulch twice a year will create the dreaded “tree volcano” that suffocates the roots and prevents water from infiltrating. Stirring existing mulch around will keep it from forming a crust that is resistant to water infiltration. You can do this a few times a year and it gives you a freshly mulched look.

Image credit: Texas A&M Forest Service

Action items for this month- repeats from last month but November is the new October

• Fertilization- We need to feed our grass to support root and plant health as the turf prepares for winter dormancy. It is very important we use the correct fertilizer currently. Using some leftover summer fertilizer will cause excess growth and stress the grass when it is trying to store nutrients for the winner. Below is my one and only recommendation.
  • Nitro-Phos- Brown bag- Fall Special fertilizer
• Weeds- This month we need to get down an application of pre-emergent herbicide. Barricade, Dimension or Pendimethlin are the chemicals that you are looking for, I use “Nitro Phos Barricade”
• Roses- Monthly feedings for roses are still important. Your roses should continue to bloom until the frost. In our area the First frost could be 30-90 days away, but keep feeding until then.
  • A fall pruning of your roses is generally a good idea. Do it before putting down fresh mulch to make the clean up easier. Follow the steps here for best results.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

October was the driest month I we have seen this year, and historically it is the second wettest. Turf conditions have rebounded well this year following 3 high stress years with droughts and hard freezes. The past 2 months have put a strain on turf, but I think this year has been 5 steps forward 1 step back at the worst.

Fall fertilization and herbicide are nearing completion for us.

Mowing schedules for most districts will drop back to monthly service on tractor-maintained areas and from weekly to every other week for shortgrass. However we will keep an eye on this, with a good shot of rain at the beginning of November we could see turf growth take off especially if the weather remains in the 80s during the day and above 65 at night.

Hunter Soape