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It’s Fungus, Weed and Insect Season!

Westlake Ace Hardware offers helpful advice on keeping lawn diseases, weeds, and insects under control this summer.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (June 9, 2021) – Summer is finally here! The warm weather and long days are great for enjoying time with friends and family, but it also brings along three unwelcome guests to your backyard festivities – disease, weeds, and insects.

From brown patch to crabgrass to grubs, Westlake Ace Hardware offers these tips to identify and treat some of the most common pests that plague lawns during the summer.

 

Disease Prevention

Dollar spot is one of the most common diseases that plague lawns every summer. Easily identified as small, silver-dollar-sized patches of brown grass, dollar spot affects nearly every type of turfgrass – including fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass, bermudagrass, and zoysiagrass. The disease tends to occur from late spring into autumn, particularly after periods of heavy rain or humidity and evening temperatures above 60 degrees F.

In addition to keeping mowing heights around four inches and not over-watering the lawn during periods of excess precipitation and humidity, dollar spot and other turf diseases can be prevented and cured throughout the growing season with monthly (every four weeks) applications of a fungicide like BioAdvanced Granules.

Powdery mildew is another common fungus that affects a wide variety of landscape plants. It’s easily identified as light gray or white powdery spots on leaves. Like dollar spot, powdery mildew thrives during periods of high precipitation and humidity and warm evening temperatures. Though rarely a fatal disease, it is unsightly and can rob plants of valuable nutrition – which causes weak stems, slow growth, and fewer blooms.

To help prevent powdery mildew, thin out and relocate susceptible plants to improve airflow, make consistent applications (according to label instructions) of a copper fungicide like Bonide, and remove dead or diseased foliage (making sure to disinfect the tools afterward).

 

Weed Prevention

When it comes to common summer weeds, crabgrass is king. Found in all types of lawns, it gets its name from the stems that radiate out from the main clump – which resemble crab legs. It loves hot and dry weather, can spread quickly and leaves thousands of seeds in the ground that can germinate in the spring.

Though it is far easier to prevent crabgrass growth in the early spring with one or two applications of a “preemergent” that both feeds the lawn and forms a barrier against weed germination, homeowners can also spot treat for it throughout the summer with a ready-to-use product like Ortho WeedClear.

 

Insect Prevention

Insects like grubs, mosquitos, fleas, Japanese beetles, and ticks can devastate lawns and plants – and cause health issues for humans and pets alike.

One of the best ways to prevent pests from ruining backyard summer fun is to avoid creating the right breeding ground for them. Regularly remove, replace, and clean all sources of water such as birdbaths – where pests like mosquitos they can lay their eggs. Keep the grass cut and the landscape tidy, as overgrown areas make the perfect homes for all kinds of insects.

Though insects are ultimately unavoidable in the summer, you can reduce their populations and the problems they create with an application of a wide-spectrum product like Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer.

Important: Always carefully read and follow label instructions before buying or using any pest control product. The label contains important conditions of sale, including limitations of remedy and warranty.

 

About Westlake Ace Hardware

Headquartered in the Kansas City area, 115-year-old Westlake Ace Hardware has been the helpful neighborhood hardware store countless generations have shopped at for power and hand tools, fasteners, paint, plumbing, lawn care, pet, electrical supplies, and BBQ grills and accessories. It has been part of the Ace Hardware Cooperative since 1959, and a wholly owned Ace subsidiary since 2012.

With access to more than 70,000 products, Westlake lives the Ace Helpful Promise every day by delivering reliable service, helpful advice, and products so its customers and neighbors get their projects done right every time. Westlake Commercial offers a wide array of HVAC equipment, plumbing supplies, safety products, commercial lighting, paint, and other hard-to-find products to business and trade customers.

Westlake currently owns and operates 150 stores in 12 states:

  • California (Ace Hardware of Chico, Fresno, La Crescenta, Livermore, Mountain View, Pinole, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Turlock, Van Nuys, West LA, and Woodland)
  • Illinois (Buikema’s Ace Hardware)
  • Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas (Westlake Ace Hardware)
  • North Carolina (Westlake Ace Hardware, Outer Banks Ace Hardware)
  • Washington (Dennis Company Ace, North Bend Ace Hardware, Westlake Ace Hardware)
Media Contact:

Tom Mentzer
Mentzer PR Group (for Westlake Ace Hardware)
(913) 626-9066
tmentzer@mprg.biz

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