Wednesday, July 4, 2012

SumaGreen Update

Bottom line: Ineffective.

At week 7.5, and with two full applications down (at start and week 6) at the recommended rate, there is no difference from control in the following areas:

* Heavily fed main lawn
* Moderately fed back line
* Lightly fed tri-mix lawn
* Unfed tri-mix lawn

There were no differences in color, growth rate, density, quality of lawn, or drought resistance in any area.

This photo shows areas with and without SumaGreen. There is no visual difference, and the green lawn wasn't completely treated. Neither was the dormant neighbor's lawn.

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July Photos

Things are doing pretty well for the current short-term drought we're in. I've applied sawdust and soap to the lawn in an effort to increase water penetration and decrease the amount lost to the dry winds. So far that's worked beautifully.

Here's the standard shot, with spot watering in progress. This is the one point the irrigation system doesn't reach well when the gardens are mature. If you look toward the bottom of the shot, you'll see some small drifts of sawdust, too. As always, click any image to embiggen it.

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The gardens are doing very well this year:

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Here's a Magellan Scarlet zinnia. They're not really scarlet, more of a cherry color, but that's red enough for me:

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At this rate, the pottery fairy will be buried by August. Growth and development really have been extraordinary:

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