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Make Your Home Beautiful on the Outside

The experts at Arbor-Nomics Turf have been creating beautiful, lush, family-friendly lawns for over 40 years. With fertilization, weed control and a whole lot of know-how, we can make your home as beautiful on the outside – as it is on the inside.

Love the Outside of Your Home

You love the inside of your home for the good times you have together. No wonder, it’s a beautiful space. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could extend the feeling outside? With fertilization, weed control and a whole lot of know-how, Arbor-Nomics can make your home as beautiful on the outside – as it is on the inside.

How to Identify Frost Damage on Shrubs

It’s encouraging when the first few warm days of spring awaken your ornamental shrubs. Unfortunately, the temperature can still drop below freezing during this transitional time, killing new growth with frostbite. The top of a shrub is particularly vulnerable. If you see these leaves dying and falling off, don’t worry too much. In almost all cases, the rest of the plant is completely healthy, and beautiful new foliage will fill in those dead spots by May or June.

How to Identify and Treat Wild Violets

Lovely when they bloom in spring, these perennials with heart-shaped leaves turn into persistent weeds the rest of the growing season. Colonies usually start in shady spots and spread into sunnier areas. In small batches, they can be controlled by digging them up, being sure to remove the entire root. If the wild violets are wide-spread, Arbor-Nomics has a three application program that will begin in late May or early June to help eradicate this weed.

Prepping Warm-Season Grass

With warm weather around the corner, we at Arbor-Nomics recommend scalping Zoysia and Bermuda grass, leaving blades about an inch tall. Removing dead sections from the top exfoliates the lawn and allows more sun to get to the soil. Scalping, in combination with the high-nitrogen fertilizer that Arbor-Nomics applies this time of year, will get your lawn looking green and healthy in no time.

How to Identify and Treat Spittlebugs

Spittlebugs produce a frothy substance that protects them from predators, extreme temperatures and drying out. If a large number of spittlebugs gather at the root of a grass blade to feed, the plant will weaken and its growth will be inhibited. Extensive damage may kill the grass entirely.

Arbor-Nomics Certified Landscape Specialists

The Certified Landscape Specialists at Arbor-Nomics have extensive education that goes well beyond industry standards and requirements. Our technicians are trained in all aspects of lawn and ornamental tree and shrub care and certified in applying herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Get the best for your lawn from those who know your lawn.

How to Identify and Treat Fairy Ring

Fairy rings are circular areas of abnormal turf or mushroom growth that are found on lawns where soils contain high levels of organic matter. Fungi create the rings by feeding on roots and other wood buried in the soil as they decay. Fairy rings expand outward from a central starting point in a relatively uniform, circular pattern.

Treating Poa Annua in Zoysia – Part I

We installed Zoysia sod for this homeowner in the fall. Then, in March, poa annua started to creep into the seams of the sod. With a combination of Georgia heat and Arbor-Nomics treatments, this weed’s days are numbered, and this lawn will be looking great in no time.

Poa Annua Treated in Zoysia – Part II

As summer progressed, this Zoysia sod has taken root and turned green. Arbor-Nomics has applied fertilizer and fungicide, and the weeds are now under control. The result is a beautiful lawn of high-quality Zoysia grass.

A Healthy and Beautiful Fescue Lawn

This yard was composed mostly of weeds and dirt. Once sod was installed, Arbor-Nomics stepped in, applying fertilizer and herbicides. Our custom combination of treatments produced this beautiful Fescue lawn.

How to Identify and Treat Gall on Azaleas

Gall is a fungus that attacks azaleas. This disease causes the leaves, flowers, buds, and stems to become misshapen with fleshy growths. Gall can be removed without serious damage to the plant by pulling off the affected outgrowths.

How to Identify and Treat Poa Trivialis

Rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis) is a perennial cool-season grass that invades other cool-seasons grasses like fescue. It's ordinarily lime green, but when it dies out around June it leaves ugly brown patches. The only way to eradicate this weed is to dig out the clumps and replace them with patches of fescue.

Lawn Lesson #1

Lawn Lesson #2

Irregular Turf Pattern Due to Frost

Extremely low temperatures produce ice and frost, which are obviously not good for grass. The brown areas that result follow drainage patterns. Fortunately, this damage is usually not permanent in Bermuda lawns, and eventually all the grass will go dormant for the winter.

Gardenia Damage Due to Cold Temperatures

The first symptom of winter damage to gardenias is typically blackened leaves. Longer exposure to chilling temperatures can also kill the flower buds. In most cases, the harm is not fatal to the plants and they rejuvenate in the spring.

How to Identify and Treat Aphids on Myrtles

Aphids feed by sticking their mouthparts into the plant and sucking out the sugar-rich sap. The aphids' sticky waste, called honeydew, spawns black, sooty mold. Treatment includes two insecticides, one sprayed as usual and another applied to soil. When watered in, it is absorbed by the roots of the plant, rendering it poisonous to aphids.

How to Identify and Treat Army Worms

Armyworms, the larvae of a moth, can be identified by a series of stripes down the length of their bodies. The caterpillars are light green or tan in their early growth stage, becoming dark green or brown as they mature. They primarily eat grass blades, and large infestations can completely defoliate a lawn in just a few days. Arbor-Nomics' insecticide is effective against armyworms at all stages of their development.

Boggy Conditions Breed Weeds

Wet conditions weaken turf and promote weeds in lawns. Herbicides can provide a temporary solution, but the turf grass will continue to decline. Once conditions change to promote healthy grass, then an application of weed control can have a beneficial, long-term effect.

How to Identify and Treat Spurge

Spurge, a fast-growing summer annual, is easy to spot, as it grows low to the ground and quickly spreads out like a spiderweb. Arbor-Nomics applications usually control this weed, but if you see one between visits, call us to schedule a spot treatment.

Saturated Soil and Grassy Weed Development

Any change in a lawn’s environment, structure, or quality can act as an invitation for weeds to take over. Soil saturated with water is a breeding ground for weeds, and the only way to address it is to dry out the soil, then have Arbor-Nomics treat the grassy weeds to ensure a beautiful lawn.

Leaf Spot Disease on Ligustrum

When leaves are damaged by yellow or brown spots, the culprit is most likely leaf spot disease. Fungal leaf spots like this will increase, merge, and eventually kill the leaf, potentially causing serious harm to the plant. Arbor-Nomics' Ornamental Tree and Shrub Program will contain this disease and keep it from spreading.

How to Identify and Treat Apple Gall

Apple gall is an abnormal growth produced in response to attack by a fungus. Very little is known about how the fungus enters the plant or why some plants are more susceptible than others. This fungus causes the leaves, flowers, buds, or stems to become distorted and misshapen. The only way to remove apple gall is to prune the infected area.

Brown Patch Disease Damage

Brown patch is a common disease in Fescue turf during the summer. Once this fungus takes hold of grass, it’s extremely hard to stop its progress. Arbor-Nomics treats brown patch once it’s started, but only a preventative application will ensure your Fescue yard will stay green and healthy during the summer.

Grub Worm Management

Many types of beetles can lay eggs in your lawn, producing grubs that feed on grass roots. If grubs infested your lawn last year, you have an 80% chance of seeing them again. They may be present in your soil right now, undetected until they start to cause damage.

Getting to Water Meter without Damaging Lawn

If you're checking your water meter, your mind is probably on some kind of problem and not on your grass. Remember one important precaution to avoid damaging your lawn. After removing the lid, make sure to set it on concrete or mulch. If you leave it on the grass and the sun is out, the heated metal will burn your turf.

How to Identify and Treat Chamberbitter

Chamberbitter, also known as the mimosa weed because it resembles the mimosa tree, is difficult to control because it loves hot, dry conditions and has a tough, woody root system. If you spot this broadleaf weed, call Arbor-Nomics right away to schedule treatment with our powerful herbicide, because it spreads quickly.

Spider Mites on Burning Bush

Spider mites suck juices from outdoor plants, causing the plants to look dull and unhealthy. A severe infestation may cause enough damage to kill a plant. Arbor-Nomics Ornamental Tree & Shrub Care treatments, included in the Gold, Gold Plus and Platinum programs, include a special systemic insecticide to eradicate these harmful mites.

How to Identify and Treat Dollar Spot

Dollar spot is a very common Bermuda grass disease in the Southeast, caused by a fungus that lives in soil. It's named for the white or straw-colored circles, the size of a silver dollar, that it causes as temperatures heat up. If left untreated, these spots will eventually expand and merge, leaving large patches of dead-looking grass.

Whiteflies on Gardenias

Gardenias are evergreen shrubs that attract whiteflies, tiny, white insects that look like little bits of dandruff swarming about the shrub. Whiteflies suck sap from the foliage, resulting in yellowed, dry or dead leaves that often drop prematurely. You may also notice black sooty mildew that forms when whiteflies produce honeydew.

How to Identify and Treat Moss

Moss is a primitive plant that reproduces through spores. Factors that encourage its growth include excessive shade, compacted soils, low soil fertility, and poor air circulation. Currently there is no chemical solution that will eradicate moss. The best strategy is raking up the moss and then aerating and overseeding in the fall. If you prefer, you can kill the moss before raking by saturating it with a simple solution of water and dish soap.

How to Identify and Treat Lace Bugs

Lace bug damage can be detected when leaves start to stipple, turn yellow, and fall from trees and shrubs. The lace bug pierces leaves and sucks out the nutritious juices. Arbor-Nomics offers a contact spray to help eliminate lace bugs. For serious infestations, we’ll put a granular systemic around plants which will be absorbed by roots when watered in.

Proper Maintenance for New Sod

The key to establishing new sod is to keep it properly watered for the first month. Before treating sod with an herbicide, the roots must be firmly planted into the ground. If the sod is not yet firmly rooted, Arbor-Nomics will apply a starter fertilizer with high potassium, high phosphorous and nitrogen to help it take root and get it going for the spring.

How to Identify and Treat Black Spot Disease

Black spot is a fungal disease that affects roses. The fungus develops as black spots on the leaves, which eventually causes the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. Arbor-Nomics can treat the disease, but between treatments the customer must continue to prune the plant to remove any infected areas.

The Crawler Stage of Scale

Scale insects look quite different from other insects. In their juvenile growth stage, they are referred to as "crawlers". As crawlers, they are highly mobile, six-legged, have no protective cover, and are usually smaller than a pinhead. If your shrub is left untreated, these crawlers can completely defoliate the plant or in severe cases cause the plant to die.

How to Identify and Treat Rose Rosette Disease

Rose rosette disease is a devastating condition caused by a virus carried by mites. Red pigmentation on the underside of leaf veins is followed by increased growth of abnormal flowers, stems, and leaves. To stop it from spreading, any infected plant must be removed entirely, including roots, and destroyed.

How to Identify and Treat Spittlebug Damage

A white foamy substance appearing on blades of grass along with browning turf is a sure sign you have a spittlebug infestation on your hands. Arbor-Nomics can apply a pesticide to help eliminate the spittlebugs and stop the progression of damage to your lawn.

Give Your Ornamental Trees Space

As an air conditioning unit dehumidifies warm air, water condenses and disperses into the surrounding soil, making it extra moist. Ornamental trees and shrubs require room for their root systems to expand, so plants that are too close to an HVAC unit are vulnerable to root rot, a potentially fatal threat.

Damage from Orange Striped Oakworms

The orange-striped oakworm is a caterpillar that feeds on the leaves of oak trees in late summer and early autumn. The best way to combat these pest, and minimize leaf defoliation, is to spray them as soon as they appear.

Myth Busters – Broomsedge is a Treatable Weed

Broomsedge, a perennial grass and one of the most invasive weeds around, is not treatable with common herbicides. Broomsedge thrives in poor soil, and the best way to prevent it is fertilizing you lawn to improve soil quality.

Myth Busters - Zoysia Is Not Completely Shade Tolerant

Zoysia can tolerate some shade although it’s a warm-season grass. Shady conditions interfere with the development of its naturally deep roots. Zoysia needs at least six hours of sunlight a day to stay healthy.

Myth Busters – Removing Grass Clippings is Best for Your Lawn

Leaving clippings on your lawn after you mow offers proven benefits. Grass clippings recycle vital nutrients and moisture back into the soil to help fertilize your lawn.

Treating Anthracnose Disease

Anthracnose is usually associated with heat injury in midsummer, appearing as irregular yellow or bronze patches of diseased turf. This threat can be difficult to eliminate once it takes hold; applying a fungicide will greatly increase your chances of success.

How to Treat Dry Spots in Zoysia

This dry spot was caused by a large tree, which created root competition under the lawn. Its roots are consuming most of the nutrients and water from the soil nearby, so the grass is dying. With proper watering and fertilization, this lawn can be returned to its normal green state.

Why to Plant Trees and Shrubs in the Fall

Fall has distinct planting benefits. The combination of warm soil and cool air stimulates root growth to help your tree or shrub get established before the ground freezes. When planting, make sure to space your plants properly. Each hole should be twice as wide as the plant's root base and deep enough for the roots to thrive.

Watering & Mowing During Summer Months

Branch Manager & Arbor-Nomics Certified Landscape Specialist, Frankie Rivers discusses the most effective watering and mowing routines during the summer months.

Managing Mosquitoes In The Summer

Vice President, Doug Cash provides tips for combating mosquitoes during the summer months. Mosquitoes can not only be annoying but can also pose a health concern.

Summer Pests To Look Out For

There are all kinds of pests that can do damage to your yard in the warm summer months. Josh Bare from Arbor-Nomics provides tips to help identify and treat these pest early.

Summer Diseases to Watch Out For

Summer is a great time of year to be outside and enjoy the sun. But when it comes to your yard, there are some fungal diseases that come along with that hot and humid weather.

Best Questions to Ask When Choosing a Lawn Care Company

CEO and President Dick Bare lays out key questions you’ll want to ask when hiring a lawn care company and shares what sets Arbor-Nomics apart from our competitors.

How to Combat Weeds, Diseases and Pests

Vice President Doug Cash shares how our programs help to fight common weeds, diseases and pests in your Atlanta lawn, trees and shrubs during the summer months. You can call our office anytime with questions about your lawn!

What You Can Do to Keep Your Lawn Healthy

Branch Manager and Certified Landscape Specialist Frankie Rivers offers tips on what homeowners can do to help keep their lawns looking their best, sharing advice about watering, mowing, pruning and more.

Caring for Fescue in Warm Climates

Want green grass year round? Branch Manager & Certified Landscape Specialist, Frankie Rivers gives many tips about how you can achieve that by properly caring for your Fescue lawn.

How to Identify and Treat Grubs

During autumn, grubs in your lawn’s soil begin to feed on grass roots, which can cause your grass to turn brown and die. Contact your Atlanta lawn care professional at Arbor-Nomics so they can apply a pesticide while grubs are small and close to the surface of your lawn, making this treatment most effective.

How to Reduce Mosquito Activity

Mosquitoes thrive in warm and wet climates like Atlanta's. Since mosquito eggs need water to hatch, any standing water can quickly become a breeding ground. To help reduce mosquito activity, drain or fill in any standing water that has accumulated naturally. Any outdoor objects that have been filled with water purposefully, for example birdbaths or drinking bowls for pets, should be emptied and refilled regularly.

How to Identify and Treat Doveweed

Doveweed is an aggressive summer annual weed that rapidly invades warm-season turfgrass, especially in residential lawns. Doveweed resembles grass but can be identified by its creeping stems and shiny, rubbery leaves. To help prevent this problem, we can apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your lawn.

How to Identify and Treat Fall Webworms

Fall webworms are an end-of-summer nuisance. These moths create webbed nests on the limbs of fruit and nut trees in late summer and fall, but they rarely cause lasting damage. During their larval state inside these nests, they will feast on the encased leaves. As the leaves are devoured, the webbed nest expands to encompass fresh foliage. A contact insecticide can be applied to remove these nests from the tree.

How to Identify and Treat Nutsedge

Recognizable by its three-sided stem and star-like flowers, nutsedge is capable of splitting reinforced concrete and forcing its way through asphalt driveways, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Most common in Bermuda lawns, nutsedge is generally active between April and September.

How to Manage Zoysia Grass

Zoysia grass is an alternative to Bermuda that requires only about five to six hours of sunlight per day to thrive. The best way to maintain it is mowing only one-third of its height at a time, keeping the blades between ¾”- and 2” long. Zoysia lawns should receive 1” of water per week. The top 4-6” of soil must stay moist to keep the grass thick and dense.

How to Identify and Treat Entomosporium Leaf Spot

Entomosporium leaf spot is a fungal disease that thrives under moist, humid conditions. It is irreversible, so the best way to prevent it from spreading or returning is to dispose of the affected leaves.

How to Identify and Treat Dollar Spot

Dollar spot can spread through a lawn very quickly, so it’s important to treat it early. The best method is fertilizing the lawn to push out the disease, or, if the lawn is large, applying a fungicide. Additionally, black slime mold can occur after heavy rains but will run its course and wash away without causing damage.

How to Identify and Treat Ambrosia Beetles on Crepe Myrtles

If your crepe myrtle appears to have sprouted white toothpicks, ambrosia beetles are boring holes to deposit eggs. These beetles carry a fungus that partially predigests plant matter for them. To help prevent this problem, enroll in our Ornamental Tree & Shrub program.

How to Identify and Treat Powdery Mildew Fungus

Plants infected with powdery mildew look as if they have been dusted with flour. The fungus usually starts off as circular, powdery white spots, which can appear on the upper part of the leaves and stems. The leaves will eventually turn yellow and dry out. To help prevent this fungus, enroll in our Ornamental Tree & Shrub program.

How to Identify and Treat Moss

Moss can grow in spots that are inhospitable to other plants. Excess shade or water, soil compaction or imbalance in the pH level can all help moss to invade an otherwise healthy lawn. To reduce moss, cut back tree limbs, ensure proper drainage or aerate to reduce compaction. A soil amendment is the last resort.

How to Minimize Tree Saplings in your Yard

Uninvited tree saplings or sprouts growing under a mature tree can negatively impact the appearance of a yard. The best options to stop growth are pulling the saplings up by the roots or, if they are too small or too numerous to pull, mowing regularly.

How to Identify and Treat Zoysia Patch

This disease attacks zoysia grass when it’s emerging from winter dormancy. Grass blades take on a tan-orange color and initially form small patches about the size of a dinner plate, but can quickly expand to 20 feet or more in diameter. Treatment for this fungus is applied to lawns in the fall.

Aeration and Overseeding

Aeration pulls out small plugs of soil to break up compaction and allows vital air, water and nutrients to travel down to the roots. Overseeding fills in bare or thinning spots left behind by the stress of summer heat. Prepare your yard by mowing and watering the night before aeration and overseeding.

How to Identify and Treat Scale

Scale insects damage plant tissues by sucking out the sap, robbing them of vital nutrients. When these pests attack, plant growth is stunted; leaves may develop yellow blotches; the branches may die, and some or all of the leaves may fall off. Your Atlanta lawn care professional can treat this issue with a systemic insecticide that is absorbed by a plant and kills off these pests.

The Right and Wrong Way to Mow Your Lawn

A healthy, green lawn is the result of a combination of factors including effective watering and fertilization, but mowing is another part of that equation. Proper lawn mowing practices can mean the difference between a green lawn and a yellow one.

How to Identify and Treat Dallisgrass

Dallisgrass is one of the most troublesome weeds in the Southeast. It forms distinct clumps in mowed lawns and produces tall, unsightly seed stalks. A combination of hand-pulling and selective herbicides is the best way to control Dallisgrass.

Shade Decline with Leyland Cypress

Leyland Cypress grows best where they get full sun to partial shade. Browning foliage often occurs on a stressed or weakened tree and can be caused by lack of sunlight.

How to Identify and Treat
Armyworms

Armyworms are surface feeders that eat leaf tissue and create brown patches by destroying lawns one blade at a time. With early detection, armyworm damage can be treated with insecticides.

Cryptomeria Canker Disease

Cryptomeria Canker Disease will cause individual branches of the tree to turn orange in color, then brown. Often only one or two limbs initially exhibit symptoms, but the disease may spread so that many are affected. Infected limbs should be removed by a lawn care professional.

How to Identify and Treat Rust

Rust initially causes light yellow flecks on grass blades and sheaths and, when severe enough, can cause slow growth in your lawn. Learn how to identify and treat this lawn disease.

How to Identify and Treat
Brown Patch

During the summertime, Atlanta lawns go through major threats from common lawn funguses, one of which is called Brown Patch. Learn how to identify and treat this lawn disease.

Top Lawn Care Tips

Learn about four top lawn care tips for maintaining your Atlanta turf. Get key insights on watering, mowing, aeration and overseeding.

Aerating Your Lawn

Discover the best options for aerating your lawn. Arbor-Nomics covers aerating warm-season grasses and aerating and overseeding cool-season grasses.

Why Arbor-Nomics Turf?

Discover how Arbor-Nomics and our Certified Landscape Specialists (CLSs) meet and exceed expectations for Atlanta lawn care maintenance.

Meet Dick and Doug

Learn why Dick Bare, our President and Doug Cash, our Vice President love lawn care and why our techs are like owners