Friday, December 30, 2011

Google+ Weed Man Lawn Care

I have created both a personal and business Google+ page. Please add me to your circles! Here is the link to our business page: https://plus.google.com/111730386865701206712

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Accolades...

I am proud to share that our business was given the Award of Excellence amongst over 100 of our peers in the Weed Man Lawn Care franchise family. It is humbling and we are very proud of this. We grew our business by more than $550,000 this past season. Thanks to our entire Weed Man team! madison.weedmanusa.com

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

December...fly tying season begins. I am now far enough removed from the WI trout season to re group and start cranking out flies for 2012. Now, I just have to re start my 2011 habits of getting up really early every morning to tie. I find (if I can get out of bed) that there is no better time to tie flies than the early morning before the rest of the world comes to life (including my 1.5 year old son Dawson and my wife). Here are a few flies I will be cranking out early and often this winter as they are my most heavily used flies. UV Stone-this is a personal creation that is by far my best producing fly. It dominated browns and brookies here at home and cutties in MT falled in love with it also.
Dying Scud-This is my variation of a scud pattern. Many scuds are dying in the water as they get flushed out. Many of them are grey, green, etc and then start to turn orange as they die. Hence the combination of colors here.
Tan caddis pupa-my variation of tan caddis pupa. the uv dubbing seems to give it more life.
Thunder thighs Hopper-I found this pattern online last summer and immediately tied a bunch for my trip to MT. It served as a great hopper pattern and took many fish. I have modified it a bit sense this picture. I have added a deer hair wing to make the fly a bit more visible on long casts.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Finishing the WI Trout fishing Season in Style

I decided I needed to get out twice more after my trip to Montana, to finish the WI trout fishing season here in Sept. Caught a ton of beautiful brookies on the final day that even exceeded the color of the hills. On the second to last outing I landed the largest trout of the year. Ron, a close friend, stated "what a curtain call." Another season has come and another has gone.




Thursday, September 15, 2011

Back from Montana

Well, I am back from a great trip to Montana! Weather was great (too sunny actually) and the fishing was sold as well. It went by fast and leaves me looking forward to next year!

For the first time in 10 years heading to the mountain west fly fishing, I ran into a bear...almost literally too.



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Fishing in the Crowsnest Pass area

Well, we just got back from our trip to the Banff, Alberta, Canada area. Helluva drive each way!
Nicole and I had a blast spending the time sight seeing in the Rockies with our friends Charlie and Crystal.

Charlie and I took a couple of days fishing between Glacier National Park and Banff National Park. Here are a couple shots!






Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Heat and stress on your lawn

 We are seeing extreme heat stress across the Midwest.  I wanted to make you aware that this will cause serious strain on your home lawn.  In the Midwest we have what we call 'cool season' turf grasses for home lawns.  Most of our desirable grasses thrive between 60-75 degrees...not 90+.  Temperatures are expected to be well into the 90's and possibly over 100 degrees over the next week.  Please remember to let the lawn grow to 4-5" during this extreme weather pattern and only mow if necessary.  If you are going to mow, do so at the highest setting, generally around 3.5" or so.  The lawn will undoubtedly experience stress conditions that can cause it to go into dormancy, increase summer turf disease pressure and/or turf die off in areas.  Please try and water the lawn in the early morning between 4-8 am.  Try and give each part of the lawn about 1" of water (one hour) twice over the course of the week due to the heat.  The good news is that our slow release, granular fertilizer will not cause any burning and will actually help the lawn recover from stress faster than not having fertilization at all or skipping a treatment. 



Wednesday, July 13, 2011

July Newsletter

Well, summer has definitely settled in, that is for sure.  We are now wrestling with all sorts of turf diseases, Japanese beetles and the mosquitoes are starting to really show up!  Check out some great info from our July Newsletter regarding these issues.    Click here to go to the newsletter

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Japanese beetles and white grubs

Be on alert as the dreaded Japanese beetle will be returning to your trees and ornamentals soon to defoliate them!  Please be aware that the larval stage of the Japanese beetle is the white grub and they feed on the roots of your grass and cause major damage to home lawns.  Please consider treatments for this as the outcome can be catastrophic!


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Weed Man Lawn Care June Newsletter

Check out our newsletter that we sent to our customers at Weed Man Lawn Care about a week ago.  There are some great tips in here on mosquitoes, the benefits of turf and some great things we have done at Weed Man for our troops. 
 
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs089/1101847878709/archive/1105698582400.html

New Hopper Pattern...Thunder thighs

I am always searching for new fly patterns to tie create but also find and utilize others creative ability.  I found this awesome foam grass hopper pattern and immediately had to tie up a half dozen.  They are fun and relatively easy to tie.  They should work great on my trip to Montana in early September.  Here is the link in which I found the pattern: http://hopperfishing.wordpress.com/

Here are some different angles of my first attempt, they are fun to tie!



Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fishing report from Memorial Day

I went out fishing with an old friend from Montana and his two sons.  This was their first trip to the driftless area, but I am sure it will not be their last.  We had a blast catching scores of browns and brookies.  In fact, Bill and myself went out on Saturday and caught about 100 fish in 7 hours, nothing huge but tons of fun.  It was some of best dry fly fishing I have seen with fish rising to a large slate colored dun in the size 12-14 range...really fun.  Should have taken pics...but was lazy.  Now that the heat has set in, I plan on heading north this weekend to go slam some bass on the 8wt!  I will try and bring back pics this time.  Stay cool.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Birthday shot of Dawson

 Here are a couple of shots of Dawson eating his first birthday cake.
 Plan on getting out fishing with an old friend this weekend, I will hopefully post some pics next week.
One last happy birthday to King Dawson.

Friday, May 20, 2011

My little boy turned 1 yesterday

I cannot believe that my son Dawson had his first birthday yesterday.  Time really flies!  I can remember when he was born 6.5 weeks early!  Here is a pic of him the first night he was finally able to come home.  Happy birthday Dawson!
Cannot wait for his first fishing trip!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Weed Man Lawn Care May Newsletter

Take some time to check out our May Newsletter.  We have some great tips and info on turf diseases; the implications of the cool, wet spring; potential bug problems, etc. 

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs089/1101847878709/archive/1105480638707.html

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Spring...waiting and late crab grass

I just heard on the radio that they are expecting this April to be the 3rd coldest on record.  That in combination with the crappy, wet weather has really made for a tough start to getting treatments done on our customers home lawns.  I can see the dandelions are huddling in the cold temps and are just waiting for that 75 degree day to bust out!  Despite all of this, Weed Man is poised to have its largest year of growth yet!  We grew $400,000 last year so that is something to be proud of and we thank our loyal customers for all of the great referrals!  We have so many people switching to our services, it truly makes you feel you are doing something right. 

CRAB GRASS
Secondly, and more importantly, you should expect crab grass to germinate quite late this spring.  If you or a provider put down a pre-emergent for crab grass in late March or April you will most likely have crab grass break through this summer.  At Weed Man, we never recommend crab grass control that early.  Crab grass will not even start to germinate until the soil temps get to 55+ degrees, 24 hours a day for at least 5 straight days.  We aren't even having air temps in that range consistently!  So, I would expect crab grass to germinate late this year, in the early to mid June time frame.  Proper applications will be done from about right now through the month of May.  


Click here for more info on crab grass

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Spring Lawn Cleanup

Here in the upper Midwest areas of Milwaukee, Madison, Rockford and the Fox Valley area we see a wide variety of issues coming out of winter.  The first things you may notice when your lawn reappears from its white, wintery state are matted down, white or pinkish grass, vein-like runs throughout the lawn, debris scattered on your lawn near the road or driveway and possible salt damage.  Do not worry, much of these problems will take care of themselves with a little of your help. 

The white or pinkish patches of grass that are matted down are caused by a fungus called snow mold.  You typically see this where heavy amounts of snow were piled up the longest.  Taking a plastic leaf rake and lightly raking these areas to help them breath will be all the turf needs to recover within a month or so. 

Sometimes you many notice vein-like runs of grass debris throughout your lawn that were not there in the fall.  This is noticed most in lawns that are near green spaces, prairies, woods or have lots of ornamental beds surrounding the turf.  The damage is caused by a rodent called a “vole.”  Voles are like field mice or “above ground moles” that you do not see in the summer because they stay close to fields, woods, prairies or other areas where they have cover to ensure they do not have encounters with hawks or other predators.  Using a plastic leaf rake you will need to lightly rake through these areas to remove the dead grass that was chewed and tunneled through.  This grass will be removed very easily as it is not anchored to the root system anymore.  Re-seeding these areas can be beneficial but with proper fertilization these areas should thicken in naturally by late spring. 
You can use the same leaf rake to help the turf breath in areas where there is debris scattered from snow plowing.  By raking these areas, the debris will settle into the turf and become unnoticeable within a month or two.  There is no need for heavy raking in any of the events listed above. 

Visit us at http://www.weedmanusa.com/winter-damage.aspx for more info on winter damage. 

Crab grass is another major concern here in the upper Midwest.  However, there is a major misconception about crab grass.  Many people are told that the earlier you put down a crab grass pre-emergent the better.  This is not true.  You want crab grass pre-emergent to be put down generally between mid April and late May.  Crab grass will not germinate until the soil temperature consistently (24 hours a day for at least 5 days) hits 55 degrees.  This usually doesn’t happen until late May.  If you were to put down a pre-emergent for crab grass in March or early April, it may not stay active in the soil long enough to prevent the majority of the weedy grass from germinating.  Another problem with crab grass is diagnosis.  Many people think they have crab grass in the early spring when they see a green, weedy grass.  Crab grass is an annual and will die every fall and in the spring it will look white to brown showing no signs of life.  If you see a grass in the spring that is green and appears to be a weed, it is most likely quack grass or some other type of perennial weedy grass.
 
Visit our site for more info on crab grass.  http://www.weedmanusa.com/crabgrass.aspx

Friday, April 8, 2011

Weed Man USA Helping Homeowners Prepare Lawns for Spring with National Lawn Care Month

It has been crazy here in Middleton, WI for lawn care already this spring.  We are poised to have a great season.  Please see the link below about National Lawn Care Month!

http://www.weedmanusa.com/spring-lawn-care-month.aspx

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Saturday was a great day for fishing

I was able to get the ok from my wife to take the day and go trout fishing last Saturday.  What a beautiful day it was (despite the wind).  I was able to meet up with a good friend, Len Harris on a stretch of water that was new to me and Len was revisiting after a number of years.  It was truly one of the most beautiful pieces of water I have ever seen, and the trout fishing did not disappoint either!  I actually had two doubles (when you have two fish on at the same time, two flies)!  The driftless area of WI truly is under-appreciated.  Here are some pics courtesy of Len






Friday, April 1, 2011

My son's first trophy fish

I plan on going trout fishing tomorrow and will provide a report on that.  Dawson, my 10 month old, wanted to show dad his first 'trophy' as well.  As you can see, he is showing me how big it is (although he probably doesn't know it).  I truly look forward to the day that I can help Dawson catch his first fish.  I believe the younger generations are really struggling to have any sense of the outdoors as they are submerged in 'instant gratification' like video games, facebook, text messaging, etc.  It will be imperative to our children to have a sense of the outdoors whether it be hiking, fishing, camping, hunting, etc.  I hope to share my love of fishing and the outdoors with my son Dawson. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Radio

Whether you are in the Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford or Fox Valley areas, you should be hearing Weed Man Lawn Care radio advertisements fairly consistently on certain stations right now.  We have really heard nothing but positive reactions from them so we really appreciate the positive feedback and everyone requesting quotes. 
I will also be speaking at 6:50 am on 1310 WIBA every Monday morning starting April 4th to discuss lawn care tips.  Ben, our sales manager will also be doing this in the Fox Valley market on 1360 WTAQ starting next week at 6:50am. 

As we enter spring (I know it doesn't feel like it this week), Weed Man should be supplying the radio waves with many lawn care tips for those that would like to do it themselves or seek professional help from Weed Man.  It is certainly, always an exciting time of year for our company.

Also, I couldn't let a post go by without mentioning my beloved Badgers making an appearance in the Sweet 16!  What a pleasure to watch Opie Taylor...I mean Mike Bruesewitz and the energy he plays with.  Go Badgers!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Opening day of trout season means the opening of spring

I know that spring doesn't technically start till much later in March.  But, to me, when I hear the word March I think spring.  Last weekend was the opener for early trout fishing.  It felt so good to get outside despite the cooler temps.  The fishing was good but will get better as water temps rise.  Many native brook trout were caught with a spattering of browns as well, nothing huge this trip but it doesn't matter.  It only matters that March is here again.  March Madness is in the beginning stages with conference tournaments starting and soon after that Weed Man will be out treating lawns and helping them out of the doldrums of winter.  There is already a great buzz in the air in all four of our markets in Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford and the Fox Valley and it is going to be a great lawn care season.  We are in full swing in our marketing campaigns on foot and over the radio waves.  Oh, and I almost forgot, Thursday night at Red Lobster for my wife's birthday, her favorite.  Trout fishing, basketball, the start to the lawn care season and a birthday...

Yes, this month--March.  March is the best month of the year. 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Come See the Weed Man Super Hero at the MABA Home Show

I wanted to test posting pictures, so here is my first attempt.  We will be at the MABA Home Show at the Alliant Energy Center next weekend.  Come, visit, and meet the Weed Man Super Hero!


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

North Woods: Land Away From Lawns

This weekend Nicole, Dawson and I are heading up north to our family cabin near Manitowish Waters.  I find it a little ironic that as spring is starting to show a few signs of life occasionally that we choose to go further north back into the deep winter.  This all despite the fact that no one wants spring to come faster than me.  A winter trip north is always good for the soul as it so quiet and relaxing.  I will probably do some ice fishing for walleye.  This is also ironic because I am an avid fly fisherman that tends to have a bit of distaste (but not actual taste, love to eat 'em) for fishing walleye fishing due to the nature how boring it is to me to jig for walleyes.  My brother in law and his family were up north a month or so ago and he was able to pull 3-25" walleyes through the ice in front of our place.  Now you understand why it tweaked my interest.  However, my version of ice fishing is a far cry from the die hards.  My idea of ice fishing involves me sitting comfortably in the cabin playing cards, drinking some adult beverages and waiting for a flag to pop on the tip ups.  It will certainly be nice to get back up there as I don't believe we have been up there since July as a 9 month old tends to hamper your travel plans.  This will be a welcome break right as we start our craziest time of the year in lawn care: March through May.  I always welcome the spring for breaking old man winter's back, my wife's birthday :), the start to trout season and the start of our busy lawn care season.  Before you know it we will be talking about how to combat snow mold and get your lawn jump started again. 

Friday, February 18, 2011

Grass vs Snow

It is great to see some grass outside my office here in Middleton!  Not only am I excited to get lawn care in Middleton going again but personally winter has really packed a punch this season and I am truly ready for spring and the warmer temps.  It is always interesting to see how damaged and beat up a lawn can look in the early portions of spring and how (if maintained well) the turf will rebound very quickly by May.  I cannot wait for green grass, warm weather...and trout season to open!

Introduction of my blog

Well, I thought it was about time I step into this world of 'blogging.'  It is certainly an interesting dynamic!  I hope you will find interest in my postings from time to time.  I will primarily focus on my knowledge, expertise and love of lawn care by providing seasonal tips, random thoughts and hopefully fun topics in the lawn care world.  But, I will occasionally talk about my family and its importance to me as well as my passion for fly fishing and the outdoors.  Thanks for following!