Although being "The Lawn Experts" means we know a fair amount about grasses, here are a couple of photos of grasses that we don't find on lawns. This first one is a  grass with purple foliage and great looking seed heads in the fall. It is unfortunately not winter hardy.

This Grass is in the miscanthus family. This particular one has yellow striping - not vertically as one might expect but horizontally. The seed heads are at their peak right now.

If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care - get The KING OF GREEN:

In August, I drove by a sod farm in Mount Hope. I could see that the fields had been prepared for seeding. Fall is the best time to sow grass seed. That is when Mother Nature does her seeding. The days can be warm, even hot, in August, but the nights are cooler, for sure. Any moisture that we do get is less likely to be lost.

 If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF GREEN:

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A few weeks ago a colleague sent me a new item about a municipality that had a concern about wild parsnips. They can be as bad as poison ivy. Never heard of that before, so I better find out.

"Fine", I said, "but what do they look like?" So you do a Google image search for "Wild Parsnip." Fine, yellow flowers and all. Then did a Google search for "Wild Parsnip." At the top of the list was an article entitled Burned by wild parsnip. These particular weeds can cause "phyto-photo-dermatitis" to those who come in contact with the leaves or stems.

These chemicals in the plants can cause an inflammation of the skin when these areas are exposed to sunlight.

"Learned something new today", I said.

Then a week or two later, we were walking through the fields behind a friend's property when I saw these yellow flowers. "Hey, they look like the wild parsnips." I told Tim, I would check it out and let him know. But to be sure I took a picture for comparison. Sure enough, they were wild parsnips. I sent Tim the information in an email.

Then a few days later, I saw a huge patch of wild parsnips near the York bridge and as I drove down the road today, I could see more patches here and there. There are a number of other roadside plants with yellow flowers blooming right now, but the flower head is quite unique. Seems to grow in the areas that the county does not mow because of the roadslide slope or because of a hydro pole.

So if you are out and about in the countryside, please keep a watch out for this dangerous weed.