Greener Solutions Tennessee is a proudly locally owned and operated company based in Franklin, Tennessee. With deep roots in the community, we bring decades of firsthand experience addressing the region’s most persistent pest challenges. Our team possesses in-depth knowledge of local species, environmental factors, and effective treatment protocols—enabling us to identify, target, and eliminate pests with precision and long-term results.
Large patch or brown patch appears as large, unsightly symmetrical patches that can range in diameter from a few inches to a few feet. When left untreated, the center area of a patch recovers over time, resulting in a doughnut-shaped pattern.
Our lawn fertilization service uses high-quality, organic fertilizers to give your lawn the nutrients it needs to thrive. We customize our fertilization program based on your lawn's specific needs.
Grubs are a a-shaped beetle larvae about a half inch in length. Lawn grubs have soft bodies with legs near the head. They feed on grassroots (and organic matter in the soil), causing sections of grass in the lawn to die. In order to get rid of grubs you must treat the pest and lawn.
Powdery mildew is a common fungus that affects a wide variety of plants, trees and shrubs. It is easily identified and appears as light grey or white powdery spots usually found on infected leaves, but can also be found underneath, or on stems, flowers, fruit or vegetables. It was cause issues if left untreated.
Aphids thrive in spring and fall and can become a major infestation very quickly. Although they will attack any part of a tree or shrub, younger growth is especially vulnerable. These pests do their damage by sucking out fluids from leaves and stems, which weakens the plant, and by spreading viruses, which could kill some plants. To spot aphids, look for small black, white, green, or pink oval-shaped pests; they can range in size from 1/16 to 1/4 inches. If left untreated, they can put out 20 generations in a single season.
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This is most likely brown patch disease, which is caused by a fungus. It typically shows up in Fescue during warm, humid weather and needs to be treated with a fungicide.
However, a proper diagnosis should be made before any fungicide or other treatment is applied.
This fits the description of dollar spot disease. The fungal disease first shows up as tan or silver spots roughly the size of a silver dollar and can quickly spread. It can be treated with a specific fungicide; treatment with the right fertilizer is also often effective.
If you are on one of our lawn care programs, one of our Certified Landscape Specialists can make a free service call to diagnose the problem and recommend the appropriate treatment.
After a treatment, it can take broadleaf weeds, like dandelions, about two weeks to completely die off. If the leaves begin browning and withering, you can tell the treatment is working.
However, some stubborn weeds require treatment with specific herbicides. In the Frankline area, these include nutsedge and Virginia buttonweed.
If you have a problem with these, or any persistent weed, request a service call. One of our Certified Landscape Specialists will evaluate the problem and provide an estimate for treatment.
Golf courses are maintained by full-time greenskeepers – specially trained experts who ensure the course is meticulously mowed two or three times a week, irrigation is perfectly regulated, and special treatments are applied exactly as needed. These are just a few of the continuous maintenance tasks involved.
Most homeowners are neither willing to pay for that kind of maintenance nor equipped to do it themselves. Those who try to take on the task typically fertilize too much, which makes the lawn prone to diseases. Professional residential lawn care is an affordable way of getting a healthy, beautiful lawn.
This is a sign of a problem with grubs, which feed on the roots of grass. Another indication of a grub infestation is the presence of moles, which feed on the grubs. The moles make tunnels that result in the tufts of turf you’re seeing.
We apply a grub preventative in August for customers who have requested the service. However, anyone who notices grubs, moles, or pulled-up tufts of turf should call us as soon as possible. We can treat regardless of the month.
Between rain and irrigation, lawns need an inch of water per week to stay green and healthy. You can tell if your lawn needs water using a soil probe. Simply push a screwdriver or spike into the soil. If the probe pushes through easily, there’s enough soil moisture. If you get resistance, the soil is dry and you’ll need to water. Always irrigate in one or two sessions of deep watering rather than frequent light watering.
Bermuda and Zoysia, warm-season grasses, and Fescue, a cool-season grass, are all good choices for middle Tennessee. Sodded Bermuda, however, does not tolerate any shade, so it is not a good option for yards with lots of trees or where houses are very close to each other.
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Please reach us at info@greenersolutionstn.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Scientific name: Poa annua
Higher classification: Meadow-grasses
Rank: Species
Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is a cool-season, annual grass that spreads by seed. Annual bluegrass has a tufted habit with a bright green leaf color and fine texture. It is native to Europe and is found worldwide. Annual bluegrass grows with a clumping growth habit. Generally appears in bunches. Leaves are folded in the bud and have a boat-shaped leaf tip. They have a wrinkled section near the middle of the blade and the seed-head is triangular in shape
Scientific name: Lolium multiflorum
Higher classification: Ryegrass
Rank: Species
Festuca perennis is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, though its precise native range is unknown. It is a herbaceous annual, biennial, or perennial grass that is grown for silage, and as a cover crop. It is also grown as an ornamental grass. Annual ryegrass grows in clumps. The plant base is purple and the leaves are dark and shiny with smooth edges. The bud is rolled in the center of the plant. You'll notice spikelets at the top near the seedheads.
Scientific name: Medicago lupulina
Higher classification: Medick
Order: Fabales
Rank: Species
Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers and sweet clover. The plant is hairy, especially the stems. Leaves are alternate to one another and are divided into three egg-to-heart shaped leaflets with somewhat toothed edges. The stalk of the middle leaflet is longer. They are yellow and generally cluster to form a rounded head.
Scientific name: Plantago major
Higher classification: Plantago
Rank: Species
Family: Plantaginaceae
Species: P. major
Kingdom: Plantae
Plantago major, the broadleaf plantain, white man's foot, or greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to most of Europe and northern and central Asia, but has widely naturalised elsewhere in the world. When plantains infest turf, they grow in dense clumps. The smooth, oval leaf blades are 2 to 6 inches in length. The young plants form a small rosette. The flowering stalk ends with a spike head containing seeds that can be 2 to 6 inches in length.
Scientific name: Geranium carolinianum
Higher classification: Crane's-bill
Rank: Species
Order: Geraniales
Family: Geraniaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Geranium carolinianum is a species of geranium known by the common name Carolina crane's-bill, or Carolina geranium. This species is native to North America, where it is widespread and grows in many types of habitat. Identified by its elongated stems growing vertically and branching near the base. The stems are greenish-pink in color and hairy. Their leaves are also hairy on top and bottom and divided into five segments. Flowers are pale pink or white.
Scientific name: Mollugo verticillata
Higher classification: Mollugo
Rank: Species
Family: Molluginaceae
Mollugo verticillata, the green carpetweed, is a rapidly spreading annual plant from tropical America. In eastern North America, it is a common weed growing in disturbed areas. It forms a prostrate circular mat that can quickly climb over nearby plants and obstacles. Leaf surfaces are dull green and smooth with pale undersides and are pinkish brown in color toward the base. The stems are smooth. They are usually small and grow horizontal in circular mats.
Scientific name: Galium aparine
Higher classification: Galium
Rank: Species
Order: Gentianales
Galium aparine with many common names including hitchhikers, cleavers, clivers, bedstraw, goosegrass, catchweed, stickyweed, sticky bob, stickybud, stickyback, robin-run-the-hedge, sticky willy, sticky. The seed leaves are oblong to egg-shaped with slightly notched tips, lacking hairs, and range from 1/2 to 1 inch. Mature catchweed has stems up to 6 feet long and form dense and tangled mats over vegetation. Flowers are small and greenish-white on short branches.
Scientific name: Stellaria media
Higher classification: Chickweeds
Order: Caryophyllales
Rank: Species
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Species: S. media
Stellaria media, chickweed, is an annual and perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout the world. This species is used as a cooling herbal remedy, and grown as a vegetable crop and ground cover for both human and poultry consumption.Leaves are smooth and oval with a point at the tip. It has tiny white flowers that are about 1/4" in diameter. The stems trail along the ground and growing ends may be upright and grow up to 8" tall.
Scientific name: Trifolium
Family: Fabaceae
Higher classification: Trifolieae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus Trifolium, consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. Stems creep along the ground and can grow to between 4 and 12 inches long. Leaves alternate with one another and consist of three leaflets. Each leaflet is up to 1/2 an inch long, nearly hairless, and may have a whitish crescent in the center. Tiny white to pale pink flowers cluster into egg-shaped flower heads.
Scientific name: Digitaria
Higher classification: Anthephorinae
Order: Poales
Rank: Genus
Germination temperature: around 55°F
Digitaria is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. The leaf blades are a quarter inch wide and about the thickness of a pencil. When it first appears, the leaf blades angle out from the stem. As the stems get larger, they tend to fall out into a star pattern.
Scientific name: Oenothera laciniata
Higher classification: Evening-primroses Rank: Species
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Oenothera laciniata is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name cutleaf evening primrose. It is native to the eastern United States but it can be found in many other places as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed. The leaves are simple, either elliptic or lance-shaped. The leaf blade is narrow with deep irregular notches on the sides. The leaves are alternately arranged on the stems, which are reddish in color. Its leaves are covered with tiny hairs that secrete a toxic substance. If the leaves are touched, an immediate irritation can occur, forming blisters. In addition to its effect on humans, this plant is toxic to cats, dogs, and horses if ingested. May cause vomiting.
Scientific name: Paspalum dilatatum
Higher classification: Crowngrass
Rank: Species
Order: Poales
Paspalum dilatatum is a species of grass known by the common name dallisgrass, Dallas grass, or sticky heads. It is native to Brazil and Argentina, but it is known throughout the world as an introduced species and at times a common weed. Its rapid growth and spreading rhizomes make it an invasive pest in some areas. Coarse in texture, it grows in a clump and increases in diameter as you approach the stem. The leaf blades are fairly wid, 1/4" to 1/2". The rhizomes have short internodes that look like concentric rings on its surface.
Scientific name: Taraxacum
Family: Asteraceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Higher classification: Daisy family
Dandelion is a plant with yellow flowers. Taraxacum officinale is the most common variety of this plant, and it grows in many parts of the world. Botanists consider dandelions to be herbs. People use the leaves, stem, flower, and root of the dandelion for medicinal purposes.Lance shaped leaves. Composite flower is yellow and 1 to 2". Flower gives way to white seed-head.
Family : Apiaceae
Kingdom : Plantae Phylum
Order : Apiales
Genus : Hydrocotyle
Species : bonariensis L.
Dollarweed (Hydrocotyle spp.), also known as pennywort, is a warm-season perennial weed. It gets the common name, dollarweed, from its silver- dollar-shaped leaves. The leaves of dollarweed are round, bright green, fleshy and look like miniature lily pads measuring 1-2” in diameter with a scalloped edge. Leaves are round in shape and dark green and glossy with scalloped edges. The flower is small with five white petals and forms in clusters on the end of long stems.
Scientific name: Setaria italica
Higher classification: Setaria
Rank: Species
A foxtail is a spikelet or cluster of a grass, that serves to disperse its seeds as a unit. Thus, the foxtail is a type of diaspore or plant dispersal unit. Some grasses that produce a foxtail are themselves called "foxtail", also "spear grass". Foxtail grows in clumps similar to crabgrass, only smaller. Its leaves are flat. Foxtail has sharply pointed tips and a round base. The main identifier is the bushy head that resemble a fox's tail. This can be green or purple, depending on the species.
Scientific name: Eleusine indica
Higher classification: Eleusine
Rank: Species
Eleusine indica, the Indian goosegrass, yard-grass, goosegrass, wiregrass, or crowfootgrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a small annual grass distributed throughout the warmer areas of the world to about 50 degrees latitude. It is an invasive species in some areas. It appears as a pale green mat-like clump with flattened stems that grow in a low rosette. Flower stalks are short, stout, and compressed. They bloom from July to October. Seed heads are somewhat similar to those of dallisgrass, but short and stiff.
Scientific name: Cardamine hirsuta
Higher classification: Bittercresses
Rank: Species
Family: Brassicaceae
Order: Brassicales
Cardamine hirsuta, commonly called hairy bittercress, is an annual or biennial species of plant in the family Brassicaceae, and is edible as a salad green. It is common in moist areas around the world. Just like the name suggests, hairy bittercress leaves are hairy on both the top and bottom. It starts as a rosette and then grows more upright, up to about 10 inches. They form dense mats as several plants grow around each other. The flowers are small and white and have four petals.
Scientific name: Lamium amplexicaule Higher classification: Dead-nettles
Rank: Species
Family: Lamiaceae
Order: Lamiales Kingdom: Plantae
Lamium amplexicaule, commonly known as common henbit, or greater henbit, is a species of Lamium native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa. It is a low-growing annual plant growing to 10–25 cm tall, with soft, finely hairy stems. The leaves are opposite, rounded, 2–3 cm diameter, with a lobed margin.Spreads about 12"; dark green, scallop-edge leaves.
Higher classification: Conyza
Order: Asterales
Rank: Species
Family: Asteraceae
Species: E. canadensis
Kingdom: Plantae
Erigeron canadensis is an annual plant native throughout most of North America and Central America. It is also widely naturalized in Eurasia and Australia. Common names include horseweed, Canadian horseweed, Canadian fleabane, coltstail, marestail, and butterweed. Horseweed starts out as a small rosette, and resembles a mare's tail when they mature. At maturity, it can be an erect stem up to 10 feet tall! An abundance of dark green leaves alternate from the stem. The flowers initially look like small daisy-like flowers but they mature into seed heads that resemble dandelion puffs.
Scientific name: Chenopodium album
Higher classification: Goosefoots
Rank: Species
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. The weed varies in height from 1 to 6 feet tall. Stems are erect and sturdy and often tinged with red or striped with pink, purple, or yellow. Leaves vary in shape from triangular to ovate to lanceolate. They are thick with white glands that are especially dense on the lower surface.
Scientific name: Trifolium campestre
Higher classification: Clover
Rank: Species
Trifolium campestre, commonly known as hop trefoil, field clover and low hop clover, is a species of clover native to Europe and western Asia, growing in dry, sandy grassland habitats, fields, woodland margins, roadsides, wastelands and cultivated land. The species name campestre means "of the fields". Can be identified by its hairy branched stems that can be green or a little reddish in color. Leaves are hairless and alternate along the stem. The blooms are bright yellow flowers that grow in loose clusters on long stalks
Scientific name: Cyperus rotundus
Higher classification: Nutsedges
Order: Poales
Rank: Species
Nutsedges are perennial weeds in the sedge family and superficially resemble grasses.They can kill lawn grasses. The leaves are grass-like and yellow-green, while the spiky head is purple or yellow. It has a faster growth rate than most grasses and has a more upright growth habit. This makes for a nonuniform turf.
Scientific name: Oxalis
Higher classification: Wood sorrels
Order: Oxalidales
Rank: Genus
Family: Oxalidaceae
Oxalis is a large genus of flowering plants in the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae, comprising about 570 species. The genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas; species diversity is particularly rich in tropical Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Oxalis grows on weak stems that branch at the base. The leaves form in groups of three leaflets on long petioles. Often mistaken for clover, the leaves differ from clover in that they are distinctly heart shaped. The flower is yellow with five petals and occurs in clusters.
Scientific name: Veronica persica
Family: Plantaginaceae
Higher classification: Speedwells
Rank: Species
Order: Lamiales
Veronica persica is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Eurasia and is widespread as an introduced species in the British Isles, North America, eastern Asia, including Japan and China, and Australia and New Zealand. Stems can be up to 2 feet long. The whole plant is covered with tiny hairs. Leaves are opposite one another on the stem and are roundish or oval and 4 to 16 cm long. Flowering takes place February to May, and the flowers are blue with darker blue lines and white centers.
Scientific name: Gamochaeta purpurea
Order: Asterales
Rank: Species
Gamochaeta purpurea, the purple cudweed, purple everlasting, or spoonleaf purple everlasting, is a plant native to North America. The cudweed family of weeds grow in basal rosettes. Both the leaves and seed-heads are covered in fine, white "woolly" fibers and are oval-shaped. In winter, they will remain as a rosette, but will grow a stem with purple flowers in spring.
Scientific name: Portulaca oleracea
Higher classification: Purslanes
Rank: Species
Family: Portulacaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Species: P. oleracea
Order: Caryophyllales
Portulaca oleracea is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which may reach 40 cm in height. Approximately forty cultivars are currently grown. Stems are reddish-green and thick, creep along the ground, and rarely grow more than 4" tall. The leaves are paddle-shaped and can be up to 2" long. This is considered an edible weed, but be sure not to confuse it with Spurge, which is NOT edible.
Scientific name: Ambrosia
Higher classification: Daisy family
Kingdom: Plantae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Order: Asterales
Ragweeds are flowering plants in the genus Ambrosia in the aster family, Asteraceae. They are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, especially North America, where the origin and center of diversity of the genus are in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It can grow up to 5 feet tall and has hairy stems and light green leaves, up to 4" long. Ragweed flowers are yellowish-green and small. They grow in clusters up to 6" long near the top of the plant. It blooms in late summer to early fall.
Scientific name: Capsella bursa-pastoris
Higher classification: Shepherd's-Purses
Order: Mustards and allies
Kingdom: Plantae
Rank: Species
Capsella bursa-pastoris, known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family. The weed first forms a rosette, then a stem emerges that can grow up to 20 inches tall. Leaves are lightly covered in hairs and vary in shape but are deeply lobed. The flower stems are single or branched. Flowering takes place in late winter or early spring. The four white flower petals are sometimes tinged pale pink.
Scientific name: Euphorbia
Higher classification: Spurges
Order: Malpighiales
Rank: Genus
Euphorbia is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the spurge family. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae, not just to members of the genus. There are many kinds of spurge, but most are low-growing, creeping weeds that form a dense mat if left to mature. Leaves are oval and can be reddish brown. The stems exude a milky white sap if broken.
Scientific name: Allium ursinum
Higher classification: Allium
Order: Asparagales
Rank: Species
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Species: A. ursinum
Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, wild cowleek, ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland. 8" to 12" tall with long pointed leaves and white flowers that appear directly from the bulb.
Higher classification: Conyza
Order: Asterales
Rank: Species
Family: Asteraceae
Species: E. canadensis
Kingdom: Plantae
Erigeron canadensis is an annual plant native throughout most of North America and Central America. It is also widely naturalized in Eurasia and Australia. Common names include horseweed, Canadian horseweed, Canadian fleabane, coltstail, marestail, and butterweed. Horseweed starts out as a small rosette, and resembles a mare's tail when they mature. At maturity, it can be an erect stem up to 10 feet tall! An abundance of dark green leaves alternate from the stem. The flowers initially look like small daisy-like flowers but they mature into seed heads that resemble dandelion puffs.
Scientific name: Chenopodium album
Higher classification: Goosefoots
Rank: Species
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. The weed varies in height from 1 to 6 feet tall. Stems are erect and sturdy and often tinged with red or striped with pink, purple, or yellow. Leaves vary in shape from triangular to ovate to lanceolate. They are thick with white glands that are especially dense on the lower surface.
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