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Many lawn care operators (LCOs) are familiar with the challenge of finding a fungicide that works against the diseases they’re facing and makes financial sense. It’s no secret persuading customers to pay for a fungicide can be tricky, as they often don’t understand the value or the disease present in their lawn. Some LCOs need to charge customers extra to cover the cost of an effective systemic fungicide. For many LCOs, the choice is between bearing the expense of more costly fungicides or mixing more affordable fungicides to achieve the coverage needed. This was the challenge for Total Property Control, until they switched to Compendium fungicide from Syngenta.
Compendium offers LCOs control of all of the most common diseases found in lawns, including brown patch, large patch, dollar spot and fairy ring, for cool- and warm-season turf. The fungicide combines two modes of action for broad-spectrum disease control while protecting against the development of resistance. With flexible application timing and the ability to make applications across all seasons, Compendium offers truly comprehensive disease control. This turned out to be exactly the solution West Palm Beach, Florida-based Total Property Control needed. The family-owned business, which experiences a tropical climate year-round, follows an integrated pest management (IPM) approach in caring for clients’ zoysiagrass, paspalum and/or bermudagrass. They primarily service high-end residential estates on the island of Palm Beach, many of whose owners stay in residence during the winter. Total Property Control’s general manager Chris Williams purchased Compendium in late summer 2023 for the winter season, which is when they face large patch and take-all root rot. He first used Compendium for his initial preventive fungicide applications as soon as temperatures began dropping in late October. “With these preventive applications [with Compendium], my fungus outbreaks throughout the winter are next to zero,” says Williams, explaining his typical seasonal approach. “If I don’t do them or miss a yard, we’re battling fungus outbreaks through the whole season up until April or May. ”After these critical applications, Williams supplements with additional applications as needed during his clients’ monthly lawn services. “We had phenomenal results using Compendium. We had next to no fungus breakthrough throughout the winter,” says Williams. As an example, Total Property Control provides fungicide applications for 200 properties that are managed by landscaping companies. In previous years, they would receive around 20 callbacks from the landscapers each week. Following their initial Compendium applications, the landscapers didn’t have to call them at all. Williams finds the performance of Compendium especially impressive, as the past winter was particularly overcast. Large patch on zoysiagrass. “We had conducive conditions for fungus, with lots of rain, lots of gloomy days,” he says. “That’s when we would expect to just get beat up by fungus callbacks, and we had next to zero.”
DOWNLOAD THE PDF *Save to your desktop for easy reading & reference
Many lawn care operators (LCOs) are familiar with the challenge of finding a fungicide that works against the diseases they’re facing and makes financial sense. It’s no secret persuading customers to pay for a fungicide can be tricky, as they often don’t understand the value or the disease present in their lawn. Some LCOs need to charge customers extra to cover the cost of an effective systemic fungicide. For many LCOs, the choice is between bearing the expense of more costly fungicides or mixing more affordable fungicides to achieve the coverage needed. This was the challenge for Total Property Control, until they switched to Compendium fungicide from Syngenta.
POWERFUL DISEASE CONTROL, RAIN OR SHINE
Compendium offers LCOs control of all of the most common diseases found in lawns, including brown patch, large patch, dollar spot and fairy ring, for cool- and warm-season turf. The fungicide combines two modes of action for broad-spectrum disease control while protecting against the development of resistance. With flexible application timing and the ability to make applications across all seasons, Compendium offers truly comprehensive disease control. This turned out to be exactly the solution West Palm Beach, Florida-based Total Property Control needed. The family-owned business, which experiences a tropical climate year-round, follows an integrated pest management (IPM) approach in caring for clients’ zoysiagrass, paspalum and/or bermudagrass. They primarily service high-end residential estates on the island of Palm Beach, many of whose owners stay in residence during the winter. Total Property Control’s general manager Chris Williams purchased Compendium in late summer 2023 for the winter season, which is when they face large patch and take-all root rot. He first used Compendium for his initial preventive fungicide applications as soon as temperatures began dropping in late October. “With these preventive applications [with Compendium], my fungus outbreaks throughout the winter are next to zero,” says Williams, explaining his typical seasonal approach. “If I don’t do them or miss a yard, we’re battling fungus outbreaks through the whole season up until April or May. ”After these critical applications, Williams supplements with additional applications as needed during his clients’ monthly lawn services. “We had phenomenal results using Compendium. We had next to no fungus breakthrough throughout the winter,” says Williams. As an example, Total Property Control provides fungicide applications for 200 properties that are managed by landscaping companies. In previous years, they would receive around 20 callbacks from the landscapers each week. Following their initial Compendium applications, the landscapers didn’t have to call them at all. Williams finds the performance of Compendium especially impressive, as the past winter was particularly overcast. Large patch on zoysiagrass. “We had conducive conditions for fungus, with lots of rain, lots of gloomy days,” he says. “That’s when we would expect to just get beat up by fungus callbacks, and we had next to zero.”
KEEP IT SIMPLE: AN AFFORDABLE, ONE-FUNGICIDE SOLUTION
To Williams, the number one selling point of Compendiumis its simplicity. He has tried “all the chemistries” and was not too surprised by the effectiveness of the active ingredients (AIs) azoxystrobin and propiconazole. Prior to using Compendium, Total Property Control tried a competitive product with AIs in the same chemical classes: a strobilurin and DMI. However, due to the product’s high cost, Williams instead began mixing Heritage® and Banner Maxx® II fungicides from Syngenta. With Compendium, Williams got the same powerful coverage all in one formulation. “When we moved to Compendium, we didn’t have to wonder, ‘All right, what did I spray last month? Did I measure them correctly? Did I apply it to the label?’” he says. While Total Property Control’s technicians go through substantial training in insect and disease identification, Williams appreciates that they won’t need to go through the process of sending samples of affected turf off to a lab to diagnose the disease. The coverage Compendium provides takes the guesswork out of disease control. “We know it’s broad spectrum, and we’re covering all our bases with one application,” he says. “Anything I can do to simplify the day-to-day reduces overhead and improves operational efficiency. It simplified the application process, and it came at a really good price point. ”Compendium is offered at an affordable price designed to fit the economic needs of LCOs. Additionally, you can receive a 15% volume discount when you purchase 60gallons or more. Greater discounts will be available as part of the GreenTrust® 365 Early Order Program beginning October 1.
DEPENDABILITY IS BETTER FOR THE BOTTOM LINE
With these financial savings, Williams considers the switch to Compendium to be a smart business decision. “Compendium has positively affected our bottom line, ”he says. “It’s broad spectrum, and it’s cost-effective, saving my labor budget in addition to my chemical budget. ”On top of that, Williams can depend on Compendium to tackle even the toughest diseases. On Palm Beach island, that challenging disease is pythium root rot. Prior to Compendium, Total Property Control needed to purchase an additional fungicide to control pythium root rot. However, Williams had to charge customers extra for the treatments to cover the cost. Now, Williams can control the stubborn disease by applying Compendium at a moderate use rate. He no longer needs to charge customers more, thanks to the competitive price of Compendium. Achieving control of pythium root rot is a win for Williams, as Total Property Control’s clientele has high standards for their lawns – and the company operates solely by word-of-mouth. “If we couldn’t keep you from having yellow spots on your lawn when you’re here with all of your friends for a few weeks, then we wouldn’t be able to keep going with the type of services we provide,” he says. “We have the reputation of being able to fix whatever problem there is.”
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