Friday, July 6, 2012

July Heat or WHEN WILL IT END…



WHEN WILL IT END…

The simple answer is when God chooses it to end, but that can be said about everything we need to end in our lives. We just need it too rain and cool off and it will. I’m guessing by October 15th someone will be saying…”I wish it would stop raining already”! We all have short memories. It was hotter, drier and more humid this time last August, but few of us recall it.

Things we should continue to do to COOL SEASON lawns, as long as we have been doing so…
*Water the lawn every day as long you finish by 8-9 am. Everyday is extreme, but that is exactly what we are in…an extreme drought. If you haven’t been watering the lawn regularly, don’t start now. Let the lawn go dormant and start watering about August 25th or so. That is in preparation for aerating and over seeding around September 5-10th
*Mow your cool season at 3.5 to 4 inches. Mowing any shorter will guarantee a disaster. Even with watering regularly, you should only be mowing every 12-15 days at best. Non irrigated lawns have all but shut down and probably won’t need to be mowed but every 21-25 days.
*Do not apply any spray herbicides, fertilizers or fungicides unless it’s at 5-7 am. It’s too hot for them to do any good and you may burn up what’s left of the good grass! Granular applications are OK, but water them in to activate them. Keep your expectations low!
Cool Season grasses are not supposed to look good in the type of weather we are having, but keep the faith…good looking cool season grass is only about 8-10 weeks away!!!

Warm Season grasses…
*These should be looking very good right now. They need to be watered in the morning too, but maybe for only for 20-30 minutes and 4 days a week. You can water zoysia lawns in the afternoon, but make sure the drift isn’t hurting your ornamentals!
*Mow these at 2 inches and weekly.
*Apply high nitrogen fertilizers (totally opposite of cool season lawns) every 30 days, but not past August 1-5th.
*Apply insecticides and herbicides as directed on the label or lawn care professional. I have seen a few zoysia lawns with insect (bill bugs to be exact) problems that have been misdiagnosed as “fungus” problems. Get professional advice if you are not sure what is going on!
*It’s not too late to aerate and or power rake zoysia. Just make sure you can water afterwards because both of these practices will cause rapid water sue in the plants.

Stay positive and think September…the fescue lawns will be green before you know it!

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