A lesson I have learned the hard way too many times. My
good commercial customers are constantly writing down
what they have done, with what and WHEN. They also
record the weather conditions which is very important. I’m
writing this on Saturday, June 14th and Friday
the 13th. It is 64
degrees and dang near chilly. The forecast is for rain and
hot weather next week. I mention this because we forget.
Every year won’t be the same, but for some reason we
think lawn care should be the same every year? These early
cool, rainy days of June are NOT normal. Zoysia grass is not reacting like it should,
some weeds and
insects are hanging on, but some are slower to develop.
Cool season lawns are still growing very well and we don’t
need our irrigation much...all this will have changed by
the time this blog post hits! I’ll predict by early July, it
will be hotter then heck, zoysia grass and Nutsedge will
be growing like crazy and cool season lawns will NOT be
looking as good as they once did. Julie Smith will know
what I’m talking about!
July tips for our lawns:
*Please don’t listen to the guy on the radio Saturday
mornings. He really skirts answers for some reason. Call
me or someone else you can trust with turf advice!
COOL SEASON LAWNS:
(survived the full
moon
eeek!) this morning
it was about 64
*Keep mowing at 3.5/4 inches
*Apply fungicides as directed
*Spot spray weeds as needed
*Apply grub control (Merit) and or Milorganite as needed
*Increase irrigation days or minutes as needed
*It’s not too early to start planning September aeration and
over seeding. Early bird gets the early aeration.
WARM SEASON LAWNS:
*Aerate and or power rake if needed. Apply preemergent
afterwards so you don’t get a bunch of crabgrass.
*Seeding should be done by the 15th
can continue for the next 4-5 weeks
*Apply a pound of nitrogen this month
*Apply insecticides for the Hunting Bill bug if you haven’t
already. I’m seeing great success with two treatments 6-8
weeks apart for this critter. Most zoysia problems are
insect
related...not fungus related. Running about 9 out of 10 so
far this year.
Today is about a nice a day as you can ask for in July in
St.
Louis. It’s 72 degrees, low humidity...just beautiful. I’m
heading to Seattle and Crater
Lake in Oregon
next week
and I’m guessing I’ll be in the same weather? Mentally I’m
already there.
I hope you all have a safe 4th
of July and remember...its just grass!
