Gardening

So if you followed my last post you have treated your lawn with an herbicide and now you have a lawn full of dead weeds with some grass underneath. Wait at least three days for the weeds to die and then it’s time to pull out your lawn mower.

If it’s your first time mowing for the year it’s a good time to get your lawn mower blade sharpened. I just take mine off and use a file but there are people out there that will professionally sharpen it for a small fee. Do whichever works for you. Next adjust the height of your mower deck. The rule of thumb is to not mow more than 30% of your lawn at once. So if you haven’t mowed in a while you might take a few different mowings to get to your desired height. Right now my lawn is looking healthy at 2 inches and in the summer I let it grow a bit longer to 2.5 inches. I find that helps my lawn retain the moisture in the soil better in our hot summer months. Experts in our area recommend as long as three inches for Bermuda. It will take you a little experimentation to see what works best for your lawn along those lengths. One small note: I don’t recommend 1.5 inches or shorter past spring. It’s very hard to keep that from burning up at that length. With this mowing I recommend bagging the clippings as it will have seeds from the weeds that you don’t want to put back in your lawn. On a regular basis I use the mulching function on my mower and I credit that as part of what helps keep my lawn and soil healthy.

Another thing worth mentioning is how often to mow. In spring it starts growing pretty quick so you normally can’t go more than two weeks without needing to mow or else ending up mowing too much off at once. This is one of the more common mistakes I see in our area when someone mows every other month and their lawn struggles because every time it gets cut it loses more than half of the blade. Cutting on a more regular basis is much healthier for your lawn. If you can’t meet that schedule, get a lawn service or neighborhood kid to mow it for you. As another alternative SAWS offers coupons for removing parts of your lawn to replace with native plants, pavers, and other durable coverage. Check the SAWS website for details on that.

As a note at the bottom here, you might have heard of somethings called scalping before. With Bermuda it goes dormant in the winter and becomes a nice gold/brown. In the spring that dead grass just gets in the way. I normally scalp my lawn at the end of February to the beginning of March. I normally do the mowing in two runs to get it all. I bring it down to 1.5 inches on the first run and then 1 inch on my follow up mowing as the shortest my mower can safely mow the lawn. I bag all the clippings from scalping as the clippings would be too thick and have little value back in my lawn as such dead grass. If you missed scalping earlier I would try mowing half an inch lower than normal this cutting which will get you some of the same benefits but won’t be as tough on your lawn as things seem to already be heating up quickly.

So maybe you have neglected your lawn for a bit and want to start taking care of it. What are some things you can do to start getting it into shape?

1. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent weeds from germinating. Think of this as part of your defensive plan for your lawn. Scotts Halts (Amazon & Lowes)and Green Light Amaze (Amazon & Lowes) are good herbicides for the job. I have also found corn gluten meal (Amazon & Lowes) to be a good natural product for the job.
2. Mow your lawn, even if it’s just the weeds growing now and not the grass. Mowing your lawn to a proper height will keep the weeds from getting large enough to seed and will act as another layer of defense for your lawn. Mow frequently enough that only one-third of the grass blade is removed at every mowing. Mow St. Augustine and Bermuda to 3 inches tall, zoysia to 2 inches tall and buffalo grass to 5 inches.
3. Go on the offense by pulling already established weeds or using a post emergent herbicide. The important rule I have found with spraying a post emergent like Spectracide Weed Stop is to make sure to only apply it when it when it will be between 45 degrees and 90 degrees and you have plenty of sun. I have found it to be barely effective of cool overcast days but highly effective on warm sunny days. Make sure to spray it primarily only on weeds and make sure to test on a small portion of your lawn to ensure the brand doesn’t adversely impact your grass. Also be aware post emergent herbicides don’t work on everything so pulling might still be required.
4. Other steps might include adding in mulch or fertilizers to your lawn but I find the first three steps the most important to start getting a handle on things.

We have had a lot of rain which has made it difficult to mow lawns on a regular basis. The first thought of many might be to jump out and cut the lawn as short as you can to make it so it takes longer to mow again. That would be a mistake. It’s just a lawn-mowing myth that says the shorter you mow grass, the less often you’ll have to cut it. That misguided concept lays a foundation for a problem-prone lawn. Grass that’s cut too short is more susceptible to weed invasion, drought and heat damage. In addition to that if you cut off too much at once stresses the lawn and makes it easier for weeds to come in. The general rule of thumb for mowing is to never remove more than one-third of total grass blade length at a single cutting. This might require additional cuttings on your part when it clears up to get to your desired height but it will help keep your grass healthier. As far as heights you generally mow St. Augustine and Bermuda to 3 inches tall, zoysia to 2 inches tall and buffalo grass to 5 inches. There might be some variation with lawns during the year. For example, I mow my Bermuda lawn in stages down to 2 inches in early spring but let it grow out to 4 inches by summer and that is where it seems to do best in the heat. In the month of October, you should also apply a winter fertilizer, which will be utilized by the lawn for winter hardiness and a fast green-up in the spring. I hope these tips will help you in maintaining a beautiful lawn.

February

Lawn scalping is when you cut your grass at a low level, so low that you expose the stems of your grass blades. Bermuda grass and zoysia grass should be mowed on the shortest setting in the early spring; however, St. Augustine, fescue, and centipede grass should NOT be scalped. I like to pre-scalp in February by cutting my lawn a layer lower than normal and completing the scalping by mowing another layer down in early March. I also apply a 10-10-10 fertilizer to gently add nutrients to the lawn but it is too early to fertilize with a stronger 16-4-8 fertilizer. Mow as needed to keep the lawn weeds in check.

When we gets spurts of warm weather in February and I see weeds, I like to apply a liquid post-emergent herbicide like Spectracide, Bayer Advanced, or Image. This will kill anything that made it past our pre-emergent applications. I find Spectracide works best on broad leaf weeds, Bayer Advaced works best on Crabgrass, and Image is the best at killing Nutsedge. Spectricide is the cheapest but it’s worth paying for one of the others if you have a particular issue with crab grass or Nutsedge. Also look at the ten day forecast when you do this and make sure it’s dry for a few days so that the herbicide isn’t immediately washed out.

March

Complete scalping if you haven’t already. When new grass is growing across all your lawn aerate and top dress your lawn. This can be done with a manual aerator or a gas powered one can be rented or the service purchased from one of our local lawn guys. Apply ½ inch of compost after the aeration. The compost penetrates the aeration holes to bring organic material into the root zone. You can substitute with a 10-10-10 fertilizer but compost is much better for the lawn after aeration.

Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent summer weeds from germinating. This is especially important if you were bothered by sandburs and/or crabgrass. Andersons Barricade Professional-Grade Granular (Amazon), Scotts Halts (Amazon & Lowes)and Green Light Amaze (Amazon & Lowes) are good herbicides for the job. I have also found corn gluten meal (Amazon & Lowes) to be a good natural product for the job.

Check your irrigation system or call in your irrigation contractor to check out and repair your system. Make sure the rain sensor is working and all leaks are repaired.

Have your mower sharpened and the engine tuned up. Mow in March to keep the lawn weeds in check.

It’s also a good time to apply an insecticide. Previously I recommended Spectracide Triazicide as a cheap insecticide for surface insects. If that’s all you need to control then that will still work. If you would also like to prevent grubs in the lawn I find granules work best. Spectracide also provides the cheapest granule solution that works. If you want to pay a few more dollars BAYER ADVANCED has a liquid spray that also provides both surface insect and grub control. BAYER ADVANCED also has a granule that is rated well.

April

Mowing really starts this month. Mow St. Augustine and Bermuda to 3 inches tall or shorter, zoysia to 2 inches tall and buffalo grass to 5 inches. Mow frequently enough that only one-third of the grass blade is removed at every mowing. Once per week is usually sufficient.

After you have mowed the lawn two times, it is time to fertilize the lawn. I like Andersons Professional PGF Complete (16-4-8) for this application but other lawn foods at your big box stores should work for this application.

Chlorotic (yellow) grass is a common symptom of St. Augustine grass. It appears in spring when the soil is too cool for the roots to pick up iron. Chlorosis will address itself with time and a change in weather or you can apply an iron chelate product by hose-end sprayer.

May

You will be stuck with the weekly watering recommendation provided by SAWS. Make sure to check the SAWS website for the latest watering schedule based on the aquifer level.

The winter weeds are trying to go to seed before the heat kills them. Keep the lawn mowed every week to reduce production of the weed seeds for next winter.

June

Make your second application of pre-emergent herbicide to prevent weeds that spring up after summer thunderstorms.

It is time to apply a soil insecticide if your lawn was attacked by grubs last year. The same insecticide will also control chinch bugs. Look to my March recommendations. To add to those recommendations Andersons DuoCide works really well on Grubs.

July

Watering is the key. Let SAWS’ recommendations be your guide. For especially hot areas such as along the sidewalk that seem to dry out, give them a little extra water by handheld hose.

August

Chinch bugs will make your lawn look moth eaten. The damage usually appears on the hottest part of the lawn. The lawn drying out will cause a similar symptom. Handwater the spots every day for two or three days. If the area does not green up, it is probably caused by chinch bugs. Apply a soil insecticide.

September

If dry continue watering to keep up with the heat.

If it’s a wet September discontinue watering in the evening and let the lawn go a little dry in order to prevent brown patch fungus. If it appears anyway, apply a treatment of a labeled soil fungicide.

Apply a fall fertilizer to help your lawn recover. I like a ratio of 16-4-8 in a liquid format before rain or watering the lawn. If using granular’s this is the last month to apply one as they last several months and you don’t want the fertilizer to just feed winter weeds when you lawn goes dorment.

October

Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent winter weeds. Check the label to make sure the weeds you had last year in your yard are on the label. Rescue grass, bedstraw, dandelions, thistle, henbit and annual bluegrass are common.

November, December, January

Switch to a winter irrigation regime. Water every three weeks if it does not rain from now until May.

You should only have to mow every few weeks to control winter weeds.

If we get some warm weather and weeds go crazy apply a liquid post-emergent herbicide like Spectracide, Bayer Advanced, or Image. I find Spectracide works best on broad leaf weeds, Bayer Advaced works best on Crabgrass, and Image is the best at killing Nutsedge. Spectricide is the cheapest but it’s worth paying for one of the others if you have a particular issue with crab grass or Nutsedge. Also look at the ten day forecast when you do this and make sure it’s dry for a few days so that the herbicide isn’t immediately washed out.