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Recommendations below apply to the Transition Zone. Check with your local Extension Service for recommendations that apply to your area.
Fescue Seeding
Fall is the ideal time to seed fescue, not the spring. Fall is also the best time for core aerating the lawn. Fairway Green offers two different methods for fescue seeding; core aeration or slit-seeding. Core aeration seeding is the ideal method because it aerates the lawn while it prepares a seeding bed (annual aeration is a necessary for healthy turf in clay soils). Slit-seeding is used on bare soil or on lawns that have less than 30% existing turf.
Fescue
Fescue lawns should receive the proper fertilizer and broadleaf weed control. This will help maintain health, aid in germination of seeded lawns and help with recovery from summer stress. Summer adds stress to the plant from heat and drought combined with disease pressure. Proper nitrogen rates this time of year are imperative for plant health.
Maintain regular mowing habits using a sharp blade and a proper height of 3–4” throughout the spring and summer. Fescue, like all types of grass requires an inch of water a week to maintain health.
Poa-annua
Most lawns in this area have Poa-annua (annual bluegrass) in the spring. It is the short grass with a fuzzy whitish colored seed head in late spring. Poa-annua ends its life cycle in late spring. Without proper control it will germinate this fall and start its lifecycle again. The only way to suppress this grass from the lawn is to apply a pre-emergent in August (prior to germination). If a pre-emergent is used in the fall, fescue seeding will not be possible. Fescue needs to be seeded in the fall; not spring.
Disease
Brown Patch Fungus and other diseases can be disastrous to the lawn in the summer. All turf types can be inflicted with disease. However, fescue is severely damaged from Brown Patch Fungus more often than warm season grass during the summer months of May through September. Brown Patch Fungus activates when climatic conditions are favorable. Brown Patch Fungus activates on healthy growing turf when temperatures are 75 degrees with atmospheric moisture. This moisture can be in the form of rainfall, irrigation or humidity. The best way to determine if the lawn has a disease is to look at the leaf blade for lesions. Drought stress has a folded leaf blade and has a straw appearance.
Fairway Green now offers a Disease Prevention Program. Due to new high performing fungicides, Fairway Green can offer 30-day control of Brown Patch Fungus. This program will consist of 3 to 4 disease control applications during the peak disease season, which runs from May to September. Even if you have active Brown Patch at the time of application, this application will stop further damage and control reoccurrence up to 30-days. As you may know from past experience with your lawn, any disease can be devastating and will cause permanent damage to your grass.
Warm Season Turf
Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede and St. Augustine should receive phosphorous and potash fertilizers after august. The proper post-emergent broadleaf weed control for your type of turf should also be used. Now is the time to apply pre-emergent grass control. This will control winter grassy weeds. Each of these warm season turf grasses require different rates of N-P-K and weed controls. Contact your local County Extension Service to determine the proper amounts of these products for your lawn. Or, use a qualified lawn care service that uses the proper rates and products on the correct type of grass and at the correct time of year.
Aeration should be done annually on warm season lawns (starting in June when the turf has been out of dormancy and actively growing). Aeration will help improve soil compaction, air circulation, water and nutrient uptake, thatch buildup and decrease disease pressure. As an added bonus, aeration will help increase turf density in thin or damaged areas. Core aeration in warm season turf is a key turf grass management tool.
Centipede lawns in clay soils have had a difficult season. Damage from late season disease last year and the severe winter have created many dead areas in lawns. Centipede should not be grown in soils with clay or in yards with shade. Bermuda and Zoysia are better alternatives in clay soil. St. Augustine like Centipede should not be grown in clay soil.
Drought Stress
Drought stress and damage can and will occur on all grass types during dry weather periods any time of the year. Many people believe warm season turf does not need water. This is simply not true. Though, some warm season turf is more drought tolerant than others, all turf types need 1 inch of water a week to look healthy. Many grasses will survive up to 6 weeks without water before they start to die. Brown patch fungus can be mistaken as drought stress and vise versa. Drought stress can be identified using the following visual cues. Drought stress will leave foot prints in the lawn as you walk, the grass may have a bluish green color to it, leaf blades will fold in the center as it tries to conserve water and the grass will have a thin straw like appearance. Brown Patch will have lesions on the leaf blade and will usually be open instead of folded.
Crabgrass
Crabgrass is an annual summer grass that germinates in mid to late spring when ground temperatures reach 63 degrees. Crabgrass will choke out desirable grass and is a prolific seeder toward the end of summer. The best way to control crabgrass is with pre-emergence in early spring before it germinates. There are a few post-emergents available that can control it after it has germinated. Crabgrass that is present in the lawn will end its life cycle in October.
Broadleaf Weeds
Winter annual and perennial broadleaf weeds can be problematic this time of year. Weeds such as Chickweed, Henbit and Wild Onion (Garlic) are aggressive weeds and are hard to control. In addition, during dry periods the weed will not be actively growing and will not die when a weed control is applied. Every application in Fairway Green’s lawn program has some form of broadleaf weed control to control these problematic weeds as well as controlling the new ones that germinated after your last application. A broadleaf weed can only be controlled if it is present at the time of application. Post-emergent Broadleaf weed control will not control a weed that is not present.
Grassy Weeds
Grassy Weeds are grasses that are usually not desired. Examples are grasses that return from rootstock and cannot be controlled by pre-emergent or wild grasses that grow in the lawn. As a general rule these grasses are difficult to control and require a vegetation killer to eliminate them from the lawn. Many of the common grassy weeds found in lawns are Bahia, Orchard Grass, Poatrivilas, Poa-annua and Dallisgrass just to name a few. Grassy weeds degrade the appearance of the lawn and usually grow faster than the desired turf. If grassy weeds are present in the lawn, applying a vegetation killer a few weeks prior to seeding is the best way to eliminate them from the lawn in most cases. Some grassy weeds can be controlled by other means.
Turf Damaging Insects
Grubs can damage the lawn as much as disease. Potential for grub damage is highest in April and May then again in September and October. To check for grub damage, lightly pull on suspicious areas in the lawn. If the turf pulls up easily with little or no root, you may have grub activity. Infestation is classified as more than 11 grubs per a square foot. Late summer can bring on Fall Armyworm infestations. These insects are 1 _” long and greenish in color with blackish stripes along the sides and down the center of the back. Both of these problematic insects can be controlled with the proper insecticide.
Chinch Bugs can be problematic to St. Augustine and to a lesser extent Centipede and Bermuda. Chinch Bug adults are about 1/6” long with white and black markings. Young Chinch Bug nymphs are about half the size of a pinhead and are bright with a white band. As the nymph matures a white spot may be visible between the wing pads against a black body. The nymph does the most damage. Signs of possible Chinch Bug damage in St. Augustine will be yellow spots that turn brown.
Aeration and Seeding
Core aeration is a key turf grass management tool to improve the overall health and appearance of all grass types. Warm season turf lawns should have core aeration completed around the end of May to July. Aeration will help improve soil compaction, air circulation, water and nutrient uptake. In addition, it will prevent thatch buildup and decrease disease pressure. Lastly, aeration will help increase turf density and fill in thin areas on warm season turf that may have received damage.
Core aeration on fescue should be done when you are seeding the lawn in the fall.
Tree & Shrub
Insect and disease can be problematic this time of year on your trees and shrubs along with drought stress. Careful inspections should be done weekly to catch insect and disease activity early. Indications of activity can be leaf drop and discoloration, bark and leaf oddities and many times you can visually see lesions or insects. To maintain proper health and appearance of your landscape, follow proper horticultural practices with pruning and insect and disease controls.
Fairway Green’s Tree & Shrub Service will take the guesswork out of maintaining proper health while controlling insect and disease damage. Please call us to find out how Fairway Green’s Tree & Shrub Service can protect your landscape investment. Your landscape is part of your home investment; protect it wisely.
*Applies to new customers only. This special must be mentioned when requesting your free lawn or tree care estimate.
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