Denny's Soapbox

Wacky weather hurts area lawns

Many of you are currently suffering with a drought damaged lawn caused by last summer’s extreme heat and dryness. So I wanted to devote this week’s article to this very hot topic.

There are both temperature ranges and seasonal times which make certain times of year better than others to plant grass seed.

• Fall Seeding in September is recommended as the very best time of year to plant grass seed.

• Winter (Dormant) Seeding in late January or early February is recommended as the second best time.

• Spring Seeding usually done late March to mid April is the third best time to seed.

• Summer Seeding is not recommended as a good time to plant grass seed.

2007 – A Year of Abnormal Weather Conditions for Lawn Renovation

After a summer’s worth of lawn damage in 2007, September would have normally been the best time of year to renovate your lawn. But not this past September! The weather in September 07 was abnormal (very hot and dry). Those of you who tried to seed during that time were probably very disappointed with the results.

So after the loss of the fall seeding opportunities in 2007, we then recommended winter seeding which is normally the 2nd best time of year to plant grass seed. But not this past winter! We had a very deep snow in early March 2007 which melted very quickly, saturating our soil with moisture. Then came record rains, (7 to 10 inches) for the rest of March. Most of the grass seed put down in February (just waiting for soil temperatures to warm up) soon began to float off our lawns and into the gutters.

Now here we are in the spring with many still looking at all those bare areas in our lawn caused by last summer’s inclement weather. “What to do?” you ask.

Well spring is not the best time to plant grass seed especially after mid-April. Temperatures are getting warmer by the week, weeds start to compete for growing space in your lawns and the much needed rains for grass seeding success become less frequent.

What can you do to have a nice lawn this year?

The best advice I can give you for the rest of spring and summer is to do nothing. I recommend letting nature be in charge of your lawn until fall. Nature will fill in the weak and bare areas with her free gifts of broad leaf weeds and crab grass. Yes, your lawn may not be the best, but at least it will be “green from the street”. Just continue to mow your lawn on a regular basis and it will stay acceptable to most neighbors for a few months.

Start planning now to make those needed lawn repairs in September. Give serious thoughts to completely killing your existing lawn of Heinz 57 in August and then get ready to plant 100% Turf Fescue in September. Turf Fescue is the best grass seed for the tri-state area for both sunny and shady situations. As we get closer to the proper time of year for lawn renovation, I will include more information on this topic including the procedures for seeding and fertilizing.

Consequences of late Spring and Summer Lawn Renovation

It’s your lawn, and your choice to kill all your weeds but you need to realize there are serious consequences. If your lawn consists of 25% (or more) of weeds, yes you could kill them now with a selective broadleaf weed control (example: weed and feed) which will take care of your weeds for now. But then you have to wait 30 days to re-seed due to the herbicide residual. This means you’re now planting grass seed (in those bare areas you created by killing weeds) in early summer which is the worst time of year to plant grass seed which means the results will not be good. You’ll then soon be wishing for more new weeds to fill up the bare areas again. Please don’t waste your time or money.

Environmental Benefits

A well maintained lawn of ten thousand square feet produces enough oxygen to sustain a family of four. Turf grass is nature’s soft green carpet that filters and cleans our air, prevents soil erosion, and returns oxygen to our environment. Nurturing and protecting our lawns may be the “Greenest” and most important improvement you can make to your little corner of the world.