WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO ENSURE HEALTHY TURF
1. MOWING
Timely mowing will have a big impact on health, weed control and thickness of your lawn. The general rule of
thumb to go by is to remove not more than one-third of the leaf blade at any one time. For some turf grass varieties, this could actually mean mowing every 3-5 days during summer when growth is most active.
2. WATERING
Water as deeply and infrequently as possible during dry spells, ideally 1 to 1-1/2 inches per week, depending on soil type. Watering every 3 to 5 days, even in the hottest days of summer, should be sufficient if you water deeply.
3. AERATING
Aerating is a mechanical method that pulls cores of soil from the lawn to allow better penetration of air and water. The best time of year to aerate is from mid-May through June, although July and August are also acceptable months as well.
4. VERTICUTTING
Also known as vertical mowing, this process thins and rejuvenates the lawn. When used on warm-season turf grasses, verticutting functions as a different form of aeration. Verticutting is used with cool-season turf grasses when overseeding in the fall. It thins the turf and allows the seed to fall through the grass and make contact with the soil. Thus improving your seed germination.
5. FERTILIZING
Most of our lawns in North Texas are best fertilized using a 3-1-2-ratio fertilizer. An example would be 15-5-10 or 24-8-16. The first number on the bag is Nitrogen. You can apply the fertilizer every 6 to 8 weeks. To prolong the greening between applications, use a fertilizer product that has its nitrogen in a slow release form. An organic method is to apply ½ inch of well-decomposed compost evenly across the lawn twice a year.
6. PRE-EMERGENT WEED CONTROL
Pre-emergents disrupt seeding development, so the timing of your treatments is crucial. Spring applications of Balan, Betasan, Dimension, Team or other labeled products should be applied around March 1st and again around June 1st for summer annual grassy weeds. Your fall treatments should be applied around September 10th using two different pre-emergent products on the same day. The first is for grassy winter annual weeds, using any of the previously named products. The second is to apply Portrait or Gallery next to prevent winter annual broadleaf weeds.
7. POST-EMERGENT WEED CONTROL
Broadleaf weeds are controlled with an herbicide containing 2,4-d. Use a dedicated sprayer and apply at the labeled rate according to turf type when temperatures are between 55 and 85 F. In Bermuda grass lawns only, grassy weeds are controlled with DSMA or MSMA between May and September. Nutgrass can be reduced over several seasons by applying Image or Manage between May and mid-September.
8. TREATING DISEASES
For brown patch in St. Augustine, treat the area around affected patches with Terraclor or Bayleton in late spring and especially early fall. Leaf spot diseases in turf grasses are controlled with Daconil, Banner, or Mancozeb. Avoid fertilizing when a disease is present in your yard.
9. CONTROLLING INSECTS
Generally found in hot, sunny areas of St. Augustine lawns, chinch bugs have an irregular feeding pattern from June through August. Water before and after treatment with a granular Talstar or synthetic pyrethroid product. Grub worm activity usually starts in early August and continues until early November. If discolored areas of turf pull up easily and 4 to 6 grub worms are present in a 1-square-foot area, treat with a granular Mach II, Merit or a pyrethroid product and water into soil.
Prior to making any pesticide application to your lawn, please be responsible by correctly identifying the problem you have. Pesticide labels are frequently amended, added or deleted for specific crops or pests. Therefore carefully examine the actual label of the pesticide product before use. Please read and follow all label directions.
Question:Jimmie, We recently purchased a home in a older neighborhood with established trees. Our grass underneath these beautiful trees is very thin and appears to be slowly dying. Our neighbors we have talked experienced the same things over the last few years. What is your opinion on our options for those areas? Pamela L. in Dallas
Answer: Hi Pamela, you are simply experiencing the light condition changing over time underneath the canopy of your trees. A very common issue in more established Dallas neighborhoods. More than likely you had a Bermuda lawn (which requires full sun) that now had less than adequate light and is slowly fading away. The good news is you have magnificent trees!! Your best options are to consider either replacing the sod with a more shade loving turf such as St. Augustine or a pricier Zoysia (if you prefer the Bermuda blade look) or consider a flower bed that can take up that area and soften the under canopy of your trees and trunks. Just be sure to consider what your lifestyle will accommodate both when it comes to maintaining one or the other.
Question:Jimmie, first off I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to write this column. It has been very informative and helpful to me and I really look forward to it. My problem is that I have a Japanese Maple tree that I mistakenly planted last year in full sun. Well, it just fried in the summer! Late summer I moved it to a side yard where we can now see it out our window. It gets the midday sun now. Do you think it will be okay there? Jennifer P. in Frisco.
Answer: Hi Jennifer, Sounds like you Japanese Maple has been put through allot of extremes since you have owned it. It will be happier there however it really should be allowed to acclimate a year or two before passing judgment on it. Also your timing on the transplant could have been better. That really should be done in a dormant time when it’s bare and not as much stress through the acclimation process. It eventually should be in a spot where its gets little to no direct sunlight at all. Until next time…Happy Gardening!!