Iowa Lawncare Checklist

Have you ever gotten to a point throughout the year and realize that it's too late to apply something or maybe the mowing season sneaks up on you and all of the sudden the grass is in need of a cut, but you haven't done any maintenance on your lawn equipment.  Well, here is a month-by-month look at what should be done in order for you to be prepared for the upcoming lawn season.

JANUARY

-Stay off your lawn as much as possible.  Grass is frozen and walking on it too much could damage the grass.

FEBRUARY

- If you didn't fully service your lawn equipment in the fall, you will want to do this now to make sure once the temperatures rise, you're ready to go. Last year, we were mowing in March, so it's not too far off.  Contact me for any questions or a free estimate

MARCH

- Determine your plan for your lawn when it comes to fertilizer, weed control, grubs, etc. Most of the lawn care plans need to start in April, so have things in place ready to go.
- Last year was rare, but we started mowing in March, but in most cases this will happen in April.

APRIL

- Mowing will most likely begin this month at some point, in the spring you can afford to cut your lawn a little shorter 2-3 inches in height, as long as you're not cutting off more than 1/3 of the blade.  If you need to cut more often to get to the 2-3 inch heights, then do so.
- Clean your yard from debris.
- Apply first application of Weed & Feed for your lawn
- If you have a lot of clay in your soil, apply gypsum to break down that clay

MAY

- Continue with the mowing, still can afford to do it at a shorter height of 2-3 inches
- Dandelions may be appearing, either pull or apply a post-emergent weed control

JUNE

- Apply another dose of fertilizer 6-8 weeks after your first application
- Start raising your mower blade to 3-4 inches (some will say 3"), I prefer a bit longer to provide shade
- Mid-End of June, you will want monitor rain fall to date, if we're short on water (less than 1-inch/week) start watering

JULY

- Water lawn if rainfall is less than 1-inch/week
- If you haven't raised your lawn mower to 3-4", make sure you're doing that by now
- Apply Grub control.  In Waukee, IA we have seen an issue with these.  They can be treated anytime most effectively between June-August

Picture courtesy Iowa State University

AUGUST

- Continue to water lawn if less than 1-inch/week
- Continue to have lawn mower set at higher level of 3-4"

SEPTEMBER - Busy month, but crucial for a healthy lawn the following year

- Apply fertilizer early in month
- Once the temps start to cool off, you can go back to mowing heights of 2-3"
- Most likely later in the month when temps tend to dip in the evenings and the daytime temps aren't too hot you will want to do the following:
1. Dethatch your lawn and dispose of dead grass in city required lawn bags
2. Aerate
3. Overseed
4. Apply gypsum (only in soil with lots of clay)
5. Apply another application of weed and feed

OCTOBER/Early NOVEMBER

- Mowing cut heights back to 2-3"
- Make sure you have taken care of the late-September checklist if you haven't done so.
- After the first frost cut the lawn down to 2" for the winter.

Enough Snow?

We have had two major winter storms so far this year, so it got me wondering how we were doing in replenishing our yards and river beds from this past summer's drought.

The whole state of Iowa is in some form of a drought, ranging from extreme drought (NW Iowa) to moderate (SE Iowa)

Our most recent snowstorm came through early Wednesday (Jan 30, 2013) morning and in Des Moines it dumped just over 6 inches of snow.  It was a narrow path of snow where NW Iowa saw very little if any and the SE part of the state saw more rain (in fact some flooding).

According to the Iowa State Climatology Bureau we're about 12 inches of rain short of where we should be at this point in order to make up for last year's dry summer.  To give you an idea of how much snow would be needed to make up this difference, 1 foot of snow equals about 1 inch of actual rain.  So, if we were to make up the shortfall in the form of snow, that would be the equivalent of 12 FEET of snow needed.  I'm not a big fan of winter to begin with, so I for one do not want to see 12 feet of snow come down anytime soon, or anytime at all for that matter.

What are we looking for in the coming months?  Some snow would be okay, as long as we get a gradual thaw so the melted snow goes to our soil as opposed to run-off.  (Run-off occurs when the ground is still frozen and we get a radical change in temperature and the snow melts so fast it has nowhere to go except for where it isn't as needed.) Then we need the ground to be thawed followed by a substantial amount (12 in approximately) of rain this spring to replenish our yards and riverbeds. Now, hopefully not all at once... an inch or two here and there to add up over time.  A downpour, while better than nothing, doesn't do as much good.

Why do I mention riverbeds?  Well, our water supply has to come from somewhere and if our river levels get too low (as they did last summer), this will increase the likely-hood of cities putting on water-restrictions and ask people to conserve water (some suburbs in the Des Moines area did this last summer).  While I never promote being wasteful, I do enjoy a green lawn, so I water my lawn, and if there are restrictions put on water usage, this may prohibit the use of sprinkler's and irrigation systems.

So, here's to a little more snow, gradual increase in temperatures and for a wet spring.