Are You Committed to Your Lawn?

Over the past month or so I have had many discussions with current and potential clients about the status of their lawn. I've heard anything from just basic lawn care requests to "my lawn has major problems". If you're one of the homeowners that is on the side with issues or major problems with your lawn, then I ask you one simple question. Are you committed to your lawn?

I've heard from people that say, "I don't want to water my lawn", "I don't want to spend money on fertilizer", or "isn't over-seeding a waste?".  If you fall into any of those pitfalls, then you reap what you sow.  The over-whelming issues that come up with lawns are due to a lack of preventitive measures and while there are things we don't have any control over, such as drought, there are steps we can take to minimize the damage.

It's essentially the same philosophy as, "I want to lose weight, but I don't want to exercise and I want to eat whatever I want to". You won't see any positive results.

Which of these lawns would you prefer?

The lawn on the right is my lawn. My wife will attest that I will try to pinch pennies whenever possible, but our lawn is part of our property and it is an investment. I believe firmly that if you want to see positive returns you have to put in the proper resources in order to accomplish whatever it is that you set out to do.

 I don't spend every waking hour on my lawn, but I do pay attention to what it's telling me. If it's drying out, I give it a drink. I religiously follow a 6-step lawn treatment regimend every year. I don't shave the lawn in order to reduce the number of times that I have to mow. I aerate and over-seed annually. I apply gypsum because our soil has too much clay, and I take care of weeds early before it becomes a bigger headache.


Lawns require maintenance other than just mowing and the timing of these steps improve your chances of achieving a great looking lawn.  If you don't see a lush, dark green lawn in a month or two, be patient and stick the plan. It may take a couple cycles (years), but if you're patient, you will get there.

Here are a few tips:

First having a thick lawn turf is one of the best defenses to weed managment. A thick lawn chokes out weeds and doesn't allow much room for weeds to take root.

Second, get on at least a 5-step application program which consists of pre-emergent in the spring (prevents things like crabgrass) and then weed-n-feed to help against broadleaf weeds. Then you'll have an additional 3 applications of fertilizer. Your grass needs to have food to flourish and fertilizer will help accomplish this.

The 6th step I would recommend is to add grub control in July, this would fight against those pesky pests that can chew at your lawns root system and wreak havock on your lawn. If these pests get into your lawn and aren't properly treated this could mean re-sodding/seeding your lawn which isn't cheap and will set you back in getting your lawn established.

Properly water your lawn. This is one of the more costly items on the list, plus it can be time consuming if you don't have an irrigation system. I had one installed this spring because of the time and by shopping around and some good references, I found one that was reasonably priced. You don't want to over-water, if you do, your root system is going to be more shallow and more reliant on water, but if we go through an extended period of time without rain and your grass is showing signs of stress, then by all means water it. This will save you time when it comes to repairing damage to heat and lack of water.

Lastly, in the fall aerate and over-seed your lawn to replenish any thinning or dying grass.

You don't have to break the bank, but there is some cost involved, whether you do it on your own or have a lawncare professional do it for you.

What you want in your lawn is up to you, but if you want a great looking lawn without investing in it, I'm sorry to tell you, it doesn't happen. Instead think of your lawn as part of your house and treat it as an investment. It will improve your curb appeal and you can soon become the envy of your neighborhood.

Repairing dead patches this Spring? Here's how

Here are a couple pictures of a couple different properties that I visited in the past month. As I've mentioned in previous posts, we here in Iowa were hit hard by a drought last summer and here are some of the effects:

 As you can see, there is some work to do.  If your lawn resembles these pictures, you have two approaches to consider. If there are large areas like this and a lot of it, I'd recommend core aeration followed by over-seeding. If you have a couple patches like this, you can do patch seeding where you rake up the dirt and apply the seed. If not protected by shade you want to apply a thin layer of dirt to protect the seed from direct sunlight (which will dry out the seed quicker, making your over-seeding efforts useless).

As far as the large areas you can choose either a rotary or drop spreader. Another option which in which you may achieve better results is by using a slit seeder, this cuts a line in the ground and drops seed into those "slits" and puts seed in direct contact with the soil.

(NOTE: If you're going to seed this in the spring avoid putting down pre-emergent or wait at least 3 weeks after pre-emergent was applied. Also, the longer you wait, the warmer the days get and more water will be needed to establish seed growth)

 
 1. Seed selection: Proper seed selection is crucial, don't just grab a bag of seed and call it good. Different seeds grow better in different environments.  -

Kentucky Bluegrass - This is most common grass used in Iowa, but does not perform well in shaded areas. Bluegrass is not a drought tolerant grass, so it does need watering. You want the soil to be moist, not soggy, but it does require water maintenance. Mowing Bluegrass can be done at 2-3 inches, never cut more than a 1/3 of the blade at a time. 

Fine Fescue - (creeping red fescue, chewing fescue & hard fescues) For shady areas in Iowa you want a fine-leaf fescue or at least a blend that has at least 50% fine-leaf fescue. Fine fescue is more drought tolerant so it doesn't require as much watering, only when severe water deprivation. Over-watering, especially in humid regions can lead to disease. Fertilizing will green up the lawn, but do not fertilize in the summer months and watering is needed when the soil dry.

 2. Rake up the soil to remove dead grass (or core aerate in larger areas). The seed needs to make contact with the soil in order to grow. If the areas is exposed to direct sunlight, then you want to cover with a thin layer of topsoil.

3. Apply a starter fertilizer, this will assist in kick-starting the growth of your seed.

4. You want to water 2-3 times a day for 2-3 weeks. When grass seed is growing you can cut back on the watering, but you will want to continue to water until the seed is established.

After a few watering's your seed shouldn't be floating anymore, so it will be safe to mow. You want to mow frequently and shorter 1 1/2-2 inches so the seedlings aren't fighting for water. Once your new grass reaches 1 1/2-2 inches you can increase your mowing height to 2 1/2-3 inches. Do not bag clippings, you want to have a self-mulching mower blade and the grass clipping provides good nutrients for your lawn.

As far as fertilization, 6 weeks after germination you can resume your fertilizer treatments (as long as those 6 weeks doing bring you into Mid/Late July or August).