It’s Time to Plant Some Grass!

In previous issues we talked about getting the yard ready for seeding and picking out the right grass seed for the project. Now it is time to get it planted!

Fall is the best time of the year for planting tall fescue lawns. Grass seed planted from now through mid-October has plenty of time to get established before winter. Fall planting also give new grass plants as much time as possible to grow and establish before next summer’s heat and dry weather.

Getting new grass seed to grow successfully in your yard really isn’t that difficult if you pay attention to some important details.

1)    Calculate the right amount of seed and spread uniformly.

2)    Lightly incorporate the seed into the upper surface of the soil.

3)    Apply a good starter fertilizer. We always use Fertilome New Lawn Starter.

4)    Keep the new seed bed evenly moist.

5)    Prepare to enjoy great results!

Now let’s look at each of those steps in a little more detail.

How much seed do you need? The answer to this question starts with a quick measurement of the yard. Pull out the tape measurer, step it off, look at site plans, just do whatever it takes to get a pretty good idea of your square footage. Once you have that number, it’s time to do some math.

Our Premium Tall Fescue Blend should be seeding at a rate of 6-8 pounds of seed for every 1,000 square feet. If you are overseeding into an existing lawn, cut that rate in half (3-4 lbs./1,000 sq. ft.).

This rate is important. It will give you a stand that is dense enough to give good coverage but not so crowded that individual grass plants will struggle from competition. If you seed at a lighter rate, you will notice that your lawn is thin, clumpy and more prone to weeds. Conversely, lawns seeded at higher rates might look great this fall but will struggle and often fail due to overcrowding as they head into the stresses of next summer. So do the math...it’s important. If you need help with it, let us know.

Once you know your square footage, you can easily calculate the amount of grass seed needed. Using that amount of seed, and only that amount, spread it uniformly over your area. A broadcast spreader works best for this. If you don’t have one, we sell them and we rent them just for these kinds of projects. The spreader setting isn’t all that important, just set it high enough that seed is coming out, but low enough that it isn’t coming out too fast. Your goal should be to make 2-3 complete passes over the yard, making each pass in a different direction, before running out of seed. Applying a little bit of seed on multiple passes ensures that you are getting your seed spread out evenly, kind of like putting on several light coats of paint instead of one heavy one.

Feed the seed. Starter fertilizers are used to make sure newly developing grass plants have the nutrients they need to support rapid development and good roots. We use Fertilome New Lawn Starter. You should use this any time you are planting grass seed or installing sod to your lawn. It should be applied at the same time the seed goes down or in the case of sod, before the sod is rolled out. This ensures that vital plant nutrients are readily available as soon as the first root tips emerge from the new seed. If you have done the math to figure out how much seed you will need, figuring out how much starter fertilizer will easy. We have different sized bags for different sized areas and will help you get the right amount of starter fertilizer for your project.

Apply it in the same way you did with the seed, several light applications over multiple passes to ensure even distribution using only the required amount of fertilizer based on your square footage calculations.

Incorporate the seed. Grass seed needs to be incorporated into the upper surface of the soil. This helps keep the seeds moist in between waterings and projects newly emerging roots. When seeding bare ground, lightly rake seed in, trying not to cover it with more than about ¼” of an inch of soil. If overseeding an existing lawn, use overseeding equipment like a verti-slicer, power rake or core aerating machine. You can find them at most rental companies. These will help provide good seed/soil contact without destroying the existing stand of grass.

Now add water. When grass seed soaks up water, the germination process is triggered. As long as the seed stays moist and the newly emerging roots aren’t allowed to dry out (good seed/soil contact) your new grass plants should develop nicely. If things do get too dry during this germination process, the newly developing grass seedling dies. At this point, no amount of water can bring it back to life. So once you start watering...stay with it!

So, how much water is enough? Start every project with a good thorough watering once your seed and fertilizer has been applied. From that point on, just lightly water as needed to keep the soil surface from drying out. Remember, your grass seed should be no more than ¼” deep so short sprayings of water should be sufficient to remoisten soil to that depth. This may mean watering once a day or it may mean watering several times a day. Do whatever it takes but don’t let things dry out. All it takes is one dry afternoon to damage your stand. And remember, if you have done a good job of soaking things up to begin with, only light watering is needed at this point. New tall fescue plants emerge in about a week. Once everything is up, you can slowly reduce watering frequency.

Enjoy your results! Now your new grass is growing and things are looking green again. Continue to water occasionally if needed, soaking more deeply as the plants grow older and roots grow deeper. As soon as your new grass is tall enough to be cut by your normal mower setting (somewhere around 3 ½“ is a good cutting height for tall fescue), start mowing. Within a few cuttings, you will notice your new lawn thickening up and improving in appearance. Keep mowing until winter sets in. In most cases, you can clean up any broadleaf weeds by early November with Fertilome.

Weed-Free Zone and definitely apply Fertilome Winterizer to finish off the fall season around the same time.

If you have question or need any help, please let us know. Good luck!

Too Much Moisture!

Recent weeks have given us more rain than usual, and unfortunately, just about any time we see excessive periods of rain, we see an increase in disease problems. Some problems are already showing up, others are likely to follow. Quick action is the key to minimizing problems that diseases bring with them. Here are a few tips to help you.

 

Tomatoes - One of the more common complaints about tomato plants is related to leaf diseases. Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot are common in our vegetable gardens and often end the tomato season prematurely.

Excessive moisture increases the occurrence of these diseases, so be prepared for some problems. Good disease control practices can help minimize disease problems. Start by making sure you mulch around your tomato plants. Mulching helps control the splashing of soil and the disease spores it contains onto the lower leaves. We like to use wheat straw, pine straw or alfalfa mulch. Preventive fungicides like Fertilome Broad Spectrum Fungicide can also be used.

 

Fruit Trees - If you have done a good job keeping your fruit trees sprayed for leaf and fruit diseases already, don’t stop now! If you haven’t been applying anything, you may need to get started. We have several good disease control products for fruit trees. Keep in mind that not all products work on all fruit tree diseases, so it is important to make sure you are applying the right products to target the disease you’re are trying to control. Let us know what kind of fruit trees you have and we will help you select the right product.

 

Roses - Black Spot and Powdery Mildew samples are already being brought in by customers. To reduce your chances of dealing with these diseases, start by planting your roses in places that receive lots of sun and good air movement.

Planting rose varieties that are naturally resistant to these diseases also helps. If you do find yourself dealing with these problems, fungicides will be needed. We have two by Fertilome that we use that provide good control, Liquid Systemic Fungicide and F-Stop.

 

Lawns - Excessive moisture this time of the year often leads into the development of Brown Patch, a disease that creates irregular brown “patches” in tall fescue lawns and in severe cases, kills out areas of turf.

Warmer weather in the upcoming weeks will bring this one on. Although it is very common, most infections will only result in visual damage and eventually the lawn will recover. In years where the disease pressure is higher or in yards that are more prone to disease, prevention may be warranted. Use Fertilome F-Stop and start your applications before the disease gets started. That will be fairly soon. One other recommendation would be to avoiding excessive fertilizer this time of year.

If you have questions about what you are seeing on your plants, let us know. The quicker you identify problems and address them, the less damaging they will be. Bring in samples or email us pictures. We will do our best to get you the information you need and help you make the best decisions possible. You can email pictures and your questions to info@skinnergardenstore.com.

Broadleaf Weeds - what do I do?

Broadleaf Weeds in My Lawn...What Do I Do?

Many homeowners find that all the great growth of spring also brings along with it a noticeable growth of weeds in the lawn...weeds that don’t look good and that are choking out the lawn.

Although the absolute best time to tackle these broadleaf weeds is late in the fall, the next best time to nail them is right now...before they get any bigger! There’s more than one way to go at them, but two of the best approaches with spraying them with Fertilome Weed-Free Zone or treating the yard with a weed and feed combination called Weed-Free Zone Plus Lawn Food. Both contain a highly effective broadleaf weed killer and the weed and feed product has a great fertilizer formulation for late spring applications...like right now!
 

Broadleaf lawn weeds really aren’t that hard to get rid of if you use the right product and you do things right. If you’ve had limited success in the past, give these products a try and if you have any other questions, just let us know!