Lawn care mistakes you’re probably making
Want a green lawn all summer long? Avoid these common mistakes.
ProblemSolved, USA TODAY
- Early spring maintenance is crucial for a healthy lawn that can withstand summer conditions.
- Apply fertilizer, reseed bare spots and control weeds before they emerge.
- Soil testing can determine the exact fertilizer needs of your lawn.
Spring officially arrived this past week, which means that it will soon be time to provide some TLC to your lawn so it greens up quickly and is able to survive the challenging conditions of summer heat and reduced levels of soil moisture.
While some years we experience spring-like weather in Greater Columbus in the winter, before spring actually arrives on the calendar, this year’s winter weather has been cooler, soil temperatures have been slow to warm and most turfgrasses are just beginning to break dormancy. This means that most lawns will not require mowing until early April.
Start maintenance early
Don’t wait until April, however, to assess the condition of your lawn and develop a plan for early spring maintenance. Too often, homeowners don’t begin needed lawn maintenance until later in the season, after the spring flush of grass growth and the lawn has been mowed several times.
Depending upon the weather, late spring may be beyond the optimal time to complete lawn-maintenance tasks such as fertilizer application, weed control and reseeding bare spots in the lawn.
While we associate turfgrass growth and lawn maintenance with summer months, turfgrasses are perennial cool-season plants, which means that they are plants which come back year after year and they grow best in the cooler, more moist conditions of spring, fall and sometimes winter.
Summer, with its hot and many times dry weather, is actually a period of stress for turfgrasses, which requires us to give extra attention to lawn maintenance in early spring if we expect the grass stand to survive the challenging conditions of summer.
Apply needed nutrients
To green up in early spring and develop adequate root systems which can survive the season, turfgrasses require adequate amounts of three soil nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
Nitrogen does not persist in the soil and must be applied to the lawn each year to stimulate growth and meet the nutritional needs of grass plants. Phosphorus and potassium are stored in the soil from year to year and most lawns in Greater Columbus do not require yearly applications of these two nutrients.
The only way to know exactly how much fertilizer your lawn needs this year is to have a soil test done. The Franklin County Office of OSU Extension provides soil testing for lawns, and information about soil testing can be found online at: go.osu.edu/franklinsoiltesting.
When applying soil fertilizer, only use the amount recommended by a soil test and be sure that fertilizer is not accidently spread on paved driveways, sidewalks or streets where it can be washed into storm sewers and end up in surface waters such as streams and lakes, where it contributes to harmful algal blooms.
Never too early to reseed
If the lawn has bare spots or a thinning stand, reseeding should be completed in early spring. As the lawn begins to green up, before the first mowing of the season, walk the lawn and take a critical look for the presence of bare spots or thinning areas and apply seed where needed.
If spring rains are infrequent and spring weather is unusually warm, be sure to provide supplemental irrigation to the newly seeded areas, even in early April. Resist the temptation to “over-mulch” newly seeded areas with straw.
If large areas of the lawn need to be reseeded or you wish to renovate the entire lawn with a completely new seeding, late summer and early fall may be a better time for reseeding.
Grass seedlings which emerge from a late summer or fall seeding tend to be more successful because they have two cool seasons (fall and winter) to develop root systems before they are exposed to the hot and dry conditions of late spring and summer.
Control weeds before they emerge
The easiest time to control weeds in the lawn is before they emerge, so if your lawn contained an abundance of weeds such as dandelion, plantain, ground ivy or any other broadleaf weed last season, applying a preemergent herbicide early this spring can reduce the number of weeds in the lawn this season.
A preemergent herbicide is a chemical which prevents seeds from germinating, so do not apply these products to recently reseeded areas of the lawn.
If your lawn was infested with crabgrass last summer, spring will be a good time to apply a preemergent herbicide designed to prevent crabgrass emergence.
Most products which provide crabgrass control require a soil temperature of at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit for maximum effectiveness, and soil temperatures on the OSU campus in Columbus have not yet reached 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is still too early to apply these products.
A useful phenological rule of thumb for timing crabgrass control products in Greater Columbus is to apply them when forsythia begins to bloom.
Mike Hogan is Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension.
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