Well I haven’t written a blog in a while since everything is normally status quo after overseed until we start to peak into late November. Since most people overseed their lawns for the winter I will touch on that today and give just some brief directions to those that do not overseed as far as water, fertilizer for the winter months but nothing major. The average household drops their overseed around October 1st each year so usually around the 6-8 week mark is when the grass starts to show its first signs of stress. If you followed my previous overseed directions and put down all three applications of fertilizers this will not apply to you because you will be the one with bright green lawn in the pictures above. Now that December is fast approaching and we are certain to get some hard freezes in the next few weeks how do you prevent your lawn from turning that oh so pretty lime green/yellow color that I often see around town?

Yellow Lawns

Some people feel that having a yellow lawn is inevitable once we start to get cold but then how is it possible that the golf courses, resorts, and many homeowners are able to keep their beautiful color all winter? They have learned over careful trials that the granular fertilizers just don’t react well in the soil during the winter months to green up a lawn and you are throwing your money away on high nitrogen products during the winter months. The winter months are all about spoon feeding and applying the appropriate nutrients to allow your grass to grow. I am not saying that no granular will work but outside of putting down a starter fertilizer under new sod there is not one that I would use from November-March to try and increase growth. I am a huge proponent of finding the right combination of fertilizers that are cost effective and will do their job. At this time of the year the Soil Burst products are extremely effective for helping get growth and color when it is cold outside. Did you know that Zinc and Magnesium are essential for a grass plant to maintain color, not just nitrogen and iron? Not all foliar products are created equal as some are just straight nitrogen, iron, or a combo of N-P-K but are they the right blend? Just because a product is a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 it doesn’t mean it is right for your lawn and that’s why there are three different types of Soil Burst products. (16-0-4, 7-7-7, and 4-0-6) You could buy just one of the Soil Burst products and effectively get color but to maintain plant health I recommend spraying with one of the three products monthly. We are talking about a total of $45 to treat your lawn for the winter and keep it green or you can buy three bags of granular fertilizer at $20/each and wait for the excessive growth in March when the soil warms up. Golf Courses, Resorts, our sod farms all use a program and through soil testing, tissue analysis and other studies they determine exactly what nutrients are necessary to keep the grass in tip top shape from the roots to the shoots.

This is what your lawn should look like at this time of the year but what do you do if you already have a yellow lawn? Is it too late to try and fix the issue? No way, it is only going to get worse as the temperatures drop so it is time to get out there and spray the lawn. It takes about ten minutes to spray 1000 SF of lawn and all you need to do is hook up the easy to use applicator (comes with the product) to your garden hose and spray in a figure 8 pattern over the entire lawn as evenly as possible. If you decide to just use a straight iron product such as Ironite be careful since it will stain your walks, patios, and anything it touches. The three Soil Burst products contain Iron but they are all completely non-staining so a little overlap onto the walks is not going to be problematic. There are lots of options out there and I just want you to know what we are using for the grass that is sent out to you in the the form of sod. If you are using other products make sure you check the labels to see how they compare.

Dog Spots

If you are like me then you have a pet that wouldn’t dare pee on the bushes but loves to pee in the lush green grass causing the nice little yellow spots all over the lawn. I treat these areas just like a divot on a tee box at a golf course by removing the dead material above and mixing up some BOBSeed ryegrass and sand and pouring it into the divot. These areas don’t need extra water to grow but with your normal watering cycles they will fill in over time. The seed won’t pop as quickly as it did in October but be patient and the areas will fill in and don’t worry your dog will find another beautiful piece of grass to kill in the meantime.

Watering during the winter

Most people have established their ryegrass pretty well at this point and the roots are starting to spread out making the grass plant stronger so it is a perfect time to really cut back on the water. From November-February you can get away with watering 2-3x per week for 20-25 minutes each cycle. If you already have a compacted soil surface and with the colder ground temperatures water isn’t infiltrating the soil you should have someone come over and aerify the lawn. You can aerify the lawn year round and there is no reason that you need to fill in the holes, just let the air into the plant. If you have an extremely compacted soil it would be great to get some deeper tines put in the ground but they are not always available so to help alleviate the problem this often needs to be done a couple of times in a six month period to really help. I always recommend aerifying your lawn every 1-2 years and more often when the grass is dying from the compacted earth. Here is a picture of a compacted lawn that resulted in a poor overseed.

If you have a non overseeded lawn you need to water about once per month through the winter for around 60-90 minutes to help keep moisture in the ground. If we receive timely rains then this step is often unnecessary and you can get away with leaving your irrigation clock off all season long. There is no need to fertilize during the winter and your last application of the Soil Burst 4-0-6 can be applied anytime before we get our first frost to help the root structure during the winter months.

I thought I would keep it short and simple today and as I see more issues arise I will address areas of concern. If you have questions please email them to me at info@westernsod.com and you can also attach pictures to this if there is something you would like me to look at. You can find the Soil Burst products at several Ace Hardware stores and Sprinkler World locations. Look for the bottle above and rememner there are three formulations. (16-0-4, 7-7-7, and 4-0-6) If you are missing my running blog updates you can check out the site at www.mcdowellmountainman.com and read about how I did a few weeks ago during my last hundred miler in Fountain Hills, AZ.

We’re getting closer to the overseeding process! I am sure many of you reading my blog have started to see perennial ryegrass arriving in stores by the truck full, but we are still a little early. It isn’t too early to start some of the initial prep work, but it is still a little hot to drop seed. I realize that some of you won’t have a choice in the timing of overseeding, but if you do have a choice it is best to wait. Today’s blog is going to give you 10 easy steps on how to overseed and establish a great lawn for the winter. I have also attached a short video on doing so. http://www.youtube.com/ Read the rest of this entry »

I have had a lot of requests lately to post some updated versions of an optimal fertilizer program and to tailor it to bermudagrass and paspalum, so I will lay out a monthly plan for everyone to follow. I have added a few agronomic practices that should be done during certain time periods. As you read through the lists I am not saying to aerify or verticut every month but giving you good windows to do each. Read the rest of this entry »

We are half way through the month of July and there have been a few days of rainfall and some nice humidity that has given our grass a boost. As I said a week ago this has been a particularly trying transition year. I have answered tons of e-mails from people concerned early on about the growth of their bermudagrass or paspalum, but as we move forward it seems people are starting to see what is necessary to get their lawn up and going in the summer time. Read the rest of this entry »

My beautiful overseeded lawn has turned brown over the last couple weeks. Do I need to apply a fungicide, insecticide, or is this normal?

It is not normal for your entire lawn to go brown at the same time. What you are seeing is the quick die off of the ryegrass. Normally we have a month to two month long gradual transition period and the ryegrass dies slowly and gives way to the bermudagrass or paspalum. This year we had a mild spring and then were blasted with a heat wave causing the ryegrass to shrivel up. If you have a small lawn, lightly rake up the dead material and give the warm season grass a place to grow or lightly verticut to remove the material. I posted a short video on how to verticut last week if you didn’t get a chance to watch it. Read the rest of this entry »

I guess you can say that I have been slacking on the blogs lately so I will try and catch everyone up on where you lawn should be at this time of the year.

We’ve had some unusual weather which has resulted in a very slow transition of the ryegrass over to our warm season turf. People with non-overseeded turf probably noticed that it took much longer this year to get their lawn actively growing. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last few weeks I have really tried to hammer down the importance of getting your lawn healthy by using the proper fertilizers and learning how to properly water your lawn.  Today I want to discuss some of our more prevalent weeds in the desert southwest for turfgrass and what can be done if you have them in your lawn.  Read the rest of this entry »

It appears that all the cooler days are now behind and it’s time to get our grasses out of dormancy and greened up.  If you have an overseeded lawn right now you are going to see an influx of growth in the next couple months and it will be important to stay on top of it so you don’t shade out your warm season grass underneath.  Often times in March-May it will be necessary to mow your ryegrass 2x per week to reduce the grass canopy and allow light to get down into the grass and get it growing.  Read the rest of this entry »

As we start to warm up outside many of you are still staring at a dust bowl in your front and back yards.  You are ready for the extreme yard makeover, but really are looking to do it on a cost effective budget. I will give you some tips that will help improve your lawn and at the same time save you money up front and down the road.   Read the rest of this entry »

The cool temperatures have settled in and so has the start of the yellow ryegrass season. Amazingly enough, here in the desert we do get pretty cold during the winter months and a few days of hard frost is enough to wreak havoc on your lush ryegrass or now completely dormant turf. Read the rest of this entry »