It’s November and if we had any leaves on the trees in the desert floor I imagine they would be changing color now that we are finally starting to experience a little bit of the fall season. Most people have either overseeded for the season or decided to let their lawn go dormant for the winter, but if you still wanted to overseed there is still plenty of time. You will not have any issues getting your seed to come up through most of November albeit a little slower than October it will still come up very well and be a nice thick lawn for the winter. I was going to just touch on some of the common questions that I have received so far this season relating to both overseeded and non overseeded turf. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most common questions during late October/early November is “I overseeded my lawn a few weeks ago and now I need to know how to proceed?” First of all, if you are asking yourself this question that means you take pride in your lawn and you are looking to have a beautiful lawn all winter and spring. If you put the seed down and haven’t thought about what’s next you may just end up with the yellow lawn on the block after we get a couple fall freezes. I have talked about several fertilizers that will work to get your lawn established and I will go over another plan of attack today so you can look beyond the month of October and enjoy your turf all winter long. Read the rest of this entry »

In my last blog a week ago I mentioned that we were still a little warm with the nighttime temperatures to drop seed, but we are in the clear now. The month of October is a great time to drop seed and you should see your ryegrass popping out of the ground in 5-7 days. I know the temperatures will climb back up into the 90′s again during the day, but it is the nighttime temperatures that are most important at this time of the year. If you have already put down seed and are 7-10 days out, it is time to get the second application of fertilizer down. I am going to keep today simple and short, just wanted to give everyone some reminders.

Our overseeded sod will be available at the farm on October 18th.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Jay

We are quickly approaching the best time to overseed your lawn, but I also know that many people don’t have a choice and need to get their lawn done sooner than later. This can present a few potential problems, but I will give you a few ways to help you get healthy turf if you need to drop seed this weekend. The best time to seed is when night time temperatures dip into the high 60′s, and we start to cool off a little bit during the day. It is always nice to be out of the 100′s before beginning the overseed process, but it’s okay to start prepping now in order to get ready for the season. A couple weeks ago I gave you the easy 1,2,3 fertilizer and seed steps, and today I want to talk a little more about what needs to be done with the prep work.

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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 »

It’s been one of those transition years that make us in the turf industry want to get back to the drawing board and find that magical year round grass. Will there ever be a grass like this? It is doubtful, but at least in the mean time there is paspalum!

If you are a bermudagrass grower or going through a tough transition this summer I am going to give you a few tips and try to alleviate some of the panic that may be setting in as you see your beautiful ryegrass start to turn brown. I want to explain just a few things in today’s blog that will help everyone understand the different phases of growing grass and how to get through the growing pains. I have attached several pictures that will make everyone see just how normal it is to have a few minor issues during transition. 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 am pretty sure that I have utterly confused a lot of people about just how to verticut your lawn, and why I only suggest dethatching or power raking every few years. I put together a little video talking about the basics of verticutting and showing how and what machine to use for this process. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are new to the southwest and have some questions regarding your lawn then you are in the right place. I try and give my readers weekly updates and a little bit of turf knowledge that can help them make an informed decision about which product to buy or how to grow your lawn properly. Believe it or not we are in the best time of the year to put sod down because you are giving your grass optimal weather and well over 100 growing days to get your lawn established.
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