Lawns in September

Control Broadleaf Weeds with TRIMEC Liquid Herbicide – EVERYONE has weeds in their lawns in September.  I had weeds in my lawn; The Lawn Depot had weeds; all of you have weeds in September.  Why?  Because there are weed seeds everywhere, in every neighborhood, all the time.  These weed seeds blow around with the summer breezes.  And because lawns are stressed during the summer heat, they tend to thin to some degree, and the ever-present weed seeds can find a home to settle and germinate.  Although some of these weeds may not bloom this fall, they’re there.  And if you want to achieve/maintain a weed-free environment in your yard, you need to remove these weeds before they go dormant.  Apply liquid TRIMEC herbicide (no rain for at least 12 hours; no mowing for 24 hours) to the entire lawn (for thinner lawns with moderate to heavy weed levels) or to spots (for well established, healthy lawns with minimal to moderate weed levels), but in either case, treat the weeds now.  Early fall broadleaf weed control should ALWAYS be your first lawn chore, … ALWAYS 2-3 weeks before seeding

Fertilizing in the Early Fall – Cool weather turf (those grasses that comprise 100% of our lawns) do not produce roots in summer (air temperature above 85), regardless of whether or not or how much you water and/or fertilize your lawn.  Because of this, lawns are susceptible to encroachment from many insect, weed and disease pests that tend to thin lawns.  So, as we now enter the best time of the year for lawns, with still warm days and cooler nights, we want to give all lawns a booster shot, a subtle, 6-8 week organic-based granular fertilization.  It’ll green the lawn without stimulating extra top growth; it’ll help thicken the lawn as plants crowns come to life in the cooler nights; and it’ll give any germinating seedlings help in establishing a good and healthy root system.

Seeding/Overseeding Lawns in September – All lawns need some seed every fall if they are to be maintained as vigorous and healthy.  The Lawn Depot buys directly from the Pacific NW growers, using the newest cultivars in all of our mixes and blends.  New lawns should be seeded heavily (along with heavy core aeration) and older lawns can be upgraded by overseeding to get these newer varieties of into the lawn.  Lawns that have more than 4-6 hours a day of shade should be totally overseeded each fall.  And even lawns that are thick and thriving need SOME overseeding each fall.  There are high traffic areas, or areas where tree roots interfere with grass’ ability to establish good, deep root systems, or areas that have been diminished by turf disease or insects and need a freshening.  We encourage all of you to take advantage of the wonderful growing conditions this (and every) fall, and add new seed to your existing lawns.  You’ll love the results.

Improving Soil Conditions with Regular Core Aeration and Liming Lawns – It’s a never-ending problem in most of the Northeast quadrant of the U.S.: our soils are both acidic (pH below 6.0) and dense (high clay content).  It certainly doesn’t mean that our soils are not conducive to growing lovely grass and other landscape plants; it simply means that we have to work a little harder to accomplish the best results than our neighbors in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, where soils are deep, fertile and of moderate acidity naturally.  And the 2 conditioning activities we strongly recommend are REGULAR (once or twice each year) liming and core aeration.  The lime (in a couple of easy-to-handle consistencies) neutralizes the acidic soil, thus enabling fertilizers to work better and faster.  And core aeration (the pulling of 2-3” long plugs from the lawns) reduces soil density, thus allowing moisture to enter deeper into plants’ root zones, reduces thatch build-up and gives roots room to grow deeper and denser. 

Checking for Grub Damage in your Lawn – Grubs feed on grass roots.  Grubs are the larval stage of many insect pests, most notably Japanese beetles.  Grubs hatch in late summer in concentrated areas of lawn near where the adult females fed in early summer on shrub and tree leaves.  Because grass roots are dormant in the summer, these voracious little grubs can cause irreparable damage to turf.  Thus, it will need to be renovated and repaired.  Much of the control over these devastating pests can be credited to the fact that most of us now treat grubs preventatively (like crabgrass) in May and June with granular MALLET or MERIT, which kill the hatching grubs before they can damage the lawn.  But IF you didn’t apply MALLET/MERIT this spring, and IF you had a significant population of Japanese beetles in June/July, and IF you have areas of your lawn that haven’t greened back up along with the rest of the lawn, and IF, when you scratch vigorously at these patches with a stiff rake and the turf rolls back easily, exposing ½” long, off-white semi-circular worms in the soil … YOU’VE GOT A GRUB PROBLEM.  Immediately apply granular BIO-ADVANCED’s 24 Hour (DYLOX) Grub Killer and water in thoroughly, and begin renovating the damage (core aeration, heavy overseeding).  Then keep the seed wet with DAILY WATERING.  And next spring, apply MALLET or MERIT in May or June, so you won’t have this problem again.

 

 

Shopping Cart
  • Your cart is empty.