The last couple of weeks, we’ve had much cooler nighttime temperatures (ranging from the mid 50’s to low 60’s) than typical, and certainly more so than we’ve had from June through early August. While we had some rain in August, we are still woefully behind the average rainfall we’ve been used to most summers in the last 5 years or so. Perfect for growing grass! As we move into September, we can expect daytime temperatures to be moderate, with nighttime temperatures dropping into the 50s and low 60s almost every night. Over the past several weeks, we’ve talked with many of you about your lawn and landscape situations, and we’re very pleased that so many of you have begun the programs of recovery to address this summer’s damage. There is still a lot of work to do, but those of you who begin reparations sooner will be rewarded for your early attention as fall arrives.
Those of you who still have damaged lawns but have not yet addressed the problem areas, please get at it immediately. We’ve had enough moisture and overnight dew to bring back any turf that was simply dormant from the summer heat. If it’s still brown and crusty now, you can pretty well assume that these portions of your lawns are dead, and recovery measures must begin now. We’ve got about 3 months left in the fall growing season for cool weather turfgrasses, but the longer you wait before cultivating the damaged areas and reseeding, the longer the seed will take to germinate, and the less complete the recovery will be this fall. There is plenty of time for our full fall lawn care program (weed control first, fertilizing next, then seeding/overseeding 10-14 days after weed control is applied). We fully expect weather conditions between now and Thanksgiving to be ideal for growing grass, so we encourage all of you, no matter what the condition of your lawns right now, to get after fall lawn maintenance activities immediately and stay with them until the snow flies. We’re here to guide you through your individual situations, and help you restore the beautiful lawns and landscapes we’ve all come to appreciate here in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
Our Turf Management group is well into their fall applications of fertilizer and broadleaf weed control, as well as our fall core aeration and overseeding jobs. If you use our Turf Management services (or have recently been quoted for fall services) and have some work you’d like to have us do on your lawn in addition to the normal fall activities, please contact us as soon as possible to schedule services. We’re still adding new customers for both regular applications (fertilizing and weed control) or special jobs (core aeration, seeding, grub control, liming). If you’re interested in a quote, look us up on the web (www.lawndepotinc.com) and select “Request an Estimate” or call us at 215-348-5553. We’ll visit your property, evaluate and measure your lawn, then make recommendations for this fall.
The Lawn Depot is open every day: Monday through Friday 8-6, Saturday 8-5, and Sunday 9-3. We encourage you to stop in and discuss all of your individual questions, challenges, and projects with our talented and friendly staff. We have all the professional products and advice on how and when to use them to make your lawn care and landscaping activities successful this fall for all do-it-yourselfers.
Fall is the best season for growing grass, whether starting new lawns or thickening sparse areas of lawns, repairing summer-damaged sections of existing lawns, or simply tending to healthy lawns (of which there are precious few this year). We’ll look forward to working with all of you as you attack the various lawn and landscape jobs that lie ahead in the coming months.
Carolyn Pfaff, Ken Button & Bob Button