Posted on 09/20/2010 7:27:23 PM PDT by DBCJR
September is the time to start preparing your lawn for the winter, especially if you want great spring results. “Waiting until early spring, or even winter, is too late for optimal results – the lush verdant carpet you want to see,” states Travis Wascher, owner of Excel Lawns, a lawn and landscaping business servicing the four county area of Tampa/Clearwater.
Fall fertilization can be confusing for many. “Applying the appropriate amount of the correct fertilizer will stimulate a vigorous, healthy lawn that can overcome weeds and serve as a filter to protect Florida's ground and surface waters,” notes Wascher. “On the other hand, applying an incorrect fertilizer at the wrong time can make your lawn a disaster.”
In Northwest Florida, it is generally recommended that the last fertilization of the year be applied in early to mid September. “Be very selective in your choice of fertilizer. For your lawn’s September application, consider a low nitrogen, high potassium fertilizer such as a 5-0-15, 5-0-20 or a 5-5-30,” recommends Wascher. These may be referred to as “winterizers” because they prepare your lawn for winter.
Wascher also warns to watch out for many of the advertized “winterizer” fertilizers. Such fertilizers advertised as winterizers are “…often very high in nitrogen and are not good choices for a late season application. A good winterizing type fertilizer should contain two to three times more potassium than nitrogen,” Wascher advises.
Nitrogen is always the first number in the fertilizer analysis. Phosphorus is the second number and potassium is the third. Unless a soil test indicates a need for phosphorus, we generally recommend no or low-phosphorus fertilizers because phosphorus can be a major pollutant of our surface water.
Turfgrass researchers at the University of Florida have seen that an increase in the potassium to nitrogen ratio in grass will increase the winter hardiness of a grass. This gives your lawn a jump start in the early spring by minimizing any winter damage.
Applying a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content can cause a flush of new growth too late in the year. It’s equivalent to drinking a lot of regular coffee before going to bed. Wascher warns, “The nitrogen ‘wakes’ the grass up, forcing the lawn to produce new tender growth at the wrong time of year. This increases the likelihood of winter damage.”
“Young tender growth is very susceptible to cold injury and is likely to be damaged by the first frost. This weakens the lawn and many times the damage goes unnoticed until the following spring when sections of the lawn do not green up. Dead patches, or winter ‘burn’, are the result.”
Avoid winterizers such as 22-3-14, which is a common ratio marketed by some major companies with national distribution. These fertilizers are more appropriate for northern grasses than for southern grasses at this time of year.
Watering is essential during dry weather in the fall. “Whenever the grass wilts and the lawn turns grayish, water it,” reminds Wascher, “Apply one-half inch of water at each application. If you do this, you won’t have to water often, but your lawn should green up much better next spring.”
“I wouldn’t be concerned about weeds at this time other than those you can pull by hand. If you try applying an herbicide in hot weather, you will likely do as much damage to your lawn as to the weeds,” observes Wascher. “Most of the weeds there now will die during the winter. The secret to weed control is focusing on keeping your lawn healthy, not killing the weeds.” A healthy lawn gives little space for weeds to grow.
If you want to use herbicides, rely primarily on pre-emergent herbicides to prevent the weeds from emerging. The timing for a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent cool-season weeds is in October. The timing for preventing most warm-season weeds is early March. Unfortunately, neither one of these times is good for applying fertilizer, so avoid weed-and-feed fertilizers.
The above directions are just a few of the basics. Professional lawn care specialists, like Excel Lawns, know the finer nuances of cultivating spring’s luscious, verdant carpet. Plus, professionals recognize and can treat insect infestation, fungus, and other lawn blight.
The right treatment now gives you a jump start in the spring. Wascher recommends, “Get started now!”
CONTACT: Travis Wascher, Excel Lawns L.L.C. Email: Excellawns@hotmail.com Phone: 727-492-9545
Bookmark
If I take off and nuke my lawn from orbit tonight (and if I didn't have to work tomorrow, I would), it's still going to be a mess next spring. And I'm not sure anything else will get rid of the sandburrs.
/johnny
Sorry for the parade rain, but putting chemical based fertilizers and herbicides, plus water, on a freakin’ lawn is lunacy. My lawn care method is as follows;
“Nature abhors a vacuum. Something will come up. Occasionally mow whatever it is.”
It’s worked everywhere I’ve lived.
I’m still figuring out how to grow any grass in this new hampshire soil.
i still have snow mold from last winter. it appears in perfect circels of dead grass,
my grass is 3 shades of green and some brown.
and the more i work on it, the uglier it gets. if i kill the crabgrass, the clover pops up with a vengeance. it’s one thing after the other.
Well...I’m planning on killing the 10x12 patch of “grass” in our backyard....so I can plant ground cover....I REFUSE to be a slave to GRASS!
I have been overrun with creeping charlie for the past few years.
I thought a mix of water and borax was gonna kill it but now I’m thinking a flamethrower would be more effective!
If you leave the clover alone, it will pave the way for good grass. It is a legume and will fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. A normal grassland cover is a mix of legumes and grasses.
Really? I was thinking of actually pulling it out by hand (over an acre and a half). Guess I’ll have to leave it alone.
I just wonder where it came from actually. My house is just 1 year old. The builder put down that spray on quick grow with only 25% grass and 75% other. I didn’t think clover was in it.
Yeah, I was thinking about wiping my grass out entirely in the springtime and starting over. I don’t think they’ll let me burn here in New England like we could in the South. Burning is not a bad idea.
I don’t think I have creaping charlie. I have patches of grass and a lot of granite and granitic soil.
The ground around my current house was scraped down to subsoil in the process of building. I sowed no seed. First year, mud and weeds, mowed from time to time. Within three years the whole thing was a good mix of bluegrass and white clover, which is the grassland climax mix around here in Missouri. Any soil from your area will be innoculated with seed from the local types of grass and legumes. It lasts for years. Birds carry it in, etc. I was very serious about my first post. Whatever naturally grows in your area will make a “lawn” if you leave it alone and mow occasionally. If crabgrass is all your soil will currently support, so be it. It is an invasive species that tends to cover and heal damaged soil. It will go away someday.
Are you sure you don't have Lawn Moth larvae killing the grass in circles?
Ok, thanks. I can just stick to mowing. It looks ok after I mow. I don’t really enjoy spending so much time on yardwork after a long work week, and I’m here in the house for the long haul.
Forget the winterizer.
Do it for the children.
Damn creaping Charlie, I cant get rid of it either.
Preparing for those chilly Florida winters.....
And, it looked wonderful?
I have never seen perfect circles of snow mold. I have very round dead circles in my Bermuda grass, that the experts tell me are “fairy rings”, a fungus.
One will persist for about one growing season, then the grass will fill in the next year. And it will show up a short distance away. It starts as a small circle, then grows up to about 3’ diameter, then, the next spring, that area recovers, and another one starts.
As this just happens in the Bermuda I have growing in my utility easement, and not in my bluegrass lawn, I have decided not to bother fighting it. So, I have not bothered to try fungicides or any other treatment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.