Your lawn may be the envy of the neighborhood, but many people find that along the way, what they hoped would be the emerald colored carpet leading to their home poses some challenges to their gardening skill. Many lawn problems can be prevented with good cultural practices. Here are the Top 10 things you can do to maintain and improve the health of your lawn:
1. Choose the right turf. Many of our warm season turfs, such as hybrid Bermuda, zoysia, and centipede are fairly drought tolerant and though they may appear listless and feel a little crunchy under your feet during dry weather, they will likely recover with a little rainfall. The most drought tolerant turf, commonly grown in Georgia, is hybrid Bermuda and the least drought tolerant is tall fescue. Not that drought is a problem this year!
2. Mow your lawn at the proper height and frequency. Different turfgrasses require different mowing heights: Mow hybrid Bermuda at 0.5-1.5 inches every three to four days. Mow centipede at 1 to 2 inches every five to ten days. Mow zoysia at 0.75 to 2 inches every three to seven days. Mow common Bermuda at 1 to 2 inches every five to seven days. Mow tall fescue at 2 to 3 inches every five to seven days. Mowing heights and frequencies can change, of course, depending on fertilization and soil moisture. But mowing at the wrong height can harm the turf's rooting, which in turn affects how the shoots grow and take up water.
3. Let the clips fall where they may. Returning clippings to the turf does not build up harmful thatch. Clippings increase the soil organic matter, making it easier for water to move into the soil and increasing water and nutrient retention. Soil microbes efficiently break down the clippings creating organic matter. This decomposition process can reduce turf nitrogen needs by 25 percent. Letting the clippings fall back to the lawn also keeps them out of storm water systems or surface waters. Clippings can clog systems and pollute water sources. If the clippings need to be bagged, try composting and using them as a soil conditioner or mulch.
4. Don’t guess, soil test! When you begin your yearly fertilization program, take a soil sample to your local county extension office. For a small fee, they can tell you your soil pH and how to adjust it if needed, as well as give you specific recommendations for the amount of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (N,P,K are represented by the three numbers on fertilizer bags) that you need to apply and when. If your soil pH is too low or too high, nutrients are not available to your grass, no matter how much money you spend on fertilizer! Putting down too much or too little fertilizer is a costly mistake many homeowners make and the impact can often be felt in our local waterways, when excessive fertilizer runs off into stormwater drains and creeks.
5. Scout your lawn regularly for pests. Take a walk around your yard every few days and look for potential weed, insect or disease problems. Walking the yard regularly gives you a sense of what is normal and when something seems unusual this “scouting” can alert you to potential problems early, when they are easier to correct.
6. Control weeds early. Weeds are much easier to control when they are not mature. A weed that has gone to flower or seed is very mature and has potentially already left seeds for next year’s crop. When you spot a weed in your lawn, identify it properly and look for a control product that will eliminate that particular weed safely on your lawn. If you have had a weed problem consistently in the past, consider using a spring or fall pre-emergent weed control product for control of the pest.
7. Control lawn injuring insects. Watch your lawn carefully for pests like white grubs. A few grubs may not be a problem, but if you find a large number of grubs in a small area of lawn and notice damage to your turf, control may be necessary. Identify the grub and apply insecticides labeled for the particular insect you need to control.
8. Prevent lawn diseases. Diseases of lawns are common when conditions for their development exist. Disease development requires three ingredients: A host (your lawn), a pathogen (many of which live in our soils) and the right environmental condition (usually this means adequate moisture and the right temperatures). The one ingredient which you have the most control over is the environmental condition. You control the amount of fertilizer you put on your lawn, the mowing height of your lawn and in some cases you can control the water available to your lawn (just not so much right now). If you follow the cultural recommendations for your lawn type you are doing a lot to prevent lawn diseases. Once diseases have set in, many times improving your cultural practices can help get the lawn back to its healthy state.
9. Water correctly. Many homeowners use their irrigation systems to water their lawns, but do not really know how much water they are putting on the lawn. Really, most turf needs about 1 inch of water per week and the best way for established lawns to get this water is all at once. If we get an inch of rain, then there is no need to water. So, if you are currently hand watering your lawn or irrigating, you can stop until the rainfall patterns change! When you do water you should consider measuring how much water you can put out over a given area in that 25 minute time period. Watering lightly and infrequently can result in poorly rooted turf that is more susceptible to problems. Also, wetting the turf to frequently, can result in increased disease risk.
10. Grow turf in areas that have the right light conditions. Grass doesn’t grow in the forest. And the reason grass doesn’t grow in the forest is that trees out-compete it for light and for water and nutrients. Turfgrasses perform better in full sun, but some of our common turfgrasses can tolerate a little more shade than others. The one common north Georgia turfgrass that can handle some amount of shade is tall fescue. If you have a truly shady area in your yard where you have had a difficult time establishing turf, consider turning that area into a shade garden and save yourself the stress of turf problems caused by low light conditions!
For more information on this and other gardening topics contact University of Georgia Cooperative Extension in Paulding County at uge2223@uga.edu or 770-443-7616 or find us on the web at www.ugaextension.com/paulding.
