The three keys to a great lawn are Lawn Care Applications, Maintenance, and Environmental Conditions. Each of these are equally important.
Great lawns are not a result of getting one, or even two, of the three correct.
Great lawns are equally the result of all three.
Today we will cover the first, Lawn Care Applications. In May, we will cover how proper Maintenance impacts your lawn and visit about how the Environmental impacts your lawn in June.
Weed Control Applications
Weed control and fertilizer work hand-in-hand to produce a great lawn. Healthy, growing turf is the best prevention for weeds. Common weed problems are less in an actively growing, fertilized, watered and maintained turf.
Correct Timing of Weed Control Applications is Important
The life cycle of the weed is important when it comes to prevention and control. Annual weeds germinate from seed, grow and flower (produce seed) all within one year. Perennial weeds continue to grow year after year increasing in both size and root.
Secondly, weeds are either broadleaf or grassy. Broadleaf weeds are the easiest to spot because they look very different from grass. They have a stem with leaves attached.
Grassy weeds are actually undesired grass that grows as one single leaf. Many are similar to turf grass and often not as noticeable when they are small, but destroy the aesthetics of a lawn as they mature.
The third dynamic with weeds — winter weeds and summer weeds.
With annual weeds, there is a correct time to prevent and with perennial weeds, there is a best time to control. While annual weeds are easy to prevent, they are difficult to control when mature. Lawns that did not receive a fall pre-emergent are now littered with mature winter annual weeds that are slow to respond to Lawn Care Applications.
Winter annuals are prevented with a pre-emergent herbicide in the fall. The same is true for summer annuals, they are easy to prevent when a pre-emergent herbicide is applied in the spring. The key to both is timing. The pre-emergent must be applied before the weeds germinate.
To prevent summer annual weeds, an application must be made before soil temperatures reach 55 degrees for three consecutive days (typically in mid-March). This spring, in central Oklahoma we had our first three consecutive days with soil temps at or above 55 degrees from March 13th to 15th.
To prevent winter annual weeds, an application must be made before the first cool spell occurs in late September to early October.
Effective prevention of annual weeds is enhanced when a second pre-emergent application is made 30-60 days after the first application. Pre-emergent herbicides have a life. Defending on conditions, they will last only 60 to 120 days. The second application creates a season-long barrier of weed prevention.
The Proactive Plan – Timely Pre-emergent Herbicide Applications
Hall | Stewart Lawn Care Programs include 4 pre-emergent herbicide applications per year:
· Late Winter - January to early March
· Spring – Mid March through April
· Early Fall – Late August through September
· Late Fall – October through November.
Post Emergent Weed Control Takes Persistence
The key to controlling perennial weeds and mature annual weeds is applying the right herbicide at the right time and the willingness to make follow-up applications when required.
Fall (October-November) is the best time to control winter broadleaf weeds when they are small and actively growing. Spring (April-May) is the best time to control summer broadleaf weeds.
Post-emergent weed control is always more difficult when the weed is mature and flowering. Herbicides work by translocating through the plant. When a weed is actively growing, it absorbs the product quickly. Once the weed starts to flower (seed), it slows the growth and focuses on reproduction. During this stage, control is much slower.
A key to successful control of existing weeds is re-treatment if needed 14 days after an application. For this reason, Hall | Stewart Lawn Care Programs include follow-up visits when needed to gain control of difficult weeds.
Difficult to control weeds, such as nutsedge, violets, geraniums to name a few, take time to gain 100% control. Single applications are not successful. Persistence is the key.
Nutsedge is one of the difficult to control weeds that often requires additional treatments.
Fertilizer Applications
A healthy, properly fertilized, dense turfgrass can resist weed invasion and is able to better tolerate heat, cold, drought, and wear.
The three key ingredients in fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. All three are needed by your turf, but nitrogen is needed the most. Nitrogen gives a lawn the best quality of color and density, but it is void in our soils. Therefore, it needs to be added the most.
Phosphorus and potassium are required for healthy turf growth, but because they are present in our soil they do not need to be replaced as much.
Both bermuda and fescue are at their best when they receive a total of 5 lbs. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft during the growing season spaced out over 4-5 applications.
Bermuda, being a warm-season grass, needs feed the most during the summer. The first application should be made within 2 to 6 weeks of spring green-up. An application before the lawn has come out of dormancy is a waste of product and does not benefit the turf. The last application should be made by the end of September. Heavy fall fertilizer in an attempt to force growth and color deep into the fall can contribute to spring dead spot.
Fescue, a cool-season turf requires a completely different schedule and thought process. Cool-season grass is at its peak in the spring and fall. During the summer, growth slows and the plant actually enters a period of semi-dormancy even though it never actually loses all its color.
Cool-season turf needs fertilizer between the first of March and the end of May. This creates a strong and healthy turf with the best opportunity of surviving the summer heat. High nitrogen fertilizer June through August can damage fescue. In the fall, September through November, resume fertilizer applications.
Fertilizing fescue in the summer will always lead to disappointment.
Weed control and fertilizer are not a panacea. Both will be ineffective without the other two pieces: proper maintenance and the right environmental conditions.
We look forward to exploring the impact of maintenance and the environment on your lawn in May and June.
If you are not currently subscribing to a Hall | Stewart Lawn Care Program and have struggled with getting the critical timing right on your lawn, we would enjoy visiting with you.
If you are a Hall | Stewart customer, we look forward to every opportunity to be on your lawn.
Lorne Hall
Hall | Stewart Lawn + Landscape
(405)367-3873