5 Things You Should be doing for Summer Lawn Survival

Times can get a little hectic in the summer. Lots of things on your mind with summer vacations, holidays and kids out of school. Don't forget about the hard work you put into the lawn this spring, so here are 5 reminders to ensure your lawn's summer survival.

1. Summer weed pressure. Now is the time those ugly summer weeds will move into the lawn. Walk around your lawn and identify your weeds to determine your mode of control. Dandelions, clover, maple and elm sprouts along with other broadleaf weeds can be controlled with spot spraying using Speedzone or a granular application of Loveland Weed and Feed. If your lawn has a mix of broadleaf weeds and crabgrass, Uncle’s Q-bomb will control both weed types in one simple spray solution. Summer time is also the season for nutgrass invasions. Typically showing up in areas with poor drainage, nutgrass or yellow nutsedge can be a little more difficult to control. Uncle’s Nut Buster will control nutgrass. Nutgrass is a little slower to react while Nut Buster is being absorbed deep into the nutlets. Nutgrass tops will start to yellow and fade in 7-10 days.

2. Summer lawn food. If it’s been more than a month since you fed the lawn, it may be time to give it a little summer boost. Uncle's Green Love  the ideal summer lawn fertilizer. Slow release formula containing iron, will not burn plants, and will green up your lawn fast and not make it grow six inches a week. Providing iron will keep grass deep dark green for a long time. Green Love contains organically complex iron and won't discolor concrete.

3. Summer Critter Gitters. Summer is for more family time on the patio and in the yard. Control chiggers, ticks, fleas and ants using liquid Cyanora around the lawn and spraying up onto the house will help to control a broad spectrum of biting insects. If you have butterfly gardens nearby, use granular Critter Gitter on the lawn and water it in. This will help to prevent any overspray into the flower bed because not all bugs are bad. 

July is also the time to apply Long Lasting Grub Control into the lawn. Absorbed by the roots of the grass plant, Long Lasting Grub Control will protect your lawn from damaging white grubs during their hatch this fall. Mama and Papa June bug are making babies now and soon those eggs will hatch into hungry baby grubs. Baby grubs are voracious and feed on yummy grass roots.

4. Summer Turf Fungus. Frequent night time rains and high humidity this summer create ideal situations for brown patch and other turf diseases. Early application of Fungus Fighter is your best defense against disease, but sometimes it gets missed and you will need a curative application. Fungus Fighter will not turn a brown lawn green, but it will keep the disease in check, preventing it from spreading. Remember, you will need to reapply Fungus Fighter about every 21-28 days to maintain control. 

5. Shade Grass. In those established lawns with heavy shade, summer months are the time to deep water those areas. Big trees will use up much-needed water from your soil, leaving less water for your grass. Re-seeding shaded areas with additional Premium Shade Mix will help fight weed pressure.

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Today is May Day. Is it too late to over seed my yard?

Today’s lawn problem needs attention today. Waiting for August merely is not acceptable. Killing dandelions and henbit today will leave bare areas for crabgrass to move in this summer and when the crabgrass dies this winter, the dandelions and henbit move back in for the spring. It’s a vicious cycle, and the only thing that will stop the cycle is to keep grass growing in those bare spots. No bare spots no weeds. 

Longer daylight hours, and gradually warming soil temperatures have started to green up area lawns and golf courses. Hazy brown turf is turning bright green as new grass shoots pop out of the ground in response to the first spring fertilizer treatment.

Thin areas and bare spots show up quickly as the rest of the lawn begins to turn green. Winter injury to newly seeded areas is apparent. Dead crabgrass and foxtail form brown patches and bare spots in the otherwise green turf. Heavily shaded areas look particularly forlorn and muddy.

Question of the week. Can I seed my lawn today? The answer is almost always, YES! Grass Pad customers have been successful in seeding twelve months of the year. Every year and every season brings a new challenge when it comes to overseeding, and if you have reasonable expectations when you seed your lawn in May, you can be successful.

Reasonable expectations. If the coming summer is as wet as the last three, then there is an excellent chance the majority of your spring seeding will survive the summer with routine watering. If the weather pattern changes and we get high heat, blowing wind and no rainfall for extended periods, even the most drought tolerant grass seed will have a tough time surviving without a mature root system.

The good news is that Mother Nature wants to give you some help in greening up your lawn and filling in those unsightly bare spots. Grass plants have a biological clock and will begin to sprout and fill as the weather warms. The bad news is that ordinary lawn weeds will also start as fast

Weed control problems can create an interruption in spring seeding. But patience and timing will help guaranteed success. If broadleaf weeds are a severe problem, treat before starting to seed. Liquid weed control products containing Trimec or Speedzone do an excellent job for spot treatment or granular Loveland Weed and Feed for large areas.

Wait five days after broadleaf weed treatments and then begin your seeding program. Although some seed may be lost by seeding so quickly, the higher risk is summer’s approaching hot weather.

Eliminate crabgrass when overseeding in early May by applying Tupersan, a seed safe pre-emergent, and Golf Course Starter the same day. Once the seed has germinated and has grown tall enough to have been mowed twice, apply Prevent for season-long crabgrass control.

How long do I wait to seed after applying Prevent? Overseeding is not an option after you have applied Prevent. However, you can be successful seeding small bare spot areas using Uncle's Seed Sandwich technique, using a layer of PrimeraFC as an insulator above the Prevent barrier.