Cooler weather and fall activities bring an end to your lawn maintenance chores. While you’ll soon be stopping all mowing of your lawn, there are still some chores to do that will ensure a good transition of your lawn into winter months and a stronger lawn come next spring.
You can (and should) treat for weeds. One of the more difficult ones that I hear folks complain about recently is Virginia Buttonweed. This creeping perennial lays low, making knotted stems and a white flower that appears as this time of year. It is most difficult to control.
Treatment of it needs to be with a stout plan. Don’t even try a weed and feed product. Go for something with Atrazine. There are lots of products on the shelves at lots of stores that contain this active ingredient. It is very safe to use on our most common turf grass, St. Augustine. If you have a Bermuda lawn, go for a 2,4-D product or even really stout product such as MSM (available at many feed stores).
The cooler weather also allows many fungal diseases that got their start in the spring, struggled in the summer, to then run amuck in the fall. If you have a full blown problem, I recommend a product called F-Stop. To prevent fungal disease problems in your yard, quit spoiling it.
When you over-fertilize and over-water lawns, you spoil it and set it up for problems. Water lawns only once, maybe twice, each week. And when you do water, water deeply to encourage deeper roots and allow the top inch to dry out, thus hampering any fungal spores.
I’ve had a number of folks ask if they should water during the winter months. It’s true that your lawn and shrubs and other perennials need moisture year-round, but our climate typically provides enough moisture in our winter not to water.
Fall fertilizer applications are a good idea. That said, I venture that most fall applications are done too late with the wrong kind of fertilizer. Consider that in less than 60 days, we have better than a 50% chance to have our first frost. Giving your lawn a good dose of “wake up and grow” fertilizer when it’s getting ready for a winter slumber doesn’t make much sense to me.
Yes, a fall application in September would have made sense. Or simply using a fertilizer high in phosphorous or potassium would be good. Not a heavy dose of a high nitrogen (the first number on the bag).
If you have a Bermuda lawn, feel free to give it 2-3 lbs. of 0-0-60 per 1000 sq. ft. That straight potash fertilizer applied in the fall is a secret of good hay growers. Bermudagrass loves potash (another name for potassium) and it won’t stimulate vegetative growth or fungal problems.
If you need to add lime, add lime now to your lawns. Lime helps to neutralize the pH in our commonly acidic soils. Lime isn’t really a fertilizer although it does contain Calcium, a secondary nutrient for plants. Lime’s purpose is to provide a better environment for the plants to grow. One of its better attributes is that it allows nutrients to be more available.
It may be hard for us to understand how the complex environment of soil works. Suffice it to say that fertilizer applied to a very acidic soil may never be avaialbe to the plants it was intended to feed. In the chemistry of soils, some nutrients are much more available in a more neutral pH environment.
So does everyone need to lime? Not at all! Who does? I don’t have a clue. But with $10 spent on a soil test, anyone and everyone can find out exactly how much lime they’ll need to apply. Look up SFA soils lab on your computer’s search engine and download the form you’ll need. If you just want to pick one up, our office (located next the Angelina County Farmers Market) and some feed stores have soil testing forms.
I trust you’ll enjoy this transitional season and prepare (already) for a lush lawn in spring 2017!
