Plant lawn now
Amy Jordan, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, September 3, 2009
September is the best time to plant a cool season lawn, such as tall fescue.
While this turfgrass could be planted through early October, planting the seed now allows it to become more established before winter sets in, typically resulting in a better stand of grass going into spring.
Before starting your early fall lawn work, consider what needs to be done. Overseeding is a process that involves planting grass seed in an existing lawn that has declined. If 20 percent to 40 percent of the lawn is weeds or bare ground, consider this option. This may be because of a variety of factors such as low soil fertility, drought and heat, insect damage, poor mowing practices, disease, moderate soil compaction, or increasing shade and competition from growing trees.
Establishing a new lawn would be necessary if new construction was done and no lawn exists, if more than 50 percent of the lawn is weeds or bare ground or if the soil is severely compacted. This process involves killing all existing vegetation, tilling the soil while working in soil amendments, grading and reseeding.
Before beginning work on a lawn, consider the cause or causes of decline. For instance, if the lawn is thinning because of weed pressure, consider improving cultural practices, like mowing at 3 to 3 1/2 inches to shade the soil surface preventing weed seed germination; fertilizing in the fall and watering as needed. Knowing the cause for lawn failure can also make you aware of changes in cultural practices such as mowing, watering and fertilizing that may be necessary.
Early fall is the best time of year for lawn renovation because environmental conditions are favorable and weed competition is much lower than in spring. Also, the soil temperatures are warmer than in the spring, resulting in more rapid germination of seed.
Lawns are intended to meet a range of expectations, based on input levels of time and expense as well as environmental conditions. Consider these factors when selecting the type of turfgrass to plant.
For large lawns that will receive little maintenance in terms of watering, fertilizing and mowing, consider a tougher, less attractive variety of tall fescue such as Kentucky 31. This is a forage-type tall fescue that has a thicker blade and bunchier growth habit but higher drought and disease tolerance. This can be a less expensive seed that contains a higher percentage of weed seed (also represented as “other crop” seed).
If you are looking for a high-quality lawn that you are willing to spend more time maintaining, consider a turf type tall fescue blend. These varieties are bred to green up quicker in the spring, hold a richer color, have a smoother texture and finer leaf blade. A blend includes multiple varieties and capitalizes on the strengths of each variety while minimizing the weaknesses.
These blends typically have very little weed seed. Each bag of seed will contain a label showing the contents of the bag by percentage. It is possible to find products containing less than .001 percent other crop or weed seed. Some seed may have as much as 3 percent other crop seed and .10 percent weed seed. You can see this is considerably higher than the turf type blends. Balance the pros and cons of each type when choosing the right seed for you.
Use the appropriate seeding rate, which is 3-4 pounds for overseeding or 6-8 pounds per 1,000 square feet if starting from scratch. Be sure there is good seed-soil contact by raking the seedbed lightly. Keep the seedbed moist until the seed germinates, then slowly back off the watering frequency. Traffic and play on a newly renovated lawn should be avoided for the first several weeks after seedlings emerge.
• Amy Jordan is a horticulturist with K-State Research and Extension in Lyon County.