You hear all sorts of things about how to improve your lawn. It can be difficult to separate the good advice from the bad. But you know the old saying… Don't believe everything you hear. We've listed below a few commonly held ideas that we know to be false.
IF I CUT THE GRASS SHORT, I WON'T HAVE TO MOW NEXT WEEK! This is a big NO-NO on several accounts. First of all, you should not cut more than 1/3 of the blade height off at one mowing. Mowing too much at one time stresses the plant and leaves it more susceptible to disease. Secondly, the blades of the grass produce oxygen and make food. Cutting the blades short reduces the plant's ability to provide for itself and establish a healthy root system. Thirdly, taller turf will help to crowd out weeds. If the weeds cannot get the sun and nutrients they need, they cannot grow. You don't want the blades too long, though, as this can stop water and sunlight from reaching the whole surface area of the blade and create runoff. So what's the ideal height? For tall fescue, we mow to around 3 ¾ inches.
I NEED TO WATER EVERYDAY FOR BEST RESULTS. Grass does not need as much water as most people think. During warm weather, as little as 1 inch of water a week is sufficient to keep your turf happy. In fact, watering too often promotes shallow root systems, whereas deep and infrequent watering encourages deep root growth because the water has more time to soak farther into the soil, thereby encouraging the roots to grow deeper. So how much and how often do you need to water to get an inch a week? It's hard to say as different watering methods yield different results. (Irrigation systems may disburse more water than a light shower or manual sprinkler.) An easy, cost effective method to measure your water output is to draw a line on an empty tuna or cat food can at the one inch mark. This will give you a surefire way to know how much water you're getting from your methods. Remember deep and infrequent watering is best. Timing is important too. Ideally, you should water your lawn during the hours when the lawn is wet from dew. If turf stays wet for more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period, you increase the likelihood of fungal disease.
MORE IS BETTER… While this may be true for money and desserts, it is NOT true for your lawn. Applying more than the recommended dosages of fertilizer, weed and feed, pre-emergent, and other chemicals can have the opposite effect to what you expect. RULE TO LIVE BY: Follow the directions on the package. They aren't there for nothing.
THERE ARE BARE SPOTS IN MY FESCUE. I"LL JUST THROW SOME SEED DOWN THIS SPRING WHEN THE WEATHER STARTS TO WARM UP. Stop! This hardly ever works… Fescue is a cool season grass and therefore its optimum growing season is the cooler months. You have to give the roots an opportunity to become established before the hot summer temperatures arrive. Otherwise the new growth is not going to survive the stress created by 90 temperatures. By overseeding in the fall, the roots have months to become established before the hot weather arrives. Another issue that will prevent growth: pre-emergent. Know what it does. Pre-emergent creates a barrier to kill weeds as they germinate (and this will include fescue!) Since pre-emergent is put down in the spring, fescue turf needs to be seeded (or overseeded) in the fall so that the seed has germinated before the pre-emergent is put down.
I'LL SAVE MONEY AND TIME IF I COMBINE MY APPLICATIONS WITH A WEED AND FEED PRODUCT. Actually, the herbicides in weed and feed products can be deadly to new seedlings. Newly planted grass cannot handle the stress of chemicals. It's best to use turf fertilizer to spur growth in your lawn and a pre-emergent to control crabgrass. This is particularly true if your turf was planted last fall. We recommend spot spraying of broadleaf weeds for the best results.
This is just a small sampling of false ideas that we see or hear from clients. Here's hoping a little education goes a long way in helping to establish beautiful, healthy lawns.
Next week… Planting Myths Busted! Happy Growing,
The AA Tex Lawn Team
