The general rule for lawn care….. fall for seeding and lawn renovation, springtime is for weed control
Autumn Lawn Care
Reseeding and Lawn Renovation
No matter how beautiful your lawn is it will greatly benefit from autumn reseeding. All plants including grass have a certain life span. As the older grass dies away it leaves spots where weeds can take hold next spring. The best way to avoid that is with thick lush growth. Since we cut our lawns often, they are not able to reseed themselves.
This year the cool wet spring allowed fungus to take hold and kill large areas of lawns. That was followed by a hotter than normal summer. These conditions left many lawns with large dead patches and in need of ‘renovation’.
Thatch is dead grass that sits on the top of the soil at the base of the blades of grass. Although a small amount is not a problem, a large build up of thatch should be removed. There are rental thatching machines that make this task much easier. In order for the seed to germinate it must make contact with the soil for the roots to take hold. Thatching, raking and aerating will greatly improve your success level.
September and early October is the perfect time to reseed or renovate your lawn. As the summer heat fades weeds and wildflowers begin to wade, dying back in the fields and on our lawns. This will give your grass seed plenty of space to germinate and grow without competition for sunlight, water and nutrients. The cooler weather will enable to young grass to become established before the frost sets in.
Grass seeds do like to be kept moist so a light watering when it is dry will be appreciated. Many people cover the grass seeds with ‘salt hay’. Salt hay looks like straw but it’s weed seeds need salt water so they do not germinate on fresh water lawns.
Established lawns require one inch of water a week. More water than that is harmful, producing weak root systems and encouraging fungus and diseases. Many folks mistakenly water late in the day or early evening. This practice allows water to sit on the lawn overnight promoting disease and fungus.
The best watering practice to do it early in the morning so the water has time to be absorbed or evaporate before evening.
September seeding will also give your young grass a few weeks to sprout before the leaves fall, blocking the greatly needed sunlight.
There is far too much information to give in this article, from how and when to thatch, to seed selection.
Luckily for us ‘Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County’ will supply this information free of cost.
The Helpline office also sells Soil Test Kits. This $20 kit will give you valuable information on your soil and how to improve it. Without the proper Ph grass as well as other plants are not able to utilize the minerals and nutrients they require for healthy growth.
Call before going to the office in Westfield to make sure someone is there to help you. Heads up… Rutgers accepts cash or checks only, no credit cards. You can call the Garden Helpline at 908-654-9852 or write to them at Mastergardeners@ucnj.org
Happy Autumn,
James
