Mountain Living - April 2015
Lawns & Fertilizer ... and Butterflies and Hummingbirds too!
This month I was going to write about the Monarch Butterfly, an insect that I have become rather fascinated with over the years and one that is vital to our agricultural and horticultural industries, but is rapidly shrinking in numbers in our area. However, I received several calls this month in the extension office plant clinic regarding lawns and fertilizers, so I will save the Monarch for another day and talk a little about lawns in our area.
When the weather in the mountains transitions from winter to spring, people get motivated to do something to hasten along the greening of their lawns. All too often it is off to the big box stores to buy whatever fertilizer is on sale and dump it on the lawn and hope for the best. This is probably one of the worst things to do to encourage a green, healthy lawn. We really need to understand what is going on in our lawns before we can develop a plan to assist it. First and foremost is to do a soil test (available at the extension office) to find out specific information on pH levels and the three basic chemical elements of the soil. Most soils in our area are clay loam, acidic in nature, and are in need of some amendments to provide a proper growing medium. A soil test will tell us what the pH level is and how much lime is needed to “sweeten” and bring it up to ideal lawn growing conditions. For turf grasses in our area a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 is optimum for proper nutrient availability. The soil test will also indicate how much nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) is needed in the soil for proper nutrients. These are the 3 numbers on every fertilizer bag, so that a 100 pound bag of 10-18-16 has 10 pounds of nitrogen, 18 pounds of phosphorus, and 16 pounds of potassium. The point is: apply only the needed nutrients and in the proper proportions, based on the results of the soil test. All too often too much nitrogen is applied to bring about a quick greening only to later damage the turf with too much of this chemical when warmer weather sets in.
In our area, cool season grasses tend to perform the best. They grow best in the spring and fall, are less active in the summer, but still maintain a nice color just about all year long. Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue, and ryegrass are examples of cool season grasses. Warm season grasses grow best in the summer and go dormant after the first frost. Bermuda, zoysia, and St. Augustine are examples of warm season grasses. Fall is the ideal time to plant or over seed a cool season turf, but seeding can be done in the spring so long as a crab grass pre-emergent is not applied at the time of seeding as any pre-emergent will cause all seeds, including the good grass seeds, not to germinate. Also remember that the soil temperature needs to be at least 60 degrees for proper seed germination. Sufficient water after seeding is necessary to cause germination and proper root growth and should be reduced after the shoots are 1” to 2”. Sunshine should be at least 6 hours per day.
My experience has been that establishing and maintaining a beautiful turf is part science and part art. Given a little preparation and proper timing, the results can be most rewarding.
That’s all for now.
Mac
p.s. Don’t forget to clean and put out your hummingbird feeders this month. The scout hummers will be back by April 15!
