Dan West Garden Center

September 2006 Newsletter

Welcome back. Last month I said we would talk about mulches this month.  I have changed my mind.  I can do that!  I'm the teacher!  We'll talk about mulches in November which is a more appropriate time.  In October, we'll discuss pruning.  But since September is the time to plant cool season lawn grass (and there was a slight suggestion from the guy that signs my paycheck), I thought it more appropriate (and prudent) to talk about fescue now.

Fescue is a cool season grass.  Its growing season is late September to early June.  Most of that time, it's in full sun because the leaves have dropped for the winter.   During that time, fescue stores food (carbs) that will help it survive the heat and shade of summer.  As the soil temperature rises in late May to early June, fescue growth slows and it's important to not do anything to stimulate growth during that time.  Fertilize fescue only twice a year, once in March and again in late September, with a good quality lawn fertilizer like ferti-lome's Classic Slow Release.  Mow it as infrequently as possible during the summer and as high as possible to leave the most leaf blade for light absorption and food production.  Resist the urge each week to mow the fescue under the trees when you are mowing the sunny areas.  I know it's cooler, but you are cutting off tissue the plant needs and replacing that tissue soon depletes the stored carbs.  Keep it watered throughout the summer.  Fescue needs approximately 2" of rain/water per week...ALL SUMMER.

So, you think you want to grow grass under a tree?  Let's look at what you need to make that happen.  First, take a look at the ground under the tree.  Is anything growing there?  Is it as barren as your garage floor? If nothing is growing there now, we can assume it's not suitable for life... or you would have weeds!  Proper soil preparation is essential for establishing fescue and the more you do up front, the better your success.  Cover the area with an inch of grass clippings (good), leaves (better) or compost (best), apply a new lawn starter fertilizer at label rates and till it 4" deep.  That was easy for me to say, but with all the roots from the tree, it's difficult to do.  You'll do insignificant damage to an established tree's roots by tilling but your body will be days recovering.  An easier (but not much) option is a soil aerator.  It's a gadget that just pulls a plug of soil out and if you repeatedly run this brain jarring machine under your tree, you end up with loose pulverized soil. 

Yes, you with your hand up.

"Isn't there an easier way to prepare the soil?"

Nope...unless you hire someone to do it for you, which is my preference.

"But I just scratch the soil with a rake, sow the seed, water it and it comes up fine!"

O.K., it's late August, how does it look now?

"Well it didn't make it through this drought."

Gee!  Wonder why?

Now that your soil is ready, the second thing to do is plant the grass.  For years, most successful full shade turf areas have been "turf type" fescue blends like 5 Star.  5  Star is a blend of the top rated fescues that are chosen for their disease, drought, traffic and shade tolerance.   This year, we have a new blend - 5 Star Plus.  It still contains 5 turf type fescues (Crossfire II, Dynasty, Blade Runner (Wow! A new spreading tall fescue), Cayenne (extremely heat tolerant) and Greenskeeper) plus 2 new heat tolerant spreading Bluegrass varieties (Thermal Blue and Solar Green).  The overall effect is a denser, tighter turf that exhibits self-repair and minimizes the reseeding previously required.. By weight, 5 Star Plus is 90% Fescue and 10% Bluegrass but because Bluegrass seed is much smaller, the turf is actually 60-65% Fescue and 35-40% Bluegrass.  Plus, with the addition of three "spreading" grass varieties, you don't need as much seed.  The recommended rate for new lawns is 5 - 7 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., the reseeding rate is 3 to 5 lbs., roughly half what we used in the past.  Don't forget to check your pH.  It needs to be around 6.5.  If you need lime, 40 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. will raise the pH about 1/2 point.  Sow your seed and keep it muddy until it's about 1" tall.  Then go to less frequent but thorough watering.  Once established, keep it 3" - 4" tall.

"Excuse me, I have a question. What do you mean by "full shade?"

Full shade is  2 - 3 hours or less of sunlight under deciduous trees.  Deep shade is little or no sunlight under an evergreen canopy such as pines or magnolias.  Forget grass in deep shade, plant groundcovers like Vinca minor or English ivy. 

Now...the soil is loose, the seed is planted and up, you know the fertilizer, water and mowing program, we're good to go, right?  Not quite!  What's to keep the soil from returning to a barren wasteland as your organic matter decomposes?  Everybody focuses on feeding the grass, but not the soil, and the soil needs attention also.  Did you know...healthy soil contains as many as 1 billion microbes per gram of soil?  An acre of "healthy soil" contains about 130 lbs. of algae and protozoa, about 900 lbs. of assorted insects, about 900 lbs. of earthworms and nearly 2000 lbs. of bacteria and fungi.  We want to keep all this "life" healthy, so I want you to do three things.  One, 3 or 4 times a year, add a bio-stimulant like Natural Guard Soil Activator.  This product contains humates and 17 trace elements.  Humates do a number of things for soil.  They speed composting of organic matter,  help stimulate seed germination and viability, increase microbial activity, make nutrients more readily available to plants, help hold nutrients and moisture in the soil and they help improve soil aeration.  Two, apply Ironite once in late June.  This will not stimulate growth, but supplies iron and other micro-nutrients to help the grass through the summer and three, spray the grass a couple of times each summer (and 30 days after seeding) with liquid cow manure.

"But you said not to fertilize in the summer!"

Yes I did! However, liquid cow manure products like Bov-a-mura have a very small amount of nitrogen and we have found that just a little bit helps aid in photosynthesis and it serves as a bio-activator for microbes also, which helps the soil and the plant. DON'T use a traditional lawn fertilizer in the summer on fescue, you will damage it.

Any more questions?

"Yes.  Can I overseed my sunny areas in the fall so my whole yard is green, not just under the trees?"

Yes you can, but you may have to overseed every year.  The stress of summer mowing and fertilizer may damage it each summer and many of the herbicides we use on warm season grasses will stress or kill cool season grasses.  Also, overseeding opens up your turf, so as it dies, weed seed has a path to the soil, so expect more weeds.  And since you are seeding each year, it makes it impossible to be on a year round pre-emerge herbicide program.  If you are willing to deal with a few more weeds, then it's fine to overseed.

"Is September the only time to plant cool season grasses?"

We have a window in the spring when soil and air temperatures are right to reseed. Weather permitting, late February, early March until early April.  Whether or not it survives the summer depends on when you plant it, how well it gets established before it turns off hot and how well you follow my instructions. Yes sir, in the yellow shirt.

"What weed killers to you recommend for fescue?"

For broadleaf weeds like dandelions, wild onions, henbit, wild violets and chickweed use Weed Free Zone.  This is a combination of  four herbicides, one of which is Carfentrazone, a new and very effective broadleaf weed killer. For crabgrass, goosegrass, wild barley and foxtail use Calcium methanearsonate (Ortho Crabgrass Killer).  For nutsedge (nutgrass), use SedgeHammer.

"Back to this humate stuff.  If it works on grass, will it work in my flower beds and how quickly will I see results?"

All plants and soils will benefit by adding humates and bio-activators but building soil takes time. Results tomorrow? No.  Over the next few months to a year.  Most definitely!

DAN WEST GARDEN CENTERS

4763 POPLAR            12061 HWY 64

MEMPHIS, TN 38117    EADS, TN 38028

901-767-6743            901-867-2283

KENNETH MABRY - MANAGER          JIM CROWDER - MANAGER