Late Spring Lawn Update
The strange weather these past two months has left our lawns with some rather interesting problems. Many lawns are still yellow and have not come out of dormancy. This is caused from either not applying a fertilizer or not having regular watering. Some lawns are compacted so the roots can’t breathe properly. Short or stunted growth is a sure sign aeration is needed.
There are several types of grass that have not come out of dormancy at all, including bent grass and buffalo grass. These grasses are normally greening up by this time, but because of the cooler weather they are still dormant. This will change rapidly as the temperatures warm up and stabilize a bit.
Lawn mites are still active as well because of the weather. For those who start to think “but we just had all that snow” please remember – we live in a desert and once the snow is gone, the lawn dries up within 24-48 hours. Areas that melted off sooner are the areas mites hit, so there is going to be mite damage.
Lawn diseases, such as Ascochyta, are just ramping up. After the high humidity and rain, followed by warmer temperatures and watering restrictions, diseases will be on the verge of going nuts in the next couple of weeks. Tracks in the lawn are caused by the fungus Ascochyta and need more water, regular mowing (and picking up the clippings), along with washing the underside of the mower.
Necrotic Ring Spot (NRS) is just starting to become active, and there will be fresh damage to some lawns, but soil temperatures are still not warm enough to apply fungicide treatments. Soil temperatures need to be between 55 and 65 degrees for these expensive fungicide treatments to work. We are still a couple of weeks out before we hit those soil temperatures.
Finally, with the recent moisture and the temperatures warming up, grubs and other common lawn insects will be coming out in force really soon. Anyone who suspects insect damage should contact us ASAP. If we can get a phone authorization to do insect control, we can treat the problem before the damage gets too bad.
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