Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Unfortunately, we have hit a dry spell throughout the last six weeks here in the Valley. Hopefully we get some rain in the next few weeks as we near the end of the growing season.
When you clean up the garden, it is a good idea to plant a cover crop. Winter wheat is ideal for our area. Broadcast three to four pounds per 1,000 square feet in the garden. Cover crops increase soil fertility by adding organic matter, controlling soil erosion, choking out weeds, scavenging nitrogen and limiting the spread of certain diseases and insects in the soil.
This week I want to talk about fall lawn care. Yes, grass growth has slowed due to lack of rain. Regardless, September is the ideal time for almost all lawn care work. This is an optimal month to perform seeding, sodding, aerating, dethatching, fertilizing and broadleaf weed control.
I cannot emphasize enough to keep those mower deck cutting heights at least 3 inches or higher. Raise cutting heights and making sure that pH and nutrient levels are appropriate (as indicated by soil tests) will prepare your lawn to enter winter dormancy as healthy as possible.
Now is a great time for lawn aeration. This allows oxygen to get to the roots and also helps the flow of fertilizers, nutrients and water. Aeration helps break up thatch and it loosens tight, compacted soils. Once a year or every other year should be sufficient for a well-established lawn that has little foot traffic.
Although autumn marks the end of the growing season, it is a great time to improve the soil with amendments (lime, fertilizer, compost). A common question from many homeowners is when is the best time to apply lime. Fall is probably the most ideal because it allows time for soil reactions to take place that are necessary to realize benefits.
Fall is also a great time to soil test. Fall and winter months are ideal periods to address soil pH limitations in particular. Conduct a soil test at least every three years to ensure that pH and nutrient levels are appropriate. Contact the WVU Extension Office for guidance in proper sampling methods. Soil testing is a free service in West Virginia offered by the WVU Soils Lab in Morgantown.
Many people treat for broadleaf weeds in the spring, but fall is the best time to control these perennial weeds. Right now, weeds are sending food and nutrients from their foliage directly into the roots for winter preparation. An application of a broadleaf herbicide is much more effective this time of year. If you choose to use a herbicide, always follow product directions carefully.
Fall is a great time to fertilize and lime cool-season turfgrasses including bluegrasses, fescues and ryegrasses. Cooling temperatures and shorter days provide ideal conditions to maximize root growth and food storage.
Spring fertilization stimulates leaf growth, but fall fertilization stimulates root growth, which enhances nutrient storage for next spring. If you prefer a very vigorous, dark green lawn, you should fertilize in April, now in mid-September and then again in late October or early November.
When selecting fertilizers, three numbers separated by dashes on fertilizer labels (10-10-10) are the fertilizer’s guaranteed analysis and represent the percentages by weight of nitrogen, phosphate and potash. Hence, a 50-pound bag of 10-10-10 contains 5 pounds each of nitrogen, phosphate and potash (10% of 50 = 5 pounds). Yes, a 100-pound bag has 10 pounds but that would be a pretty heavy bag of fertilizer to lug around.
Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for maintaining quality turfgrass. It improves the density and color. Phosphorus is important when establishing a new lawn from seed. Phosphorus applications also treat nutrient deficiencies in home lawns.
You may not be deficient, especially if your clippings are left on the lawn after mowing. Potassium is an important nutrient to help plants mitigate the effects of drought stress and improve the winter hardiness of your lawn.
This is why it is so important to test the soil; then you can apply the nutrients it is lacking. Homeowners may be surprised by the high levels of nutrients in their yards. Over-application of fertilization is not only wasting money but can add to nutrient runoff into the water table.
Keep in mind that nitrogen is not tested in soil. It is very mobile and changes every day. Nitrogen is best applied on a schedule, using less on established lawns than new plantings.
Nitrogen can be applied in fall. The benefits on cool-season grasses include improved turf density, color, root growth and food storage. Appropriate fall fertilization leads to improved turf next spring.
However, to reap these benefits, there are important guidelines to follow. Apply no more than one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet in a single application with any source that is predominately water-soluble nitrogen. The frequency of application is a minimum of 4 weeks from September through November.
The next step is calculating how much fertilizer is needed for the lawn. This requires knowing how many square feet of lawn area there are to fertilize. For example, let’s use 5,000 square feet.
A standard recommendation of 1 pound per 1,000 square feet in a single application suits most grasses and situations, so a total of 5 pounds of nitrogen is needed for the 5,000 square-foot lawn. If other nutrients are lacking, you can select a balanced fertilizer blend (10-10-10) or you could apply urea (46-0-0), a common, available nitrogen source.
Keep in mind granular fertilizer products absorb moisture from the air, causing them to cake up like cement. Store fertilizers in their original bags, inside a protected location where they will remain dry. An excellent way to store opened bags of lawn or garden fertilizer is to place the bags in large containers. such as a plastic 5-gallon bucket, and cover with tight-sealing lids.
Avoid fertilizer applications if weather forecasts call for heavy rainfall, but at the same time, consider that a quarter-inch rainfall is an ideal way to move fertilizer into the soil. Always take a few moments to sweep or blow any fertilizer that ends up on the street, sidewalk or patio back into the turf canopy.
Contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension Office 304-424-1960 or e-mail me at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with questions. Good Luck and until next time Happy Gardening!
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