Will my lawn make it through the summer?

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

This spring and early summer has been unusually cool and wet with some rainfall it seems almost every day! If you have taken the proper steps to give your lawn what it needs to thrive so far this year, your lawn should do well. 

When the lawn is under stress and starting to show signs of certain areas turning brown, it may be heat and drought damage, irrigation heads not properly adjusted or fungus or insect damage too.  Fungus has been rampant due to the excessive rainfall.  After you identify which fungus you may have, apply Jonathan Green Lawn Fungus Control, according to label directions.  Sometimes lawn areas, which are uneven, may get scalped too low by the lawn mower. At this point you should already have raised your mowing height to three inches.  This helps the lawn develop deeper roots for improved drought and heat tolerance. 

Most likely you will be faced with insect damage in late summer.  If you see a lot of bird activity on your lawn you have bugs!  While the birds will help to get rid of some bugs they will not do enough to save your lawn.  Years ago I heard a speaker saying you could spread birdseed over your lawn to attract more birds to eat more bugs in your lawn.  Sounds interesting and it may help some, but I don’t think this is a very good idea.  The birdseed could grow in the ground and your lawn would not look very good. 

The excessive amounts of rain have been good for the lawn to grow but also good for grub populations.  Grub control can be tricky since not all chemical products are designed to control grubs at all times of the year.  Determine if you need a preventative or curative treatment.  Our Jonathan Green Grub Control is a systemic insecticide that can be applied any time in the spring through the late summer.  Grubs need moisture in their life cycle to properly reproduce.  In early summer they lay their eggs and then their babies arrive in late summer and they are hungry.  When the lawn is lush and actively growing, grubs can be present in the soil, but you may not notice them since a healthy growing lawn can tolerant up to 10 grubs per square foot without showing much signs of damage. 

Once heat and drought stress move in, grubs can quickly eradicate your lawn.  If you rake back brown areas of your lawn and it peels back easily, you probably will see grubs.  The grubs chew on grass roots making it easy to roll back the grass and their curled white body shapes easily identify them, they are ugly!  Treat for grubs with the proper insect controls like Jonathan Green’s Pest Kill Grub and Insect Control and be sure to check if there is a preventative and curative rate.  The curative rate is the one you need for successful control once grubs are already present.

The other most common lawn insect is the chinch bug.  Chinch bugs love hot, dry weather.  They chew on the crowns and blades of the grass plant and live above the soil level. There have already been a few chinch bugs reproductive cycles this year.  They measure only about 1/8th of an inch with crossed wings on their back and are sometimes hard to find.  Chinch bugs can also kill off your lawn quickly if not kept in check.  Jonathan Green’s insect controls have surface application rates so be sure to read the label.   

You do not want to see your lawn to go dormant brown or die due to excessive heat and drought so water your lawn properly if needed.  If the roots are developed deep enough and proper lawn feeding have taken place earlier in the year, watering perhaps 2-3 times a week will keep it growing and looking good.  Good luck this summer and enjoy a B-B-Q!

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