Fix the Damage from Excessive Rain
Excessive rain, cold, hot, weeds… where do we go from here? I am not sure what the weather will be like when you read this article but it sure has been a spring to remember.
Excessive rain caused spring flooding and has been a major problem. There has been so much rain that pools are overflowing, soil has been eroding and landscape mulch was being pushed onto the lawn and sidewalks. Now is the time to fix the damage. Re-seed bare spots and eroded areas in your lawn. Otherwise, weeds will be glad to fill in these bare spots if you do not establish a lawn with some superior quality grass seed.
Weeds are thriving in both the lawn and landscape bed areas. The excessive rain and warmer temperatures have giving weeds a great start to the season. As long as the temperatures are not above 85 degrees, Veri-Green Weed & Feed Lawn Fertilizer can still be effective during summer months. Be sure to follow all label directions.
So many homeowners have only applied lawn fertilizer once so far this year. The lawn is hungry and needs to be feed regularly during the growing seasons. With all of the spring rain the nutrients the lawn needs to grow properly have been severely depleted. Summer feeding is fine provided the temperatures are not above 85 degrees. Be sure to water in the product after application. This will help to promote healthy grass growth and strengthen the lawn to survive summer stress. Consider using Organic Lawn Food for a gentle, summer feeding.
Signs of fungus in the lawn started this spring with Red Thread. Red Thread is frequently associated with the lack of nitrogen for the grass plants to grow healthy. Some reports of patch disease are coming in too. The use of Lawn Fungus Control is fine provided you have been able to identify the disease and the product is labeled for that particular disease. Lawn Fungus Control has a 14-30 day residual and may need to be re-applied through the summer months.
After a cold, wet spring season, will Mother Nature deliver a hot, dry summer? It is possible we could see little rain and once again your lawn will be under stress. Under these weather conditions your lawn may slow down its normal green growth and turn brown. This is the lawns way of preserving energy to survive the heat and drought. This shutting down effect is called “dormancy,” it’s kind of like a bear sleeping through the winter months. Many times when cooler temperatures and rainfall return, a healthy lawn will be the result.
Crabgrass may thrive since spring applications of crabgrass preventer have been compromised by the excessive amounts of rain. If you have the starting signs of crabgrass and wish to control it, only do so if the lawn is not under heat and drought stress. Applying Season-Long Weed Preventer is best for preventing more problems next year. Once crabgrass plants become too large, you can pull the plants out by hand or with a tool to be sure you get the whole root system. Crabgrass mostly grows horizontally below the height of normal mowing blades. This helps the plant survive and produce thousands of seeds to bring the problem back again next year. Try your best to pull larger plants out before they reach this seedling stage!
Happy summer!
