October Lawn Care Guide: Preparing Your Turf for a Healthy Spring
October is one of our favorite months; living on the South Carolina Coast. October is the beginning of the hard work to make warm season turfgrass beautiful for the next growing season. It’s important to take a moment and check a couple of things in the lawn.
What you do in October has a HUGE impact on the following growing season.
Here are our three most important things to look for this year to ensure your lawn looks its best next year.
1.Large Patch
Large patch is commonly found in centipede, St. Augustine, and Zoysia Grass. Characterized by irregularly round brown or straw-colored patched in the lawn. A common misconception is that cooler weather means that fungal levels are lower when in fact late summer and early fall carry some of the highest risk of fungal damage. Hot temperatures accompanied with high moisture rates create the perfect environment.
Watch for irregular, round, and straw-colored patches. If you believe that your lawn is showing signs of Large Patch, a double treatment of fungicide is recommended.
Coen Lawn will be happy to assist you with the proper dosage and application rates if you are in and around the Myrtle Beach area.
2. Pre and Post emergence
October, or more importantly, when the soil temperature reaches the 55-degree Fahrenheit mark, it is time to apply pre-emergent.
Remember, what you do now, your lawn will thank you for in 6 months.
At Coen Lawn, we suggest apply pre and post emergent at this time to ensure any lingering summer weeds are killed off, as well as conditioning the soil before winter weeds have a chance to germinate. Make sure you know what grass type you have and ensure the products you apply are safe for that type of grass.
When in doubt, FOLLOW THE LABEL!
This is also a good time to recall what weeds you may have had a problem with in previous years at this time and try to target those. Every yard is different and every year is different. Our technicians go through extensive education each year to stay as up to date as possible with trends and seasonal changes.
If you are applying pre emergence products be careful not to do them too early, you could run the risk of missing the germination window on winter weeds because there is not enough residual still on the ground. Additionally, waiting to late, you will also miss the germination window and will have to treat with post emergence.
3. POA
Poa, also know as annual bluegrass can be a troublesome sight in the south east. It is very tough to get rid off and spreads quickly if not taken care of properly. It is always easier to treat with pre emergent products rather than post, but again, timing is everything. If it is not caught in time, you may have to wait for the summer heat to snuff it out. If you have ongoing issues with POA and would like some assistance, call Coen Lawn, and our technicians will be happy to put together a custom program to get your lawn back in shape.
