 Keep mowing when the grass or weeds dictate mowing. The rule of
thumb is to remove no more than a third of the leaf blade at any
one time. This means that if your desired mowing height is 2
inches, you should be mowing when the grass gets 3 inches tall.
With the recent dry, hot weather, mowing frequency has slowed
down greatly.I have had some grub samples brought into the
office this week. This means that the grubs are active. Grub
problems are normally found first along walks, driveways or
patios. The current list of products includes imidacloprid and
trichlorfon as the active chemical ingredients. Sevin may also
be used, but it is specific for Japanese beetle grubs. Sevin
also will have an effect on earthworms, which is good and bad.
It is good if you have mole problems and bad if you don't. If
label directions are followed, these should provide adequate
control of grubs. The insecticide must get to where the grubs
are, so make sure to water the liquid formulations in as soon as
they are applied.
The other brown grass problem is either disease or heat
stress on chiefly Kentucky bluegrass lawns. This tends to be in
open sun, where there are traffic areas, where water may have
stood with heavy rains and other similar stress areas. In any
case, these areas appear dead. They may have just had the top
portions die back, and further growth may occur from the root or
crown areas when some cooler temperatures return. If diseases
were present, it won't do any good to spray them. If areas don't
start greening up by Sept. 10, see the section below on seeding.
Questions continue on rust in lawns, and with any disease
problem, it is not recommended to treat with fungicides in home
lawn situations. Rust will go away when the weather conditions
change.
Seeding of grass should be accomplished by Sept. 10. This is
a tried and true date, but the end of the world won't come about
if you are a week later. The goal is to give the seed enough
time to germinate and become established before bad weather
arrives. Seed at the rate of 4 pounds of seed per 1,000 square
feet on bare spots, or half that rate on overseedings.
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 If you have a compacted yard, or have a deep thatch layer, now is
also an ideal time to dethatch or aerate. Thatch layers should not
be over one-half inch deep for optimum growing conditions. When
aerating, make sure you use a core-type aerator.
Fall fertilization is also a good practice. If you haven't
fertilized in the last month, consider applying a fertilizer
treatment now. Use about 8 pounds of 13-13-13 fertilizer per 1,000
square feet of lawn. Try to avoid the high nitrogen fertilizers this
late in the year. It's hard enough to keep up with the mowing as it
is, and nitrogen promotes top growth. The even analysis fertilizers
will also promote root growth, which is what we want going into the
late fall and winter.
Crabgrass and other annual grass weeds can be seen about
everywhere. They will die with the first frost, so treatment is not
available or recommended in the fall. Make a note of where these
grasses are, and an overseeding to thicken up the grasses you want
there may help crowd out the annuals.
Last, but not least, is broadleaf weed control. Fall is a
particularly good time to treat problem perennial weeds since they
are sending food down to the roots to overwinter. A spray about the
third or fourth week of September (making sure to use the
appropriate product) can do a world of good on the perennial weeds.
Remember to be very careful with herbicides around perennial plants
since they are also getting ready to overwinter.
[Text from file received from
John
Fulton, University of Illinois Extension,
Logan County Unit]
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