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Lawn Care Maintenance Q&A

Question: I have absolutely the worst lawn on the block.  I had (“named brand”) lawn service and I fired them because I couldn’t see any improvement.  It seemed like they were always spraying for something.  And the bills were outrageous.  Then for a couple of years I used (“named brand”) 4 step program.  Last year I used a similar, but cheaper, 4 step program I bought at the (“home center”).  Is there anyway to achieve a half-way decent looking lawn without spending a fortune and without doing lots of work?  I am not particularly concerned about the weeds, at least they are green and I don’t have many of them anyway.  My big issue is; the lawn looks green, grows like crazy and I have to cut it 2 or 3 times a week after I fertilize in the spring.  As soon as it turns warm, the green color fades and the whole thing looks ratty.  After the frost, most of the lawn turned brown.  Why did I have such poor luck with my previous attempts and why should I expect your recommendations to come out better?  I followed the 4-step instructions exactly.

Answer:  Presuming the grass in your lawn is as good as what the neighbors have, you should have a comparable lawn.  If your lawn was planted with cheap grass seed that isn’t appropriate for this area, we can make it a little better, but it still may never be as good as the neighbors’ lawns.  Why don’t you try a simplified version of my Lawn Care program (outlined below) this year and let me know how you make out.  Simply apply the recommended granular fertilizer 3 times this year (late winter, late summer and late fall) and Dimension crabgrass preventer in early spring.  Use a broadcast spreader.

To achieve good results, you must use the correct high-quality product at the right time.  My program is neither difficult nor expensive, but choice of product and timing are essential. 

One note:  This year crabgrass is going to be particularly bad.  And, a “ratty” appearance followed by fall browning after a killing frost is a good indication of crabgrass.  Last year’s moisture allowed every crabgrass seed in your lawn to germinate, mature and drop thousands of seeds in your lawn.  All of those seeds are just laying there waiting to germinate and take over your lawn.  Even if you had only a little bit of crabgrass last year, you should put down a crabgrass preventer this year.

If you “work smart”, your lawn care program will be remarkably easy and cost effective—yielding better results, at a lower cost than any four-step program.  Also, unlike four step programs you will pour no unnecessary chemicals into the environment.

Fertilizing
Fertilize as soon as you can, preferably on one of the first days when the lawn is not snow covered.  Applying fertilizers to frozen grass is okay, as long as the wind doesn’t blow the fertilizer away.  (Fertilizer tends to stick to moist, unfrozen soil better.  Hint: in general, the most wind-free part of the day is early morning).  I’ve had the best results when the fertilizer is applied between February 15^th and March 15^th—the earlier the better, without regard to whether or not the frost is out of the soil.  Choice of fertilizer is extremely important---a fast release chemical fertilizer will not do.  These fertilizers cause excessive top growth and last for only a few weeks before they run out.

I recommend Espoma’s Turf-Tone® for the early spring feeding.  This fertilizer does not burn, is long-lasting and minimizes the growth spurt that causes grass to grow so much that it requires cutting 2-3 times a week in the spring.  It also causes your grass to develop side shoots, a much cheaper way to fill in a thin lawn than by re-seeding.  On many established lawns, no additional feeding may be needed until late summer, depending upon the season.

Crabgrass Prevention
Crabgrass is an annual weed grass that germinates from seed produced by the previous year’s crop before it was killed by the frost. Crabgrass is difficult to selectively kill once it has started to mature. However it is quite easy to prevent the seeds from germinating if you apply the proper product at the right time. The product of choice is Dimension, applied when the forsythia shrub shows its peak of yellow blooms.  

Most crabgrass prevention products require two applications to do a thorough job.  One application of Dimension works over a longer period and even kills young crabgrass seedlings. This is important because crabgrass seedlings do not all germinate at once.  Germination, like forsythia bloom, is triggered by soil temperature.  Thus the first crabgrass to germinate is seed that is on the soil surface in a sunny place with reflected heat from a house, driveway or walkway.  Crabgrass will still be germinating in cooler areas many weeks later.  Caution: you cannot seed your lawn this spring wherever you applied Dimension.   This product does not differentiate between various grass seeds; it kills all grass seed (desirable and not) and even a few weed seeds as they germinate.

Many people confuse crabgrass with another grassy lawn weed: wild Bermuda grass. It is important that you determine whether you have crabgrass or wild Bermuda grass because Dimension has no effect on wild Bermuda grass. Crabgrass remnants you find in your lawn will be totally dead—even the stems, runners and roots. You should find some remnants of seed heads if you look carefully. Some crabgrass has runners, some does not. When there are runners they radiate from a central rosette (usually about a foot; never more than 2 feet) and are right on the surface, sending roots into the soil. Wild Bermuda grass is a perennial that comes back from live runners that run all over above and below the soil, often for yards and yards. It has virtually no remaining seed heads. When in doubt, bring a piece of the questionable grass to Carroll Gardens or mail it to us. Be sure to include a self-addressed, stamped return envelope and your phone number.

Late Summer Fertilizing
During the 3rd week in August (a little later if we are in a period of drought, but never later then September 15th), I recommend an application of Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food.

Late Fall Fertilizing
The fertilizer of choice for late fall lawn feeding is Turf Trust. It will keep the lawn noticeably greener later into the winter than any other fertilizer I have come across. The same application of Turf Trust also makes the lawn green-up earlier in the spring than other fertilizers. Use the Turf Trust during the last week of November.

Below are some thoughts on why you maybe having such poor success with your lawn service and the 4-step programs: 

***I get the impression that your lawn service was providing liquid fertilizers.  I don’t believe in liquid lawn food, it’s water-soluble and just washes away with a heavy rain. 

***Four-step programs use granular weed control products usually in combination with a quick-release chemical fertilizer, sold as a “weed and feed” product.  These products usually result in spotty weed control and a quick spurt of grass growth, followed by starvation as the fertilizer dissipates.  

***I believe in a varied diet of organic foods combined with hi-tech, slow-release synthetic fertilizers.  You’ll get the best diversity if the fertilizer comes from more than one  manufacturer.  

***Natural organic fertilizers are best.  The four-step programs you mentioned have no natural organic fertilizers.  Natural organic fertilizers thicken and strengthen cell walls and thus make the grass more resistant to insects and diseases.  Most chemical fertilizers stretch the cell walls.  Natural organic fertilizers encourage   earthworms, which help break up clay soil and turn poor subsoil into rich topsoil. Some chemical fertilizers can actually kill earthworms. In addition, chemical and natural organic fertilizers differ in the way they become available to plants. Chemical fertilizers become available either by dissolving in water or as a reaction to heat. Neither process is perfect. Much fertilizer that dissolves in water is wasted by leaching away in a heavy rain. Fertilizers that are released by temperature can actually “dump” too many nutrients in the heat of a dry summer, when the plant is not able to use them - thus causing “root burn”. Natural organic fertilizers are broken down and made available to plants by soil microorganisms. These organisms are “dormant” when the soil temperature is cold. Therefore no matter how much natural organic fertilizer remains in cold soil, it sits there, un-dissolved until the soil warms. Water-soluble fertilizers just leach away over late fall, winter and early spring. The soil microorganisms that break down natural organic fertilizers are most active when the soil is warm and moist.  Thus, there is less waste and less leaching of nutrients into our wetlands. In addition, these microorganisms break the fertilizer down into a form that cannot burn the roots.

Unfortunately, natural organic fertilizers are broken down and made available only when the soil is warm.  But grass needs food over a longer period--whenever the ground is unfrozen, and especially in late fall and early spring.  To fill this gap, we recommend 100% synthetic fertilizer for fall and 50% synthetic fertilizer for spring.  But it is important to use a high quality slow-release synthetic that derives it’s nitrogen from several sources.  Thus, the recommendation of Turf Trust for late fall planting.   Four-step programs do not include Turf Trust or Turf Trust like fertilizers.