Horticulture Hotline 12/12/16
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
If your grass has ever suffered from “winter kill”, then you
know the damage your lawn can suffer. It seems like we are due a cold
winter. There are a few things you can
begin to do to prepare for winter. Any grass can get winter damage; however,
around here centipede gets affected the worse by far. Since the Doctors of
Grass (PHD’s) have decided that centipede grass never goes into a completely
dormant state, at best you will be able to minimize your damage.
A healthy lawn will do best through a cold winter. Now is a
great time to take a soil test and find out what nutrients need to be added to
the soil in order to provide the plant what it needs to make it through the
winter. The proper nutrients applied now can develop sugars in the plant that
will act as anti-freeze on those cold nights. A healthy turf grass will be
better equipped to survive the cold and other adverse conditions. The rainfall
we had with Matthew really washed a lot of nutrients out of the ground. You can
bring your soil to any of the three Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply’s
for testing. Clemson Extension also offers soil testing.
Be careful not to
apply winterizing fertilizer from a national company that is designed for cool
season grasses (fescue, blue grass, rye grass). Many of these products are high
in nitrogen and can deplete the grass of the sugars you want to keep. These
products also contain phosphorous that is usually not needed in our soils (soil
test will provide this information) and can end up negatively impacting our
waterways. A 00-00-25 sulfate of potash product with 10% iron and SeaHume or a
product like Possum’s Minors and SeaHume is sometimes all you need (a soil test
will give specifics) to put your grass to sleep with a full belly.
Be sure to keep your lawn hydrated through the winter. In
the winter, we have less humidity and cool air blowing over our lawns. Grass
loses water through runners and leaf blades (trees through bark and leaves).
Just as we get chapped lips, the lawn needs moisture during the winter. You can
lose grass to desiccation during the winter months. Water is a great insulator,
and will help you battle winter injury to a point. Wow, the grass is like
people, the right food and water will help grass survive!
To help with winter damage be sure to correct any low, slow
draining areas that hold water. With all of the rain we have had the past two
years that should be easy to determine. Depending on the size of the area,
French drains, slit drains, adding gutters to the house, or the addition of
Mule Mix will accomplish this project. Water’s insulating properties are good
to a point; however, if an area gets too cold, then water can hold this cold
near the crown of the plant too long and damage the grass plant.
While the grass is actively growing (May through October),
reduce the thatch layer in your grass. Thatch can act like a down jacket,
holding cold air around the crown of the plant, damaging the grass. Topdressing
with Cotton Burr Compost will greatly reduce your thatch. SeaHume will also
reduce thatch. Bio Grounds Keeper is a granular product that has cellulose
degrading bacteria and enzymes as well as humic acid. Aeration combine with any
of the above will improve your results greatly.
BioRush by Diehard will also reduce frost damage and help
the performance of all your plants. BioRush combines beneficial bacteria,
beneficial fungi, humic acid, seaweed, yucca wetting agent, vitamins, amino
acids, and natural sugars into a power packed stimulant. BioRush is in a very
easy to use packet. BioRush can applied through a hose end sprayer or tank
sprayer. The grass does not have to be actively growing, but you will get more
visual effect if it is.
If your thatch levels are way out of control, mechanical
dethatching might be your only choice. Mechanical dethatching is very stressful
to our warm season grasses, so if this is the route you are going to take, do
it only when the grass is actively growing. Running the dethatcher over the
lawn is easy, the raking and cleaning up the debris is the time consuming part
of this job.
As the winter approaches, you will also want to lower the
height of cut of your mower. Just like thatch can hold cold air in too long, so
can long leaf blades. If you ground is level enough, try to get your centipede
down to an inch to an inch and a half. St. Augustine should be fine at two and
a half inches.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
