Horticulture Hotline 10/22/18
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
Several years have gone by since we have had a major winter
kill event in the low country. Many people have moved to this area that are not
use to dealing with centipede and other warm-season grasses. Where you lived,
you had cool-season grasses like Fescue, Rye, and Blue grass. If our
temperatures are warm then drop below freezing very rapidly, our lawns,
especially centipede (however can affect all lawns depending on the conditions)
can suffer winter kill.
Yes, it is time to winterize your landscape especially this
year with all the rain and wind trauma. SeaHume should be used alone or with
the 00-00-25 or Possum Minors, depending on the results from your soil test.
Look for a product with a 00 for the first number (nitrogen). A 00-00-25 with
sulfate of potash and minors would be great. If you do not need the potash,
consider Possum Minors and the SeaHume, a wonderful combination of seaweed and
humic acid. Possum’s Minors is also a great winterizer. Depending on a soil
test 00-00-25 or Possum Minors along with SeaHume is your best option.
If you want to get the most out of your winterizer, apply it
now while the grass is still green. These three products will help the plant
produce chlorophyll, and the plants will be able to capture sunlight and
produce carbohydrates. These carbohydrates will develop roots and make the
plant come out of dormancy stronger in the spring as well as protect the plant
from winter kill. Keeping the landscape fed and hydrated helps fend off the
cold weather damage – just like if the landscape was a mountain climber
climbing Everest.
SeaHume will help grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers
throughout the winter. SeaHume will help mitigate salt damage. The seaweed part
of SeaHume has over 60 minor nutrients, carbohydrates, amino acids,
gibberellins, auxins, cytokynins, anti-oxidants and other bio stimulants. The
humic acid is also full of bio stimulants that help make nutrients that are in
the soil available to the plant, help with soil structure, grow roots, and feed
the microorganisms in the soil.
Trees grow most of their feeder roots over the winter. With
the movement of the root ball during the winds and the flooding, many of these
roots were lost. SeaHume will help re-establish these feeder roots over the
winter.
Beware of the national ad campaigns talking about
winterizing fertilizers for turf. These products are usually formulated for
cool season grasses (rye, fescue). I saw one over the weekend that was a
22-00-14. Not exactly what we want to put on our yard in mid-October in the
Lowcountry. Just ask Clemson University.
Have you ever had winter kill? Now is the time to prepare
your grass for the wide variations in temperatures we have. If you had winter
kill in the past, you need to be sure to correct low and poorly drained areas,
reduce thatch in the yard, increase air movement in low areas, keep your lawn
hydrated and feed (with the right food for the winter).
Mow your grass lower than normal (centipede 1.0 to 1.5
inches, St. Augustine 2.5 to 3.0 inches). By mowing your grass lower, you will
increase the air movement around the crown of the plant, so cold air will not
settle at the crown of the plant and damage the grass. In Florida helicopters
fly low over citrus groves that are in valleys to get the cold air out. Tall
grass or thatch will insulate the crown of the plant like a goose down jacket,
keeping the cold air near the crown where it can cause winter kill. Centipede
lawns usually get winter kill the worst if temperatures plummet quickly.
Fine blade Zoysia grass can grow very dense and get thatch.
De-thatching, verticutting, using Bio Grounds Keeper, and regular topdressing
should be part of your maintenance schedule.
Moles?
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
