Released: March 23, 2005

Fescue, Bluegrass Have Straightforward Needs

SALINA, Kan. – Tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass – Kansans’ far-and-away top lawn choices – have a fairly straightforward schedule for care and feeding.

Chip Miller, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension, outlines that schedule this way:

* APRIL - Mow often, so you never have to cut off more than one-third of the turf’s height. Cut fescue 3.5 inches high and bluegrass 2.5 inches tall. Remember April 1usually is the ideal time to apply traditional crabgrass preventer, and April 15 is the year’s deadline.

* MAY - For a “high-end” lawn (one that’s greener, but requires more mowing and watering), apply a slow-release fertilizer. With all lawns, water deeply, if necessary, to help the turf prepare for summer. In dry, warm weather, that could mean irrigating once a week. Avoid frequent, shallow waterings – they foster pests. Continue to mow regularly.

* JUNE - Watch for little whitish moths’ being flushed up by your mowing; if you see them, learn about sod webworm control’s timing (http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/ENTML2/MF756.PDF). Spot treat summertime broadleaf weeds, if necessary. Promote your turf’s drought-tolerance – raise the mower’s cutting height by up to 1 inch. Water whenever your lawn shows signs of drought stress (bluish cast, lack of “spring-back” in your footprints when you walk across the lawn).

* JULY - If you’ve got turf that’s wilting and turning brown too quickly in spots, see if you can pull up the grass plants there and see small “C”-shaped white larvae below; if so, check into white grub controls (http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/whitegrb.htm). When the weather’s hot and dry, water deeply once or twice a week. Make sure your mower blade is sharp – not “chewing” the turf. If replanting in fall, kill problem bermudagrass. If overseeding or fertilizing in fall, get a soil test.

* AUGUST - Apply a second grub control, if needed. Prepare soil for any planned fall planting, incorporating the amendments your soil test suggested. Maintain July’s watering and mowing schedule.

* SEPTEMBER Plant new lawns or bare spots. Overseed thin lawns. Use a turf-type tall fescue blend or Kentucky bluegrass that a local nursery has selected for your climate. Keep planted grass seeds moist until they sprout and start growing. Aerate existing turf, if needed (important yearly with clay soils). Apply high-nitrogen fertilizer on established lawns only – plus apply any other amendments suggested by your soil test. Water established turf just to prevent wilt.

* OCTOBER - Fertilize newly seeded lawns at half the normal rate once they’ve grown enough to merit mowing three times. In other lawns, spray dandelions, chickweed, henbit. Keep mowing, as needed, until the grass stops growing.

* NOVEMBER - Fertilize established lawns a second time. Or, to get a jump on crabgrass, apply a fertilizer-Barricade mix. Keep tree leaves raked, to remove their smothering “shade.” Cut turf 2 to 2.5 inches high at last mowing, and soak the soil one last time before winter.

Miller said every local K-State Research and Extension office can help lawn owners with both soil testing and pest identification, as well as additional lawn management tips.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News