Welcome to the Nutri-Lawn Blog. This blog is maintained by Nutrilawn’s Agronomist, Shawn Karn. Shawn joined the Nutri-Lawn team in the fall of 2006 after spending over 7 years managing private golf courses across Canada and the USA. Shawn is a graduate of Seneca College in Toronto, Canada and Penn State University in Pennsylvania, USA where he majored in Turfgrass Management. As Nutrilawn's Agronomist, Shawn provides training and technical assistance to all the Nutri-Lawn franchises and he also conducts ongoing product experimentation and new industry research.
Please feel free to submit any lawn questions or comments and Shawn will respond.
Comments
A number of theories exist about how frost damages living tissue. The most common belief is that ice crystals damage and kill plant cells when they are forced into the leaf by the weight of a foot. Spring frost damage will normally recover after two to four mowings. However, damage that occurs during the fall when grass growth is slowing may still be visible next spring.
To prevent any further damage be sure to stay off frosted turf until the sun melts the frost. A quick test to determine whether or not it is safe to walk on the turf is to simply take your hand and wipe it parallel along the surface (tips) of the turf. If your had stays dry, it is still too soon to walk on the turf. If your hand is wet than the frost has started to melt and it is safe to walk on.
This isn't the answer your dog was looking for, but i am sure that if you take him to the park or for a walk he will still be your best friend : )
We have just bought a house with what looked like a beautiful lawn in Coquitlam, BC. Upon further inspection, we discovered it is infested with moss and there is brown patches where the previous owner's dog did his business. So, I'm looking for answers to these problems. Also, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to work on it before the frost is gone.
I hear it all the time....”my lawn looks good from far.....buts it’s far from good.” It sounds to me like these are two problems you would like to get rid of and we should be able to help you do that.
Moss infestations are very common in this type of climate and region. Typically, areas that are infested with moss are treated with a moss killer product.....(ferrous sulphate) This kills the moss and turns it black....at this point it needs to be manually removed and these bare areas left behind need to be aggressively overseeded to fill back in. Moss will always want to try and infest the lawn again, mostly because of the climate and soil conditions you have. Annual Liming will help to increase the soil pH making it less acidic. Acidic soils promote moss infestations and make it hard for the desired turf to out compete the moss.
For the damaged areas caused by the dog, you will need to rake out these dead areas and do your best to remove the dead material. Overseed these spots and lightly cover with weed seed free topdressing or soil.
As for the frost....if you are still experiencing frost daily, you may want to hold off until the temperatures are not so cold. The seed will need warmer soil and air temperatures to ensure proper germination. I would suggest waiting until the frost is not an issue.
I hope this helps....
Shawn
St. Augustine Grass is a warm season turfgrass, which means it only grows in warmer climates. You live in what is considered a cool season climate zone for turfgrass. The turfgrass types that are best suited for your climate are the predominately Perennial Ryegrass, Fine Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass. These are all cool season turfgrasses.
The below picture illustrates where St. Augustine grows best. The transition zone is an area when both cool and warm season turfgrass can grow.
I hope this helps....
Thanks,
Shawn
Thanks,
Sil
I assume when you say your lawn is very thin that probably means you have bare spots where you can see bare soil? For these areas i recommend slit-seeding to help these areas fill back in. A typical overseeding probably won’t be sufficient. Depending whether or not these areas are in the full sun or shade will determine what type of seed you should use. As for the little dips in the lawn that you described depending on how deep they are you may need to fill and level with good quality weed seed free topsoil. If the depressions are not too bad i would recommend an aggressive double core aeration to help even these areas out. The cores will help fill in the lower areas and should help to even out.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Last fall I repaired a some large bare spots on my lawn. I used seed purchased from a big box store and it was in a 2 KG bag. I did it according to the directions however this year the grass that grew in these spots was light green in colour and thick looking like crab grass. This occured in all the repaired spots, can I get some feedback please?
This is a very common problem that i get questions about all the time. The quality of seed that you can purchase in a retail store is often of poor quality and rarely meets quality seed certification requirements. Most of this seed is of very low quality and contains not only weed seeds, but other undesirable grass species and varieties. It sounds to me by your description that you probably purchased and got stuck with a poor quality type of seed. Unfortunately, now that it has germinated and you can visually see a noticeable difference in these spots you will have to start all over again. There are no selective type herbicides that will kill just these spots and not the grass desired beside it. You will have to either non-selectively treat these areas with herbicide (roundup) or dig out and remove these areas and start over with high quality certified seed.
If you don’t want to go to this extreme, the only other option would be to aggressively core aerate these areas and overseed. This may take some time for the desired turf to out compete these areas.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Jay
Power Raking or Dethatching as some people like to call it can be very beneficial for a lawn depending on the condition it is in. Often, Power Raking is done in the early spring and removes the thatch in lawns suffering from excessive thatch accumulation. It is a very aggressive practice that rips, tears and removes both old grass and new grass from the lawn. In my opinion, unless you have excessive thatch build up in your lawn power raking isn’t really necessary. Usually a good spring rake to get some of the old matted down grass is just fine and far less aggressive.
As for the comment about the neighbour mowing down to a very short height of cut....i wouldn’t recommend that. Keep the lawn mowed at 2.5 – 3 inches for the course of the season and your last cut just before winter i would take it down to about 1.5-2 inches.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
One of the best ways to control moss is by applying ferrous sulphate. This product is sprayed directly on the moss causing it to turn black and die. After the moss is black it needs to be manually removed with a rake. After the moss has been removed, these areas should be aggressively overseeded to ensure turf fills these thin areas back in to prevent the moss from growing back.
If you have any other question please let me know...i hope this helps.
Thanks for your enquiry, by the sounds of it you have excessive thatch and i am glad to hear you are planning to aerate which will definitely reduce your thatch. I would recommend core aerating then liming right after you are finished. This will get the lime directly into the soil profile which will help neutralize the soil acidity.
If you have any other questions please let me know.