Garden Column for the Salisbury Post

Darrell Blackwelder

February 23, 2006

    This is the time of year when homeowners should be considering spring maintenance for their cool season fescue lawns. Rainy or cold weather have many wondering when they can initiate over-seeding, fertilization and other outdoor chores. Below are a few questions posed from homeowners concerning care for their lawns?                            

     Question: I want to control crabgrass in my yard. You always mention that the lawn must be almost perfect condition before I can use pre-emergence weed control. What do you mean? Answer: Using a pre-emergence on a weak or thin lawn will not allow grass seed to germinate. Grass seed planted in the fall is often damaged by pre-emergence herbicides in the spring. Focus on is what is causing the lawn to thin out. Is it too much shade, poor fertilization, drought, mowing too close, etc. Once you have a well-established lawn, then consider an application of pre-emergence herbicides.

Question: How do I kill wild onions in my yard? Answer: The wild onions are most likely wild garlic. Two applications of broadleaf weed killers such as Trimec, Weed-B-Gon or Spectrum 33+ or Image will eliminate the weed. Herbicide applications 10 days apart usually give satisfactory results.

Question: How soon after I plant my lawn can I use broadleaf weed killers? Answer: The lawn needs to be well established in the fall. You need to have mowed the lawn at least 3 times before an application.

Question: What do I do to get rid of moss in my yard? Answer: Moss is a sign of three basic problems: too much shade, too much moisture and a low soil pH. Although moss will grow in sunny areas, it’s more of a problem in shady areas. Unless you’re irrigating, little can be done to control moisture, however you can limb up trees to allow light to the turf. If this is not an option you may want to strongly consider implementing ground covers as a way to cope with this problem.

Question: Can I fertilize my lawn after May? Answer: Fescue lawns that are heavily irrigated can be successfully fertilized in the summer. Use low nitrogen, high iron fertilizer that will not burn fescue. Lawn fertilization past April is not recommended since nitrogen tends to aggravate brown patch, a very bad turf disease. However, highly maintained lawns with irrigation can usually get by with a light fertilization of nitrogen.

Darrell Blackwelder is an agricultural agent in charge of horticulture with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. For archived garden columns or other information, visit the Rowan County Master Gardener web site at www.rowanmastergardener.com , e-mail Darrell_Blackwelder@ncsu.edu