Are You Interested in Lawn Care Services in Solon, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids, IA?
Read Our Frequently Asked Questions
It’s tall fescue, A hearty turfgrass that is widely used in seed mixes for vegetative cover in waterways, roadways and in housing developments prior to new home construction.
Tall fescue is a deep rooted, hearty turfgrass that thrives in poor soil and hot weather. Bluegrass (most local sod is bluegrass) is a cool season grass that does poorly in inorganic soil without irrigation. When Bluegrass struggles and/or goes dormant, the underlying tall fescue will push through. If the site is not fertilized heavily from the start, tall fescue will spread. When the bluegrass growth slows or dormancy begins with warmer and dryer weather in summer, tall fescue will become more apparent because there is no competition from the weaker plant. Because tall fescue does well in these conditions it will continue to spread as the bluegrass struggles and declines.
As a turfgrass, there really isn’t a good solution for eradication once it has been introduced and allowed to spread. Selective control requires many follow-ups and has varying results, ineffective when considering the environmental impact and expense. If this scenario goes unchecked it may be necessary to kill it off and start over. For this reason, we suggest that all existing vegetation be chemically killed prior to installing a non-native lawn.
We learn of evolution but we have evolved ourselves away from common sense. A seedling can grow in harsh conditions and will adapt to its surroundings becoming stronger with each generation.
Lawns are rarely started from seed and the plant’s natural ability to adapt is lost. Most new lawns are sodded instead of seeded although seeded lawns tend to be heartier and more resistant to disease.
Sodded lawns are a transplant, grass grown from seed in perfect conditions then moved to the finished construction site. It is unreasonable to expect this process to be flawless even when dealing with excellent soil. When the soil is sterile the plant cannot survive and the turfgrass will show stress and gradually fade out making way to opportunistic weeds. Fertilization provides much needed “life support” and the plant can grow. With fertilizer stimulating growth, the lawn thickens and roots go deeper.
A thicker lawn prevents the infiltration of weeds as competing turfgrasses leave no room for weeds to grow. A deep root system, the base, will reach moisture when dry and will stay cool in the hot summer months preventing scorch and injury from disease.
Fungicides can be used to treat common fungal diseases in turfgrass however, secondary to best management practices. Cultural practices like core aeration do better to stave off fungal disease. Proper management of irrigation, mowing, core aeration and fertilization are the most economical ways to prevent fungal disease.
The benefits from core aeration is multi-layered and is the best singular thing you can do to protect your turfgrass from the many uncontrolled variables that put the lawn at risk. The largest, singular variable we cannot control is the climate. After all is said and done and no matter what time and money has been spent to improve turfgrass, climate conditions will always be the final factor that determines the level of success. A common problem that affects bluegrass sod is pressure from fungal diseases and the best natural defense against this is aeration. In addition are the more obvious benefits of core aeration such as increased oxygen and nutrients to the root system, promoting deeper root development making the turf stronger, controlling thatch by composting the soil plugs and building more organics in the soil. Often discounted are the secondary benefits to being a responsible land steward. For instance, the best way to keep our water clean is to utilize the natural filtering characteristics of the soil. Aerated soil allows water to percolate through. Not only do the plants benefit from the water as it moves past but run off is reduced protecting our waterways. There are many low-tech remedies for our new world problems too often we over-complicate things and lose focus of the bigger picture.
Mowing plays a huge role in a successful lawn management program. Time and money spent to fertilize and improve a site can be quickly erased by mowing it incorrectly. Mowing will actually stimulate growth in turfgrass and if done properly, mowing helps to create a thicker, more dense stand of grass. Conversely, mowing can cause damage to even healthy turfgrass. Even on flat surfaces, every movement, start, stop, turn, etc. causes damage and this increases exponentially when on any incline. If you think your mower might be too big, it is. Mowing should be done often enough so as not to remove ⅓ of the total leaf surface; this is known as the “one third rule”. Removing more than ⅓ of the leaf surface causes the root system to die back. As a result, the turf will come under stress and will likely succumb to fungal diseases, insect damage and heat stress to name a few. When combined with sterile soil these issues cause serious problems that can take years to recover from. Many discount the damage that occurs with normal mowing. Healthy lawns, growing vigorously can effectively heal from this damage before it’s noticed however, lawns that are under stress will not be able to regenerate and heal. The best example to this would be areas that are shaded. When shaded areas are mowed at the same frequency as sunny areas, it won’t be long before you are overseeding. Hoping this new seed will grow (in the shade) so that you can get back on the mower and do it all over again….wrong. It’s better to recognize that these areas do not need to be cut in the first place. Respect that nature offers us microclimates in every landscape and it’s best that we react to each one accordingly. Accept the natural process and quit fighting what is inevitable.
You can be environmentally responsible and yet still enjoy a property that’s inviting and not as…colorful. Too often it seems that people want to place themselves firmly to one end of the spectrum or the other with little thought given to the 98% that remains in between. Sometimes our ideals conflict with common sense and ultimately we run off track. This about-face creates a situation where we need more of something we previously vowed to never use again. In turf management, more pesticides are used to rectify problems stemming from neglect than what would have been needed for common sense management during that same period…. the whole “ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure” thing.
Weeds will grow anywhere that sunlight reaches bare soil. Areas of grass that are thin and lifeless will quickly fill in with weeds. Weeds thrive in the same conditions that cause turfgrass to decline so you can see how a bad problem gets steadily worse. When one relies on herbicides for weed control the battle is lost. Weed control should be established by keeping thick, vigorously growing turfgrass. Healthy turfgrass provides a solid ground cover that prevents the establishment of weeds. This can be achieved with the use of natural elements within fertilizer, annual aeration and mowing. If a weed seed blows in from the neighbor or from across town, it can be spot sprayed as one, singular plant before the need arises to blanket the entire area with pesticides.
This is where practical experience and knowledge of the natural process come into play. Providing nutrients, natural elements found in our fertilizers, we promote turfgrass to do exactly what it wants to do…become a groundcover. Once this occurs the reliance upon chemical pesticides is reduced significantly and you have a beautiful and functional landscape that if kept healthy, will perform well year in and year out. Nature’s way of protecting soil is to cover it. When nutrients are not available to promote vigor in desired turfgrass, the cover is obtained by emerging weeds. Soil is full of life….more precisely, weed seeds. All soil contains weed seeds that when given warmth, water and sun, weeds will grow. This is nature’s protection against erosion and a natural way to keep waterways clean from silt and pollutants. The best way to stabilize soil is to keep a healthy cover of turfgrass. A deeply rooted turfgrass will prevent erosion while at the same time acting as a diffuser to allow water to percolate into the soil. Thick turfgrass is also an excellent filter that collects pollutants where they can break down before they enter our water sources.
Fertilizer gets a bad rap but one must remember there is a big difference between the agricultural use of fertilizers and pesticides when compared to the responsible use within the green industry. Although some of the active ingredients are the same, the use is entirely different. In agriculture, specifically row crops, fertilizers are applied directly to bare soil! Opposite turfgrass management, these situations offer no vegetative filter and everything flows downhill to lowest water source. Hog confinements and other Meat Factories are huge contributors to the nitrate problem. Written in the Des Moines Register September 15th, 2017 “Iowa has about 5,000 more pig confinements and cattle lots across the state than originally believed, a report to the federal government last month shows. That’s nearly 50 percent more animal feeding operations than the state initially inventoried.”. At that time, a 1000 head hog confinement could go unregulated and did not need to comply with state manure licensure. It is situations like these that cause nitrate problems not lawn fertilizers.
If you want to save the planet, EAT MORE PLANTS.
Successful weed control begins with fertilizer and building better turfgrass. We can spray the weeds and they will die however, unless we improve the turfgrass the weeds will come right back. This creates a situation where the continuous use of pesticides are required. Alternatively, if the turfgrass is improved, using natural elements in our fertilizer, core aeration and proper mowing techniques we can increase the vigor in the turfgrass and the competition prevents weeds without having to blanket the site with pesticides time and time again.