What We’re Noticing:

DUST AND RUST! – finally something worth writing about this summer

  • It’s been dry! The last significant rain we had was 8/29 (three weeks ago).
    • Since then we’ve received no more than 0.02″ at a time and a total of 0.03″
    • Prior to the end of August we we’re averaging over 1.125″ per week of rainfall. In fact; the rain gauge literally went off the chart!
    • Not only very dry but we trended way up in temperature as well!
    • This has caused many lawns to decline – poor soil areas, south facing hills, and under trees are the areas that have declined first (trees always drink before grass).
      • The heat and drought are bad enough but it’s made much worse with the fact that our grass has been so SPOILED this summer with all the extra rain. It’s not used to it. It doesn’t have strong roots that plunge down for water like it’s had in past years.
    • The good news is there’s moisture in the forecast and cooler weather 🤞😬🤞
  • The declining turf and the dust stinks but the RUST is really annoying!
    • This is a non-damaging turf disease that favors “slow growing turf” and is typically active in the late summer or Fall.
      • See all the info above. We went from 1.125″ of rain per week all summer to the Fall season here with 0.01″ of rain in each of the last three weeks and comparably high temperatures. A more perfect storm for Rust couldn’t be scripted.
    • Cooler overnight temperatures, rain to promote growth (both forecast) and our Fall fertilizer will all help to eliminate this nuisance disease.

What We’re Doing:

  • To not only combat the Rust Disease, but to also winterize turf (feed the roots and get rid of the invasive weeds for next year), we’re doing our Fall Lawn Applications.
  • Although we’d normally be about wrapped up right now we’re still able to add many Late Summer overseeding jobs due to the high temperatures sticking around. We pair these with our Core Aeration and Soil Enrichment.
  • We’re in the middle of our final rounds of Mosquito treatments and Landscape bed services as well.
  • I guess… “What aren’t we doing??”

What you can be doing:

This answer is tough and comes down to personal preference and expectations.

  • If you’ve OVERSEEDED – you really need to be watering. What are the odds that the only dry weather we get all summer is right over “the best time to overseed due to regular moisture“???
  • I personally am going to mow higher and let my lawn struggle a bit.
    • This will force the roots to dive deeper.
    • The forecast says that there should be cooler temps and rain soon so watering “shouldn’t be necessary”.
  • If you want your lawn to look great. You  need to fire up the sprinkler system or get the hose out for those hot areas.
  • Consider overseeding to introduce more drought resistant grasses. Overseeding without aeration is going to waste a lot more grass seed without improving the soil profile and making a better bed for the seed.
    • See any of these great articles in the latest U of M turf newsletter
    • You’ll also be able to dormant seed which can be a better option if you don’t have an irrigation system. Too bad it’s impossible to predict the weather.