What We’re Noticing:

  • Everything is a duplicate of last week but worse.
  • DUST AND RUST
  • Check out how different we are from average and especially the last three year average.
    • What’s interesting is the last four years now have been very weirdly dry Septembers. Look at that dead flat precipitation line this year!
    • The big difference from past years to this was our grass was used to being dry the last three years when the Sept drought hit. This year the turf got “sucker punched”. It’s struggling – just in time for all Sprinkler system blowout season to start and everyone to say “it’ll do fine until winter”. Probably but it will struggle until then.

What We’re Doing:

Same as last week…

  • 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:

Same as last week BUT WITH MORE EMPHASIS

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.