Turf's Up!

The most important item to put on your to do list as we head toward the end of August is to reinvigorate your lawn. Give the lawn a good raking to remove a dead material from the lawn. Not only will this improve air and water movement into your soil, but it will also give seed better contact with the soil, which is essential. As for grass seed, it can vary tremendously throughout the Untied States. In the south, bermuda grass and centipede grass are the warm season grasses of choice. In the rest of the country we have a choice of either bluegrass, ryegrass and fescues. Sod is made up of bluegrass, but it is a heavy feeder and needs plenty of moisture during the summer to keep it green. Ryegrass is a great alternative as it matches up (leaf shape and texture) with bluegrass very well, but does not need as much fertilizer or water. Fine-leaved fescues are gret for shady areas, while turf-type tall fescues can handle a lot of abuse and are used mainly in sports fields. TTT Fescues do not match well with bluegrass or ryegrass, so don't overseed your lawn with this as it is a clump forming grass. Before seeding, remember to cut your lawn. You do not want to cut your lawn as the seed is germinating because you will remove the new plants from the turf since they have no real root system.

Since we are headed for the cooler temperatures of fall, the seed will germinate and grow very easily. Grass grows best when the days are warm and night time temperatures are cool (spring and fall), and there is adequate rainfall. Turf only needs 1 inch of rain per week, and the simplest way to determine how much rain you have had is to put an empty tuna fish can out and see if it fills up in a week. This is also an effective way to measure water amounts when you have an irrigation system as well.

Check out "The Gardening Guru's" Web page ( www.thegardeningguru.com ) for answers to all of your gardening questions, sign up for his Monthly Newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gardeningguru, or listen to his on-line radio show at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/12385