Summer Health

Summer is the time to get your lawn back into shape because your lawn loves warm weather. This is your opportunity to get your lawn in the best possible shape. There are a few essential procedures that can help any yard – fertilization, dethatching, and an irrigation check-up. Click the links below to jump down the page.

• Tips for Established Lawns
• Dethatch Method 1 - Aerification
• Dethatch Method 2 - Power Rake
• Irrigation Check-Up
• Watering Schedules
• Fertility
• Confused by fertilizer labels?

Tips for Established Lawns

One of the main causes of lawns looking "old and tired", or thinning out, is thatch build-up. Thatch accumulates during the summer, but is made worse during the winter, when the lawn goes dormant, and the old leaves begin to die. After water or years of thatch accumulation, the thatch begins to form a layer that repels water and does not allow the soil to "breath". Lawns with excessive thatch will begin to have large areas that look thin, wispy, and eventually brown. These areas will also repel water or allow water to puddle for an extended period of time. Push a screwdriver into the thatch layer and see how far it goes before it hits dirt. If your thatch is more than an inch in depth you are beginning to have a serious thatch problem. When these symptoms begin to appear, it is time to dethatch!

Dethatch Method 1 — Aerification

Old lawns with extreme thatch, or lawns with heavy traffic are good candidates for aerification. Aerification is normally performed with a machine that pulls small "cores" out of the lawn, about ½" in diameter. These holes will allow oxygen into the root zone, improve water penetration, and will relieve the lawn of compaction. This is a service that can be by a contractor, or you can rent an aerator from a local equipment rental company and do it yourself. Please note that aerification is not a replacement for dethatching.

Dethatch Method 2 — Power raking

This is the most effective method to remove excess thatch. There may be a lot of material to haul-off, but with the right machine it is not a difficult job. Power rakes, dethatching machines, or verticutters as they are sometimes called, have a series of "knives" that dig lightly into the lawn and pull-up old leaves and debris. Run the verticutter over the lawn, then rake and remove the debris. When you are done dethatching, fertilize with a full rate of fertilizer (1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000sf) to aid the turf with recovering quickly from the process. Verticutting machines can be rented at a local equipment store.

Irrigation Check-up

99% of the problems found in lawns in New Mexico are associated with water, too much or too little. Because most irrigation clocks are set to run at night or early in the morning, most people never actually see their sprinklers in action. Many times heads can become plugged with debris, parts wear-out, nozzles get turned the wrong direction, and the list goes on and on…

Turn your system on and watch it run. Any areas that usually turn bluish gray demand your attention first. Make sure that you have 3 heads hitting each area of the yard (they call this triangular spacing). Any area that only has two heads covering it will most likely start showing signs of stress first. Adjust your sprinklers to get the proper coverage. Also make sure that the sprinklers get "head-to-head" coverage.

Watering Schedules

Established sod lawns will require water 2-3 times per weeks, applying the equivalent of three quarters of an inch to half-inch of water per watering cycle.

Fertility

A healthy lawn begins with healthy soil. Your lawn requires a good source of nutrients to maintain its color and vigorous growth. Be careful not to over-fertilize, as this can cause excess growth, excess thatch build-up, and excess work for YOU! Too little fertilizer can leave your lawn thin, yellow, and slow to recover from wear. To keep it looking its best, your lawn requires a balanced diet, with the right amount of food on a consistent schedule—just like people do!

Lawns should be fertilized monthly with a complete fertilizer using an analysis similar to a 29-2-4 with iron, or 28-0-4 with iron. Feed the lawn monthly until the lawn is thick and dense.

A lawn that is thick, dense, and dark green may only require fertilizing every 6-8 weeks, therefore a slow-release fertilizer is recommended. Slow release fertilizers slowly spoon feed the nutrients over time, allowing for a small constant feeding to the root system. This will allow for continued dark green color with slower growth. Slower growth means less thatch and less mowing!

Confused by fertilizer labels?

Learn about the role of fertilizer in this downloadable PDF.