Special Lawn Problems You Might Face

• Don't over-fertilize your lawn. Studies have shown that lawns on regularly scheduled fertilizer applications recover faster than those that aren't. Don't apply fertilizer to your brown lawn in hopes of turning it green like your neighbor down the street that is secretly watering his lawn during the night.

• Avoid all excessive foot traffic on the lawn.

• As the weather heats up, mowing your lawn at a higher than normal height, that is if it's still growing. This increased height will help shade the roots and slow down soil evaporation. It also helps trap any dew that may form during the night.

• As the lawn turns brown, weeds will continue to thrive as green patches. Now is a good time to apply spot applications of weed-killer to these areas. Avoid spraying it on the lawn as best you can, even for lawn-friendly weed-killers.

• Don't water a little here and there or now and then—it just makes the lawn worse. Lawns are designed by nature to shut down (go dormant) under extreme conditions. Putting a little water on the lawn fools it into thinking, "hey, maybe things aren't so bad" instead of preparing itself for a continued period of no water.

• If you're allowed a little watering, concentrate on making certain your important trees and shrubs have an adequate water supply. These costly investments won't die right away from a drought and you may not see the damage for a year or so. Weakened woody plants are more susceptible to insect damage that may go unnoticed until it's too late.

• Don't over-seed or try to rejuvenate the lawn until fall when rainfall is usually more plentiful.

Mushrooms in your lawn— also called toadstools or puffballs, are fruiting bodies of soil fungi. They appear in lawns during wet weather in spring and summer. Mushrooms live on organic matter such as roots, stumps and boards in the soil. Most don't harm the lawn but are unsightly. Mushrooms that grow in arcs or circles of dark green grass are called fairy rings. The arcs or rings enlarge from 3 inches to 2 feet each season as the fungi grows outward. The fairy ring fungus may interfere with water flow through the soil and stress the lawn.

Moss growing in the lawn— moss does not develop in healthy lawns. Lack of fertility, soil compaction, poor drainage, shade and poor soil aeration are the most common cause of moss in lawns. Moss is not directly harmful to grass, but moves into bare spots in the lawn as the grass thins out. Lime has often been suggested for moss control. Lime will raise the soil pH but will do little or nothing to prevent moss growth. The fact that the soil is acidic has little to do with the growth of moss. In fact, we see moss growing on limestone and concrete. If your lawn area is moist and shady, you will have difficulty controlling moss because you have an ideal environment for moss growth. Moss is often troublesome in spring when temperature are cool and soil moisture high.

Soil Compaction— Dense, compacted soils and thick layers of thatch restrict rooting and in turn impair the health of the lawn. Compacted soil has no pore space for oxygen, moisture, or roots to move through. Thatch forms a physical barrier between the grass and the soil preventing nutrients from reaching the roots. Aeration eases soil compaction and helps reduce thatch.

Thatch— is often misunderstood; both its cause and control. Some lawns have serious thatch problems while others do not. Thatch is a layer of living and dead organic matter that occurs between the green matter and the soil surface. Excessive thatch (over 1/2 inch thick) creates an environment favorable for pests and disease and an unfavorable growing environment for grass roots plus can interfere with some lawn care practices.
Thatch is best controlled with regular aeration treatments that help break down this thick matt. If the thatch layer is more than 1/2" thick, 2 aeration treatments per year for several years.

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