Not So Fast! Gardening Tips for Early Spring by Donna Duffy

Yes, it does feel a bit like Spring outside. And yes, there are signs of life in your yard and garden. As tempting as it is, don’t go full-force into your gardening mode quite yet. Following are some gardening chores you can start right now, and others that you’ll need to wait to begin.

Tips for Winter Watering

Colorado winters are unpredictable and it isn't unusual to have an extended dry period before the spring rains begin. Following are tips for winter watering of turf, trees and shrubs from Dr. James Feucht, CSU Cooperative Extension Landscape Plants Specialist.

The Benefits of Core Aeration

Photo courtesy johnson.k-state.edu

Aeration, or core cultivation, is standard lawn care. Aerating a lawn means supplying the soil with air, usually by poking holes in the ground throughout the lawn using an aerator. It reduces soil compaction and helps control thatch in lawns while helping water and fertilizer move into the root zone. A lawn can be aerated at any time the ground is not frozen, but should not be done when it is extremely hot and dry. Spring and fall are considered the best times for aeration. Heavy traffic areas will require aeration more frequently. 

New to Colorado? Five Gardening Tips for Success

Photo courtesy Colorado Dept. of Tourism

Welcome to Colorado! Regardless where you came from, you are likely to find gardening in Colorado different than it was in your home state - both rewarding and challenging. It's not too early to start thinking about your Colorado landscape. Following are five tips to help you get started on the right foot. 

'Tis the Season for Ice Melt by Rebecca Anderson

Photo by Beckie Anderson

Winter is here, along with the snow and ice we don’t have to worry about during the warmer months. Although the snow brings moisture that will help our plants flourish next spring, it does make getting around in the winter tricky and even dangerous at times. Ice melting products help clear away the slick surfaces, but with more products available every season it can be difficult to choose which is right for your situation. 

Don't Put Your Lawn to Bed Yet! by Rebecca Anderson

Photo by Donna Duffy

With fall approaching, everyone is looking forward to a break from the hot weather and summer yard chores of mowing and watering.  It's true that the grass isn't getting tall as quickly as it did in June, but that doesn't mean that it has quit growing.  In the fall, grasses are forming tillers: side shoots that thicken the grass and help it recover from losses that occurred in the more stressful times of summer. This side growth still requires some water, so don't roll up the hoses or blow out your sprinklers yet.  Water application of 0.5 to 0.75 inches per week is recommended by CSU for the months of September and October.  This is significantly less than the recommended 2.25 inches per week in the hottest months of summer, but is still more than our rainfall totals for most weeks.

Renovating the Lawn in Fall

Photo by Donna Duffy

Does your lawn have dead spots or thinning? Do you have sections that just aren’t thriving? Once you've ruled out irrigation problems, consider renovation of the turf - and fall is the perfect time to do it. Cool weather is optimum for growth of cool season grasses, and lower temperatures slow the drying of seeded areas, leading to better germination.  Following are tips for lawn renovation from Carl Wilson, CSU Horticulturist.

Mid-summer Lawn Care: Watering by Donna Duffy

Photo courtesy Donna Duffy

Here we are in the heat of July, and your lawn watering practices may need to be altered from those that were effective in spring and early summer. Following are mid-summer watering tips from Dr. Tony Koski, CSU Extension Turf Specialist.

Follow watering programs encouraged or mandated in your community

• Water the lawn whenever it is allowed.
• Disregard for required community watering practices can result in substantial fines and may encourage communities to enact even stricter watering restrictions.
• Contact your local water utility for information on your local watering restrictions.

Effective lawn irrigation requires an understanding of how the irrigation system operates, as well as ongoing maintenance of sprinkler heads

• Learn how to program your control clock so that you irrigate according to the schedule mandated for your community.
• Set the clock so that irrigation occurs between 6PM and 10 AM (or as otherwise mandated).
• Repair or replace broken irrigation heads.
• Adjust irrigation heads to avoid throwing water on streets, driveways, and other hardscape.
• If you find that adjusting or repairing your irrigation system is too time-consuming or challenging, hire an irrigation or landscape management specialist to perform this important work.
• Your lawn care company professional may be willing to program your irrigation control clock for you.
• Contact your local water provider for information on conducting an irrigation audit; some lawn care companies, landscape management firms, or irrigation installation firms will conduct an audit of your irrigation system for a modest fee.

Even with unlimited watering per irrigation zone on a twice-weekly basis, lawns often will show signs of stress

• Summer root stress reduces the ability of root systems to use water.
• Stress will first appear in areas where irrigation coverage is lacking.

The application of wetting agents specifically developed for use on turf is recommended to reduce the occurrence of water repellent conditions in lawns

• Wetting agents can benefit lawns subjected to extreme drying over the past few months by promoting better infiltration of water into the soil; summer use may reduce the occurrence and/or severity of dry spots in the lawn (but will NOT totally compensate for poor irrigation coverage).
• Wetting agents are available in both granular and liquid forms; granular formulations are often easier for homeowners to apply.
• The use of dishwashing detergents and other soaps in place of turf-type wetting agents is not recommended and may damage heat- and drought-stressed lawns.
• The incorporation of water-absorbing polymers (sometimes called "hydrogels") into new or existing lawns does NOT reduce lawn water requirements and is not recommended for Colorado lawns.

Curtis Utley, Jefferson County CSU Extension Horticulture Agent, conducting a Lawncheck with a Golden resident

If you need help diagnosing turf problems, schedule a Lawncheck through Jefferson County CSU Extension.

Lawncheck is an on-site, lawn consultation service for a fee. A Colorado State University Extension professional will contact you to make an appointment and discuss cost. Service includes recommendations for improving your lawn and solving insect, disease and other lawn problems. To schedule a Lawncheck appointment, call Jefferson County CSU Extension at 303-271-6620.

  

PlantTalk: Overseeding Your Lawn (Video)

Overseeding is a great way to manage bare spots in your lawn. Here are tips from PlantTalk!

Safe Alternative for Removing Weeds in Colorado Lawns by Carol King

Want to control weeds in your landscape but hesitate using herbicides?  There are ways to control weeds without harming your children and pets.  This video with Carol O'Meara, Extension Agent from Boulder County and Dr. Tony Koski, CSU Extension Turf Specialist, gives us some safe, alternative methods for ridding our lawns of weeds.

Go Green(er) on Earth Day!

It's Earth Day - what better time to consider ways to go green(er) in your own landscape? Here are six simple steps to get started. 

Plant a tree. Trees help purify the air, give wildlife a home, and planting them isn't as difficult as you might think. Read CSU’s Tree Planting Steps to ensure your tree is planted correctly.

Spring Lawn Management Checklist for Colorado Lawns by Dr. Tony Koski

Photo Lawn Institute

Dr. Tony Koski, Extension Turf Specialist, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension offers  this advice for lawn management of bluegrass and other turf grasses.

Fertilizing the Lawn

• Fertilization of lawns this spring (March-June) is a highly recommended practice. 
• The ideal fertilizer will contain a mixture of quickly and slowly available nitrogen sources. Most lawn care companies use these type of fertilizer blends. 
• Excellent fertilizer blends are available to the homeowner from local nurseries and garden centers. 
• Fertilizer applied before watering is allowed will not cause a problem for lawns; adequate moisture from spring precipitation and irrigation (once it is allowed) will cause nutrients to be released to the turf. 

  

  Photo CSU

Aerating (Cultivating) the Lawn

• Lawn aeration is a highly recommended spring lawn care practice. 
• While deeper (2-3 inches) core holes provide the greatest benefit to the lawn, even shallow (1 inch) core holes will help to enhance water infiltration for the spring and summer watering periods. 
• Overseeding may be done in conjunction with lawn aeration; this may especially benefit those lawns thinned by drought conditions or winter mite activity (avoid using crabgrass preemergent herbicides at the time of overseeding). 
• Lawn aeration will help to control thatch, an organic layer that often impedes proper water movement into the soil. 
• Lawn aeration, fertilization, and overseeding all can be done at the same time. 

Fertilize Bluegrass in the Fall for a Green Spring Lawn by Carol King

Photo Carol King

Did you know that fall is the best time of year to fertilize Colorado's bluegrass lawns and you still have lots of time to do this?  If you fertilize now, you won't have to do anything in the spring but watch your lawn turn green.

Planttalk Colorado give us the advice to "simply fertilize with nitrogen sometime during late September to early November at lower altitudes, and earlier in the mountains." 

The benefits of fall fertilizing include a healthier turf before winter, a healthier root system, and stimulating a turf that greens up earlier in the spring without excessive top growth. 

Fall fertilization produces dense, green spring lawns and should be a part of every good lawn care program.

For more information including how much nitrogen to put on your lawn see this fact sheet: http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/lawn-care-7-202/

and this Planttalk script http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1523.html

Fall is the Time to Manage Dandelions by Rebecca Anderson

 

Everyone recognizes a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) by its bright yellow flower that transitions to a white puff ball in a matter of days. Most homeowners consider the dandelion an enemy of the perfect lawn.   A single plant can produce 15,000 seeds and those seeds can travel 100 miles with the proper gust of wind.  The plant is a perennial, meaning it will come back year after year once it is established.  This can make controlling dandelions a difficult task.

Five Tips for Fall Lawn Care by Donna Duffy

Autumn is definitely in the air and you know what that means – winter is just around the corner. Here are five actions you can take to get your lawn in top shape for spring.

Mid-summer Lawn Care: Fertilizing, Aerating and Mowing by Donna Duffy

Mid-summer can be tough on turf. In addition to watering efficiently, give consideration to fertilizing, aerating and mowing practices. Following are tips from Tony Koski, CSU Extension Turf Specialist.

All Those Leaves! What to Do? by Donna Duffy

Leaves, leaves, leaves!! Photo courtesy Donna Duffy

Special thanks to Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension agent,  for sharing the following article.

Ugh. Dealing with leaves in the fall. It’s almost like nature mocks us. We work hard all summer to grow tomatoes, mow the lawn religiously and fend our garden from insects and disease. Just as we want to take a break and watch some football, the trees decide to drop their leaves and landscape maintenance continues.

I’ve been asked this question a lot—What should I do with all the leaves that drop? There’s a lot of great ways to use them, including composting, tucking them around newly planted plants, throwing them in the veggie garden to till in next spring or mulching them into your lawn.

Don't Put Your Lawn to Bed Yet! by Rebecca Anderson

Photo by Donna Duffy

With fall approaching, everyone is looking forward to a break from the hot weather and summer yard chores of mowing and watering.  It's true that the grass isn't getting tall as quickly as it did in June, but that doesn't mean that it has quit growing.  In the fall, grasses are forming tillers: side shoots that thicken the grass and help it recover from losses that occurred in the more stressful times of summer. This side growth still requires some water, so don't roll up the hoses or blow out your sprinklers yet.  Water application of 0.5 to 0.75 inches per week is recommended by CSU for the months of September and October.  This is significantly less than the recommended 2.25 inches per week in the hottest months of summer, but is still more than our rainfall totals for most weeks. 

For some lawns, fall can be a good time for fertilizer application. Only green, growing lawns of cool season grasses (bluegrass, ryegrass, fescue) will benefit from fall fertilization. Warm season grasses (buffalo grass, blue grama, zoysia grass, Bermuda grass) should not be fertilized after September 1. Fertilizer needs to be watered in with 0.5 inch of water after application, so if your community is implementing a watering cut-off day, make sure the fertilizer is applied before that date. If your lawn has already gone dormant and is brown, fall fertilizer won't help much.  It is better to wait until spring. Check out the fact sheet on Fall Lawn Fertilization of for more information.

Rethink Your Lawn by Donna Duffy

Photo courtesy university-gardens.com

Across Jefferson County, bluegrass lawns are just starting to green up. This is a good time to think about changes you’d like to make in your lawn this year. There are at least three options to consider:

1. Leave it pretty much as is
2. Renovate it
3. Remove some lawn for vegetable or flower plantings

Ascochyta Leaf Blight Damages Lawns by Mary Small

Aascochyta Leaf Blight in Bluegrass

Cool moist weather followed by hot dry weather often spells Ascochyta leaf blight on turf. The fungal disease kills leaf blades, creating irregular patches of straw colored turf. Fortunately, Ascochyta does not kill the crowns or roots of plants, so they will eventually recover within a couple of weeks.

To manage the disease, mow lawns 3 inches tall, making sure mower blades are sharp. (Dull mower blades create ragged tips on grass plants, providing the fungus more entry points.)

Keep the turf evenly moist. Check sprinkler heads to make sure they are working correctly, are not clogged, tipped or broken. It's better to water deeply and infrequently. Shallow watering encourages shallow rooting which makes plants more susceptible to drying out. Too much water in poorly drained soils can increase disease development. For more information about Ascochyta, see this CSU Extension fact sheet.