It doesn’t seem to make sense to some, but it’s a fact. Turf grass in your lawn look better in the fall of the year – not spring, or summer, but fall.
Why?
Well, in the spring a lot of grass plants seeded the year before, or even in April, take at least 90 days to germinate, root, and develop a root system to provide vigor and color. And by the time it does it’s often summer.
Turf grass always looks better when the temperatures drop, and the rain and nitrogen rises proportionately.
By late June and July heat and stress have set in. And, heat is the #1 stress related factor in how your grass looks. It’s not water, as most believe, but heat. You can water all you want, but in the presence of 90-degree temperatures grass suffers from lack of oxygen and disease pathogens.
But come fall, the temperatures drop as the rains increase. And if you don’t know…rainwater is always better than irrigation water because it comes with air-borne nitrogen. And since grass grows best when the daytime temperatures are in the 70s – and the night time temperatures are in the 40-50s – with natural nitrogen and proper mowing plants look their varietal best.
Professional turf growers always wait til fall to determine just how good a ‘sod’ crop really is, because that’s what’s going to carry over into the following spring and harvest time.
You should do the same. Remember, that everything about grass works better, and looks better and more healthy, in the fall of the year. And the better it looks in the fall…the better it’s going to look come next spring and summer.
It’s about heat…rainwater…and air-borne nutrients.
