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Avoiding Hot Spots
Dear Jeff,
Hey I was wondering why my lawn dying all of a sudden?
Thanks,
Phil
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Hey Phil.
As we are making the important transition from winter to spring, there are many things that you should be aware of in your yard during this very dynamic time of year. You’re describing a very common problem here in Southern Nevada, an area rife with problems with ornamental turf grass. This is otherwise commonly known as “natural grass” due to the increased popularity of synthetic or “fake” grass. Every year at this time we notice the same thing, extremely stressed lawns which are due to a few simple factors.
Understanding the Reasons
The main reasons are the higher daytime and especially the nighttime temperatures, frequent winds, the extreme lack of humidity (unperceived due to mild temperatures) this time of year, and of course the fact that your lawn is in its most active growing state. The next biggest thing we see is mowing frequency. The fast growing grass will inevitably block the spray of all important water from the pop-up sprinkler heads. When all or even a couple of these elements come into play, dead/dying spots will occur seemingly overnight.
Solutions for Lawn Hot Spots
The first place to start is with your irrigation system. Does the current automatic pop-up system function properly and cover all of the grass areas? If not then any effort to grow and maintain lawn in our climate will be futile. If it does the next thing is to schedule is three watering cycles per day at least every other day, two cycles in the morning before sun up and one in the evening after sundown (unless you have a unique slope, drainage, and/or exposure issues). You must mow & edge your lawn weekly during its peak growing seasons of spring & fall! I know, for most of you that is a definite bummer, and I know a lot of us who actually like the task of mowing our lawns. Almost as if it is some primal instinct or something, though from whom or where I haven’t a clue.
If you are really observant you can notice under watered/stressed grass will actually turn a darker shade of green before it starts to dry out to the unfortunate and highly undesirable straw color. These are a few of the first and most important factors in enjoying the unmistakable beauty and allures of natural ornamental turf grasses.
Thank you and have a great day!
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In my next post I will give you a few more tips to take your lawn to the next level and have all of your friends & neighbors freaking out with envy!
Hello World!
Greetings from Las Vegas.
I am proud to relaunch my company’s website with the help of Phil Simon. Over the next few months and years, I’ll be blogging about tips for the general public on how to maintain their yards, take care of their plants, and whatever comes to my mind. If you have an idea for a topic, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks for reading.
Jeff Lee