Agrivision Equipment Turf Talk- July
July can be a difficult time for area cool-season grasses. The majority of lawns in this area are cool-season grasses such as turf type fescue, bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass. These grass varieties have now entered a time of dormancy that will persist until our night temperatures are consistently below 70-80 degrees. This means the window of dormancy could last until sometime around August to September. The lawn won’t stop growing completely during dormancy, but will slow down its growth to the point that the lawn needs mowed something like every ten days instead of every four days. So what allows a cool-season lawn to stay thick and keep its dark green color during dormancy? One main feature is deep roots. With the combination of soil fertility and a proper irrigation routine, deep roots have developed enough by this point in the year to help aid the cool-season lawn through the dormant season. Mowing height can either help or hurt during the dormant season too. By this time in the year it may be wise to raise the mowing height one deck setting in order to keep the lawn looking healthy. This is especially important if the lawn does not have irrigation, which most acreage lawns do not. A higher mowing height also means more water retention. If the grass is longer, the soil will be more shaded helping the soil to stay moist longer. Once the summer heat is over, the cool-season grasses can then begin their fall growing season allowing the lawn to be repaired if needed.
Just the opposite of cool-season grasses, warm-season grasses are in their prime growing season in July. These varieties include zoysia, buffalo, and bermuda grass. Although in our area, bermuda grass is seen as more of a pest than a desirable turf-grass. Warm-season grasses have one growing season which starts in May and begins to end in roughly September, or with the first frost, whereas cool-season grasses have a spring growing season, dormancy in the hot summer months, then the fall growing season.