Current Weather Conditions for Growing Lawns
The heat is on! Low to mid 90s last week, this week and NEXT week. While current weather conditions affect Tall Fescue differently than the warm-season grasses such as Bermuda, Zoysia and Centipede, all grasses will need more water with these high temperatures.
Tall Fescue
Courtesy of Wunderground, we can see a 10-day weather forecast for the Raleigh area. This is Brown Patch Disease weather. How can I tell? High temps in the upper 80s to low 90s with night-time temps around 70 or above. We start every day close to 100% humidity that doesn’t go down until the temps go up. Occasional rain, not enough to satisfy the thirst of the grass. It is certainly enough rain to moisten the grass blades and encourage Brown Patch fungus.
Tall Fescue in full mid-day sun is rough right now. In addition to the strength of the sun, pre-emergents applied in the spring are losing their effectiveness. The pre-emergents suppress crabgrass and other grassy weeds. That includes Tall Fescue, if the pre-emergent is applied too late in the season and it interferes with the September/October seeding. So we expect to start seeing bits of crabgrass as we get into August.
Recommendations
- Mow with SHARP blades.
- Mow only as needed (don’t mow if it isn’t growing)
- Avoid watering at night.
- Water early morning.
- If early morning won’t work, water early enough in the afternoon that the grass is dry before sunset.
Warm-Season Grasses
The very early spring followed by the very cool-slow spring was great for Tall Fescue lawns. Warm-season grasses like Bermuda, Zoysia and Centipede, well it was not so good. But now, we have great temperatures and lots of sunshine for these grasses.
Recommendations
Don’t let the lawn dry out too much. A little drought stress is good but the growing season is fairly short and in two months the grass will start hardening off for the winter (slower growth). If you walk across the lawn and hear a crunchy sound, you just may want to add some water.
- Water, if needed, especially south or west-facing sunny slopes
- Water early morning
- If early morning won’t work, water early enough in the afternoon that the grass is dry before sunset
- Mow
- Mow with a sharp blade
- Mow often (weekly for bermuda)
- Did I mention mowing?
The warm season grasses are undergoing the strongest growth of the season. This is the time when the grass can develop the most and deepest roots. Encourage that through frequent mowing.