Turfgrass Renovation Following Drought or Pest Damage

1
Turfgrass Renovation Following Drought or Pest
Damage

• J. Powell, Jr.
• Extension Specialist, Turfgrass

2
With one or two rainfall events, much recovery
occurred during fall 07, especially if lawn was
growing on good, deep soils.
Recovery was sparse on lawns with slopes and
heavy clay soil.
3
Renovation Grass?

• Tall Fescue is almost always best choice
• Varieties Turf types, www.uky.edu/ag/ukturf
• Examples Rembrandt, Jaguar 3, Arid 3, Chapel
  Hill, Falcon IV, 2nd Millennium, Rendition ,
  Barrera
• Some now advertised as Rhizomatous, but longer-
  than-usual (very short) rhizomes not found in
  dense stands
• Most sold in 3 or 4 cultivar blends
• Make sure 1 or 2 recommended varieties are
  included
• Prefer single, good variety with no Ky Blue in
  mix
• Sod producers often add Ky blue to improve
  texture , color and harvest quality

4
Turf type TF
Ky 31
5
Why Turf-type Better Than Ky-31

• Genetic color darker green
• Genetic texture finer leaf texture, almost
  compatible with Ky blue
• More dense and carpet-like
• Less Ky blue encroachment
• Better resiliency
• Negatives - 50 cents higher / more
  Brown Patch (more bio-mass)

6
Why Tall Fescue for Renovation

• Best Adapted Cool Season Grass
• Best grass for clay sandy soils
• Requires less irrigation
• Germination in 7 to 10 days
• Seedling vigor good
• Seedlings competitive against most weeds
• Easy to establish using no-till methods

7
Why Tall Fescue for Renovation

• No major insects
• Only one major disease Brown Patch
• Good traffic tolerance
• Sod readily available, most netted for easy
  handling
• No thatch buildup
• Broad seeding window
• Best timing from mid-August through October.
  Some success in a warm November, but winter kill
  risk increases on young seedlings
• Can dormant seed in December through February
• Second best timing mid February through March
• With consistent irrigation and good weed control,
  some success with seedings made in spring and
  mild summers

8
Leaf lesion
Mycelium during early morning dew
Brown Patch can be mitigated with good
management, mainly low or no spring or summer N.
9
Pre-renovation Maintenance

• Soil Test Collect mainly in top inch of surface
  for renovation
• Can apply fert. prior to seeding, but live weeds
  will be rejuvenated
• Can wait to apply fert. after germination new
  seedlings always need N!
• If dense cover of green Ky blue or perennial
  weeds
• Spray with Rd Up, one or more days prior to
  seeding
• If weeds are bermuda or nimblewill, Rd Up will
  not work when such weeds dormant (brown)
• If broadleaf weed cover (dandelion, chickweed,
  plantain, henbit, white clover, etc.)
• Can usually spray out with broadleaf herbicide
  one or two weeks prior to seeding
• Can also usually spray out 2 3 weeks after
  germination
• A dense weed cover may be more injurious to new
  seedlings than an earlier than normal herbicide
  application!

10
If live perennial ryegrass clumps exist, always
kill the ryegrass with Rd Up prior to seeding
tall fescue. Tall fescue will not germinate
within the clumps of live ryegrass because of
ryegrass allopathy.
11
Renovation Methods

• Power Seeding No-till
• Broadcast seeding following Dethatcher/Verticut
• Broadcast seeding following Core Aerification
• Broadcast Seeding without surface preparation
• Removing surface weeds and replacing with sod

12
Power Seeders
13
Power Seeding

• Walk behind Power Seeders can often be rented,
  but require some brute
• Prefer traversing lawn in two directions to
  eliminate row effect and because tall fescue is a
  bunch grass
• Seed no more than 1 seed / 1000 sq ft / pass
  to get quick seedling maturity
• If little or no desirable grass cover, broadcast
  another 2 4 seed/1000 sq ft between power
  seeder passes (2 passes at 1 ea 4
  broadcast 6 /1000sq ft)
• Irrigation to keep surface moist will improve
  establishment

14
Power seeding is a very seed-efficient seeding
method. Rows of seedling tall fescue may
require more than one year to completely cover
the surface. If too much seed applied within the
row, seedling maturity will be lacking and the
stand may suffer.
15
Seeding Following Dethatcher

• Dethatcher requires less brute than Power Seeder
  and easier to handle on slopes
• Can easily traverse lawn several times - hitting
  bad spots more than once, giving some surface
  leveling, dislodging growing weeds
• Must have blades set low enough to groove soil
• Broadcast 6 lbs seed / 1000 sq ft
• Water to keep surface moist until germination
  complete

16
(No Transcript)
17
Seeding Following Core Aerification

• Core aerifier removes soil cores and deposits
  them back on soil surface (solid cores or spiking
  does not work for improving soil-seed contact)
• To be effective, must traverse lawn enough times
  to remove cores on 2 - 3 inch centers.
• Can distribute removed cores with drag mat
• Broadcast seed at 6/1000
• Water to keep surface moist until germination
  complete

18
(No Transcript)
19
Broadcast Seeding

• Most successful if surface has little live cover.
  Rd Up applied one or two days pre-seeding will
  help to improve establishment. But, Rd Up should
  not be applied if there is already significant
  cover of the desirable grass specie.
• Broadcast seed at 6/1000 sq ft
• Use high pressure water to force seed to soil
  surface
• Water to keep surface moist

20
(No Transcript)
21
Tall fescue seedlings growing within dead
nutsedge and drought damaged Kentucky bluegrass.
22
Many spreader types can be used for seed or
fertilizer. The hand, shoulder seeders are
cheaper, quicker and easier to calibrate.
23
For new seed germination irrigate lightly and
frequently for a week or two. Best results
usually with automatic pop-up irrigation.
24
Renovation with Tall Fescue Sod

• Cost 1.50/sq yd, or 165/1000 sq ft vs.
• seed cost at 1.50 / lb, or 9/1000 sq ft
• Immediate establishment no erosion
• Irrigation often required for week or two prefer
  spring or fall sodding
• Relatively weed free
• Immediate aesethics
• Most sod netted for easy handling

25
Organic surface is light weight easily removed.
26
Renovation/Repair with Sod

• If heavy organic surface, remove with sod cutter
  and discard
• Use sod cutter, set to cut about 1 inch() into
  soil surface OR loosen surface inch() with
  verticut, or tiller
• If organic debris makes surface uneven, then some
  raking to remove clumps smooth surface may be
  required
• Upon this loosened soil, lay sod green side up!!

27
(No Transcript)
28
Maintenance of Newly Seeded Grass

• Apply 1N/1000 sq ft after germination (in spring
  or fall)
• Begin mowing
• to reduce competition of persisting grass or
  weeds
• mow new grass at intended height begin when
  some clumps get 50 above mowing height
• Irrigate to prevent serious drought or seedling
  wilt
• Spray broadleaf weeds that are competing
  seriously with the new seedlings (seedlings
  greater than 1 to 2 inches tall)
• Spray post-emerge crabgrass for spring seedings,
  after grass reaches mowing height (Use MSMA at ½
  rate, two applications OR use Acclaim Extra at
  label rate)