Earth Day Count Down - Day 15

Wait for the storm to pass! 

Don't fertilize before a rain storm. Your fertilizer - along with your money – can just wash off your lawn and down the storm drain. Fertilizer runoff can pollute rivers, lakes, and bays, and cause problems in recreational areas or fishing grounds. Check the weather forecast before you head out, and wait for the storm to pass. Visit http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/yards/fertilizing/ or http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/handbook/Fertilize_Appropriately_vSept09.pdf for information on Florida-Friendly Fertilizing.

 

Know When to Apply Fertilizer

To prevent fertilizer from washing into water bodies, it’s important to know the right time to fertilize. Follow these tips before fertilizing:

• Consider the time of year, climate, soil type and, most important, type of grass and health or condition of the lawn before applying fertilizer.
• Fertilize only when the grass is actively growing. For instance, during the winter, grass is dormant in many areas of Florida; therefore, fertilizer is not necessary. Fertilizer applied when grass is not growing wastes your money and time, since it will not be beneficially used by the grass. Instead, it will leach through the soil or run off and pollute nearby water bodies.
• If your lawn has problem areas, find out if this is related to a pest, soil or environmental problem such as excess shade or the uneven distribution of irrigation water. These problems should be corrected and not just masked by fertilization.
• If your household uses reclaimed water, check with your utility to determine if your reclaimed water has nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are also in fertilizer. If so, you may not need to fertilize as much.
• Do not fertilize if rain is predicted in the next 24–36 hours or when a heavy rain, tropical storm, hurricane or flood is predicted.

For more information check out http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/yards/fertilizing/ 

How to Help Your Lawn Survive the Chill

Certainly when we think of living in Florida, we do not generally think about losing our lawns to freezing temperatures. However, some homeowners in Florida may find themselves needing to replace portions of their lawns in the spring of 2010 due to the freezing temperatures! Here are some tips about how to prevent or reduce winterkill by preparing your lawn for the winter months and how to let your lawn recover from the big chill with minimal damage.

Preparing Your Lawn for Winter
All of our warm season lawngrass species go into some degree of “dormancy” during the winter months. This means that they slow their growth down and may or may not stay green. This is a natural cycle, regardless of where you live in the state. In north and even central Florida, lawn may stay green or may turn brown, either of which can be normal. Even in south Florida, lawns do not grow as quickly (less mowing required!) in the winter, even though they may remain green. Regardless of where you are in the state, you should work to keep your lawn as healthy as possible through your mowing, irrigating, and fertilizing practices. For more information on how to properly manage your lawn, please refer to EDIS publication ENH979, Homeowner Best Management Practices for the Home Lawn (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep236).

Lawns in south Florida are typically fertilized year-round with no problems. However, central and north Florida lawns should not be fertilized after mid to late September. The last fertilization should be done with a fertilizer high in potassium (the 3rd number on the bag) relative to nitrogen (the first number on the bag), such as 15-0-15 or something with equal or higher potassium to nitrogen. This helps to impart some stress tolerance to cold or freezing temperatures and may enhance spring greenup. In central Florida, do not fertilize lawns between October and the end of March. In north Florida, avoid fertilizing from mid-September through mid-April. Keep mowing height high year-round (3.5 to 4” for most St. Augustinegrass cultivars and bahiagrass and 2 to 2.5” for centipedegrass and coarse-textured zoysiagrass lawns) for additional enhanced stress tolerance.

Coming Out of the Freeze
Freezing temperatures will turn lawns brown. Do not panic, this is a normal part of winter dormancy. When the days become longer and temperatures start to warm up in the spring, the growing points will become active, bringing green growth to the lawn again. Do not fertilize your lawn in the winter to try to green it up after a freeze – wait for the natural cycle of events to occur in the springtime. Fertilizing after a freeze will do more harm to your lawn than waiting for spring greenup. Do not apply a weed and feed product for preemergence weed control during the winter in central and north Florida. Lawns generally do not require as much irrigation during winter months, so scale back your irrigation systems. In central Florida, you may need to irrigate weekly or every other week, while in north Florida, it may be every 3 to 4 weeks. You will not need to mow for some time; when you do need to mow again, be sure to cut at the highest recommended height for your grass type. Do not scalp the lawn, as this makes it less able torecover from freeze damage.

How can you tell if your grass has truly succumbed to a winter freeze or if it is only dormant?
One way is to cut small plugs of the grass (with roots and shoots attached) and plant them in a pot, put it in a warm spot with natural sunlight and see if the grass regrows. If your lawn does not recover come springtime, remove the decayed vegetation from the affected areas and replace with either sod pieces or plugs. Do this before weeds have a chance to germinate and take hold of the ground. It is possible that not all of your lawn will be affected, perhaps just those areas that are most exposed to the cold temperatures. Following these tips will help your lawn survive freezing temperatures. For more lawn care tips, go to  http://www.yourfloridalawn.ifas.ufl.edu/.

This information was prepared by L.E. Trenholm, Associate Professor, Environmental Horticulture and
J.B. Unruh, Associate Professor, West Florida Research and Education Center

Gardening in November

November garden tips;

Now is the time to apply fertilizer to Zoysia and Bermudagrass - this will be the last fertilizaton of the year.

Plants need less supplemental watering in cooler weather. Turn off systems and water only if needed.

Continue to monitor the garden for insects and disease.

Be sure you are mowing at the proper heights:

• St Augustine & Bahia - 3-4"


• Zoysia - 1.5 - 2"


• Seashore Paspalum - 3/4 - 1.5"

Fertilize Appropriately Part 2 (Landscape Plants)

In the soil, roots of trees, shrubs, turfgrass and bedding plants intermingle and compete for water and nutrients. In fact, the roots of a single mature tree may extend 60 feet or more out into your lawn or flowerbeds. Fertilizer applied to one plant is often absorbed by the roots of a nearby plant. Every treatment you apply to your lawn (fertilizer and herbicide, for example) can impact your trees and shrubs. Conversely, treatments applied to a tree, such as pruning and fertilizing, can influence the appearance and health of underlying turfgrass.

In areas where tree or shrub fertilization zones overlap with lawn fertilization zones, fertilize for one or the other of the plant types, but not both. If trees and shrubs are not located near fertilized turfgrass, you can apply additional nitrogen to enhance growth of established trees and shrubs.

Broadcast fertilizer uniformly over the desired areas of the landscape. Apply watersoluble fertilizers at no more than ½ pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per application. Application rates of controlled-release fertilizers depend on release rates of the product.

Palms have different nutritional requirements than other landscape plants. Fertilize landscaped areas within 30 feet of large established palms with a 4-1-6-2 Mg (N-P2O5-K20-Mg) ratio fertilizer (an 8-2-12-4 Mg is an example of a fertilizer using this ratio). Nitrogen, potassium and magnesium should have equivalent percentages of each nutrient in controlled-release form. If you use a
fertilizer with a ratio other than specifi ed, you may bring about or intensify nutrient deficiencies in palms.

Fertilize lawns, trees and plants only to maintain health. Over fertilizing aggravates pest problems and stimulates excessive growth. When excessive fertilizer is applied, it can leach past the root zone and into the groundwater, the source of our drinking water. Excessive fertilizer application also contributes to pollution in Florida's springs, rivers, streams, lakes and bays. Consult the Manatee County UF/IFAS Extension office with questions at 941-722-4524 or email michelleatkinson@ufl.edu.

Fertilize Appropriately Part 1 (turf)

At the most basic level, fertilizers feed plants, helping them to grow better. Fertilizing can be done by applying composted organic material, packaged fertilizer or a specific mineral, such as iron. Different types of plants benefit from different fertilizers.

Lawns

Grass that receives appropriate levels of fertilizer — not too little and not too much — produces a dense root and shoot system capable of filtering out impurities or other components of leachate or runoff. A properly fertilized lawn absorbs nonpoint source pollutants, helps stabilize soil, reduces ambient air temperatures and promotes a healthy ecosystem of its own. Since it grows more vigorously, a properly fertilizered lawn might also require fewer cultural or chemical controls for weeds, insects or diseases.

Overfertilizing can aggravate pest problems, stimulate excessive growth and require frequent watering. In addition, when people use too much fertilizer on their landscapes, it can seep through the ground, past the root zone of the grass, plants or trees and into the aquifer. It can also be washed off by rainfall directly into surface water or via stormwater systems. Before you apply fertilizer, it is very important that you read and understand the label.

Look for slow-release fertilizers, or fertilizers that have a high percentage of slow-release nitrogen in them. These products have less potential to leach or run off into Florida’s waterways than quick-release sources. Nitrogen promotes shoot growth, so if you use slow-release nitrogen, you’ll have less growth surge. In lawns, that means less thatch accumulation following fertilizer application — which ultimately means less mowing. Look at the fertilizer sources listed on the back of the bag and fi nd the amount of nitrogen that is “slow-release.” The higher the percentage of slow-release, the less chance of leaching — and less thatch and mowing!

Some parts of Florida have year-round growing seasons; other parts have dormant lawns for parts of the year. Apply fertilizer when grass is actively growing, not when it is dormant. Do not apply too much nitrogen at one time in summer months when grass is already growing rapidly. Consult the Manatee County UF/IFAS Extension office with questions at 941-722-4524 or email michelleatkinson@ufl.edu.