It is that time of year again when the night time temperatures are beginning to rise allowing the Bermuda grass to emerge from dormancy for the summer growing season. Right now we need to prepare for the promotion of healthy Bermuda grass by eliminating it’s competition with the winter grass that is on it’s way out. Soon the Rye will begin to fade and no amount of water will sustain good Rye very much longer, nor should it be allowed to remain to compete with the emerging Bermuda. It is summer grass time. Bermuda that was not overseeded will start looking better as temperatures continue to rise. To encourage Bermuda growth and promote healthy summer grass use the following guidelines:
● Mowing height should be lowered down to less than 2” by this time to take the shade of the Rye off the Bermuda. Reducing the mowing height will also assist in exhausting the Rye’s food reserves.
● Rye can be stubborn to eliminate so in addition to cutting it low, withhold water from it for a couple weeks to stress it further. Yes, the turf will be ugly for a while, but the end result will be earlier reestablishment of the summer grass. It is Bermuda weather so we need to be growing Bermuda, not suppressing it.
● Dethatching/Verticutting is recommended and may be necessary in areas where the Rye continues to persist or where there is too much thatch covering the Bermuda. Verticutting also acts as a pruning method that slices the Bermuda stolons which encourages more growth from the cut stolons.
● After the Rye is dead, scalped out, and verticut, if needed, follow up with an application of nitrogen to increase the growth rate of the Bermuda. Follow the usage guidelines on the package for application rates of all fertilizers.
● Continue to mow as low as practical during transition and then raise mower height back to 2” when the Rye is completely out of the turf.
For more tips, refer to http://turf.arizona.edu/tips698.html
No comments:
Post a Comment