Late Summer Turf Recovery

It’s time to evaluate the turf conditions at your facility or property and make plans for late summer turf recovery and early fall renovation. Many turf managers have already done so and will be implementing seeding and fertility practices based on our old mid-August rule of thumb. Let’s review several basic concepts to get a jump on what will be a busy fall.

Weed Control

Late summer weed control is critical in having a successful fall seeding. If cleaning up broadleaf weeds, make sure to make applications 2-4 weeks ahead of planned overseeding/interseeding projects. Always pay attention to seeding intervals on the label of your chosen herbicide. While you’re at it, late summer is a great time to knock out any summer annuals that have broken through. Get those turf areas ready to flourish with fall seeding and fertility programs by eliminating any unwanted weed species.

Aerification

At this stage in the growing season, most golf courses have scheduled greens and other playing surface aerifications. As always, we have to work around golf schedules that may not put our timing at the best it could be, but earlier is always better to allow for a full recovery and even additional aerifications if necessary. Take advantage of the great turf growing weather of September and early October when planning aerifications. Always consider what your end goals are with your aerification, such as gas exchange, soil modification, turf renovation, etc. Each situation will be different and require some planning as to how best to execute a successful aeration. Either way, your turf will be better from the process. Don’t skip this tedious process regardless of the obstacles.

Seeding

Making plans to renovate, overseed, interseed, etc? Just remember that timing, seed to soil contact, and seed selection are critical to a successful seeding project. Mid-August to mid-September is the standard ideal time for seed work, with mid-September to mid-October as the next best time to make magic happen. Don’t be caught sitting on the sidelines while everyone is getting better!

Thinned-out greens? Try a good aerification and follow up with spot seeding using the ParAide Accuseeder tool. It’s a great way to put your wisely-chosen bentgrass variety right where you want it. If you’re needing to seed areas such as fairways or roughs, just take into consideration your goals and whether you’d like to add more of the same turf types or move in another direction. Your local ATS rep will be more than happy to help you make the proper seed selection for your project needs.

Fertility

Have stressed turf? Everyone has it somewhere this time of year, so make the first evaluation of whether you can recover your turf or need to apply seeding practices. If able to recover from summer stress, what is the situation? On stressed greens, keep in mind the grass plant is deprived of carbohydrates at this point and that is what the plant needs more than just a shot of nitrogen(N). The Foliar-Pak Oh $h8t Program is ideal for stressed turf, this would entail a few apps of Bio Sea, Foundation Forty, Micros Plus, and Promote. I’d add in Amperage to this mix to recover turf without a large shot of N.

If trying to fertilize with granular, this is a great time of year to apply an organic such as Healthy Grow 10-3-2 or 8-3-5.  If fertilizing a newly-seeded area, please keep in mind to go with a high Phosphorus (P) product to help in establishing new turf. ATS has plenty of options to achieve this.

Late summer is always a critical time to evaluate and make plans for what is best for your situation. Your local ATS rep will be pleased to help you in designing a custom program that best fits your needs. Don’t hesitate to reach out!

Ryan Smith
Sales Representative