by John Straughn

Now is the time to get your lawn ready for summer. The early bird not only gets the worm but also gets the envy of his friends and neighbors when it comes to early spring lawn renovations.

If you are unhappy with the present density of your turf, now is an opportune time to do some overseeding. The first thing to determine is whether you have a sunny or shady lawn. If your lawn receives a minimum of 3-4 hours of direct sunlight a day you have what is considered a sunny lawn. The best seed to use in the Maryland area for sun and partial shade is an improved variety of Tall Fescue. Be careful when buying Tall Fescue and do not buy on price alone because the new improved varieties on the market are far superior to the old standby Kentucky 31. The new improved Turf Type Tall Fescue varieties offer superior drought and heat tolerance, greater disease resistance, darker green color and a finer leaf texture than Kentucky 31. The seeding rate for Tall Fescue is 8-10 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. on bare soil and 4-5 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. when overseeding.

Soil preparation is extremely important when sowing grass seed. Use a rake for small areas to rough up the top few inches of soil or rent an aerator for larger areas. Always use a starter fertilizer when seeding. Use a starter fertilizer that is high in phosphorus (the middle number on the bag). Using a starter fertilizer when seeding may improve your germination by over 30%. Test the soil pH. to determine if lime needs to be applied. Turf prefers a pH. of 6.0 to 6.5. If your pH. tests out to be lower than, that apply lime at approximately 100 pounds per sq. ft. to increase the soil pH. one point (i.e., 5.5 to 6.5). I know that seems to be a lot of lime but it takes about 2 tons of lime per acre to increase a soil pH. by just one point. Don't forget to apply a crabgrass preemergent in sunny areas. Most crabgrass preemergents work by not allowing seeds to germinate including grass seeds. That is why preemergents need to be applied early so as not to allow for crabgrass infestation. So be careful when seeding to use a specialized crabgrass preemergent called Ciduran (marketed as Tupersan). Turpersan can distinguish between a grass seed and a crabgrass seed allowing the grass seed to germinate while preventing crabgrass germination.

If your lawn receives less than 3-4 hours of sunlight a day you have a shady lawn. For shady lawns an improved variety of Chewings Fescue is preferred in our area. Again the new improved varieties of Chewings Fescue are far superior to the old standby's for shade such as Creeping Red Fescue. The new varieties offer greater shade tolerance, drought tolerance and disease resistance. They are also darker green. The seeding rate for Chewings Fescue is 6 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. on bare soil and 3-4 pounds per 100 sq. ft. when overseeding an existing lawn. Don't forget to use a Starter Fertilizer and follow the same guidelines as for a sunny areas when it comes to soil preparation and lime. Crabgrass is not usually an issue in shady areas therefore there is no need to apply a crabgrass preemergent.

You need to be patient when waiting for your seed to germinate when doing an early spring seeding. The grass seed will not germinate until the soil temperature reaches about 56 degrees. Keep in mind that soil temperatures do not fluctuate as readily as air temperatures and it may take a few weeks of steady warm days to raise the soil temperature to 56 degrees.

Keep the soil moist at all times until the seed has germinated then cut your watering frequency back, but at the same time increase the amount of water applied at each watering. This will cause the plant to extend its root system down deep to give it more drought tolerance.

Also be sure that your mower blade is very sharp when mowing as not to tear the new plants out of the ground. Mow frequently during the growing months and never remove more than 1/3 of the plant at a time as this will tend to stress the turf.

Good luck with your lawn.