It's that time again: springtime lawn care

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SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Now is the time of year to start preparing lawns for spring. A properly maintained lawn not only provides aesthetic value to a home, but also provides many benefits to the environment.

A well-maintained lawn will prevent soil erosion, act as a living filter for water and air pollutants, act as an air conditioner during the hot summer and provide oxygen to the atmosphere.

An average-quality home lawn only requires basic maintenance such as, mowing, watering and fertilizing. Correctly implementing proper turfgrass maintenance can reduce the need for supplementary practices such as disease and pest control.

Mowing is probably the most overlooked, and most important, key to maintaining a good-quality lawn. Fertilizer, pesticides, turfgrass seed and other treatments will accomplish very little if lawns are not mowed at a height that is healthy for the turfgrass plant.

Turfgrass species that spread or grow horizontally, such as Bermuda grass, can usually be mowed at a lower mowing height of 0.5 inches to 1.5 inches. Turfgrasses with larger leaves or coarse textures like St. Augustine grass can be mowed at a higher mowing height of 2.5 inches to 4 inches.

Mowing frequency depends on the growth rate of the turfgrass plant. For example, the mowing frequency of Bermuda grass varies from three days to five days, while St. Augustine grass can be mowed from every seven days to 14 days.

A good rule of thumb is to mow the lawn regularly and never cut more than one-third of the turfgrass height during any mowing session. It is also important to keep your lawn mower blades sharpened to avoid damaging the grass blades.

Fertilizing a lawn is essential for the quality turfgrass; however, applying more than the recommended amount of fertilizer or applying fertilizer at the wrong time can create severe problems.

Turfgrass require large quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However, high levels of these elements can increase disease and thatch accumulation.

Warm-season turfgrass like Bermuda or St. Augustine should be fertilized in the late spring and again in the early fall.

The most efficient way to irrigate, or water a lawn is to apply water only when the lawn starts to show signs of drought stress from the lack of moisture. A good test for determining if a lawn needs watering is to push a screwdriver down through the lawn and into the soil; if the soil is very dry, it will be difficult to push the screwdriver down into the ground.

Another test is to walk across the lawn late in the afternoon. If footprints are left behind, the lawn probably needs watering.

When watering, avoid applying water to the point of runoff by allowing time for the water to soak into the lawn and soil. Do not water the lawn again until similar drought stress symptoms are observed. The best time of the day to irrigate or water is early in the morning because it minimizes the potential for water loss through evaporation and will not create conditions that promote diseases such as root rot.

For more information on home-lawn maintenance, call Tim Hunter, base agronomist, at 676-5698.