August: The Transition Month

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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andy10917
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August: The Transition Month

Post by andy10917 » August 1st, 2019, 9:33 am

August is a tricky month for Cool-Season Lawncare - the calendar and our skin tells us one thing, and our eyes and the days tell us something else. It's the month where we really begin to notice that the days are getting shorter - and the lawn and landscape plants begin to react to the changes.

In many years, the first thing to notice is that the herbaceous plants and annuals begin to lose that "Look at me!" perkiness, and some even begin to show Powdery Mildew or other rather benign issues as the high-growth period ends. They just aren't the same anymore. Then the trees begin to join the party - many shed some green leaves for no apparent reason -- this isn't the Fall foliage change at all, it's a shedding of what I call "tired leaves" to adjust to a shorter day and a lower sun angle beginning to take effect.

The lawn doesn't join the changes quite as fast as the other plants, but it does change visually as the month progresses. As the July 1st to August 15th period closes, the lawn acts a little sleepy. If you plan to renovate, overseed or perform the Fall Nitrogen Regimens this Autumn, the end of this period is when to GENTLY take control - this will be rewarded by extending the period between August 15th and the end of the growing season for the new or denser existing grass. Toward the very end of August and through the Labor Day period, you may start to see some of the grass blades closer to the soil turn browner and even shed. Nicknamed "BBDL" ("brown blades down low"). The "GENTLY" part mentioned above is important - we don't want to slam the grass awake from the Summer's nap, as fungal pressure is still a threat during this period if the stress is high.

The best way to gently wake the lawn is to use something like Milorganite/Bay State/OceanGro or similar products, or grain products like Soy Bean Meal or Cracked Corn. Waking the lawn gently has another positive side-effect -- it tends to keep the BBDL/Shedding period from then progressing to low-growth problems like Rust infections later. Also, the extension of the August 15th - Labor Day period means that you will have plenty of weeks of growth before the falling Autumn leaves begin to cover the lawn and maturing new grass.

While the temperatures of the mid-August period can still be quite warm at times, the shorter day and slightly cooler evenings allow germinating grass to stay moist longer as dew tends to help during the cooler evenings. Grass seed is really not affected by temperature much if you can keep it moist - those issues will come into play once the seed germinates (2-3 weeks) when the temperatures will be even cooler.

Also keep in mind that as the evenings cool and soil temperatures begin to drop, the window of time for Poa Annua and Fall-germinating weeds begins - and the time to apply pre-emergents comes into play.

There is no question that the Labor Day to Thanksgiving period is the one period that will determine how you lawn succeeds next year, but how you bridge from Summer Mode to Fall Mode is very important. Prep now and be ready for the transition period -- it can make a big difference in whether you chase the problems of low-growth environments or make that Stunner of a lawn for 2020!!!

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andy10917
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by andy10917 » August 1st, 2020, 10:12 pm

Waking up the August prep/transition stuff for 2020.

spectrum1c
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by spectrum1c » August 7th, 2020, 12:06 pm

Thanks for the guidance and reminders Andy.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by MorpheusPA » August 8th, 2020, 3:21 am

Here in Pennsylvania, I've already gotten the "Midsummer Is Over" signals. The crickets have started up. The toads are beginning to spend nights on the stone patio (where it will consistently stay above seventy on sun-warmed stone for quite a while). The gardens just went into maximum bloom cycles while simultaneously starting to set seed.

This, in other words, would be the weekend where I'd be making the absolute final plans for seed-down in my area and getting everything ready. Because Der Tag here is probably going to be next Saturday morning as highs start to drop into the low 80's.

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andy10917
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by andy10917 » August 8th, 2020, 10:17 am

Yup, similar signs here in the Lower Hudson Valley. The evenings are becoming a cacophony of insect and amphibian noise. I actually used the word "chilly" last evening.

This thread is aimed at all folks in the northern half of the cool-season grass zones. Members are encouraged to read the natural signs in your local region, but in general the signs are lining up for the August 15th "traditional" seed-down date to be on-the-mark this year. Also, the August 15 date looks good for gently waking the lawn with a light natural/organic fertilizer (no, Urea doesn't count).

Nap time is coming to an end...


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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by pristinegreen75 » August 8th, 2020, 4:06 pm

I have all my stuff ready for next week! Andy, does " waking the lawn with a light natural/organic fertilizer" mean half app or full app of BSF?

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andy10917
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by andy10917 » August 8th, 2020, 4:24 pm

I am prone to half-apps ONCE between July 1 - August 15. Then a full-rate app after August 15th to sound the alarm that it's 7am and time to get ready for work. It's sort of like that first cup of coffee in the morning...

pristinegreen75
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by pristinegreen75 » August 8th, 2020, 4:43 pm

Second year for the back yard (KBG). Didn't fertilize at all after June and watered once a week as needed. (will go with the 1/2 app next July-Aug) It held up really well. Started to show a little stress last couple of weeks and lighter green shading so raring to go next week with some food! Thanks for all the forum info guys!

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MorpheusPA
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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by MorpheusPA » August 8th, 2020, 6:25 pm

I'm a lazier sod down here in PA and full-app it...but not until about August first to tenth (I just did mine around August first). With an organic.

Over the years and various methods, I've noticed it really doesn't matter and the lawn wakes up just fine either way...but I don't irrigate. My lawn is naturally a little more asleep than many members here are.

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Re: August: The Transition Month

Post by northeastlawn » August 8th, 2020, 8:41 pm

I think I finally got a little rust after last few weeks humid weather. The lawn looks tired and like it needs more than just water. Misc weeds are creeping up every where.

I was looking forward to putting some BSF down, we haven't had any meaningful rainfall since May. Every large rain event dodged us.

MY KBG survived better than last year, but its so obvious its hurting.

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