Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
Post Reply
Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Post by Green » October 29th, 2019, 4:29 pm

I've noticed a lot of lawn companies fertilizing during the pause for years now. Yes, they have lots of customers and have to stagger them, but how clueless can they be? My neighbor's yard was fertilized today and it appears that 0.7-0.75 lb/K of soluble Urea went down based on the white prill distribution. And yes, I tested a prill to see if it was water-soluble. We are at least a week into the pause here.

(That reminds me...I used to start pausing at our actual average first frost date range, but after about 7 years of watching the time between that and the actual average growth stoppage date range and seeing a consistent pattern, I realized that the pause is best initiated about a week after the average first frost here, and so I finally implemented that change this year. Thanks Andy for that suggestion a few years back to modify it based on observation.

But even so, dropping that much urea now, even in a warm year like this one, is probably not the best idea. At the very least, it probably won't all get utilized, as ET, the primary driver of N uptake in general, is quite low now.

Then again, that neighbor's lawn has not been fertilized since at least September, and possibly August, and has quite a bit of rust. So, we'll see what the results are like.

Anyone else see the trucks around or lawn treatment signs going up this time of year after average first frost and even into November?

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Post by andy10917 » October 29th, 2019, 7:06 pm

There are places that prohibit the application of fertilizer after November 1st.

User avatar
HoosierLawnGnome
Posts: 9591
Joined: May 22nd, 2013, 5:59 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Grass Type: Blueberry KBG
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 29th, 2019, 7:29 pm

I see the opposite around here. They stop fertilizing too soon, often. Maybe it's the difference in local law re: Nitrogen??

Here, our soil doesn't lend itself to leaching many nutrients so applying fertilizer in late November isn't a big problem.

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Post by Green » October 29th, 2019, 8:16 pm

andy10917 wrote:
October 29th, 2019, 7:06 pm
There are places that prohibit the application of fertilizer after November 1st.
Yup. That was on my mind when I was thinking about it. But not where I am.

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: Lawn companies apparently love fertilizing during the pause

Post by Green » October 29th, 2019, 8:23 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:
October 29th, 2019, 7:29 pm
I see the opposite around here. They stop fertilizing too soon, often. Maybe it's the difference in local law re: Nitrogen??

Here, our soil doesn't lend itself to leaching many nutrients so applying fertilizer in late November isn't a big problem.
You guys tend to have higher pH, and more clay, right?

Sandy, acidic soils are more common here.

The other common fertilizing "sins" that I see around here by pros are:

-Pushing too much N too early in the Spring in an attempt to force green-up. (Or maybe some aren't really knowledgeable about turf, and just buy what the fert company reps try to sell them and tell them to apply, such as miracle "early-start nutrition" and "all-in-one pre-M" products.)

-Applying the pre-M too late, like early May. By that time, crabgrass has started germinating around sidewalks and edges, even if you can't see it.

-Applying Nitrogen in July when it's 90 every day and non-irrigated lawns are going dormant (sometimes in combination with insect control products).

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests