Lawns - February 2010

Please Note: All recommendations are for central Maryland.  Time frames shift two weeks earlier in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore and two weeks later for Western Maryland.  Check publications for further information.

• Past Tips

Culture

• Late February through the end of March is the second best time to over-seed your lawn to make it thicker or to cover bare areas. (The optimum time is late August through mid October.) The freezing and thawing of the soil this time of the year actually helps the seed to get good soil contact. Remove leaves and other debris and rake the soil to ensure good seed-soil contact. Snow cover over the seed will not harm it. To over seed an existing tall fescue lawn, broadcast tall fescue seed at a rate of 3-4 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft. For bluegrass and fine leaved fescue lawns use half this seeding rate. When seeding completely barren areas, sow tall fescue seed at about 6-8 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft.

• Be careful to keep ice-melting products off turf to avoid killing your lawn.

• Avoid walking on your lawn when it is frozen. Although it will not kill the grass, when frozen the grass blades will break leaving unsightly dead foot prints on the lawn.

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