Hey y’all hope you are having a great week!

Still so much lawn time left for all of us and in fact, I think the fall can be some of the best looks for our lawns no matter what grass type or area of the country we are in. Let’s run down the line here from north to south.

Cool Season Lawns - North, East, and Transition
You cool kids are all getting well into your aeration and overseeding strategies and in fact, a good portion of the country - you all are already a few weeks into your watering regimen.

This brings me to the tip I have for you this week, and that is patience and trust. I am getting two primary questions right now in regards to aeration and overseeding “post-care.”

1. Question: “Allyn, when can I mow? The lawn is getting super tall!”

Answer: Podcast Segment, How to Mow BEFORE & AFTER Seeding | Fall Overseeding Tips. (subscribe for more)

1. Question: “I seeded 2 weeks ago and it’s been really hot and nothing is coming up, should I throw down more seed?”
    

Grass Seed Growth Personified

I’ll give it to you straight: if you seeded two weeks ago and you are not seeing germination it’s because you are not watering enough. It takes a lot of water and wetness to set grass seed to flight. If you don’t give it enough, it won’t germinate.

Good news for you and me is that grass seed isn’t impulsive and it doesn’t always jump right in and grow just because water hits it once or twice. Instead, grass seed is patient, even if you start off strong, it waits.

I know that you watered the heck out of it on that first day didn’t you?

Stood out there with your sprinklers going AND you hand watered on top of that - looking for any dry spots, or areas where the coverage was weak. Making sure your peat moss isn’t moving around too much. You soaked it!

You did good for a few days after but then it got hot, and you got busy at work... Not to worry, even 2 or 3 days of decent watering won’t do much to your grass seed, instead, it sits back and observes - hoping all this water isn’t just a fluke. Hoping it’s not too good to be true.

But there are letdowns in every relationship, even early on and you let the lawn dry out a little. You were not prepared for the commitment to watering it would take even if temperatures soared abnormally above 90 degrees.

Sadly, you are teaching that seed that it can’t count on you to nurture it through so it remains patient, and sits back and waits before committing to full germination. 

The good news here, and I promise you that this is true: is that your grass seed just fine. You are going to see that sometime in the next week to ten days or so, you are going to get 2-3 days of good rains in your area. A “good rain” is defined as one that is moderate and steady for hours without creating runoff. (I just made that up but it’s dead-on accurate).

The thing about it is, only nature can produce these good rains. Even the most innovative sprinkler setup won’t match the power of clouds and dirt. You either get it or you don’t and since this is the fall time and we know that temps are going to cool down, we know that moisture will come. Trust me, it will. Have patience.

Now don’t think your watering is wasted, it’s not. The seed has a “memory” or savings account that has filled up from your watering deposits. Remember, grass seed is frugal. It has one chance to push up a blade and burrow down a root. Without water, neither will succeed.

Your watering, even if light, does help loosen and condition the soil in preparation for those good rains that literally have your back.

If you have the Bio-Stimulant pack and have been regularly applying Air-8 and Humic12, you will be getting more out of your lack of water. Feel free to apply RGS at 3 oz/1,000 sq ft every weekend for a good 4-5 weeks or so.

If you have not seeded yet, you can pick up the seed starter pack that has some smartly blended products that will give your seed an added shot in the arm when it needs it. If you want “liquid starter fertilizer” this 4 gallon pack is that and much more.

This is 4 gallons (RGS, Greene Pop *new*, Greene Start, Greene Punch), enough for you to use even past your seeding and into next year.

Full instructions on DIY Seeding/Over-Seeding here, pick up the seed starter pack here.

Last thing: Use this opportunity to start watering more, now. I hope I have eased your mind on your relationship with your new seed - all is not lost. And I hope you are ready to commit a little more from here on out. 

Sure, those good rains will come, but you should strive to make as many improvements as you can between now and then - control the controllables - water deeper and keep that lawn wet.

You still have plenty of time to get this right - you just need water and patience, and trust the process. You’ll be all good.

Fun With Friends in Utah
If you have not seen my 3-video series from my trip to Utah, check it out here:

I had a great time hanging out with Lawn Care Nut community members and friends out in Salt Lake this week. If you came to the meetup - thank you! It’s so cool to be able to meet you all in person. I hope we can make that an annual event.

Warm Season Grass
I’ve got lots coming up for us down here in the South. We have some different challenges with our grass types and I’m working on quite a bit of content around it.

Speaking of that, if you have my Warm Season Hybrid Organic Lawn Care Guide, look for a Fall Season Supplement Guide to come out this week. We will automatically trigger it to your inbox.

If you don’t have my guide, it’s not too late. You can pick up the full guide and the supplement will be sent to you too, no additional charge. Once you buy one of my guides one time, all updates and upgrades are free.

You also get access to our support group where you can interact with other LCNs who are working on the same challenges that you are! Invite to that group comes along with the ebook itself so you can join right away.

Even if you don’t have the guide, you can still get a lot of good info from the content I give out for free. Right now, for warm-season turf, we are heavily focused on pre-emergents.

This is our chance to stop weeds that will invade when soil temps dip to 70F. Our job is to get ahead of that with a pre-emergent herbicide that can stop many of them from ever germinating.

Henbit, chickweed, annual bluegrass, and hairy bittercress are the big offenders.

Pictures here in this blog post as well as a free and easy lawn care program you can follow starting this weekend. If you want all of the details - all of the information, pick up the full Lawn Guide with Supplement, it’s worth it.

You can also use the code “SEPTEMBER” for $5 off your purchase in the LCN store. Ebooks, merch, fertilizers, everything. This code is valid from now until the end of the month so stock up! 

Florida Blackout is Ending
My friends in a good portion of Florida are coming out of fertilizer blackouts and we are able to once again throw down starting October 1. 

Now that doesn’t mean you have to!

Trust me, I’m going out hard with CarbonX. I’ll be pushing in 3 lbs/1,000 sq ft for a fresh pop. But I’m going to watch for heavy thunderstorms and rain in the forecast.

Just because it’s October 1 doesn’t mean it’s ok to sling down fert if giant storms are predicted. Our heavy rains will wash stuff out so be smart about it. 

If you want some extra fudge factor, go with 8-1-8 XGReeN out of the gates instead of the CarbonX. 

It’s super small prills penetrate the canopy quickly and burrow into the soil. It’s loaded with micronutrient iron and potash for stress recovery. It’s an excellent choice too. 

Full instructions for Florida (and south Texas) specifically are in the supplement guide coming out that I mentioned above.

Bio-Stimulants
One thing I am going to be doing now is to apply some MicroGreene for a nice ramp of micronutrients and on top of that, Air-8 to water it in.

I’m going to oxygenate the soil as much as possible right now and wake up the microbes. I may push in some RGS this coming weekend too. Pretty much anything from the Bio-Stimulant Pack is going to be good for Florida and South Texas year-round. Here in the hottest part of the south, the soil never sleeps.

Also, I have a free “N-Ext Cocktail Guide” that gives you plenty of ideas on how to use the Greene County bio-stimulants, fertilizers and specialty products.

We ship you a full 4 gallons of material and I want you to maximize every drop - this cocktail menu is a fun way to learn how to get the most from them. Lawns, trees and shrubs, perennials, annuals, palms, and even potted plants - 4 gallons goes a long way.

Don’t forget, code “SEPTEMBER” gets you $5 off your purchase in our store from now until the end of the month!

I’ll see you in the lawn!
-AL