Green grass is imminent, and if you are up to date on our agronomic recommendations, there will be no need to seek "the greener grass on the other side." By now, we have our mower blades sharpened and ready to make the first clean cut for spring green-up.
As we have discussed, a clean cut will heal much faster than a ripped, torn, or jagged cut. Clean cuts help keep the grass green by preventing stress and disease, and they help suppress insects. Preventing the yellowing of turf runs deeper than a pesticide application. It's a labor of love, and more importantly, it takes knowledge of the cultural practices and the science of plant nutrition to get greener pastures.
The cultural practice that is overlooked the most is aerification. The word alone will scare most people. The definition: to infuse or force air into; to change into an aeriform state; vaporize. That sounds like I could destroy my green grass. Golfers will not play a golf course that has just aerified its greens. Homeowners fear that mud will be tracked into their house because plugs are left behind. Landscapers feel it may adversely affect their pre-emergent — but I assure you that its benefits are well worth the risk.
Research has been done to see whether you should aerify before or after a pre-emergent, and the results were inconclusive. Sod farms have found it increases production and grow-in on newly sprigged fields. Once you understand basic plant physiology — roots, stolons, rhizomes, crown, stem, and leaf blade — you realize aerification promotes a stronger, healthier and greener lawn.
We all know aerification promotes good gas exchange, right? Aerification must be viewed as a proactive cultural practice, not as a negative or an inconvenience. It allows roots to go deeper, and rhizomes and stolons to move freely to tack down and create new roots for a stronger stand of grass. It allows the crown of the plant to grow more freely when there is no compaction. Remember, this is why we don't scalp before spring green-up.
The crown is the actively growing point. It pushes stems upward and roots downward. In summary: aerify, aerify, aerify, because the benefits can be as long as a CVS receipt. It will take a weak, thin, heavy, compacted turf and turn it into those greener pastures. It will make a newly sodded lawn root down much quicker and get an established lawn ready for summer stress with deeper roots. Lastly, if you can pull a plug or core, please do so, because then you are removing that organic matter rather than pushing it down deeper.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I enjoy talking grass and growing grass, but more importantly, helping others with their grass and landscaping needs.
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