Proper Southern lawn care produces a carpet of lush, green grass.
Because of the higher heat and humidity typical of the Southern United Sates, maintaining a healthy lawn requires specific products and timetables. Some companies manufacture herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer especially for Southern lawns taking this climate into account. Certain insects, such as red or fire ants, are found predominantly in the bottom tier of states and not only destroy lawns but can cause injury to humans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's research division.
Fertilizer
often require winterizing, or fertilizing for specific growth rates. Warm-season grasses need higher levels of potassium to slow down growth and toughen the plant for winter. Cool-season grasses, such as rye and fescue, require higher nitrogen to reestablish fall growth after the dormant period caused by summer's heat. During the spring and summer, follow a fertilization program based on the specific needs of your soil as determined by a soil test. Fertilizer compounds always have three numbers on the package, according to Bob Polomski, Extension Consumer Horticulturalist at Clemson University. The first number is the percent of nitrogen, the second number shows the phosphorous content and the third is the potassium amount. Fertilizers manufactured especially for Southern lawns will say so on the label. Besides the soil test results, you will need to know the approximate square footage of your lawn when you purchase fertilizer. Follow package directions to determine how much fertilizer your lawn needs.
Herbicides
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture offers guidance on specific formulations of herbicides and their uses on the university's Cooperative Extension Service website. Apply pre-emergent herbicides in early spring to Bermudagrass, centipede, St. Augustine, tall fescue or zoysiagrass to control crabgrass. Pre-emergent herbicides should contain pendimethalin, benuslide, benefin or benefin plus trifluralin or oryzalin. In late spring to early summer, apply a three-way herbicide to Bermudagrass, zoysiagrass and tall fescue lawns to control broadleaf weeds. Check the label before using this on St. Augustine or centipede grasses. Active ingredients should be listed as "2,4-D + MCPP," 2,4-D + MCPP with dicamba," atrazine or bentazon. MCPP is also called mecroprop. Crabgrass, goosegrass, sandbur, dallisgrass and nutgrasses may be treated from early to late summer. Check for the active ingredient MSMA, DSMA, CAMA or sethoxydim, and only use it on Bermudagrass and zoysiagrass. Sethoxydim only controls crabgrass.
Pesticides
According to Frank A. Hale, associate professor of entomology & plant pathology at the University of Tennessee, insects may attack individual blades of grass or infest the soil and damage the lawn's roots. White grubs feed on the roots, while several types of beetles feed on the grass blades. Ants build nests in the lawn, with fire ants building the largest nests. In some areas of the South, mole crickets burrow into the soil to feed on grass roots. Army worms can cause bare circular areas in the lawn and cutworms are especially harmful to Bermudagrass, ryegrass and bentgrass seedlings. Chinchbugs, leafhoppers and mites cause patches of white that may make the lawn look diseased. Commercial insecticides are available in granular form, as baits or as a wettable powder. Premixed applicators that screw onto the end of a garden hose are also available. Follow all label instructions.
Warnings
To avoid damage, stop using three-way, post-emergent herbicides once the grass has grown in and begun the process of greening. Some pesticides may be toxic to cats and dogs that sometimes eat grass. Check the product label for warnings.
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