By Michelle Sadowski, Customer Service Specialist, Red Hen Turf Farm
In Part 1 of this story, I shared my experiences as I planned for, prepared for, and installed my new Tall Fescue sod, and then worked to keep it watered enough for the very hot and dry July we had in 2018.
If you missed Part 1, which we shared this past May 2019, HERE’S THE LINK. Now, in late August 2019, as things are slowing down a bit this week, I wanted to take advantage of a little extra time and share Part 2.
It was getting closer and closer to my big party last year in August 2018, when I decided it was a good time to boost with another round of starter fertilizer to really bring out the best my Tall Fescue sod had to offer my guests.
So on a nice cool afternoon, after a few glasses of wine, I started my fertilization. Right away I knew something wasn’t right … too much fertilizer was coming out of my spreader! I accidentally dumped the starter fertilizer all over the place – and before I could catch it it was too late.
My first instinct was to get the shop vac. But instead I tried watering it down. I should have chosen the shop vac because watering only made it worse.
I sat back and did the only thing I could do at the moment. I had another glass of wine. How could I have dumped all that fertilizer out? What was going to happen? Actually, since I work at Red Hen, I knew what was going to happen.
And it happened in a matter of days, just like that. I burned my lawn only a couple weeks before the big party.
Fertilizing and wine do not mix! Be careful to check your spreader for the right setting, too!
The party came and went and no one even really cared about the chemical burn on my newly installed lawn. It was already starting to repair itself. I was so impressed and amazed at its repairing ability. Still, I didn’t have high expectations after the chemical burn, and figured I’d seed the bare spots at the end of August (the ideal time to seed in the midwest is typically August 15 – September 15). But as September rolled around, my turf had nearly repaired itself completely without any assistance. There were several small spots I had to remove dead grass and re-seed but I was very happy to see the sod had repaired itself so well.
Critters.
By mid to late August, the turf looked great. In September, just as it was repairing from the chemical burn, I was inspecting my new turf like I did often when walking on it. Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet sunk through the turf into runs of tunnels left by critters. After some investigating and attempts to trap what we thought were moles, we found the culprits to be ground squirrels or chipmunks – there is a difference but we couldn’t figure out which ones were creating the damage. We had at least a dozen or more all over the yard … under the decks, in the mulch, in the garage, everywhere.
Of course, I did some internet searching that included the word “Purdue” since – because I work at Red Hen – I know that Purdue University Extension provides a huge amount of FREE, REGIONAL and SCIENCE-BASED information on all sorts of topics including lawn care and wildlife management, and Googling the terms Purdue Chipmunk Squirrel led me to THIS GUIDE and THIS GUIDE to find out how to get rid of these rascals.
After doing some reading, the very first thing we did was take away their food source. Eventually with some other trapping methods, we were able to eliminate most of the critters. We also LIGHTLY rolled the turf daily until we felt the problem was eliminated.
By the end of September 2018, the Tall Fescue Sod was improving, but the damages were evident. I was hoping for another round of amazing self-repair.
Our turf at the end of September repairing itself after underground critters wreaked havoc.
By the end of October 2018, my new sod had filled in again! I couldn’t believe it. It was so green. Sure, there were a few bare spots, but after everything this turf had gone through, it bounced right back.
One thing I didn’t get a chance to do was to get a fall/winter fertilizer treatment down. In general, Tall Fescue sod needs less fertilizer than Kentucky Bluegrass sod to maintain it’s best condition, and especially since mine is in a shady area, it would need even less fertilizer. I was confident that a good spring fertilizer would do wonders, and as I write this in August of 2019, I can happily say that I was right.
Because we have critters, oaks and other problematic trees in this particular part of the yard, we’re always going to have some issues and cleanup to do. But in the end, we’ve got a gorgeous backyard we can enjoy.
And as long as I continued to follow Jeremy’s advice, “Mow right, water right and fertilize right,” I think I’ve got this.
This was a great learning experience for me, and with the help from my co-workers I will continue to learn more and more.
It also makes it easier to tell our customers, I’ve been there, done that – and here’s what I did to correct it.
Sometimes you just have to wait to see what happens.
Grass is funny like that.
It takes time to grow.
October 30 – our tall fescue turf is looks amazing!
Hopefully you have learned a little bit from my experiences and maybe you can relate to (or laugh at) some of my failures.
Either way, don’t let it get to you. It’s just grass.
Until next time,
~Michelle & The Red Hen Crew!