Fall is here, with winter soon to follow. We must take the proper steps to help turf recover from summer stresses and prepare for the winter ahead. Below are some common practices to do just that.
Aeration
This relieves soil compaction that can prevent air, water, and nutrients from reaching the root zone. After proper fertility and amendments, your turf will grow back stronger and healthier.
Fertility
In early fall and winter, you want to use something with high levels of nitrogen, such as ATS 22-3-11. A high-nitrogen fertilizer helps the turf recover from aeration, provides the ideal color, and promotes more uniform growth.
Advanced Turf Solutions carries Foliar-Pak products that make up a fall foliar program for cool-season grasses. This program improves carbohydrate storage as turfgrass “hardens off” with decreasing daylight hours. Below are the products and recommended uses rates for the program.
- Foundation Forty: 1 oz/1,000 sq ft
- Foliar-Pak 1-0-15: 3–6 oz/1,000 sq ft
- Amperage: 3 oz/1,000 sq ft
- Foliar-Pak Calcium: 2–3 oz/1,000 sq ft
- CSi L: 1–2 oz/1,000 sq ft
Warm-Season Considerations
For warm-season turf, it is not recommended to aerate in the fall. With cooler temperatures, the turf cannot recover. Heights of cut needs to be raised and a high-potassium fertilizer applied to promote root strength. Nitrogen doesn’t need to be applied because warm-season turf will use up all of its energy for growth leading into winter.
Reach out to your ATS representative to secure the products you need for a successful fall fertility program this year.
