(By Jared Hoyle and Ross Braun, KSU Turfgrass Research and Extension)
With the cooler temperatures and the college football kick off the past couple of weeks, I am getting the feeling winter will be here before you know it. One thing that I do not like about the winter is warm-season grasses go dormant and brown. Growing up in the South East United States we would remedy this by over-seeding ryegrass into bermudagrass to keep a green lawn year round.
This cultural practice was nice but also required that you have to chemically or physically remove the ryegrass from the bermudagrass in the spring. Not to mention the plant competition that is occurring trying to grow both a warm- and cool-season grass.
Now people are painting grass green!!! I just saw an article about painting home lawns in CA and how revenue has increased for lawn care businesses in this area. This was even in the summer when homeowners turned off the water to their lawn.
Check it out, here is the news clip.
http://news.yahoo.com/spray-paint-lawn-california-152556422.html
KSU Turfgrass Graduate Student, Ross Braun, has been testing all different types of paints for warm-season grasses and the best application volumes, timings, and application methods. . His Master’s Thesis was just recognized in The First Cut by GCSAA.
After working with Ross over the past year and a half I do remember Ross emphasizing how important it is when you are painting turf to make sure you get an application of paint down before the turfgrass goes 100% dormant. This would be when there is about 15-30% green color remaining in the turfgrass, which is soon approaching.
With the cooler temperatures and college football just reminded me that it is getting close to the time to paint if you are going to try it out this year.
Some other points that Ross suggests when painting warm-season turf are:
- Calibrate with paint and not just water.
- Check the label or ask the company to which nozzles are the best to use.
- Normal tank agitation is required.
- Keep a high-density turf (paint works better on denser turf).
- Stay off the paint for 1 hr after painting.
- Keep equipment off for at least 24 hrs.
Until next time, hope everyone has a great weekend!
Regards,
Jared
Always remember to READ THE LABEL for the correct rate, turfgrass tolerance, and specific instructions before application!!!
***Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for identification purposes and does not imply recommendation or endorsement, nor is criticism implied of similar products not mentioned by Kansas State University.***
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