Thunderstorms during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..
Tonight
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
The advantages of warm-season grasses include drought tolerance, shorter mowing height, and a shorter mowing season. Two reasons that they aren’t often used are that they are slow to green up in the spring and won’t grow in the shade. There is not one best lawn grass for all purposes.
Our next K-State Garden Hour on-line program will be on the use of warm-season turf. Join Dr. Ross Braun, Assistant Professor of Turfgrass and Landscape Management, as he explains what it means to live in our “transitional climatic zone”, with the option to grow both cool- and warm-season turfgrass species. Learn how to grow grass species that are more drought tolerant, to better survive our summer weather and conserve water. The “live” program is Wednesday, June 7 from noon to 1 pm. Sign-up or view the recorded version at the K-State Garden Hour website.
Buffalograss is the only native grass used for a home lawn. One challenge for a buffalograss lawn are the weeds. Even the best buffalograss lawns don’t choke out weeds. The use of herbicides is necessary to have a pure stand of buffalograss. It can be started by seeds, plugs or sod.
Zoysiagrass is very good at chocking out weeds. Its canopy is very tight. This growth characteristic means that aeration to manage thatch is required. There are a couple seeded varieties but plugging or sod is more common. The variety ‘Innovation’ is one that K-State has been involved in developing.
Bermudagrass is an attractive grass for home lawns but is used more for sports fields. It has great recovery from damage with its rhizome and stolen growth. On the downside, those rhizomes and stolons grow into undesired places in the landscape. There are herbicides that aid in managing these situations. The variety ‘Midlawn’ was developed at K-State.
Warm-Season grasses grow best at air temperatures of 85 to 90 degrees. It is time to get ready for their optimum planting and growing season.
You can find out more information on this and other horticulture topics by going to the Riley County, K-State Research and Extension website at www.riley.ksu.edu. Gregg may be contacted by calling 785-537-6350 or stopping by 110 Courthouse Plaza in Manhattan or e-mail: geyeston@ksu.edu.
