If you have a green thumb or are just one for enjoying time spent caring for your yard, you will want to take a look at this month-by-month checklist for Kansas City, MO residents. It can be challenging when gardening and caring for your Lawn during the sweltering heat of the summer months since Kansas City is not exempt from the powerful rays of the sun. Hopefully, this garden and lawn care calendar can make it easier on you this summer.
May
The month of May is an important one when it comes to gardening and landscaping in the Kansas City area. You should begin the month by applying fertilizer to the lawn. This only needs to be done if you water regularly throughout the summer. If you let the lawn die during the summer you don’t have to put down any fertilizer.
There are quite a few weeds that sprout during the summer. That’s why you need to apply a broadleaf herbicide for your lawn. Make sure there’s no rain in the forecast for the next 24 hours as water will remove the herbicide. This means you must refrain from watering the lawn for that timeframe as well.
June
Photo: lawndoctor.com
June is when the temperatures really begin to climb in Kansas City, which means you will need to start watering. You can get away with an infrequent schedule at this point in the summer. Just make sure you don’t overwater the lawn or you will begin to see fungal growth.
If the grass is thin you will want to increase your mowing height to one inch. The more rapid your lawn grows, the more often you need to cut it. Don’t let it grow too tall or you can risk the development of webworm. Consider mowing at heights of 2.5 to 3 inches in order to avoid scalping the turf.
July
You need to keep up with mowing the lawn regularly into July. Just try to avoid stressful times of the day, especially when in the middle of a heat wave. You also don’t want to mow too often when in a drought.
If weather conditions continue to be hot and humid you need to adjust how much water you give the lawn and when you give it. Water between the morning hours of 6-10 to avoid the occurrence of disease.
You also need to only provide about one inch of water per week. Divide this into watering two to three time per week instead of daily.
If you come across brown areas of grass you need to search for grubs. If you have anywhere from five to 10 grubs in a small space you can use an insecticide specifically for grubs towards the end of July.
August
August is the month in which you need to begin preparing your lawn for the fall season. Even though it will still be oppressively hot and humid this is an important prep period.
Continue your mowing, weeding, and insect control into August. If you are considering the complete renovation of your lawn you need to kill the vegetation present using a glyphosate spray in the middle of August.
Should you not be too sure about the fertility level of the lawn you can have it tested. If the lawn has been dormant for the summer you can begin watering it during the final week of August so that growth in the fall can begin.
September
Photo: lawncaresg.com
September is the best time of year when it comes to fertilizing your lawn. Apply only 1 to 1.5 pounds of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet of lawn.
If you are putting new sod down now is the time and you should do it as early in September as possible all while keeping the soil moist. It’s not required that you aerate the new sod but it can be done if needed.
Towards the end of the month, you can begin raking, dethatching, and killing any weed patches you find on the new sod.
The end of the month is the best time for you to apply broadleaf herbicides to the lawn.
As you can see, caring for your lawn and garden takes a lot of time and effort. For the best results, follow this monthly calendar in Kansas City, MO each year.
Still have questions about lawn care? Visit our lawn care page to read more articles like this one.
Top photo: trulia.com
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