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Hey everybody it's Heath with DoMyOwn.com. Today, we’re gonna talk to you about the cool season lawn schedule to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful.It's important to follow through with the appropriate maintenance and treatments all year long.

First off, we’re going to talk about the areas in the countrywhere you’d see cool season grass.  Some states with cool season grasses are northern states like Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Oregon, or Utah to name a few. Some of the common cool season grass types include Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Bentgrass, and Ryegrass.For the Southern regions, you'll be applying your spring pre-emergents in February through April.

For the Northern cool season reasons depending on your location, you'll be able to apply spring pre-emergent herbicides from March until May. In any case, make sure you apply before your soil temperatures reach 55 degrees.

Weed pressure in your lawn will determine if you need to apply a post-emergent. If you have actively growing weeds, you canapply a post-emergent herbicide with your pre-emergent herbicides. You'll need to wait until the grass has come up completely and is actively growing and has been establishedfor at least 4 to 6 weeks or been mowed a minimum of two times before applying a post-emergent.

Synthetic fertilizers can be applied during the spring months.  We do want you to make sure that most of the cool weather has passed before high Nitrogen fertilizers are applied.Insecticide and grub prevention products can be appliedduring the beginning of spring during March and April, ahead of the beetle cycles in June & July.

Summer months are the most stressful for your cool season lawn.You'll need to be mindful not to over-apply products to your lawn in times of severe heat or stress.

As the weather warms up, your cool-season lawn is going to be susceptible to weather and fungal conditions. Make sure to put down a fungicide application to prevent or cure brown patch or other lawn diseases. A good general rule of thumb for this is to apply in late Spring and throughout the Summer.  Make sure to rotate your fungicides through the year for best effectiveness.We don't want to build up any resistance.Iron is also a good option for color without promoting fungal growth.
 
Organic fertilizers can be applied in the summer months from June, July, and August. This is because the organic fertilizers tend to be lower in nitrogen. It can give the lawn enough nutrients to sustain color and develop root systemswithout the risk of promoting fungal growth.Now, let’s talk about lawn maintenance that needs to be done in tandem with lawn care treatment apps.Mowing and watering will be important throughout the lawn care season.  In general, mowing every week during the spring is normal and sufficient, but make sure not to cutmore than 1/3 of the length of the grass at any given time.You should continue mowing your lawn usually once a week or every two weeks depending upon your turf growth. With watering your lawn, make sure you water deeply and infrequently to encourage root growth.This is usually 1-3 times per week, a half inch each time, depending upon weather. Make sure that the lawn has a dry out period to prevent lawn disease. This is usually done in the early morning before or at sunrise. If you have thatch buildup,  that can prevent products from penetrating into the soil. A dethatching can be done from March to May. If you do plan to schedule a dethatching for your lawn, it's important that you apply pre-emergent herbicides after the dethatching has been completed.

Summer months are a good time to adjust the pH level of your lawn in your cool season turf with either lime or sulfur.

We recommend a soil test once per year in the spring or late summer. The summer months are a great time to do a soil test or analysis for your cool season lawn, because these lawns will be slow in growing.

Fall is the best time to core aerate and overseed cool season turf, since they germinate quicker and grow deeperroot systems during this time of year. Overseeding a cool season lawn can help fill in bare patches and make turf thicker. Aeration can help break up the compacted soil and promote seed germination. 

If you're not doing an aeration and overseeding, you can apply a fall pre-emergent herbicide in both the north and southfor cool season turf types when your soil temperatures reach around 70 degrees and are dropping.

Synthetic fertilizers can be applied during the fall months since the grass is actively growing. Starter fertilizers will help promote seed germination.

As for the winter months in cool season turf like December, January, and February... those aren't going to be as eventful for you because the nothern regions are most likely frozen.

Thanks for watching! Following through with a well-planned cool-season lawn care schedule willhelp keep your lawn beautiful all year long. Subscribe to our channel for more videos like this on lawn care.