To scalp or not to scalp?

Brute22 – posted 30 September 2005 08:56

I’m planning on putting my grass to bed soon for the winter. Each spring I am greeted with snow mould, making the spring lawn quite patchy (and it has worsened steadily the last 3 years). I usually give a winter fertilization in late Oct and continue cutting (approx. 3 inch) into late Nov, as long as the top keeps growing. I recently read that it may help to scalp the lawn down (1/2 to 1 inch), only on the last cut, to help with the snow mould problem. But I’ve also read that this may not leave enough top growth to protect the underlying plant. Any ideas as to which method is best?

cohiba – posted 30 September 2005 14:52

Scalping it down would leave you with little or no protection to the crown of the plant. I would also worry that snow cover without that air gap between the snow and the soil may cause crown hydration. This happens when we have too much snow melt and then rapid freezing over. The crown of the plant tries to absorb all the moisture and then explodes when that water freezes. We saw alot in 1993. Took some guys 9-10 months to recover fully.

For the snow mold I would apply a fungicide, granular type, prior to snow fall. Then again if conditions allow for it. I believe Scott’s FFII is labeled for snow mold. In the old days we used mercury based fungicides.

As for putting the turf away, I usually mow at regular hieght(I’m usually lower in the fall anyway)and make sure you get some Potash (2 lbs. material per 1000 sq.ft.)down to help the turf handle the winter stress.

Kudos on knowing you have a snow mold problem.

Good luck…………………..

ChuckB – posted 30 September 2005 15:01

Be careful, Never reduce the height of your lawn by more than one-third when mowing. So take it down a notch or so. Test it before mowing the whole lawn.

Then in spring, after danger of hard freezes has passed, set your mower to lower than normal to remove as much dead top-growth as possible. Normally in mid-March when the soil temperature is around 55. Don’t mow below 1/2″ or you could damage the plant. Bag the clippings for this first mowing. Lawn will turn green when soil temperature warms to 60-65. Once the lawn has greened, mow at your normal height (2″ for common and 1-1 1/2″ for hybrids).

Hope this helps,

Chuck

www.landscapeinformation.com

cohiba – posted 30 September 2005 15:26

brute22,

Are you talking Bermuda or cool season turf?My recommendations referred to cool season turf. I assumed that you talking cool season turf so I hope you get other responses if it was warm season turf.

Sorry, I assumed……………..

Brute22 – posted 04 October 2005 10:50

Thanks for the help guys! Yes, the lawn is a mix of cool season grasses. I will look into the fungicide, and I’m not going to scalp ‘er down.