i have a new fesque lawn...professionally planted. i live in oklahoma city and the summer temps are high...right now i have no shade from trees,so, will my lawn die no matter how often i water? do i need to over seed ???


suzysig [/LIST]

Suzy,

I work for a uviversity in southern California. We have had some construction & the damage has ruined some of our lawns.

I reclaimed the areas by planting a tall fescue. We have desert conditions, only kept green through irrigation. Here is how I keep the new fescue sod lush.

Completely remove old lawn. Level & spread 50/50 with topsoil & manure. Sprinkle with a balanced lawn fertilizer. Lay the sod. For the first few weeks, I water 3 times a day. 5am, 11am before the heat of the day that wants to cook the lawn, 7pm.

It is important to water before the heat of the day & direct sun. New sod is vulnerable under such conditions. You will know if you are giving too much water because your grass blades will start to look thin & wiry in spots. Do NOT stop watering 3 times a day. Just cut back the minutes that you water. Except for the 11am time. Water that for the full time; at least 15 minutes with spray heads OR 30 minutes with rotory heads.

Also, once an area is completely dead, fescue will not come back like warm climate turf grass. If in distress but not dead, try a product called "Superthrive" along with fertilizer. It is kind of expensive, but cheaper than new sod.

Suzy, fescue is a cool season grass;so, it will languish during the hot summer months.
In addition to the great advice that Rugby gave u, try not to cut your grass too short in the summer. Keeping it long as possible in the summer helps the grass deal with the heat better and keeps the soil from drying out so fast.

I haven't cut my grass in over a MONTH!
...just a little strip about 10' wide in the front that is shaded.

We have had no rain here, and up in the 90's everyday. It's really taking it's toll on the grass. My neighbor's keep mowing theirs, and it's almost entirely brown at this point. Mine might be a little high, but at least it's still alive...and looks much better than the neighbor's!

I am hoping that mine has just gone into drought mode. I am prayin that is what is going on. no good rain at all here. I did water the serious dry patches, hopefully that will work, today I am gong to water the whole back after the sun goes down. I haven't done thtat yet. I just hope I do not have to re-do the whole front and back.

It is a "catch 22".

Longer grass shades itself. But it, also, takes more water to replace what is lost through evapotranspiration.

Fescue lawns are very drought tolerant, and will tend to go into a dormant period in times of high stress, returning to normal once the weather conditions relax a bit. If it has gone dormant try to stay off of it as much as possible. Any traffic can result in damaging the crown of the plant which will wind up killing it.