Lawn Care along the Piedmont
by
Gabby Hyman All About Lawns Columnist
Whether they live in Uptown, University, or the Myers
Park neighborhoods, Charlotte
residents love having a healthy lawn for summer barbecues and weekend soirees. The Piedmont of North Carolina offers a
unique climate of subtropical moisture from the Atlantic mixed with wintry cold
snaps from the mountains. As winter approaches, there's plenty to do to keep
your lawn happy
through the cold months ahead.Tall fescue, fescue
mixtures with Kentucky bluegrass,
and St. Augustine are popular grass seed types for Charlotte lawns. Residents often add in a mixture of fine fescue
to tall fescue and bluegrass to create a lawn with strong tolerance to heat, shade, and
drought. While summer thunderstorms help fight off seasonal drought, your lawn needs routine
watering and consistent mowing to get you through the summer.
Winter Care for Charlotte
Lawns
Your lawn work isn't done with
the first chill of autumn. Fescue and bluegrass blends still need routine mowing and the
application of one pound of nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 square feet of lawn, come February.
Check for a moisture depth of a half a foot, using a spike, screwdriver, or
stake. Give your lawn
an inch or so of water once a week--if possible, before sunrise.
For weed control,
the best prevention is consistent mowing. But if chickweed seems to have a
powerful grip, use a broadleaf herbicide at the minimum recommended amounts on
the label. Commonly used Piedmont area herbicides include simazine or atrazine.
If you're baffled, call a lawn care expert
that knows the Charlotte
area, its soil composition, and region-specific lawn diseases.
About the Author
Gabby Hyman has created online strategies and written content for
Fortune 500 companies including eToys, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems,
Microsoft Encarta, Avaya, and Nissan UK.
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