Managing lawn care during wet winter weather
I need some advice, with all the rules and guidelines that exist.
– do not mow your lawn when it is wet (especially with a battery )
– if I don’t mow, I will have to break the 1/3rd rule
– when do I apply product if it rains the whole weekend and it needs to be a foliar application
Especially since I can only work on my lawn over the weekend.
All the “rules” are really there to minimise stress on the turf. That’s what it ultimately comes down to.
Can you mow wet grass, remove more than 1/3 of the leaf, or spray when conditions aren’t ideal? Sure, sometimes you don’t have much choice. Just don’t be surprised if it results in shredded tips, yellowing from removing too much leaf tissue, reduced product performance, or increased disease pressure from the additional stress.
You can’t be perfect all the time, especially in winter. It’s about doing the best you can with the conditions you’ve got, rather than constantly breaking the rules and expecting the same result.
Just look through my calendar and you’ll see I’m out at night putting fertiliser down with a torch and watering it in. I do it when I need to, I just don’t make a habit of it.
Skipping the odd mow or delaying an application isn’t the end of the world. In fact, I’d encourage you to use it as a learning opportunity and see how the lawn responds when you don’t follow the 1/3 rule once in a while. If you decide to break one of the rules, take note of the outcome. “OK, I did that, and this was the result.” That’s exactly what the Lawn Journal is for. Just try not to be breaking the rules all the time.
As for mowing, I’d suggest dragging a hose or rope across the lawn first to knock the dew off before mowing. I use a heavy duty rope. If you search YouTube for “knocking dew off greens”, you’ll see what I mean. If you can knock the dew off and give it an hour or so to dry before mowing, even better.
For foliar applications, you can also focus more on soil applications when the weather isn’t ideal. Root Health, Humic, Restore, Nurture, Amino and Iron can all be applied as soil drenches too. Remember though we’re doing foliar applications in winter to bypass the root uptake because root activity has slowed down due to colder soil temps. A better option would be If you get a suitable spray window, use the rope to knock the dew off the lawn first (dragging a hose across the lawn also works), then get a brew down.
One rule I wouldn’t ever break is putting brew down after a mow. I also wouldn’t walk over a frosty lawn as both these will cause heaps of damage.
I hate mowing wet grass, I’d just skip the mow and do a catch up mow during the week but lift the mower a notch.