Been living with a less than desirable lawn? If you’ve been working from home for the past 5-6 months, you’ve probably had more time to look at your lawn than ever before. And if it’s not what you want, your timing couldn’t be better to create that green space called a lawn.
Late August through early October is the best time to renovate a lawn on Long Island. Here’s why.
We grow cool season grasses on Long Island—perennial rye, Kentucky bluegrass, and fescue. They grow best during warm days and cool nights, typical of LI fall weather. Sure, you’ll find zoysia lawns, but zoysia is a warm season grass (think southern weather). You can always spot a zoysia lawn because it’s often dormant (brown) for months before it slowly begins to green up in late spring/early summer. Cool season grasses emerge from their winter dormancy in early spring and can remain green through early winter.
We often enjoy an extended fall on Long Island, allowing the lawn to grow and establish before the snow flies. And there’s less weed competition in the fall. Translation: no crabgrass to contend with.
Tackling the lawn renovation now means you’ll be a major step ahead next spring! Renovation can be done in the spring, but spring seeded lawns can face the challenges of weeds like crabgrass, insect and disease issues, and the looming possibility of summer drought, heat and humidity in the months ahead.