Although winter has officially arrived it is still important to care for the lawn in southern Missouri.
Two different types of grass grow in our area; warm season and cool season. The cool season grasses include fescue and blue grass while the warm season grasses are zoysia and Bermuda.
During winter the cool grasses will remain green while the warm season grasses go dormant. Root growth is the most active growth of cool season grass during winter but if the winter is mild enough you will notice the lawn growing as well. With the many warm days of this fall, cool season grasses have grown a few inches. You may have the urge to trim this growth. Do not follow this urge. Cool season grass needs at least three inches of top growth to maintain an insolation barrier to the cold weather. This barrier protects the soil and root growth. You may find by the end of winter that the grass is very tall. When you do mow again, in spring, take the height down gradually. Do not mow the grass down short in the first mow.
As you may already know, warm season grasses go dormant as cool weather sets in. This can be used to your advantage when controlling weeds in the lawn. Once the grass has truly gone dormant, glyphosate can be used to spray any green weeds in the warm season lawn. To be sure it is always best to wait until a warm day in January to use your control. Make certain that the label directions are followed and that you spray only green weeds. In this way you can kill the weeds and still keep a green lawn in summer.
If the weather becomes bitter cold you will be able to observe frozen blades of grass in a cool season lawn. Do your best to stay off the lawn when this happens to prevent any cell damage to the blades. What you may notice of someone does step on the lawn are brown shoe prints in the cool season grass when the frost or ice thaws.
Take care of your lawn in winter and it will reward you in the spring with a fuller stand of grass with fewer weeds.
The Extension office is open Monday - Friday, located in Kennett, Missouri at 233 North Main Street. For horticulture questions contact the horticulture specialist at 573-686-8064. MU is an equal opportunity/ADA institution.