Dr. Grow: Drought-damaged lawns can be helped; with proper care, reseeding and weed control, the green can return in spring

High-nitrogen lawn food ingredients.

It felt sooooo good to walk in the rain two weeks go. What was even more satisfying was watching Mother Nature take a long-needed shower. Dust and grime was rinsed from oak and hickory leaves and returned to the soil where it belonged. I saw dull and dingy marigold petals begin to sparkle as if were spring. But the most magical change was that brown lawns began to turn green within just a few short hours after the rain started.

Since our drought-breaking rain of two weeks ago, I have been peppered with questions about what to do with lawns that have suffered from the drought. The answers to the questions depend upon what type of grass you have in your lawn.

If you have cool season grasses in your lawn, such as bluegrass, fescues, and rye, you need to fertilize heavily at this time. Use a high nitrogen, low phosphorous, and low potassium fertilizer such as 28-4-4. Nitrogen, assimilated by grass plants during the development of new green leaves, is needed in large quantities.

Cool season grasses grow rapidly during fall when day temperatures max between 50 degrees and 70 degrees F. As the day temperatures begin to drop even further, root growth continues, while the growth of leaf tissue slows down. Availability of large quantities of nitrogen at this time of the year enhances good root development. Good roots are the backbone of a great lawn for next year.

I would also suggest that you fertilize your lawn about four to six weeks from now with a winterizer. This fertilizer, containing a more balanced ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, is known to enhance root development during the fall in cool season grasses, even when day temperatures stay in the 30s to 40s. Remember, you want to develop a good root system so that your lawn can withstand stress during the winter.If there are large dead areas (the grass plants look gray instead of straw brown), you may want to consider seeding at this time. Be sure to put the seed into the ground with either a verticutter or with a rake. Just putting seed on top of the ground is usually a waste of time and money.Even if you are over-seeding an existing lawn, put down a new lawn starter fertilizer. In addition, four to six weeks after seeding, apply winterizer fertilizer to your lawn.If your lawn consists of warm season grasses, zoysia and Bermuda, you should treat your lawn slightly differently. Warm season grasses are already starting to go dormant because of short days and cooler temperatures. Therefore use a winterizer fertilizer on it now. Do not use a high nitrogen fertilizer. You want your warm season lawn to go into dormancy naturally.In lawns of either warm season or cool season grasses, winter weeds are now germinating. If not controlled, these winter weeds, especially chickweed and henbet, will get a good foothold this fall, and then grow very rapidly in the spring. To eliminate the weed problem next spring, spray your lawn now with trimec. This herbicide will kill both chickweed and henbet.If you are seeding your lawn now, wait until you have mowed your new grass once or twice before you spray the trimec. Young grass seedlings could be hurt if you spray while they are very succulent.Even though we had a long drought this summer and early fall, you can still get your lawn back in shape and ready for next year. Spend a little time, effort, and money now by fertilizing and possibly seeding. Make sure that you also spray your lawn to eliminate those fall germinating winter weeds. Your lawn can look just like a golf course green next spring.