7/14/2020 - By JJ Jansen

Congratulations! We’ve made it past the first half of 2020 and are already in mid-July. If you read one of my posts at the end of 2019, I talked about my favorite time of the year—Christmas. We’ve already passed June 25th, which is the halfway mark to Christmas, and although we’re in our hottest time of the year, the daylight hours are starting to get shorter. There are some extremely busy months coming up for all of us in regard to agronomics and budget planning, so here are few things to start thinking about as we approach cooler weather.

To seed or not to seed??? That’s the question a lot of southern turfgrass managers will start to ask themselves in the coming weeks. Your facility may be one that has continued to overseed parts of your property for many years now. With what’s taken place so far in 2020, does it make the most sense to do it again this year? And if so, do you have the labor in place to do it? If it is on your to-do list, then seed prices will be coming in this month, and you can start planning accordingly. Make sure you’re buying seed with varieties that have been tested to help deal with the challenges in your growing climate. If overseeding isn’t on the table this year (for whatever reason), it may be time to get on a good, aggressive pre-emerge plan for those areas that you would’ve normally overseeded. What you’ve done in the past with seeding has probably prohibited certain herbicides from being used in those areas. If you’re not overseeding, but still looking for that color definition, ask your Harrell’s rep about using Harrell’s PAR® SG or Harrell’s Dormant Green Plus. Both are great products that can be used throughout the fall and winter to help with the aesthetics of your turf during the dormant months.

As we come out of these hot summer months, you should also consider a late-summer/early-fall fertilizer application, which can help your turf bounce back from the summer stress. On greens, this could mean an application of our Harrell’s POLYON® controlled-release fertilizer 0-0-50 with 100% polymer-coated potassium. This application feeds the plant potassium consistently and at a predictable release rate calculated through our POLYGRAPH® software. On the rest of the course, it could be a fertilizer that is custom blended for you—one that not only fits your agronomic goals, but also your budget. The POLYGRAPH® can be used with this as well to determine the exact nutrient output that you’re looking for as we head into cooler months.

Even though we have a lot more hot, busy summer days ahead, we’re coming down the stretch, and we need to be looking ahead to make sure we’re prepared for the coming months. Take the time to get out of the heat and visit with your Harrell’s rep. They’re happy to help you plan out your next several months to set you up for success.