The NCAA basketball tournaments are over and the azaleas are blooming. Do you need any more proof than this to know that spring is finally here? As spring arrives, many of us welcome the opportunity to spend more time outdoors. For some of us, it is time on the golf course, time at the beach, or time to go fishing. But for many of us, it is time we can spend in our yards and gardens.

During the next few weeks, Missy Hoggard, horticultural Extension agent on our staff, will be especially busy answering phone calls and talking to office visitors about a host of lawn and garden questions. From my past experience, I know she will be asked a lot of questions about centipede lawns.

Since centipede is the most common lawn grass in this area, I would like to use this opportunity to share some basic information with you about the care and maintenance of centipede lawns. If you have additional questions after reading this column, please call Missy or me at 671-3276.

Centipede is well-suited for this area of the state. If properly cared for, this grass is very drought tolerant and requires very little maintenance. It is not a dark green grass like many other grasses. If it is healthy, it will be a pale green color. If properly managed on well-drained soils, it will form a very dense mat that will virtually choke out other grasses and competing weeds. Best of all, it is a slow-growing grass that does not require frequent mowing.

As I travel around the county at this time of the year, it is not unusual to see homeowners with centipede lawns slinging fertilizer. I guess everyone wants the real pretty lawn like the commercials on television. But if you will notice, the lawns in those television commercials are not centipede grass. They are other types of fine-bladed, cool-season grasses that thrive on lots of fertilizer, especially nitrogen.

Centipede should never be fertilized at this time of the year. In fact, the first application of fertilizer should not be made until early June. Fertilizing centipede lawns during early spring encourages centipede to develop a root system close to the top of the soil. Then, when it gets hot and dry in late June, the grass will not have a well-established root system to carry it through periods of drought. Early fertilization also encourages unwanted weeds to grow, which competes with the centipede.

You can make centipede grass a dark green color and give it a lush green appearance by applying high rates of nitrogen early in the season. But most likely, large areas in the lawn will die during the summer when it gets hot and dry.

When fertilizer applications are made in June, very small amounts of nitrogen should be used. Centipede grass requires only 1/2 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. The turf-building fertilizers that are advertised on television are not very well-suited for centipede, since they usually contain very high amounts of nitrogen. These fertilizers usually have more than 20 percent nitrogen. Nitrogen is the first of the three numbers listed on the bag, which tells the percent of nitrogen within the bag.

The best fertilizer to use for centipede is one with a small amount of nitrogen. The first number on the bag should be very small, like 3 percent to 5 percent. There are some commercial fertilizers blended specifically for centipede lawns, with very low amounts of nitrogen, and these will usually be labeled as centipede fertilizers. If you cannot find centipede fertilizers at your favorite garden center, check with some of the farm supply dealers or ask your favorite garden center to stock centipede fertilizers.

The only other fertilizer needed by centipede is 1 pound of potassium per 1,000 square feet applied about 6 weeks prior to frost. In Robeson County, this is around mid-September. This fertilizer is used to encourage good root growth, so the grass can be better prepared for the winter weather.

Don't ever apply fertilizers with nitrogen during the fall. This will encourage tender new root growth and lush vegetative growth. Then at the first hard freeze, much of the grass will die. Since centipede is dormant during the winter, you will not notice problems until next spring when it is time for the grass to begin greening up.

Another caution, don't ever use the "weed and feed" fertilizers on centipede lawns. These fertilizers are effective when applied early in the season, at the time when the herbicides in the fertilizer will kill the weeds. This is much too early to be applying fertilizer to your centipede lawn. Also, these fertilizers tend to be high in nitrogen - again a "no-no" for centipede grass. They are great products for other lawns but not for centipede.

So if your centipede lawn looked good several years ago but now has large dead areas in it, you may not be managing it properly. In fact, you may be over-managing it. Remember, only a small amount of nitrogen and then not until early June.

Even with proper maintenance, you may experience problems with your centipede lawn. If you would like a free copy of the Extension publication entitled Centipede Lawn Maintenance Calendar, please print it off from here or give us a call at 910-671-3276.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 04/10/06