Tips for combatting September drought. (Now is the best time to fertilize your lawn)

When I am thinking of article topics to write about, my first thought is to find a topic that is new and different. I also consider this an opportunity to remind the readers to give the garden and landscape some extra attention. I do this when I think your landscape and gardens could be vulnerable to environmental stress or damage.

There is nothing in this article that is going to be new or different. This article is probably becoming an annual tradition. This week, I am once again offering some advice as related to the September drought we are experiencing.

I am one of those people, as I age, who thinks my memories are more positive regarding my real, lived experiences. I am truly a glass-half-full kind of guy. I have memories of September's arrival from when I was growing up. After Labor Day, I packed away my shorts and T-shirts and got out my blue jeans and sweatshirts.

I think my memories are confusing September with October. Still, I remember September as the start of fall and not the extension of summer we have now. My memories are not exclusive to my wardrobe. I was taught September was the start of the best time of the year for lawn care. This was because the temperatures were falling as we started having more frequent rain.

When I started writing this article a few years ago, I realized this was not necessarily true anymore. I was doing some research for one of the first versions of this article on this subject. With this research, I learned that September, on average, was typically one of the driest months of the year for our area. This surprised me.

Since September is expected to be a dry month to start, if we fall below average, we usually land in drought conditions. This is where we are now.

Many of you want to seed and fertilize your lawns but are holding back because of the lack of moisture. You are right to do this. To get these things done, you have two options. You can start irrigating your lawn with sprinklers. For both seeding and fertilizing, it would be best to water it well before you start.

When you seed, you will need to lightly water every day to keep the soil moist around the seed. Once the seed has germinated and starts to grow, you want to water less frequently but for a longer duration. You want to make this adjustment so you get the water deeper into the soil for the roots of the new grass plants.

With fertilizing, it is best to water well beforehand. Your lawn may be somewhat dormant and moisture in the soil will wake it up. When it comes time to fertilize, you need water to get the fertilizer to work. Moisture breaks the fertilizer granules down so it can get into the soil and to the roots. The best situation is to watch the weather forecast and time fertilizing ahead of the rain.

If irrigating with a sprinkler is not an option, you can push the time frame back waiting for rain. We have always promoted the middle of September as the best time for seeding and fertilizing. If the weather isn’t cooperating, you can push these into early October.

You will get the same benefits from an early October feeding as you would from a September feeding. As long as you get it down in the first ten days, this will allow plenty of time for you to do the last feeding in late November. With our weather trending warmer, you can plant grass seed as late as mid-October to give it time to start growing ahead of winter.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Combat September drought with these fall fertilization lawncare tips