I loaned our mower to a friend. My husband is out of town and I decided to cut the grass. Well, now it is short (measured and it was little under 2.5 ) and showing brown tips due to the heat wave this week which had us having a week of 98 degree weather. I put down some Milorganite and it had a good rain last night. THe rest of the week is suppose to be in the 80's. If I don't mow for a week and the weather stays in the 80's, do you think the grass will grow enough to be 3 inches? I am going to raise mower levels. I put down recommended Milorganite rate but was wondering if I put more bags down would this green it up and speed up growth by end of month? This is when hubby returns. I also saw a product at Home Depot called Secret Garden Organite Fertilizer that had 11-2-2. Would I have better results with this?

I'd be more concerned about the mower having come back to you with nasty grass particles (Poa Trivialis) attached to it. Those could transfer to your lawn.

Assuming hubby is following a deep/infrequent watering approach, you might want to water ONCE extra to keep the shorter grass from burning-out if it gets hot. Don't water multiple times if the normal pattern is longer.

If the heat stays down and the lawn is healthy, it should be 3" or more in a week.

There are no special secret fertilizers. The normal time for Milorganite to affect the lawn is three weeks, maybe a little less in warmer weather.

+1 Andy. Water if it starts to shock, but other than that it should be fine. Doing that once is no real issue as long as you can get it to grow back, and the weather isn't going to be unreasonable for that.

Are you all saying that I should water more even though we just got a good soaking? If I rains during the week, do you all still water the grass?

That's a very long topic about something simple. You should really water very heavily, roughly once a week. If you're not already doing that, it's not time to switch while hubby is away - that's a migration process that takes a little time. If you're already doing that, then one extra watering one time to get through the low-mowing might be a good idea on maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, if it doesn't rain again.

Okay I get it. It is just that there is no water schedule set yet due to it raining what seemed to be no stop for the past 2 months then 2 weeks ago heat wave entered with no rain. Last year I did water for about an hour 1 time a week it's just that when it rains it throws me off because I dont want to water too much then get more problems. Thanks

You typically need one inch of water a week, all at once. Use tuna cans to determine how long that is, but the average is about two hours. If you want to know more details, search the site with the terms "Deep" and "Infrequent".

+1 Andy...Get that mower you loaned out and power wash it clean!. Pick 1 day (based on weather) and soak the lawn starting at appox 6am..spread a few 2 inch tuna cans around and fill near to the top

there is no water schedule set yet due to it raining what seemed to be no stop for the past 2 months then 2 weeks ago heat wave entered with no rain.

OK, so what have you done recently, irrigating wise, during the recent heat wave?

I only watered 1 time for an hour during the 2 week period due to the constant prediction of rain that the news kept saying we were going to get. It finally rained on Friday night (a good rain) and since then it has cooled the temperatures (now in lower 80's). I was going to water grass on Tuesday like Andy suggested if it does not rain today. I've been trying to keep to the infrequent schedule.

well it's raining buckets right now, enjoy.

I wish Mother Nature can space it out to 1 time a week.

right now we're waiting to see what the Missouri River brings. we're you here in '93? live up on high ground?
("Mother Nature" seems to have a real sense of humor about metro STL, at least we have the BUD plant here.)

Clay and crabgrass, I was not here. I moved here to go to graduate school in 1998 but I hear about the flood a lot. I feel bad wanting grass while other people are having their livelihoods in jeopardy d/t possible flooding.

if you missed '93, wait for it to come around again. with the help of the Army Corps. of Eng., it will probably be sooner than later. hope you don't live behind a levee in what was a flood plain. we should probably uses zipcodes. I'm 63137, Bernstem is 63105. don't know where you or kit5pt0 are. I've been hoping for somebody from "The Hill" neighborhood to show up with zoysia questions.

seems to me, one of the problems around here is the usual spring "monsoon" . this year we had near record rain for spring. got so soaked that even a shower would puddle. that's the same thing as overwatering, not the deep/infrequent watering that takes roots down into the ground. follow that with some near record breaking heat and the yard is stressed.

I've given up on Spring seeding even if it's just trying to do some patch work. a reno or an overseed in STL is something to do in late Sept., you have Oct. and most of Nov., if not into Dec. for growing and mowing. (Thanksgiving Day 2010 was 59F/low 34F, on the 22nd it was 74F/low 46F.)

read thru the threads by bernstem and kit5pt0 in the renovations forum, some good thoughts and info.

scrolling to the top of the page so I could click on Board Index, I couldn't help re-reading---
" I loaned our mower to a friend. My husband is out of town and I decided to cut the grass."

if I knew you better, I could really have some fun with this. (are you a redhead? husband has a band? hehehehehehe).

Hi Clay and Crabgrass, I actually live in 63043 (Maryland Heights). I dont think I live near a levee. Not a red head and my husband cant sing a tune (smile).