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South Louisiana is a challenging place to grow a lawn. Some days, the lawns I look at seem closer to a swamp than a golf course, complete with crawfish tubes and all. Now that we’ve broken into the pattern of summer rains and hot temperatures, several lawn issues associated with these weather conditions are appearing in our area in force. The common turfs grown in our area-St. Augustine, Bermudagrass, zoysia and centipede all have their own unique needs and care requirements. These are all warm-season species of turfgrass, however they do need proper care, fertilization, and maintenance to thrive in our growing conditions. For the basics of each turfgrass’s care requirements, the Louisiana Lawns Best Management Practices (BMP) publication is a good starting place. The easiest way to find this PDF guide is to use an internet search engine and look up “Louisiana Lawns BMP”. In this you’ll find the proper mowing heights and management guidelines for all four of the turfgrasses we grow. There are also color photos of the common weed, insect, and pathogen issues we see in Louisiana lawns. Many of these problems can be managed by fertilizing properly, maintaining sharp mower blades set to the correct height for the type of turf you are growing, and providing good soil drainage. Avoiding compaction of the soil (by limiting foot traffic in high-traffic areas or walkways) and aerating annually also help encourage strong turfgrass that will be more resilient in the face of pest and disease issues, and more able to outcompete weeds.
