Dunegrass Maintenance

DSCF0137Dunegrass can be helped to grow with three applications of fertilizer in Spring, Summer and Fall. Typically we use 12-12-12 or similar fertilizer. Slow release fertilizer requires less applications, but it is much more costly.
As soon as possible after the snow melts is the best time to start to eliminate invasive weeds and grasses. I will give a more detailed year round program in another post. However in March we apply a pre-
merge like “Preen” to keep weed seeds from sprouting. We also spray “Round-Up” or a generic equivalent before the green tips of the dunegrass appear. This will kill any green invasives that are growing. More on this later.

Blogging….jumping in with both feet!

In our blog posts our purpose is to share our knowledge about landscaping gardening with an emphasis on our specialty, dunegrass and shoreline plants.  We also, from time to time will include spiritual meditations along the line of the stories and poems that we have written and compiled in our website.

Here we go:  Dunegrass in Spring

The snow is finally starting to disappear.  Often customers are concerned that the dunegrass may have died through the winter.  When they see it is all brown and smashed to the ground.  In fact, the dunegrass is already growing under the snow.  The “eyes” are sending out  roots and start to elongate until they pop out of the ground as green shoots in the early part of April.  By May you will have a fresh green meadow where the dunegrass is planted.  Dunegrass is extremely cold hardy.  We actually let fresh dug grass freeze in the bags after counting and bundling in late November/early December.  It freezes to whatever the air temp is —- this year well below zero!!!  When we start to plant this in the green house in flats in late February it is already sending out roots and stretching even though it is frozen.  We dip them in water before storage to prevent dehydration.  We are careful about using fresh, clean well water to prevent bacterial contamination like you would get using pond or lake water.  We also add a polymer to the water that helps retain moisture.