Question
Hey Ken:
I wanted to ask you some advice on my Lawn the we have. we live in Los Banos Ca and what I'm getting now being that it has been in the 100's is my lawn is turning brown and faded I was told with the lawn that has turned brow to use a thatcher rake to remove the dead grass is this true. I was also told that there is a soil treatment that is liquid that you could spray on your grass that will penetrate the soil if it is hard pan. then I saw the commercial for Scott's summerguard lawn fertilizer ehat would you recommend that I do to the lawn. our back yard is approxamatly 3,00sqft of sod it is about 3 years old now it is a tuff turf fescue Medelion. Thanks Greg Gomez

Answer
Turf type tall fescue will turn brown in very hot weather. If you have temperatures exceed 100F consistently then what you are seeing is no doubt a dormancy stage which the grass enters to protect itself.

Do not do any renevations or dethatching now. Wait until the temperatures fall below 85F in fall and moisture is again readily available. Then you can mow the lawn low, and rake dead grass. For now, do not do any renevation, and in fact avoid walking on it, if you can.

You should not fertilize now. This is a very bad idea. Fertilize tall fescue only in spring and fall; not in summer. Ideal times to fertilize is when night time temperatures are below 65F (above freezing) and daytime temperatures in the the 70-85F. This could even be winter where you live.

Do not fertilize turf type tall fescue in summer; never.

If the grass does not rebound adequately in fall; or if this repeats in future years, you may want to consider planting a grass type which is more suited to your very hot summer temperatures; such as bermuda, st. augustine or bahia. These grasses will go dormant (brown) in cold weather, but will usually stay green through hot summer months. These grasses should be fertilized through the actively growing season (including summer) but not so with tall fescue (fescue is a cool season grass and should never ever be fertilized in hot summer months).