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24.07.2023 - 12:27 / hgic.clemson.edu
South Carolina is a very special place. From the coast to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, South Carolina has a diversity of climates and landscapes. The diversity of climates allows for different grasses to flourish. Warm season grasses such as zoysia, St. Augustinegrass, bermudagrass, centipedegrass, and bahiagrass flourish at the coast throughout the year, but those grown in the upstate go dormant in the winter. In the dormant stage, the grass turns brown and looks dead, but new growth will appear in spring. Cool season grasses, such as ryegrass and certain fescues, grow best primarily in the upstate but go dormant, or do not survive the heat of summer. Here too, the grass looks dead, with regrowth appearing as the weather begins to turn cool in fall and flourish through spring. Dormant grass still has live roots in the ground that require water, just not as much as when they are actively growing. Unless it has been uncommonly dry or windy, natural rain events are enough to sustain dormant grasses.
Cool season annual ryegrass may be seeded into bermudagrass for a green lawn throughout the year. This is common throughout the state, and may be the reason why you see both green (actively growing grass) and brown (dormant grass) lawns right next to each other.
For more information on different types of lawn grasses grown in South Carolina see, HGIC 1214, Selecting a Lawn Grass and HGIC 1206, Overseeding With Ryegrass for information regarding overseeding with ryegrass.
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Temperatures tend to go to extreme heights during the summer and that can cause drought stress to lawns and gardens. You may be wondering why your lawn is turning brown or whether you can revive dead grass by watering it. There are easy answers to that but it’s better to know the signs of summer lawn stress and how to repair drought-damaged grass.
Your lawn is a crucial part of the beautiful landscape of your outdoor space. That’s why you have to do your best in caring for your lawn. Achieving a lush and healthy lawn is more straightforward than it may seem, even if you are a beginner. Several lawn care aspects must be considered for maintaining a beautiful and green lawn.
If there’s one thing which can help your garden stand out from all the rest, it’s a neatly kept and luscious green lawn. Grass is a fragile family of plants and as such requires a great deal of care and patience. If everything is done right, it will grow to become an incredible sight to behold. That’s why it’s important to have basic knowledge of how to take care of your lawn. For that reason, we’ve prepared a handy-dandy lawn care calendar just for you.
The harvest video was on Hudson Valley Seed’s Instagram account, and one of that New York-based organic seed company’s co-founders, K Greene, talked with me about growing shallots and their more commonly grown cousin, garlic. He also shared some other ideas for succession sowing of edibles whose planting time still lies ahead—whether for fall harvest or to over-winter and enjoying in the year ahead. Read along as you listen to the Aug. 7, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) o
Lawns give us many years of loyal service and ask for very little in return. We cut them to within an inch of their lives and walk all over them without a care.
Cordless Strimmer, Lawn Edger and Trimmer like this GTECH ST04 shown above is a must for all garden and grass lovers.
Pretty yellow flowers? Check. Great for the landscape? No check! The fig buttercup, also known as the lesser celandine or pilewort, is a non-native plant from Europe and Northern Africa that has the potential to become a very bad invasive species in South Carolina. This spring ephemeral grows and blooms early in the spring, which helps it get established in natural areas and gives it a competitive advantage over native plants. It can grow in incredibly thick patches, take over entire areas, and crowd out native spring ephemerals (Fig. 1). The leaves (Fig. 2) and flowers (Fig. 3) are toxic if eaten, and may cause vomiting, nausea, or dizziness. The roots consist of thick tubers and bulblets, each of which can produce a new plant (Fig. 4). These underground structures can help the plant withstand periods of drought or poor growing conditions and they are also spread when soil is disturbed.
Large patch disease is probably the most common and damaging disease of warm season turfgrass in South Carolina. The most susceptible turfgrass to large patch is centipedegrass, followed by St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass. Bermudagrass lawns are not as severely affected because with proper care, this turfgrass can outgrow the disease problem. The pathogen causing large patch (Rhizoctonia spp.) is more active in the soil during the fall after temperatures have dropped from the summer‘s heat and again in the spring as turfgrasses green up.
If I had a dollar for every time a client called this year about a wet spot in their lawn, I’d probably be able to adopt another dog. Fortunately for our clients, there are several ways to address this common issue!
Winter is commonly thought of as a time of rest for many plants. Deciduous plants lose their leaves, and blades of certain turfgrass lawns experience die-back as the turfgrass goes dormant. Whether or not a turfgrass experiences dormancy depends on the species and where in the state they are grown.
Smilax vines go by the common names greenbrier or catbrier due to the thorns covering their stems. There are 300 to 350 smilax species worldwide. Approximately twenty-four species are native to North America, with fifteen species growing in South Carolina. Smilax grows well in moist shade and is an important food source and habitat for wildlife, including birds, rabbits, and deer.