Managing Brome and Fescue in Spring
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The two most common calls I get each spring concerning brome and fescue involves burning and fertilizing.
Unlike native grasses, burning is not required for a productive stand of brome or fescue. Burning early can help to remove old accumulations of plant material but it should be done before these cool season grasses break dormancy and start their spring growth. I usually recommend we burn in February, if at all.
When to apply fertilizers for brome and fescue
Fertilizers for brome and fescue can be applied anytime from November through March. The idea is to have fertilizers applied and given the opportunity to reach the plants root zone before they start their growth for the year.
While waiting till March to apply fertilizers is a traditional practice in our area, you can run into rain and fertilizer availability issues causing this application to be delayed, resulting in reduced hay and forage yields for the year.
Other resources
- Free soil testing for Johnson County residents
If you haven’t taken a soil test in a while, there’s still time to do that. Soil sampling instructions are available on our web site at http://www.johnson.k-state.edu/crops-livestock/agriculture-soil-testing.html - Smooth Bromegrass Management
See K-State publication C-402 Smooth Brome Production and Utilization
Written by Juju Wellemeyer