Here we find ourselves nearly 8 months out from Hurricane Helene and many areas of bare soil remain. This year has been wet so erosion is still an issue. Fall is the time to plant cool season grass to protect soil.

Grasses Grasses are divided into cool season and warm season.Cool season grasses do most of their growth in fall and spring. Sometimes they suffer in the summer heat. Cool season grasses stay green year round and do better in shade.

The time for planting cool season grasses is coming up. According to the NC State Carolina Lawns publication, "Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescues — such as creeping red, chewings, and hard — are cool-season perennial grasses used for lawns, mostly in the mountain and piedmont regions of North Carolina."

Warm season grasses can be planted in the early spring. Learn more about native warm season perennial grasses.

Fall is the Time To Plant Cool Season Grasses It is time to begin preparing to plant your cool season grasses on areas of bare soil. Getting fescue and other cool season grasses planted by the end of August maximizes the amount of time the grass has to grow before winter.

• Implement soil protection measures such as erosion control fabric, hay bales or coir socks.
• Soil needs to be loosened (if possible use a rake to break up the surface of soil)
• lime (40 pounds lime per 1000 square feet) and fertilizer (4 pounds 10-10-10 per 1000 square feet)
• contractor's mix fescue/annual ryegrass blend seed applied (fescue 3-5 pound per 1000 square feet)
• cover seed with jute/burlap erosion control matting or wheat straw.