Central Coast Lawn Care Calendar: What to Do Month by Month

This Central Coast lawn care calendar shows that a lawn needs the most care from spring through fall and less in winter. Feed a cool-season lawn in March, May and September or October, water most in early summer, dethatch and aerate in spring, and let winter rain do most of the watering.

The month-by-month figures below are from the UC Guide to Healthy Lawns, written by the UC Statewide IPM Program. Our lawn maintenance page describes the same pattern locally: "Central Coast lawns grow fastest March through October with cool nights and warm days."

How do you use this calendar?

Start by finding three things: your UC zone, your grass type and your sprinkler output. UC's guide splits California into 11 zones, and this calendar uses its Zone 8, Central California Coast tables. Check UC's zone map↗ to confirm your address.

Grass type. UC's guide sorts lawns into cool-season and warm-season grasses. Its Zone 8 species list includes tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass on the cool-season side, and bermudagrass, kikuyugrass, St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass on the warm-season side. UC says "cool-season grasses are most active during the spring and fall while warm-season grasses are the most active during the summer months."

Sprinkler output. UC's watering minutes assume sprinklers that put out 1 inch of water an hour. To check yours, UC's "can test" says to "evenly space six or more straight-sided food containers, such as tuna cans or cat food cans," run the sprinklers for 20 minutes, average the depth in the cans and multiply by 3. UC ANR's Lawn Watering Guide tables show that sprinklers putting out half an inch an hour need about twice the minutes.

Local rules. UC adds: "Several counties restrict watering one day of the week or only allow watering on certain days depending on your address." Your water supplier's rules come first. Our Salinas watering guide covers how to set a schedule around them.

How long should you water each month?

UC's Zone 8 table gives weekly minutes for a cool-season lawn on 1 inch per hour sprinklers. The peak is 76 minutes a week in June and August, and the low is 25 minutes in December and January, when rain usually covers it.

UC marks January, February and December with a note: "Irrigation is not usually required in winter months because rainfall provides sufficient water." In a dry winter, those figures are the starting point.

UC's rule for splitting the minutes depends on the grass. For cool-season lawns: "Divide the required weekly minutes into about 3 equal irrigations, evenly spaced throughout the week." For warm-season lawns: "Usually 1 or 2 times a week is sufficient."

UC's aerating page lists water that "runs off without soaking in" as a sign of compacted soil. Until you fix that, time a cycle "from the beginning to the time when runoff begins," and use that as the longest single run. If the schedule calls for more, split it into more runs, spaced evenly through the week.

What happens in January and February?

In January and February, rain usually waters the lawn, and the main job is getting ahead of spring weeds. UC IPM says crabgrass on the Central Coast "begins to sprout in early February to mid-March," so pre-emergent timing starts here.

UC IPM's weed guide says "the key to success for all preemergence herbicides is to apply the herbicide 2 to 3 weeks prior to weed germination." Our weed control calendar covers which weeds sprout when.

Order matters if the lawn also needs aeration or dethatching. UC's dethatching page says: "If you are planning to apply preemergence herbicides, do so after dethatching." Its aerating page says the same about aerating, or "the herbicides will be removed from the soil surface with the cores."

Leave the sprinklers off unless the month runs dry. If you do water, UC's January figure is 25 minutes a week for a cool-season lawn and 34 in February.

What should you do in March and April?

Spring is when a cool-season lawn wakes up. March is the first month on UC's Zone 8 feeding chart, mowing picks up, and watering climbs from 42 minutes a week in March to 59 in April.

Feed. UC says cool-season turfgrasses "actively grow in the spring and fall and should receive most of their fertilizer during those times of the year." Zone 8's chart marks March, May and September or October.

Mow. UC says to "mow regularly during the spring when the grass is actively growing, producing both root and shoot growth." For a week-by-week mowing pace on the coast, see our mowing frequency guide.

Aerate. UC says to "aerify your soil during the spring when grasses are actively growing." Signs you need it: "areas damaged from too much traffic or if water puddles on your lawn or runs off without soaking in." UC adds that "heavy clay soils need to be aerated a couple of times a year while sandy soils may only need aeration once a year."

Plant a cool-season lawn. UC IPM's lawn weed guide says "cool-season grasses should be planted in early spring or fall."

What should you do in May?

May is the second cool-season feeding on UC's Zone 8 chart and the start of the warm-season one. Watering rises to 67 minutes a week for cool-season grass, and late spring is one of UC's two windows to dethatch.

Dethatch if needed. UC says "the best time to dethatch is mid-to-late spring or early fall," because "the grass will quickly recover from injury" while it is growing. Check first: "remove a small square of your lawn to a depth of about 3 inches and measure the brown layer between the grass blades and the soil surface." UC's rule is to dethatch "when the thickness of the thatch is more than 1/2 inch deep."

How often depends on the grass. UC says bermudagrass, bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass "may need to be dethatched yearly," while tall fescue and perennial ryegrass "may not need to be dethatched more than every few years."

Warm-season lawns. UC says warm-season grasses "are fertilized for the first time when the lawn has fully greened up in the spring." Zone 8's warm-season chart marks May or June, then September and October. UC IPM's weed guide says "warm-season grasses should be planted from mid-spring to midsummer."

How do you get a lawn through June, July and August?

Watering is the main summer job. UC's Zone 8 table peaks at 76 minutes a week in June and August for a cool-season lawn. UC says to "limit fertilization during the high temperature summer months" and to avoid aerating "when high temperatures may be detrimental to lawns."

Water early. UC says "the best times to water are between 2 and 8 in the morning," when "water loss from evaporation is minimal." It warns against evening watering, "because thatch and blades are susceptible to diseases if they are wet during cool nights."

Water when the lawn asks. UC says "your lawn needs water when the top two inches of soil have dried out," and "if footprints remain visible after walking on the lawn or if the grass has changed color or has started to wilt, you have withheld too much water."

Mow less, and mow higher. For cool-season grass, UC says to "mow less frequently during the summer when growth slows." It also says to cut "on the higher end of the recommended range" for a turf "more tolerant of drought, heat, traffic, shade, and pests."

Check coverage. UC says: "Be sure to monitor your sprinkler system to make sure you are getting uniform coverage. Repair and replace broken sprinklers as necessary." On our maintenance visits, crews do a "visual irrigation + plant-health check every visit," and our irrigation team handles the repairs.

What changes in September and October?

Cool-season grass grows again in fall. UC's Zone 8 chart marks September or October for feeding, watering drops from 63 to 46 minutes a week, and early fall is a second window to dethatch or plant.

UC says "more frequent mowing may be necessary as growth picks up once again in the fall." For feeding, UC's Zone 8 cool-season note says to "use a complete fertilizer for one of these months if necessary." UC's timing rule: "The last application should be 6 to 8 weeks before the likely date of the first frost."

Fall also brings a new set of weeds. UC IPM says annual bluegrass "starts germinating in late summer or fall," and that Central Coast crabgrass dies "with the first frost and freezing temperatures, typically in late October." UC's dethatching page warns: "Avoid dethatching when weeds are germinating to prevent them from invading your turf."

What about November and December?

Watering drops to 34 minutes a week in November and 25 in December for a cool-season lawn, and UC says winter rain usually covers December. Warm-season lawns slow down or go dormant.

For warm-season grass, UC says "less frequent or no mowing is required as growth slows or the grass goes dormant in the fall and winter." For cool-season grass, mow when it reaches the height in the next section.

What height should you mow to?

Mowing height depends on the grass type. UC's rule for every species is to "only remove one-third of the height of the lawn at a time," and to mow within each species' recommended range so the turf keeps "a deep root system."

UC's settings for common Zone 8 grasses:

UC adds: "Do not drastically or suddenly change the cutting height." If the lawn has grown long, bring it down over several mowings.

How do we keep a lawn on this calendar?

We set the visit schedule by season. Our lawn maintenance page says "most Salinas properties benefit from weekly service in peak season, switching to bi-weekly November through February."

Each visit covers "mow, edge, blow, trim, and visual irrigation + plant-health check." The seasonal steps from this calendar, "aeration, fertilization, overseed, pre-emergent weed control," are "timed to Salinas Valley growing seasons," and owners get a "quarterly written review with photos, recommendations, and service adjustments." Our lawn fertilization and weed control program covers the feeding and weed side. For a written plan for your lawn, start on our contact page.

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