Yea, that's my normal routine too...To head for open woods. Old tree growth where there isn't much underbrush. That way you're in the shade and as long as there is some kind of breeze it ain't too bad. Problem is it's been even too hot for that to be comfortable around here, and most days seem to be lacking any kind of breeze that might make it tolerable. For the thicker wooded areas with younger tree growth I save those for fall, winter, and spring before the brush and plants start popping up. I've got one spot we hunted mid summer and we made some decent finds, but the trees just weren't old enough over much of it to keep the poison ivy and other plants from being there. Come this winter we'll be going back to cover that site better, because some stuff we pulled was right up against a big patch of plants that will be gone come winter time.
One thing I wonder about the dead grass this time of year. It's not really dead but dormant. I wonder if perhaps it might actually be better for the grass to dig plugs in it when it's in it's dormant stage, because I've found plugs when the grass was nice and green that were brown and obviously dead. Perhaps by digging those plugs when the grass is dormant it might give them better survival chances? Giving the dirt time to heal around the roots.
One of the things I do to limit damage to grass is dig the plug deep enough to be well past the roots, so that you are keeping dirt attached to the bottom of the roots, as the enemy of roots is air. That's also why I stomp good and hard on the plug when done. It might flatten the grass but it will pop back up in a day or two, and that stomping insures less air exposure to the roots. I also dig my plugs with one side still attached to the surrounding grass, so that the root system still is connected to the surrounding grass. Final tip is to sharpen your digger. Less tearing while cutting the plug means less drama to the roots. Of course use a screwdriver to pop the shallower stuff whenever you can. Supertuning the Pro Pointer is handy for finding those shallow ones and sticking the screwdriver right under them at an angle to pop out.
I'd like to hear any others opinions on dormant grass perhaps being better to dig plugs in? And any tips for keeping the grass from dying.
