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Winter Lawn Care: Salt and Lawn Grass Don’t Mix

December 13th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

With the ice and snow onslaught that many are facing in the Midwest and Northeast, lawn care is likely the last thing on people’s minds. Certainly our sympathies and prayers go out to those impacted by power, heat and water losses. But as the snow and ice cause many to reach for the buckets and barrels of salt and ice melt we must point out that salt can weaken, damage and even kill your lawn. The effect of road salt to lawns, combined with pounding and compaction from foot traffic and piled snow increases stress on grassy areas, leaving it vulnerable to weed invasion and disease.  It’s reported that Kentucky bluegrass is most prone to salt damage.

How to avoid salt in the lawn? Take care to apply de-icing salt to only your pavement or walking areas after removing snow.  Avoid shoveling or plowing snow laden with salts onto your lawn or turf areas.  Use calcium chloride based salts for de-icing as they may cause less damage.  Even better, use kitty litter or sand for traction in icy spots; it’s much more landscape friendly.  Contrary to popular thought, do not use fertilizers for de-icing.  They can contribute to ground water pollution when the snows melt.

And unless you are extremely fit physically, for your heart’s sake, don’t try to remove all the snow in one fell swoop.  The stress of swinging heavy shovels of snow in the cold can be fatal.  Enlist others to help.

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Need a Lawn Care Calendar?

December 5th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

For folks living in the Southeastern US, there’s a great lawn care calendar on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s website.  When it comes to lawn care, timing is key and this calendar shows you the best times to seed, apply fertilizer, aerate, the works.  It’s actually four calendars in one as it details the lawn care maintenance schedule for different types of lawns - Bermuda, fescue, centipede and zoysia.  Check it out today at http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/special/homeandgarden/
lawncalendar.html and print yourself a copy.

Lawn Care and Mowing: How To Do It Right

November 30th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Some folks may wonder at the title of this post:  is mowing really that hard?  Well, mowing of itself really isn’t hard. After all, we often send our older kids out with the lawn mower as part of their chores. Doing it right and proper however, for your type of grass, takes a little more than brawn.  Lawn care and mowing is really easy if you plan ahead and follow these simple steps.

First you must know what type of grass you have.  Bluegrass, Bermuda, Fescue, Zoysia, Centipede and St. Augustine all have preferred mowing heights.  Here’s a chart to make it easy:

Proper Grass Mowing Heights (in inches)

Tall Fescue 2 - 3
Fine Fescue 2 - 2.5
Ky Bluegrass 2 - 2.5
Perennial Ryegrass 2 - 2.5
Common Bermuda 1 - 2
Hybrid Bermuda 0.5 - 1.5
Zoysia 0.5 - 1.5
Centipede 1 - 1.5
St. Augustine 2 - 3

The general rule in lawn care and mowing is that when mowing any type of grass, mow when the grass is dry and only remove one-third of its height at any time to encourage its health. If you’ve recently watered your lawn, wait at least twelve hours before mowing.  Try to mow after early morning dew has dried. Mowing a wet lawn helps spread nasty lawn fungi. Your mower will run much better and be less likely to clog as well.

Correct mowing height is very important because the grass blade uses that length to soak up the sunshine it requires, crowd out weeds and  store needed moisture.

Using the lawn care and mowing chart as a guide, allow the selected grass type to grow no more than 1 1/2 times the preferred height; so when you cut, you’ll only remove 1/3 the grass’ height at a time. For example, let’s say I want to maintain my common bermuda lawn at a 2″ height.  This means I will not let it grow more than 3″ long before mowing.

If you cut off more than 1/3 of the grass’ height at a time, it traumatizes the lawn leaving it weak and more vulnerable to disease and insect pests. Remember, grass like other green plants uses its surface length to take in required sunshine for growth. Good lawn care and mowing practices respect this need. If for some reason you’ve let your grass grow longer, say 4″- 6″, you must still cut only 1/3 the length, wait a few days, then trim the remaining length at a second session to bring it down to 2″- 3″.

For cool season grasses that dislike summer’s heat, seriously consider mowing at the higher height limits. A higher mowing lets the grass retain its strength and retain moisture better. Scalping your lawn leaves it vulnerable to drought, diseases and pests. I’ve discovered even a warm season grass like Bermuda likes better to be mowed at the 2″ height in summer. It looks far healthier and better withstands the lack of rain we’ve had here locally.

Lawn Care and Mowing: Vary the Direction of the Mower For Best Results

When you mow, alternate mowing the lawn vertically and then horizontally. This keeps the lawn from becoming rutted and the grass from flattening in front of the mower blade when it’s constantly mowed in one direction. For a really neat look, mow diagonally. I did this as a variation and my yard looked sharp! Really turned the neighbors’ heads.

Ensure your mower blade is sharp, so it cuts easily, instead of hacking and ripping, and damaging the grass. The sharpness of the blade is way more important than the variety of mower you use. A dull blade creates an ugly dead brown line across the top of your grass. A raggedy blade make your grass more vulnerable to disease and pests. You should sharpen your mower’s blades at least once each year.  If there are any stones, small branches or other hard debris on the lawn, remove them before running the mower.  This will help maintain your mower blade and minimize injury to you from any flying debris kicked up by mowing.

After a correctly done lawn care and mowing session, leave the cut grass on the lawn - don’t rake it up. The cut grass will naturally decompose and provide nutrients to the lawn. Cut grass is one of the best fertilizers your lawn could have.  It’s the right price - free! - and it can provide up to 33% of your yard’s yearly fertilizer needs.  I use an electric mulching mower which pulverizes the clippings even finer so they are absorbed faster.

Mowing provides great exercise, can relieve stress, gets you outdoors to breathe fresh air; and keeps your lawn looking fresh.  Lawn care and mowing can be good for your yard and you!

Lawn Care and Thatching: Aeration, Good Maintenance Are Key To Control

November 27th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Many people interested in lawn care aren’t familiar with thatching; or know why they might need to be concerned. Thatch is a layer of living and dead organic matter that accumulates on top of the soil, just beneath the grass.

Thatch is mostly made up of living turfgrass stems and roots, and decaying or dead grass and debris in the process of breaking down and becoming part of the soil. Grass continually renews itself and thatch is a normal part of that renewal process. It’s not unusual for a yard to have thatch. The older and more established a lawn is, the more likely it has thatch to some degree. Some thatching can be beneficial as it insulates lawn roots from extreme cold in winter and excessive moisture loss in summer. But sometimes, due to environmental factors or improper lawn care practices, thatch accumulates faster than the dead matter can breakdown and become soil. Excessive thatch (more than 1/2 inch thick) encourages pests and disease, discourages healthy grass rooting, and can interfere with some lawn care practices.

Lawn care can have a major impact on thatching. For example, excessive nitrogen fertilizer applications or frequent overwatering can contribute to thatch, because they cause the lawn to grow too fast. Some people mistakenly blame grass clippings dropped on the lawn after mowing as a cause of thatch buildup. Clippings are very high in water content and breakdown rapidly when returned to lawns after mowing, actually helping reduce thatch. This assumes lawns are properly mowed on a regular basis (not removing more than one-third of the leaf blade at a time) at the correct height.

Environmental factors that contribute to thatching include heavy, wet soils; alkaline, or high pH soils; and soil compaction.  Kentucky bluegrass, hybrid Bermuda and Zoysia are notably prone to thatching.

Lawn Care Aeration and Thatching

If thatch levels accumulate to more than 1/2″ lawn problems may occur and the thatch will have to be controlled.  You could use a garden rake - those with metal or steel tines - or a special dethatching rake to scrape out the thatch, but you risk tearing out live grass roots with it.  Core aerating helps degrade thatch and also helps solve some of the causes of thatch. Core aeration followed by topdressing with compost will generally correct the reasons thatch is accumulating. Lawn care aeration slows thatching by pulling soil cores to the surface that, when left on the ground, act like topdressing. The holes created alleviate problems such as compaction or poor drainage. Topdressing is simply adding a thin layer (1/8″ to 1/4″) of good rich soil, such as mature compost, over the lawn and gently raking it down into the thatch. This adds beneficial microorganisms to speed thatch breakdown.

With proper lawn care, thatching is nothing to be overly concerned about…when you know exactly what to do.

DIY Lawn Care Tip: Storing Your Lawn Care Tools for Winter

November 24th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

OK, if you’ve finished with the mower and blower for the fall, congratulations! Before you send them to their well-deserved season’s rest, do a little maintenance. For the mower, clean the blades and the rotary mechanism. Oil if necessary. Drain the gas, or gas-and-oil mixture to avoid it turning to gunk.  Ideally, there’s not much to drain because you’ve used nearly all of it on the last mowing.  You’ll start fresh next season. Check the blade and note if it’s edges are dinged or jagged. It may need sharpening or replacement next season. Check and clean the air filters and spark plugs if applicable. Clean any grass and debris from the blower; and if it runs on gas or gas/oil, drain it too. If you have battery powered machines (my mower runs on a heavy-duty battery), make sure to take the batteries out and store them properly. Check your manual for instructions on seasonal/long term battery storage. Our tools help us to keep the lawn looking fresh and clean cut. You gotta take good care of the tools.

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