Timing
Lawn Care
Early spring is the best
time for total lawn renovation, but fall is an excellent time
for repairing and rejuvenating damaged or tired lawns.
Let's start with some basics on routine lawn maintenance, then
get into the beauty-makovers. Treat your lawn right, and
she'll always be the one!
The
Lowdown on Mowing
Never cut more than 1/3rd of
the grass height off at one mowing. The corollary to this
is to never let the lawn grow higher than half-again as much as
the height you normally keep it. This might mean you have
to mow twice a week or more in spring and fall, especially if
there is a lot of rain.
Cuttings heights for different grasses vary. Here are some
for the most popular types of grasses:
Bluegrass
Perennial
Ryegrass
Tall
Fescue
Fine
Fescue
Bermuda
Zoysia |
1.5
- 3 inches
1.5
- 3 inches
1.5
- 3 inches
1.5
- 3 inches
.75
- 1.5 inches
1
- 2 inches |
You can let the lawn grow 1/2
inch higher than the recommended heights in shady areas, or if
the lawn is under attack from drought or insects. Leave
cuttings on the lawn as they decompose quickly, and provide a
slow release fertilizing to your lawn.
Keep your mower blades sharp to avoid "shredding" the
tips of the grass which turn brown and look just plain bad, as
well as leaving the grass more vulnerable to pests and
diseases. Make your final mowing as soon as the grass
stops growing, and cut it to about 1 inch high (1/2 inch for
Bermuda).
Out-wit
Weeds
The the best way to outwit weeds
is to grow a thick lawn. This gives weed seeds nowhere to set
down roots. If one manages to sneak through, the thick
lawn shades it out.
Existing perennial weeds (usually the ones with the deep
taproots or the fibrous types like creeping charlie) can be dug
out with a long v-tipped weed-digger, or pried out of moist
soil.
Spot treating with a spray-on or paint-on systemic weed killer
is effective when nothing else will work, or when there are too
many weeds to hand-dig.
Tease
Your Lawn
Yes, there often comes a time
in the life of a lawn where a severe 'teasing' or 'back-combing'
is required. This is called "dethatching". |
Thatch
is the layer of decaying matter that builds up between the grass
blades on top of the soil. More than 1/2 inch is a
problem. Water can't penetrate, but weeds love to grow in
it.
For thick mats of thatch, you will need to rent a power
dethatcher, or hire someone with the machine to do it for you.
Thinner layers can be removed with a regular garden rake, or one
made especially for this task called a dethatching rake.
Give the lawn a good 'back-combing' to loosen the thatch and add
it to the compost pile.
Lawn
Day at the Spa
To rejuvenate a neglected
lawn, you will have to combine all of the activities
above. Spring is best, but late summer-early fall is also
good timing. Here are the steps involved:
-
Remove
all weeds
-
Mow
the lawn very short - almost "scalp" it.
-
Dethatch
-
Aerate
-
If
you will be overseeding, rake the lawn well to create
grooves in the soil to hold the seed.
-
Topdress,
working in the cores left from the aeration
-
Patch
holes with sod or by raking well and seeding them thickly;
firm the sod or the seed into place well with the back of a
rake.
-
Overseed
- here are the rates for different types of grass seed:
Bluegrass |
1-plus pounds per 1,000
square feet at a spreader setting of 3-plus. |
Tall Fescue |
4 pounds per 1,000 square
feet at a spreader setting of 7. |
Perennial Ryegrass |
4 pounds per 1,000 square
feet with the spreader set at 7 |
Fine Fescue |
2 pounds per 1,000 square
feet at a spreader setting of 6 |
Rough Bluegrass |
1 1/2 pounds per 1,000
square feet at a setting of 3 1/4. |
-
Fertilize
and apply a weed suppressant or grub control, etc. if
required - note do NOT apply any weed'n'feed or weed
supressants if you will be over-seeding
-
Press
the seed gently but firmly into the soil with the flat side
of a rake. Water in well with a light, thorough
misting - keep evenly moist until the grass has sprouted and
is long enough to cut
|