Lawns Hub

Sorry about keeping you guys waiting with the posts. Busy summer here with lawn care issues…

Soil and soil Ph ratings are hugely vital to be familiar with with any lawn.  The ideal soil Ph reading for grasses is around 6.5.  The grass itself causes an increase in acidity as time goes on, what with the clippings deteriorating and the biological events occurring underneath, including worms and castings.  When the soil reaches 7.5 or above, what happens is things like dandelions, which love the acidity, can flourish and the grass will have a hard time competing. And, in the end, a dense and healthy stand of happy grass is the best possible deterrence for weeds of all kinds. One can effect a good Ph by adding lime when the Ph goes above 7.5, thus reducing the weed growth and promoting the grass growth..

Soil is another issue. When we order or mix in soil, we need to differentiate the difference between “dirt” and soil. Good soil had compost able elements, woods or bit of organic materials that can break down and supply the necessary nutrients for a long-lasting effect. 18 inches or more of composted and highly bacterial soil would be optimal. I have a friend that has soil this deep. While everyone else waters dozens of times or more over the summer, she waters just once or twice. She uses no fertilizer or pesticides. She has thick, dark green, weed-free grass which requires frequent mowing. Her lawn is about as “no-brainer” as you could get. This gives the lunatic fringe view on just what is so vital about soil, seeing as how hers is so ideal. Her grass roots and her choice of seed (Tall Fescue) determine much of this. The deeper-rooted the grass, the fewer times it needs watering.  And even those waterings are infrequent but very deep.

If your soil depth is bad, it can be aided by applications of yet more soil, sometimes even over the top of a lawn.  Granted, it will take a bit of time for the grass to completely thicken, but it is an adequate “lazy man’s method” of dealing with it.  Other great methods include aerating and raking new soil into the holes just produced. A good lawn, given the right ingredients for growth and health can be an utterly “green” lawn in the ecological sense easier than many think.

Here is the thing about dealing with almost all issues relating to lawns: Going “green” is not like we are rediscovering the wheel.  The simple fact is, if you don’t use any fertilizer or pest control or weed control product whatsoever, there are some extremely simple ways of being totally Non Chemical. And some of them stem from very basic lawn care notions.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the height we mow our lawns at may be the single most important point to bear in mind.  Grass is a living plant.  It grows via photosynthesis and thereby needs a blade to convert sunlight into the sugars that feed the plant.  By cutting grass too short, we accomplish a staggering number of mistakes:

1.  We make the grass work harder to hustle back to the point where it can partake of photosynthesis. By this, we also make it use all the nutrition available on merely reestablishing itself to normality instead of investing in root growth.

2.  We allow weeds and broad leaves to compete.  Of all the methods of preventing weed growth in a lawn, this may be the most important.  Grass gets healthier faster with some length to its blades.  Meanwhile, the business end of any weed is at the tip, which gets cut by mowing.

3.  Leaving cuttings in the grass can be an effective fertilization.  We are after bacteria, worms and all sorts of living organisms to help us develop a healthy green lawn.  The salts and chemicals in petroleum fertilizers all act against just exactly this. There are actually organic fertilizers that work as well as a brief search on Google can relate.

4.  Watering.  Watering grass should be focused on the deeper start of roots.  Deep watering implies watering once for a bit of saturation, waiting just a bit, then watering very thoroughly so that the water can travel deeply into the earth, where we develop our most drought-tolerant system:  long, deep roots. Watering a lawn is like dealing with a sponge.  When first watered, some water will actually be repelled by the surface.  A small soaking first, waiting a bit, then we notice how the sponge fills up nicely, as if water is attracted to itself, which it is.

Simple adherence to simple tactics can make all the anal retentive s in the audience need new realms to worry over.  LOL, great lawns do indeed follow some simple tactical plans.

Fescues grasses are divided into two categories:  fine and tall varieties.  Fine Fescues are lawn-specific in almost every case and provide a mic of seed that can endure some of the problems which others cannot.  There are varieties of fine fescues which are the best available choices for that conundrum faced by almost all lawn fanciers with trees: deep shade.  “Chewings  and Creeping Fescues” have been developed as perhaps the most shade-tolerant grasses of all.  There are others which have different general qualities, but I have planted “Chewings” with some great results.

Fescues develop into a thick mat, dense and much more drought and disease-resistant than bluegrasses.  Insects are also much less of a problem for these grasses, research has proven, owing to certain genetic, chemical properties.

Originally developed as a “transitional” grass, this seed is very drought resistant, perhaps as much as any “cool season” grass.  It is pretty universal throughout the American Mid West and into Canada as well.  Red Fescues are almost universally added to Bluegrass mixes to supply a longer-lasting green color once the bluegrasses go dormant.

Almost all the “thin Fescues” are delicate-seeming, with thin blades made for walking on.  The Tall varieties however, are much coarser.  These seeds are often used on athletic fields and in pastures and such owing to their slower rate of growth and their extreme durability.  Drought-tolerance is their other primary feature, as these grasses develop root systems that reach amazingly deeply into the soil beneath them.

I once seeded a front lawn in 100% Tall Fescue and I ended up regretting it.  The coarseness wore my feet out.  But it stayed green far longer than my other neighbor’s lawns and I needed less water to make it work as a lawn, so I kept it.  Mixed in bluegrass, it toughens it and keeps the watering issues more moot.

Time to talk about types of grass for a bit… I’m afraid I don’t have pictures of every type of grass out there, so if you have them, by all means, please use the comment form here to contact me and send me a picture - good pictures will be published here with credit going to the photographer.

So, let’s start with Bermuda Grass…

Bermuda Grass is often referred to in the Unites States as “the Southern grass”. It is a favorite in texture and color for all areas of usage from lawns to highway medians, athletic fields and the like, from about Tennessee, South. It essentially grows in tropical, sub-tropical and the transition zones. There are some cool season varieties being hybridized, but they are not widely accepted yet. In fact, many Northern climates relate to Bermuda Grass as a pestilence, owing to its ambitious and vigorous rhizome habit.

Just the same, Bermuda Grass is one of the most sun loving warm season lawn and pasture grasses. It can very easily be planted from grass seed and provides a great turf grass lawn in Southern areas. Bermuda turf requires a fairly moderate amount of lawn grass care, maintenance and mowing.

Bermuda grass is known as one of the most persistent and aggressive grasses. It’s tough to kill, in fact, after it gets established. It germinates quickly from seed, covers quickly and can grow in a pretty wide variety of soil types. For Floridians and Californians and any people who live near a coast line, Bermuda grass is fairly salt-tolerant. As a tough sort of survivor grass, Bermuda Grass is often used in these climates as a most desirable grass for golf courses, especially since it can be extremely reliable and attractive when regularly maintained and cut. Divots are easily replaceable fairly quickly and, for athletic fields, this also matters.

The bottom line with Bermuda Grass lawns is that they love sun, don’t require an awful lot of super focused maintaining, are quick to establish and keep their color without the constant need to “tone” with fertilizers.

More grass today!

Rye Grasses come in two types: Perennial grasses and Annual grasses. Naturally, the annual grasses die off in Winters, just as the perennials may be expected to return. This fast-developing seed is probably the most versatile of all lawn seeds. Used often as a “nurse crop” seed in combination with a more desirable type, it germinates quickly, thus protecting the slower developing seeds. Rye grasses add toughness and thickness to any seed combination it is used with and, being a “cold season grass”, it stays greener longer and shows up earlier.

Rye seeds also have the amazingly attractive ability to be sown by hand casting without all the standard preparation worries. Rye grasses thus are perfect for repairing damaged lawn areas and allow the rhizomes from Bluegrasses and the like to filter through and establish themselves. They provide many attributes and very few downsides, being this versatile.

Annual Rye grasses are widely-used to establish pastures and erosion-control slopes and valleys with a fast-growing and rapidly-developing seed and can be used as the aforementioned ‘repair seed’ allowing the damaged other seed stock to replenish itself in a more timely and thorough way.

Perennial Ryes make a durable stand for athletics and playground and park uses. Mixed with the more beautiful grasses, it acts to provide a tougher, more long-lasting mixture, perfect for longer periods of greenness at both ends of the climate extremes.

Annual Ryegrass is easily removed from any area through heavy grazing, mowing or turning under before the seeding stage. Maybe this should be the number one grass of the new millennium? A non-aggressive, vigorous grower, it furnishes nutrients back to the soil, forms an erosion soil basis for stability, highly digestible, beautiful color, dies off when you need it to without chemicals.

The term “Bluegrass” holds a particular place in my heart, since I was raised in Kentucky. Oddly, it is not native there and, yes, it is widespread especially in the central part of the state famous for its thoroughbred horse farms and race horses. Almost a virtual “Plains”, Central Kentucky is rich in limestone and flat enough at least to provide huge area of natural grass expanses. The Ph Factor is perfect for bluegrasses and the richness and gorgeous color of Kentucky Bluegrass is rightfully famous and very desirable as a lawn choice.

Bluegrass is not a deep-rooting grass, thus it is susceptible to browning out during periods of stress, such as cold weather or drought. But it is one hardy perennial grass which goes dormant during these periods and can generally be counted on to bounce back when conditions allow. It is particularly famous for its rich green cast, even going to the blue, thus its title. There are few grasses that can provide the rich deep green color of this grass and few also quite as hardy, in the end. It also is “barefoot friendly” providing a marvelous texture to walk on. It mends easily enough by reseeding and roots amazingly quickly, once planted.

Best results with this gorgeous and much-desired product include mixing a few other seed types in, either from nurseries and sod farms themselves or by adding it yourself. Perennial Rye grasses are great “starter” seeds as a “nurse crop”, providing protection when it develops so quickly and offering an early green appearance. These are also a cooler season grass which tends to ‘green up’ early than the slow developing Bluegrasses.

Bluegrass is best for medium traffic areas and is easily repaired when damaged. A Fescue seed mix can improve the durability of Bluegrass as well and provide a sturdier lawn all the way around. Fescues are also cooler season grasses as we will discover elsewhere.

When we decided to make a blog dedicated strictly to lawns and lawn care, naturally the inevitable “Internet Exception Clause” hit me like “the kiss at the end of a hot fist” (My Mike Hammer allusion, lol). What does someone in New Zealand care about “cold climate grasses”? Or Florida or California for that matter? And what internet surfer in Red Deer, Alberta is going to care about Bermuda Grass and its attendant problems?  Not only that, but the choices expand exponentially, even in those places themselves!  If someone wants a showplace which will get little traffic and no dogs or kids befouling the perfection, his choices might be different entirely from someone whose entire edifice gets the traffic equivalent of Grand Central Station.

There are choices even within the regions themselves depending on need.  Some grasses are highly sensitive to traffic and abuse ands yet others can hang in there, are easily reseeded and require very little maintenance to stay pretty green and refreshing.  The science of grasses has become more than what it once was, for real, and science is producing yet hardier and more gorgeous species annually.

Not only this, but grasses also contain an immense and equally-evolving number of ornamental plants which are rapidly becoming more widespread in landscapes all over the world.  Grass’s ease of maintenance in the context of a shrub is as recommendable as is its uncommon beauty as a landscaping plant feature.

So what I am going to do is to list a few of the more common grasses we use in North America for lawns only. These will also apply to Europe and much of the rest of the world, considering the diversity of climates within North America and I will try and list appropriate zonal hardiness at the same time, easily transferable to the rest of the world.

Ever wondered what Lawn Aerating means?

Lawn aerating is a process whereby a machine is passed over the lawn and small tubes are pressed 2-3 inches into the soil, permitting the “plugs” to be raised out of the soil and cast off. Thus it is literally removing soil and creating deep little hollow pockets for better air and water circulation. As well, by sweeping new soil or sand into the holes thus created it allows you to actually upgrade the soil itself. What often occurs in more clayish soils is a compaction process, whereby the soil becomes so hard and compressed from constant compression from feet and wheels, that roots are literally not allowed to grow.  Also, the roots can better achieve their innate goals of getting water and nutrients not allowed from the denseness of the soil they are trapped in. Aeration also allows fertilizers and rainfall to penetrate better.

Many 4 season climate lawns get an aeration every year.  Snow itself can be a compacting agent. The fact is it does stimulate root activity, making the small grass plants work to receive their proper proportions of air, water, nutrients and, in the end, sun. Aeration is one of the simplest and easy of preSummer tasks and easily one of the most necessary.  A lush green lawn needs a good base from which to grow.  Aeration can improve the soil and can lessen the compaction from people and Nature and release it for its good work of looking darn good.