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.