A Beautiful Spring Green Lawn

Dreaming of greener grass? Longing for relaxing summer evenings in the hammock with a glass of lemonade and full view of a beautifully manicured lawn? You’re not alone. A crossword puzzle I worked recently gave the clue, “suburbanite’s pride.” The answer was an obvious little 4-letter word: “lawn.” All of us though, whether we live in the suburbs or out on a rolling country road, take great pride in a beautiful lawn. It becomes the centerpiece of summer gatherings and the favorite spot for good family times.

Spring and fall are the best times to take a good look at your lawn and do the work necessary to ensure it will be its best come next spring and summer. All lawn maintenance activities are best done in the late summer and early fall. This includes sowing a new lawn, fertilizing, repairing, and reseeding. Here are some tips for fall lawn care that will let you enter winter carefree and anticipate the greener grass of summer.

Garden: Tips for spring lawn maintenence for beautiful spring green grass!

First, determine the status of your lawn right now. Is it (1) already healthy and green with little need of repair; (2) basically in good shape with just a few spots that need some work; or (3) in need of total restoration so that you feel like you need to start from scratch?

A healthy lawn is free of weeds and disease, free of brown and dry spots, has little or no thatch, and doesn’t have you sending the kids out everyday to pick the dandelions. (Thatch, by the way, is a term that means that layer of dense, tangled up grass roots and dead organic material in your lawn’s root zone. It’s bad, and you don’t want it.)

A lawn that does have some bad spots but is basically more than 50 percent good can be restored to perfection with some work. A lawn that has more than 50 percent of it covered with weeds, dry spots, or diseased areas should be totally reworked and begun from scratch.

Once you decide which category you lawn falls into, you are ready to get to work. Even the perfect lawn needs some work this time of year to ensure it will stay that way. The perfect lawn should be fertilized now and again in the spring. Choose an organic fertilizer free of harsh chemical salts. Avoid anything that says “fast acting.” You don’t need fast acting; there’s plenty of time to get the job done, and those fast acting chemicals just kill the earthworms and get to the water supply. Fertilizing in the fall prepares the lawn for winter by inviting strong vigorous growth to build the root system and store energy. Your grass will overwinter better and be ready to face the stress of summer heat if fertilized and strengthened now.

It is very important to not overfertilize. Too much nitrogen is especially harmful to your lawn. Grass will do something called “luxury consumption” when it comes to nitrogen. That means it will just keep on consuming nitrogen if it’s available. The result is too rapid growth and increased susceptibility to disease. Use a slow release organic fertilizer and apply only twice a year according to its directions or at the recommended rate of a soil test.

The perfect lawn should also be treated now for pest control. Many common lawn weeds such as dandelions germinate in the fall when the weather turns cooler. Check your garden supply store for a pre-emergence weed killer and apply according to its directions.

Also, check the “perfect” lawn now for thatch. You should be able to stick your fingers between the clumps of grass. You should also be able to feel the soil when you push your finger through the grass. If all you feel instead is a tangle or roots and matted organic material, you probably have thatch. Thatch keeps your lawn from properly utilizing water, provides habitat for nasty lawn pests, and prevents nutrients from cycling between your grass and the soil.

Early fall is the best time to de-thatch. You can rent a power dethatcher from garden supply centers. After you dethatch, fertilize and water the lawn well. It should recover in about 6 weeks.

The not-so-perfect lawn should also be fertilized and treated for pest control during the fall. Now is a good time to get a soil test done if you haven’t had one in several years. Contact your local extension service about soil testing and follow their recommendations. Brown spots in the lawn can be a result of thatch, overzealous mowing, compacted soil, or lack of water and nutrients. Check for thatch and remove if necessary as described above. Also, make sure that you are mowing at the correct blade height. Most lawn grasses should only be cut by 1/3 of their blade height. If you are cutting shorter than that, you could be damaging the roots and stolons.

If your soil is heavy or seems compacted, it’s a good idea to aerate the lawn now. (A good indicator of a compacted soil is poor water drainage.) A garden aerator can be rented or you can hire a professional to do the job. After aerating, add a topdressing of sand or ground compost. This helps the roots and improves the soil quality.

Now is also the time to take stock of your watering habits. Lawns should be watered in the early morning so grass can dry before sundown; otherwise the wet grass becomes an invitation to disease overnight. Also, be sure to water infrequently and deeply as opposed to very often shallow waterings. Shallow waterings discourage root development and keep the roots from getting down in the soil to where the nutrients are.

To repair bare spots, remove any dead grass and rake some compost into the soil. Then sow new seed.

If you need to start from scratch, be sure to start in time. You will need about 1 and 1/2 months before the first frost. Start by tilling your old lawn. Till up everything–grasses, weeds, all of it. Then fertilize with a good organic fertilizer as described above. If you have a heavy soil, you can also add compost or manure at this time to improve soil tilth. Then, smooth out the area and fill in any low spots. Go over the area with a rake to remove any stones or debris.

Purchase high quality grass seed. Be sure to read the label. Grass seed should have a guaranteed germination rate of at least 75 to 85 percent and it should be less than 0.05 percent weeds by content.

Using a rotary spreader, spread the grass seed over your lawn area. Then cover with weed-free straw. Be sure that you get even distribution of the seed. It’s a good idea to sow half the seed in one direction, then the other half in right angles to the first. Water thoroughly and make sure the seeds receive constant moisture until established.

Then sit back and relax. Your lawn is ready for winter and will bring lots of satisfaction at the coming of spring.

No part of the country has an endless water supply. Even gardeners dwelling in humid eastern areas have come to expect water restrictions during dry summers. Using water as efficiently as possible makes good sense, no matter where you live and garden. For example, traditional overhead watering loses 50 to 60 percent to evaporation and runoff.

Here are some guidelines to help you make the best use of water in your garden.

-Start with good soil preparation. Adding organic matter will increase the water-holding ability of light soils and improve drainage in heavy ones.
-Choose plants that tolerate dry soil or drought conditions. Specific choices will depend on your climate. Garden for the area you live in by planting native plants.
-Plan your landscape with water conservation in mind. A windbreak of drought-resistant shrubs and trees planted on the windward side of an art exposed site can reduce the water needs of the other plants.
-Use intensive planting methods in the vegetable garden. Closely spaced plants in beds will shade the soil surface, reducing water loss.
– Use mulch to reduce moisture loss from the soil. It will cut down on your weeding chores at the same time.

Gardening Tips: Using water as efficiently as possible

-Drip irrigation will put water right where it’s needed, with little lost to evaporation or runoff.
-If you use sprinklers, water either first thing in the morning or in the evening, to reduce water loss by evaporation in the daytime sun. Apply water only as fast as the soil can absorb it, otherwise you will lose a lot as runoff.
-Reduce the size of your lawn. Even in humid climates, lawns need frequent watering to keep them lush and green through the heat of summer. Keep only as much lawn as you absolutely need for children and dogs. But those of you that need all the lawn you’ve got-and could still use some more-try planting some of the varieties of drought-tolerant turf grasses that have been developed recently.

GET THE MOST FROM YOUR COMPOST THIS SPRING: Despite all its benefits-both for the environment and for your garden-composting can seem like more trouble than it is worth.

Many gardeners who faithfully compost kitchen scraps and lawn clippings find the process takes too long and, when it’s done, there isn’t enough compost for an entire garden. You can avoid this and other common composting problems by adding peat moss to the compost bin and by mixing compost into the soil.

Spring is an especially good time to renovate an existing compost pile, since the compost material has had plenty of time to decompose over the winter.

While it takes some elbow grease, the entire composting process is easier when you incorporate peat. In the compost bin, peat helps produce better compost by speeding up the process, reducing odors and controlling air and water in the compost pile.

Start by mixing a 1-inch layer of peat with every 4 inches of compostable material, being sure to flip over the top layers of organic materials every week or two. Keep the center of the pile moist, but not soggy, by adding water when needed.

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Abundant and beautiful in local gardens around this time of year are bougainvilleas.

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Durban – After the short days of mid-winter, everything in nature’s garden starts to wake up about the middle of July on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.

We nurserymen have always maintained that spring starts on July 15 in Durban, so get out into your garden now as there is lots to do.

It shouldn’t be too much of a chore as we have glorious gardening weather at this time of year in these eastern parts.

Nothing beats an early show of winter and spring-flowering seedlings – or bedding plants, as they are now called. This is my favourite time of the year for these bright gems, especially all the Ps: pansies, poppies, petunias and primulas. There is a huge variety of “P” seedlings which are easy to grow, are colourful, and will last for months.

Remember, they have to grow, flower and die all in one season, so give them an uninterrupted growing time – regular watering, feeding and “dead heading” (the more you pick, the more they will flower).

Bedding plants can be used in many places – beds, borders, rockeries, pots and hanging baskets.

Pansies, poppies, primulas and petunias are among the flowers that make an early showing as winter rolls over into spring.

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Also abundant and beautiful are bougainvilleas, which are coming in to full flower now.

Easy to grow, drought-tolerant, free of disease and pests, colourful and versatile, they are suitable for pots and tubs, screens, fences, pergolas, banks and shrubberies. They have been on nursery bestseller lists for decades – and rightfully so.

Tropical Rainbow is a variegated yellow and green-leafed variety that is compact growing and keeps its leaf colour all year. It is fantastic in a tub and has bright cherry-red bracts (all bougainvillea flowers are tiny and creamy-white). They flower up to three times a year.

Some varieties have double bracts and are spectacular in flower. Bougainvillea Bridal Bouquet, for example, has double pink and white bracts and is possibly the prettiest.

Durban is famous worldwide for the Natalia variety, with dusty pink bracts which fade on the plant to a parchment pink. It drops its leaves before flowering and is covered in colour – quite breathtaking.

Bougainvilleas require full sun, regular feeding and drought-stress to flower best – so go easy on the water.

July is also the time to start pruning. Roses must be pared down, and it is a good time to cut hedges and topiaries, if you have any.

There is a lot written about the dos and don’ts of pruning, and this sometimes scares gardeners.

Pruning roses is not difficult – just remember you are shaping the plant for future growth and flowering. Remove twiggy, spindly growth first, and thin out and shape the plant. leaving an open shape that allows in the sunlight.

Roses (and most other plants) possess apical dominance, which means they will send sap to the furthestmost growing point first. This means the plant will make a new shoot just below the point where you cut the stem.

Bear this in mind when you prune and you will be able to determine the future growth of the plant. Always prune to an out-facing “eye” to encourage an open shape. Pruning to a downward facing “eye” will encourage a weeping or cascading shape. It takes about 40 to 45 days for newly pruned roses to flower.

After pruning roses it is a good idea to spray them against pests, such as scale and aphids. I do not recommend spraying with a winter spray of lime sulphur as it does not really get cold enough in Durban for the roses to be sufficiently dormant. The lime sulphur will burn any soft growth and set the plant back.

I suggest you rather use a mixture of mineral oil and a general insecticide – ask your nurseryman for advice.

There is now an all-season-long insecticide for roses and other plants which will keep them insect-free for almost a year. It can be applied as a soil drench and is systemic so it travels to all parts of the plant.

It is also effective against white ants. Once you have pruned, give the plant a good feed to encourage maximum growth and performance. Use a 3:1:5 or 5:1:5 fertiliser for flowering plants and roses.

These formulations are deliberately low in the middle number which is for the phosphate content, as it is presumed you have applied the phosphate separately.

Phosphate is important for roots and flower formation. It is slow-acting in the soil, so it is best to apply it separately, once a season.

Bone phosphate or bone meal is the best form of phosphate and is organic, but superphosphate is just as acceptable.

If you need to transplant any shrubs, now is the time to do so. The plants are just beginning to wake up for spring, so will start to grow easily in their new position.

Cut back enough top growth to compensate for the roots that will get left behind when you dig up the plant. Try not to damage the root system, and take as much root as you can.

Dig and prepare a big enough hole to take the plant without cramping the roots, adding compost and bone meal.

Flood the plant into the new hole by using lots of water to wash soil right into the root ball and to expel any air pockets. Stake and support the plant well until you are sure it has established itself.

For excellent advice on planting a shrub, visit the Life is a Garden page on Facebook and follow the link to a YouTube video.

We have had good rains for this time of year, so your lawn will now start to wake up and grow – and, unfortunately, so will the weeds. If it is a bit patchy and sparse, give it a feed of 2:3:2 fertiliser to encourage root formation. Water well.

If your lawn is looking satisfactory, start feeding it with any lawn feed such as 4:1:1 or 3:2:1 or 5:1:5. I prefer to use a slow-release fertiliser that will not leach out of the soil, and does not need watering in.

Grass is shallow-rooted, so the fertiliser mustn’t leach too far down.

There are organic pelleted fertilisers available which are also good as they contain trace elements.

Note, though, that they have a farm smell to them for a day or two after application, so do not apply just before a party.

Mow your lawn long as it is the leaves that are the food factory, and you want your grass to get growing at the same rate as the weeds.

I do not subscribe to the idea of scarifying or decapitating your grass by deliberately mowing as low as possible in spring to encourage growth – it seems self-defeating, and is not required in Durban for the usual grass varieties of Berea, Buffalo or Kearsney.

Kikuyu grass is another story, though, but is not a typical Durban lawn as it grows too vigorously and needs constant mowing. Life is far too short to spend it mowing (or weeding for that matter). – The Mercury

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