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************************************************************* TAKE PROPER BY Usually in
March I run my column on “Lawn Care by Holidays”. I have been
properly informed that doing lawn care on certain dates may be easy to
follow, but may not be the most efficient and economical. I agree with
them. The
lawn care companies have been on the phone and calling all their old
customers as well as new ones. Their advertisements are starting to come
in the mail and be in all the newspapers. Also the garden centers,
hardware stores, and box stores are all stocked up and ready to sell you
a 4-step program, a 5-step program or even a 6 step program. Remember
that these heavily advertised, 4-step, 5-step, and 6-step programs have
been great marketing tools for the garden centers, hardware stores, box
stores, lawn care companies and especially the fertilizer manufacturers
but are not necessarily good for your lawn and the environment. Do not
contract for more than you really need. More is not better. And do not
let them put the first step on too early. What
do you really need, and how much time do you want to spend maintaining
your lawn? How important is it to have the best looking lawn on the
block? These are important questions you need to consider and answer
before you buy a program or contract with a lawn care company. You can
have a nice looking lawn with only applying fertilizer once, twice, or
at the most, three times per year. Remember, the more you fertilize, the
more you have to water, and the more you have to mow. And heavy
fertilization in the spring, and especially fertilizing too early in the
spring, stresses the grass and invites insect and disease problems. I
use a modified 4 bag program most every year on my bluegrass lawn: ·
A pre-emergent crabgrass
preventer with slow release fertilizer anytime after April 15th
and before May 1st. ·
A grub control containing
Merit or Mach II without fertilizer between July 4th and
August 1st. ·
A regular slow release
fertilizer about Labor Day. ·
A winter blended fertilizer
between Halloween and Thanksgiving. You will notice I do
not use any weed-and-feed. If I have some weeds, I spot treat those
weeds. Weeds and diseases show up in a stressed lawn. Also I do not use
an All-purpose insect spray or granules. I hate that Total Insect
Control that kills every insect in your yard both above ground and
underground. Remember it
also kills the beneficial insects and only 3% of the insects in the
world are detrimental or a nuisance. I have not used a general purpose
insect control for years. If I have a problem, I get an insecticide that
targets that insect but only after I have had a positive ID by ann
expert. If
you are going to fertilize once a year, apply in the fall. If twice a
year, the two fall applications are the most important. I always use
slow release nitrogen fertilizer with iron. Iron is what makes the lawn
look green. My lawn is watered only as needed and mowed about once per
week. I do not pick up my grass clippings but let them fertilize the
lawn every week. If you leave your grass clippings on the lawn, that
will be the same as adding one application of fertilizer by the end of
the season.
Too many mow their grass short thinking they will not have to mow
as often. Short grass grows faster, suffers from our hot summer sun, and
takes more water. Mow about 2 ˝ to 3 ˝ inches high and do not take off
more than 1/3rd of the blade at any one time. Grass at this
height shades the roots and reduces the amount of evaporation, thus
saving water. Keep
this in mind: ·
Most homeowners put more
nitrogen fertilizer per square foot on their lawns than farmers do on an
irrigated cornfield. ·
Lawns under stress from
over fertilization, and/or mowing too short, are more likely to have
disease and insect problems. Many times I
get asked, “How often I should water my lawn?” It would be easy to
say twice a week, or once a week, or once every other week. However, it
depends on what kind of lawn you have, what kind of soil you have, how
often you fertilize it, and is it in full sun, or part sun, or shade,
and when was the last rain. You can learn
to answer for yourself how often you should water, and how often you
should fertilize, by paying attention to how it looks. Every morning in
the spring, summer, and fall, my wife after breakfast and before she
gets ready to go to work, likes to take her cup of coffee and check out
her flower garden. She can tell you exactly how they are doing, what new
is coming up and blooming, and if they need water, or fertilizer, or bug
spray, or a fence to keep the rabbits from having a meal. For the lawn, the key
is to look over the lawn at least once or twice a week and see if it has
changed and what it needs. If you can’t tell if it needs water, the
easiest way is to take a very long screwdriver and poke it into the
ground. If you have a hard time pushing it into the ground more than a
couple inches, it is time to water. If it goes in easy, look at the tip
and see how far it has to go in to get damp. Or take your index finger
and poke it into the hole. If you go down two inches and the tip of your
finger is dry, it is time to water. Or if the grass starts to look a
little wilted in the morning (not in the heat of the day) it is time to
water. Don’t hook up
your hose or turn on your sprinkler system and water once a week, or
twice, or even three times a week because that is what someone told you
to do or that is the way someone set the sprinkler system. Learn how to
turn your sprinkler system on only when the lawn needs watering, and
then water long enough for the water to really soak in. And learn how to
turn it off so you are not watering your lawn in the middle of a rain
storm. This summer, be
kind to your lawn, your pocketbook, and to the environment. Plan now and
decide what kind of lawn you can live with this summer. Copyright 2009 |