Lawn care

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Contents 1 Lawn Care Schedule over the Year 2 Lawn mowing 3 Lawn Watering 4 Weed Prevention and Lawn Care 5 Lawn problems 6 Lawn Re-seeding 7 Lawn Fertilization 8 Lawn Turfing 9 Lawn Renovation 10 Frequently Asked Questions FAQ on Lawn Care 10.1 Top Dressing a Lawn 10.2 Improving a Neglected Lawn 10.3 Renovating the Lawn 10.4 Improving Lawn

Lawn Care Schedule over the Year

Lawn care starts the year by adding a slight mulch of thoroughly rotted manure in the Winter. This not only protects the grass from the cold, but supplies plant food as well.

In the Spring, when growth first starts, the coarser material should be removed and the lawn given a dressing of bonemeal. An application of nitrate of soda, which is best applied in solution (one oz. to two gallons of water), will give the lawn a good start.

On a day when rain is anticipated, an application of equal parts of sifted wood ashes and ground bone meal at the rate of 5 Ibs. per 100 square feet will provide a splendid top dressing. A little good garden loam mixed with the fertilizer will bring good results.

To renovate the lawn, lawn seed can usually be sown about one-half as thickly as for new lawns (see Lawn sowing).

In the spring the ground should be firmed by rolling several times.

It is better to mow often with the lawn mower blades or knives set high than to allow the grass to become long, and then to cut it close to the ground. As a rule the knives should not be set less than 2 inches high. Lawn clippings should generally be removed if they are long; otherwise they may be left to lie upon the ground where frequently they are beneficial as a mulch.

Frequently bad spots are found. These are often due to the fact that in grading some large stone has been left in the soil which cuts off the supply of water from below. At other times" the soil becomes a little sour. If the bad spot is dug up deeply and the stones removed, fresh soil, a little lime and decayed manure added, the fault is often remedied. It is advisable to give an extra heavy seeding also.

Lawn mowing

see Lawn mowing

Lawn Watering

For information on how to water your lawn, see Lawn watering

Weed Prevention and Lawn Care

For general discussion see Lawn weeds.

First of all go carefully over the lawn and remove all weeds such as plantains, dandelions, daisies, crab grass, and knot-grass with a pointed knife ;also apply some lawn-sand or contact weed killer, and after a time the weeds will, in most cases, have disappeared entirely.

The lawn-sand can be purchased at a small cost from most nurseries and seedsmen. Weeds, if left unchecked, spread with amazing rapidity.

Make sure you prevent with all attention the creation of weed seed and the spread of them. Kill weeds or remove them before they produce seed, otherwise they will only multiply!

Lawn weeds quickly suck the nutrients out of the ground and kill your loved grasses. Where the trouble has not become excessive, hand-weeding may be resorted to. It is not sufficient to cut the weeds off at the top, for those I have mentioned are perennials, and some of them have long tap roots, which must be taken right out of the ground.

Fill up the holes caused by the removal of the weeds with fine soil, and beat it in firmly. Sow on top of each patch a little fine grass-seed, and in a few weeks the bare places will be covered with growth. An excellent dressing may be made of powdered basic slag and bone meal mixed with many times their bulk of fine loamy soil. But whatever may be the fertiliser used, it should be brought into operation when the ground is in a moist condition.

Lawn problems

Lawn moss

Lawn Re-seeding

Lawn seed

Grass seed

Lawn Fertilization

The subsequent care of the lawn, whether it be seed-sown lawn or turf-laid lawn, will demand unremitting attention. Not a few people appear to imagine that to keep the grass mown close during the summer months is all the attention it needs to preserve it in condition. There could be no greater fallacy. Grass is a gross feeder, and soon exhausts the natural nutriment in the soil. Therefore it is necessary by artificial methods to supply the deficiency.

This is best accomplished by means of a top-dressing of some kind of fertiliser. In the autumn it is a good idea to spread a thin layer of well-decayed short stable manure over the surface of the lawn, afterwards using an old hard broom to induce an even distribution. The rains of winter wash the nutritive qualities of the manure into the soil, and supply the necessary food to the roots.

An objection to this method is that for several months of the year the lawn looks unsightly ; but the cost is slight, and the result is satisfactory when growth starts again. Failing the use of manure in autumn, it is advisable to stimulate growth in March or April by means of one of the many fertilising preparations that are on the market.

For more see Fertilizing lawn

Lawn Turfing

It often becomes necessary to establish a lawn under very adverse conditions, in which case it is best to use sod or turf which can be removed from a pasture or vacant lot.

For more on starting a lawn from turf or sod, laying sod

Lawn Renovation

See Lawn renovation

Frequently Asked Questions FAQ on Lawn Care

Top Dressing a Lawn

Q. My lawn is thin and the grass does not seem to flourish. Would a top dressing of manure improve it? if so, when should this be applied?

A. The best time for doing this is the late autumn ; the early part of November will be found suitable. It would be far better to apply a mixture of half rotted short manure, together with an equal bulk of old potting soil and a bag of soot, than to apply soot as a dressing alone, for we note that the soil is chiefly sand and is lacking in substance. Let the dressing be applied evenly all over the surface to the depth of about 1 inch, and use about half as much soot as potting soil. Leave the dressing to be washed in by the rains. In late January or February the dressing should be repeated.

Improving a Neglected Lawn

Q. Would you tell me what I can do with a lawn which has been so neglected that the greater part consists of weeds and plantains. To root them up looks an endless task.

A. The best and most economical method of restoring a lawn is to feed it every autumn or spring time. Turf requires food like all other kinds of plant. Use the remains of a Cucumber bed or, better still, well rotted manure. Have it finely sifted and mixed with loam or soil, and give the turf a dressing of 2 Ib. to the square yard. To repeat the quantity in February or March will do good. Plaintains can be removed by sulphuric acid, 1 drop to the crown of each weed ; but as it is destructive of other than vegetable matter it must be confined in a bottle, allowing only 1 drop to escape.

Renovating the Lawn

Q. Is the present (October) a good time to set about improving a lawn. If so, what should be done?

A. One may do a great deal towards ensuring a good sward by attending to the lawn in the autumn. Now that the lawn mower may almost be discontinued, large weeds should be dug out, the holes filled with soil, and the lawn well rolled indeed, rolling in the autumn has a very beneficial effect, as it keeps the worms down and makes the green firm. Late in the autumn is the time to spread over the grass a light dressing of old manure and soot. It may not be very sightly, but it does improve the grass, and one can afford to put up with a little unsightliness during the winter months.

Improving Lawn

Q. How can I improve my grass plot and when should I do it? It is very heavy ; the wet weather has made it very pasty, and it is almost impossible to walk on it now (November). Appears to have been laid on the heavy clay subsoil without proper (if any) drainage, has been neglected for many months. As I am only a tenant here for a short period, to take up the turf, drain the soil, and relay are out of the question. 2, what is the enclosed weed ? and how can I eradicate it from the grass ?

A. The best thing you can do is to put on a good dressing of gritty soil, such as road drift, during the autumn and winter months. Two dressings will be sufficient. 2, the weed you enclose is a Buttercup (Ranunculus), and the best way of getting rid of it is to put a few drops of oil of vitriol in the centre of each plant, or pull up every one, and as their habit is spreading this is a difficult matter. The vitriol is poisonous, and gloves should be worn when using the liquid. The latter may be dropped on the plants from a notched stick.

see Lawn seed