Easier Lawn Maintenance With Soil Management
If you are frustrated with the way your lawn looks for much of the year, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Many homeowners feel that the time they spend on their yard does not return the results they want. The good news is that most lawn maintenance problems can be analyzed and corrected with proper soil management, precision watering methods, and the right choice of grasses for your particular area.
Read up on this topic during the winter, when gardening is done from your armchair. Instead of mooning over colorful seed catalogs, do some research on weeds. That's right, weeds. These vibrant and invasive plants can reveal a lot about your soil. Actually, weeds and grasses are just as interesting as flowers and veggies.
The first thing is to learn the causes of your problems. You can analyze soil conditions by checking which weeds grow in your yard. List the kinds of weeds, the color of the foliage of both weeds and grass, and the luxuriance or sparseness of growth of any kind of plant. It's both easy and fun to find out what the different plants in your grass are.
Once you've identified them, you can then look up what soil pH they like. Two or more well-established acid-loving weeds mean that the soil pH is too high. It's more rare to find that the pH is too low, but this also impacts grass, which likes neutral conditions.
Weeds grow better on compacted soils which smother more shallow-rooted grasses. Moss shows that an area has poor drainage and stays soaked with excess rain or irrigation that collects in puddles. Weeds also need less fertility than cultivated plants, so mineral deficiencies and lack of nitrogen or organic matter affects their growth less than it does the plants you want to keep. Soil test kits and monitors are helpful tools, also.
Choosing the right grass for your region and the kind of lawn you want is very important. Grasses, like other plants, grow only in certain zones and precipitation conditions. For example, Blue Springs, Missouri, is in zone 6. Its temperate climate and plentiful rainfall makes fescues and Kentucky Bluegrass good choices for that region.
Along with loosening compacted soils with compost and aeration (removing plugs or piercing the surface of the ground with spikes) and correcting the pH and fertility, you need to focus on mowing and watering to best advantage. Mowing too frequently and keeping grass too short can weaken it. Tall fescue should be kept at about 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall. Watering is best when done regularly - once a week if it is thorough and the weather is not setting a heat record - and done early in the morning, between 6 and 9 AM. This allows the water to penetrate before evaporation peaks and foliage to dry, keeping fungus at bay.
You can turn all yard care over to professionals, but it's so satisfying to do lawn maintenance yourself. Be an informed gardener and enjoy the best-looking grass in the neighborhood, for which you can take the credit.
Read up on this topic during the winter, when gardening is done from your armchair. Instead of mooning over colorful seed catalogs, do some research on weeds. That's right, weeds. These vibrant and invasive plants can reveal a lot about your soil. Actually, weeds and grasses are just as interesting as flowers and veggies.
The first thing is to learn the causes of your problems. You can analyze soil conditions by checking which weeds grow in your yard. List the kinds of weeds, the color of the foliage of both weeds and grass, and the luxuriance or sparseness of growth of any kind of plant. It's both easy and fun to find out what the different plants in your grass are.
Once you've identified them, you can then look up what soil pH they like. Two or more well-established acid-loving weeds mean that the soil pH is too high. It's more rare to find that the pH is too low, but this also impacts grass, which likes neutral conditions.
Weeds grow better on compacted soils which smother more shallow-rooted grasses. Moss shows that an area has poor drainage and stays soaked with excess rain or irrigation that collects in puddles. Weeds also need less fertility than cultivated plants, so mineral deficiencies and lack of nitrogen or organic matter affects their growth less than it does the plants you want to keep. Soil test kits and monitors are helpful tools, also.
Choosing the right grass for your region and the kind of lawn you want is very important. Grasses, like other plants, grow only in certain zones and precipitation conditions. For example, Blue Springs, Missouri, is in zone 6. Its temperate climate and plentiful rainfall makes fescues and Kentucky Bluegrass good choices for that region.
Along with loosening compacted soils with compost and aeration (removing plugs or piercing the surface of the ground with spikes) and correcting the pH and fertility, you need to focus on mowing and watering to best advantage. Mowing too frequently and keeping grass too short can weaken it. Tall fescue should be kept at about 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall. Watering is best when done regularly - once a week if it is thorough and the weather is not setting a heat record - and done early in the morning, between 6 and 9 AM. This allows the water to penetrate before evaporation peaks and foliage to dry, keeping fungus at bay.
You can turn all yard care over to professionals, but it's so satisfying to do lawn maintenance yourself. Be an informed gardener and enjoy the best-looking grass in the neighborhood, for which you can take the credit.
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