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TURF
Everybody loves a beautiful expanse of emerald green on their property. There are 5 golden rules to keep a healthy lawn.
1 Prevent weeds. Get rid of weeds before you put in a lawn. Use herbicide according to package directions. We get weeds in grass because of lack of competition; that means a weak non-competitive turf. Round Up is one of the safest herbicide to spot kill. By keeping the grass healthy weeds have less of a chance of surviving. In spring use a pre-emergent herbicide on baby weeds, once the weeds are grown you can use a good systemic herbicide. Don't use 24D to kill weeds.
2 Irrigation. Irrigate deeply when you water your lawn about 2 inches of water per week. On cool days use less and use your judgement on rainy days. Give the grass more water but less often. This regimen causes the roots to grow deeply; therefore, apply enough water to wet the turfgrass root zone as much as possible. Deep roots mean less thatch. A sign that grass needs watering is "footprinting"; the prints left by one's shoes that do not disappear in an hour.
3 Mowing. Mow often; usually that means removing one third of a blade of grass. Think of turf as a living mulch; don't mow too low. This thickens the lawn by shading the roots; allowing the grass to fight back against insects, diseases and weeds. The grass should be left 2.5 to 3 inches tall; less than two inches and one allows all manners of problems to invade.
Please allow the grass clippings to fall on the lawn which decompose quickly and supply nitrogen . Grass clippings do not form thatch! They will contribute one fourth of a yearly supply of nitrogen. Besides why bag organic matter that will eventually decompose in a plastic bag that will not decompose!?!
4 Fertilization. A good rule of thumb is not to over-fertilize. Nitrogen is a major element in promoting a green and beautiful lawn. Usually one applies 4 lbs of 100% nitrogen per 1000 square feet of grass per year. And this can be broken down to one LB four times a year. If you leave the clippings on the lawn, then forgo one application. The time table goes something like this: One LB in April (also a good time to add a pre-emergent), one LB in June, one LB in September, and the last one in early November. Balanced fertilizers contain also certain amounts of phosphorous, potassium, iron, and sulfur. It's a good idea to add these nutrients once in a while. Over-fertilization may leave open weak spots in the lawn, and it can contribute to thatch.
5 Aeration. The removal of cores or plugs from the lawn by using an aeration machine. The cores can be left on the lawn to disintegrate and decompose back into the soil. This can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Irrigation may speed the process up. At this time one can overseed, by letting the grass seeds fall in the holes ( do not cover the seeds with soil). Late spring would be a good time for this; the temperature is ideal. After about 2 weeks roots and seedlings will be growing in the holes. This is a rejuvenation process. You can top dress with compost.
This also allows some of the accumulated thatch to be removed. Thatch are roots not grass. It is a mingling of living and dead matter. It's good to have some thatch; it causes greater resilience and wear tolerance. It also reduces potential for pesticide movement; the thatch makes it not move to the soil. Too much thatch caused by overfertilization, light frequent waterings, infrequent mowings, high traffic, not enough earth worms.. can be slowly eliminated by power raking, and core aeration.
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