LAWN CARE SIMPLIFIED - A Safe and Natural Approach

MID SPRING LAWN TIPS

In the Spring, especially in the North, it seems like all the lawns in the neighborhood look great for a while in terms of color, even if they have weren't fertilized in the fall or this spring. This happens because even the weakest grass stores enough food in the fall to give it a burst of growth in the spring. But in a few weeks, the lawns that have poor soil or insufficient fertilizer will start to fade in color and revert back to their normal weaker and less colorful state.

We know from experience that lawns grown in rich, bio-active soils need less fertilizer to look good. And the opposite is true as well - lawns grown in poor clays or sandy soils need a lot more fertilizer to look good. So the lesson here is that you need to improve your soil, and you need more fertilizer until the soil is improved.

Our best recommendations for soil improvement are:

1. Aerify PLUS applications for compacted or clay soils.

2. Increasing Organic Matter for all soil types.

You Ineed organic matter because that is what gets turned into valuable humus in the soil. Without humus you have sandy or clay “dirt” - not real soil.   Clippings, deep and full roots (that die back seasonally), organic fertilizers, compost and other natural soil amendments are all good ways to increase organic matter. Our Nature's Magic applied heavily will also increase organic matter and is instantly available.

PREMATURE CULTIVATION

At this time of the year we always caution gardeners to be very careful before they dig into a wet clay soil. If done too soon, before the soil is dry enough, the clay turns rock hard and crusty on top. You can read about "premature cultivation" in an article called “ Working With Wet Clay Soils in the Garden” our Special Lawn and Garden Topics section on this site.

Mid Spring Tips

The majority of root growth occurs in the mid spring. This is important because deep and full roots mean a healthier lawn, one that can seek out nutrients and moisture far into the soil even in the summer months. The way you care for your lawn now can either help the lawn get deep-rooted or it can prevent the lawn from getting deep-rooted.

1. MOW HIGH if your grass type can handle it. Some types are low growing and mowing high will cause them to mat up. For most grasses, higher mowing promotes deeper rooting . Get it high, before summer begins, not after it is already hot and dry. A higher mowed lawn shades itself and the soil below it. Aside from needing less water, it will also have a cooling affect on your yard.

2. DON'T MOW TOO MUCH OFF AT ONCE. Instead of mowing the lawn, get the idea that you should be trimming the lawn. Never cut more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at once or you will shock the grass. This usually occurs when you wait too long before mowing. If you mow high and often, the clippings should be short and you can (and should) leave them on the lawn. A mulching blade would be best.

3. WHEN THE LAWN BEGINS TO DRY OUT, water deeply or don't water and let the grass go dormant. It is your choice. Most grass types will recover fine from dormancy when the rains come again, if the grass is healthy and deep rooted. But if the grass needs help or you want the grass to stay green longer into the summer, be prepared to water Light watering doesn't penetrate deeply into the root zone, especially when you have clay soil or thatch. You should water for 2-3 hours at a time, giving the grass an inch of water once a week. When the grass senses lack of water in the soil, it will shut down the top growth in order to conserve moisture. Visible signs of your grass being too dry are a bluish tint to the grass and thinner looking leaf blades. Also, when you walk across a dry lawn you will see footprints.

4. TREAT THATCH. A thick layer of thatch will prevent water and root penetration into the soil. Lawns with thatch dry out quickly and need more watering. Thatch will provide a home fore fungus and insects and from our experience, it is simply a disaster waiting to happen. A real Thatch layer can't be removed by hand or machine without ripping out the lawn. Our Biological Dethatcher applications will supply thatch-eating microbes to your soil, and these will decompose the Thatch and turn it into valuable humus. Good soil aeration is vital if you want thatch to decompose.  If you want to know more about Thatch, you can read about it in our Special Lawn and Garden Topics section on this site.

Written by Stuart Franklin, president of Nature's Lawn and Garden, Inc.  www.natureslawn.com
All rights reserved

Lawn Season Begins in the Fall

While many homeowners think of fall as the end of the gardening year and begin to neglect their yards, lawn pros see the fall as the beginning of lawn season, and do what they can to improve the lawn and soil quality at this time.

In the fall, especially in the North, lawns have the opportunity to re-build, repair and thicken up after going through the stresses of summer. The lawn attempts to expand its root system at this time, digging in and getting to more of the soil nutrients. It also increases blade growth, making more carbohydrates ( food) and some of this food is stored for spring and summer use. In our lawn service business we save our heaviest fertilizing of the year for the early to mid fall.

Fall conditions are usually more favorable for seeding too. The weather should be cooler and moister, and there will be less weed and disease pressure to contend with.

FALL LAWN CARE TIPS

SOIL IMPROVEMENT.  Fall is a great time to add the necessary nutrients your soil test recommends. Liming is a good idea but only if your soil is actually acidic.  Unfortunately, many people lime soils religiously without testing their pH, and too much lime can be detrimental. Do a pH test before liming please.

Topdressing with compost is a great way to improve organic matter, humus and soil bio-life. However, if you have a very compacted or clay-like soil, one with poor drainage,  the response to compost will be a lot slower than you'd think.  Lack of air in the soil (anaerobic conditions) means that most of the beneficial soil microbes will have a hard time surviving. So,  perhaps the best thing you can do for your soil if it is compacted or clay-like, would be to improve the soil aeration in the root zone and below. Typical core aeration machines will not do much to change a clay soil, unless you topdress heavily with compost afterwards.

In our opinion, the best and fastest way to improve soil structure and drainage (aside from tilling in compost) is with our Aerify PLUS liquid aerator and soil bioactivator. By improving soil aeration and drainage, it will be easier for roots of established grass and new seed to penetrate into the subsoil.  Additionally, an aerated and bioactive soil will makes more of the locked up soil nutrients available to the grass.

A Thatch problem (read All About Thatch), is an indication of a soil that is not biologically active and probably lacking in earthworms too.  Real thatch, unlike heavy clippings, can't be just raked out of the lawn, but it will decompose if your soil is improved. You can use our Biological Dethatcher  in conjunction with Aerify PLUS applications to add specific thatch degrading microbes and enzymes to the soil.  Use the Dethatcher up until the temperatures are consistently in the 40s. At that point microbial activity and thatch decomposition (other than by earthworms) slows way down.

SEEDING / RENOVATION.  There are many reasons to over-seed your lawn. Aside from thickening it up, you can introduce newer, more heat, insect and disease tolerant grass types.  If your lawn is thin or has a poor color grasses, you could use some renovation.  The fall is the absolute best possible time to seed your lawn in the North.  Get new grass seed established in the fall and it will thicken further in the spring. Seed any bare or thin areas now and up till early October. A simple overseed, if your lawn does not have a thatch barrier, can be done this way:  Spread seed over the existing grass, water heavily to work the seed down to the soil.  Then keep the soil damp for a few weeks. A lot of this seed will take hold especially if you spray Aerify PLUS right after seeding.

If you want to do a professional quality over-seed, try to find a place that rents Slit-Seeding Machines (sometimes called lawn renovators) or have a landscaper use one on your lawn.  This machine cuts grooves into the soil about 1 ½ inches apart, and drops the seed into them.  You get better soil/seed contact and a higher germination rate. Apply a Starter Fertilizer when seeding, or use our 10-8-8 or 6-14-6.

MOWING.

First of all, check to see that your blades are sharp after a season of cutting.  The grass is often wetter in the fall due to weather changes and you need a sharp blade to cut wet grass and leaves cleanly.  Also, check under the mower regularly to see if the grass has clumped up under the mower deck.  This clumping will prevent proper suction and will cause poor cutting.  Remove the clumps with a stick or putty knife or whatever will work for you. Be careful not to cut yourself and tilt the mower so the gas doesn't pour out when you do this.  Remove the spark plug cable if you can or unplug your mower if it is an electric type.

Keep the grass fairly high into the early fall (unless your lawn is mostly bentgrass or a grass type that normally gets cut shorter). This will help the grass root deeper, thicken up and build up food reserves. If you don't have a mulching mower, try to double cut any clippings that are matting on top of the grass, or bag them.

Don't start mowing short just because the weather turns cooler. Lawn season is not over yet!

    When the lawn's growth begins to slow down, that is your signal to begin mowing shorter.  Gradually lower the mowing height so it is 1 ½  high or less before winter.  Bentgrass lawns can be cut even shorter. 

Keep leaves from matting on the grass and avoid unnecessary foot traffic or heavy machines when the soil is soft and wet. This compacts the ground, makes ruts and causes future weeds. And, stay off the grass when a light frost covers the lawn. The grass is very susceptible to injury at this time.

WINTERIZER   In the North, a late fall nitrogen fertilizing, after lawn growth comes to a halt, can benefit the lawn's health and improve rooting. This is what is known as a winterizer, and according to Cornell's turf advisories this as one of the three best fertilizings of the year. You want to use a quick acting fertilizer for this so the grass can absorb the nutrients fast. Latest research indicates that Nitrogen is the key nutrient to use, and not Potassium as previously thought. Again, wait until the grass stops growing before doing a winterizer.

SHRUB & TREE CARE

Shrubs and trees will also benefit from some good fall care. The first thing to do is make sure they are not stressed by lack of water. Lack of water will cause roots to wither and die off. Leaves won't be able to produce food through photosynthesis without water, and they will wilt and drop way too early.  The soil needs to be saturated at least a foot deep to get to most of the "feeder" roots of a tree.

If you live in the South, you can fertilize trees and shrubs throughout the year with granular or liquid fertilizers. Many liquid fertilizers, like our Bio-Enhanced Liquid Fertilizers and Fish Emulsion can be applied both foliarly,  or as a soil drench around the root area of your plants or trees. Add in some Aerify if you are doing a soil drench to help it penetrate faster and to help condition the soil around the root zone of your trees and shrubs.

In the North, hold off on any more tree fertilizing as soon you notice that the leaves are starting to change color. Instead, wait until the trees are dropping leaves or have already dropped their leaves, and fertilize before the snow comes. We call this Dormant Feeding, and it is one of the best possible times to fertilize trees and shrubs. You can fertilize quite heavily and it should last through most of next year.

Stuart Franklin is president of Nature's Lawn & Garden, Inc and author of the book Building A Healthy Lawn- A Safe and Natural Approach (Storey Publishing 1988)

Early Fall Lawn Tips

LAWN SEASON BEGINS IN THE FALL

While many homeowners think of fall as the end of the gardening year and begin to neglect their yards, lawn pros and organic gardeners see the fall as the beginning of lawn season, and do what they can to improve the lawn and soil quality at this time.

In the fall, especially in the North, lawns have the opportunity to re-build, repair and thicken up after going through the stresses of summer. The lawn attempts to expand its root system at this time, digging in and getting to more of the soil nutrients. It also increases blade growth, making more carbohydrates (food) and some of this food is stored for spring and summer use.
 

In the Fall, conditions are usually more favorable for seeding too. The weather should be cooler and moister, and there will be less weed and disease pressure to contend with.

FALL LAWN CARE TIPS

EARLY FALL FERTILIZING.  In our lawn service business, we save our heaviest fertilizing of the year for the early fall. This stimulates growth and helps the grass send out tillers and runners to fill in thin spots. It also helps the grass produce the food that it stores to help it through the winter and which gets off to a good start in the spring.

SOIL IMPROVEMENT.  Clay and soil compaction can prevent your lawn from being healthy even when you are doing everything else right.  With a porous, bio-active soil, the grass roots can become fuller and can go deeper.  When the soil has better structure, the naturally occurring soil nutrients, as well as the nutrients from your fertilizers, become more easily available to the grass and other plants in your yard. 

    Our company uses a liquid soil conditioner called Aerify PLUS to help aerate and bio-activate soils, and to provide some readily available organic matter.  (As a matter of disclosure, we developed and sell this product on-line).  Other traditional methods of soil improvement we recommend are compost top-dressing, Lime (if soils test acidic) and granular organic fertilizers.

AERATION. Our company stopped doing Core Aerations about 10 years ago. We felt we could do a lot more for the soil and grass by doing "Liquid Aerations" instead.  We use the same Aerify PLUS for our Liquid Aerations.  If you would like to read more on this click on this link:  Notes on Core Aeration

THATCH.  Thatch is not just old grass clippings sitting on top of the lawn.  Real thatch is a tightly matted barrier that could not be raked off without tearing up the lawn. Here is a good picture of real thatch:

 

We believe the best way to get rid of thatch is to get it to decompose from the soil line upwards. The soil temperatures are warm enough through much of the fall for decomposition.  But decomposition doesn't happen unless you have an aerated and bioactive soil (see above).  Read more about this and Biological Dethatching on one of our Special Topics posts called   All About Thatch.

SEEDING / RENOVATION.  There are many reasons to over-seed your lawn. Aside from thickening it up, you can introduce newer, more heat, insect and disease tolerant grass types.  If your lawn is thin or has a poor color grasses, you could use some renovation.  The early fall is the absolute best possible time to seed your lawn if you live in the north.  Get new grass seed established in the early fall and it will thicken further in the spring. Seed any bare or thin areas now and up till early October.

 A simple overseed, if your lawn does not have a thatch barrier, can be done this way:  Spread seed over the existing grass, water heavily to work the seed down to the soil.  Then keep the soil damp for a few weeks. A lot of this seed will take hold especially if you spray Aerify PLUS right after seeding.

 If you want to do a professional quality over-seed, try to find a place that rents slit-seeding machines (sometimes called lawn renovators).  This machine cuts grooves into the soil about 1 ½ inches apart, and drops the seed into them.  You get better soil/seed contact and a higher germination rate. Apply a Starter Fertilizer when seeding, or use our 10-8-8.

MOWING.  Keep the grass fairly high into the early fall (unless your lawn is mostly bentgrass-which needs to be cut shorter). This will help the grass root deeper, thicken up and build up food reserves. Don’t start mowing short just because the weather turns cooler. Lawn season is not over yet!
    

    When the lawn’s growth begins to slow down, that is your signal to begin mowing shorter.  Gradually lower the mowing height so it is 1 ½ “ high or less before winter.  Bentgrass lawns can be cut even shorter.  Also, be sure to keep the leaves from matting up on the lawn.

SHRUB & TREE CARE

Shrubs and trees will also benefit from some good fall care. Make sure they are not stressed by lack of water. Lack of water will cause roots to wither and die off. Leaves won't be able to produce food through photosynthesis without water, and they will wilt and drop way too early.  The soil needs to be saturated at least a foot deep to get to most of the "feeder" roots of a tree. If your shrubs and trees are growing in clay you need to improve their soil (see above).

If you live in the North, hold off on any more shrub or tree fertilizing as soon you notice that the leaves are starting to change color. Instead, wait until the trees are dropping leaves or have already dropped their leaves, and fertilize before the snow comes. We call this dormant feeding, and it is one of the best possible times to fertilize trees and shrubs. We'll talk about this more when it gets closer to Dormant Feeding time.

Try LIQUID Aeration This Fall

Lawn experts advise homeowners to have their lawns aerated with a "coring" or "plugging" machine, so lawns or roots can "breathe". It sounds like a good idea (unless your lawn is already too thin), and looks impressive when done, but does this practice alone actually provide any real long-term benefit or real change to your soil or lawn? Does the soil actually become better aerated or more porous, or are the holes just temporary openings that fill back in quickly?

According to research reported in the Cornell Turfgrass ShortCutt (5/24/10), coring 2 times a year on a poor soil, over a 3 year period, showed no soil improvement benefit. So perhaps it is time to rethink the subject.

Improving soil aeration is extremely beneficial to lawns and gardens growing in clay or compacted soil. It will help water move down into the root zone easily. In well-aerated soils, beneficial soil microbes (that need air to survive) can thrive and create humus and improve soil structure. Roots get deeper and nutrients are exchanged more easily. Good topsoils are naturally aerated.

Unfortunately, most suburban lots have had the topsoil stripped off and homeowners are left with a denser clay or subsoil in which to grow their lawns and gardens. If you were planting a new lawn in this clay you could till in tons of compost and other amendments to improve aeration. But on established lawns this is not an option.

We suggest trying a new approach to improving your soil quality, and we call this “liquid aeration”. We've been doing liquid aerations, instead of coring, for close to 20 years, and have witnessed real soil improvement. *   Liquid Aeration is simply a solution of amendments that get into the root zone quickly and create microscopic pores and channels that help with water and air movement. It also adds organic ingredients that generate and feed microbes, leading to humus and a restructuring of the clay.The product we use, and manufacture is called Aerify PLUS.

  Liquid Aeration can be done throughout the growing season for continuous soil improvement.  Core aeration, on the other hand,  is usually recommended to be done only in the fall (in the north), because there is less likelihood of weeds sprouting at that time of the year.  When coring is done in the spring,  the holes created by the removed plugs of grass will expose the ready-to-sprout  weed seeds to open space and sunlight.  With liquid aeration, no holes are made and no grass is removed. Additonally, you can use Liquid Aeration on all your garden bed, plants and trees to improve soil compaction, drainage and rooting.

 

 

A good liquid aeration solution would contain, at minimum, a good soil surfactant or wetting agent. This is a soap-like product that helps thin out water and reduce surface tension, breaking up dirt (clay) and creates microscopic channels for air and water to move through. Surfactants have been a staple in the agriculture and golf course industries for decades. There is a broad range in the quality and harshness of surfactants. We suggest using one that is completely biodegradable with no anti-bacterial components.

Temporary pores and channels in the clay will allow soil-building microbes to generate, especially if you put in a readily available organic food source. It is these microbes, along with earthworms, that do the work of creating humus and restructuring the clay into aggregates of soil with airspace between them.

 

Carbon is the basic food for soil microbes. Compost contains a lot of available carbon, and can be made into a tea to mix with the surfactant. But what may be the best and most concentrated source of carbon is a substance called Humic Acid. , which is like an extremely rich Liquid Compost Tea. The benefits of humic acid on normal soils are many, but when you combine humic acids with a good soil surfactant, clay soils will achieve these benefits much more rapidly.

You can add trace elements, hormones, plant growth stimulators (all found in kelp), molasses, enzymes, earthworm casting tea and even beneficial root fungi to a liquid aeration solution. You can add fish emulsion if you want to fertilize a bit at the same time and don’t mind the odor. When the soil is treated with a surfactant all of these things will work much better.

 

For true soil improvement you can make regular applications over time and enjoy watching your dense clay gradually change into a real soil, loaded with worms and humus. The worse the clay, the more often you will initially need to apply your liquid aeration. Due to the magnetic-like nature of microscopic clay particles, they will always want to re-bond no matter how good the soil structure gets.  For bad clays we suggest monthly applications, with perhaps 2 the first month. Keep this up and eventually you’ll start to see obvious changes occurring in such things as drainage, root depth, soil structure and color too. Continued applications should work deeper and deeper into the ground.

Many of you have had your lawns core aerated year after year. But can you honestly say that you have noticed anything at all in terms of better soil quality?    Didn't think so.   It is time to take a different approach.  We suggest you try Liquid Aeration this fall.

 

* Nature's Lawn & Garden does over 2500 applications of Liquid Aeration a year, and zero Core Aerations. Our Aerify PLUS product is used by home owners, landscapers, schools and athletic fields across the US.

 

Stuart Franklin

www.natureslawn.com

 

All rights reserved

 

Copyrighted material. Please contact stuart@natureslawn.com   for permission to reprint.

 

 

 

 

Early Spring Tips 2012

Many grass types go dormant over the winter months. Eventually they wake up and lawn season begins anew.  A few days of warm weather and sunshine in the Northern states give us hope that Spring has finally arrived. We know that a lot of you are biting at the bit when it comes to your lawn and garden. But, if at all possible, stay off the lawn until you can walk on it without sinking in.

Here are some season starting tips.

1. Start the season with a sharp mower blade.  Dull mower blades tear the grass instead of giving a nice clean cut. Get your blade sharpened or put on a new one.

 

2. Give the lawn a light raking to remove debris and lift up matted grass and (in the North) snow mold damage.  Snow mold, a lawn disease, occurs on most Northern grasses, especially the creeping grass types.  It is worse when there has been alternating snow cover and warm periods.  Most snow mold will disappear by mid spring if you fluff it up a bit so air and sunlight can get to the soil. To learn more about snow mold, read our post called  Understanding Snow Mold  .

3. Seed bare and thin areas early. You want the grass thick before the weeds start sprouting. Use the correct seed type for your area and your particular lawn. 

4. Make your first short – as low as you can mow without scalping the lawn- perhaps 1 – 1 ½ inches high. Do this only when the grass is just starting to grow - not if it is already growing vigorously.  This short mowing cuts away some of the dead grass left over from the previous season (if you left it too high).  It also helps warm up the soil faster, stimulates growth, and allows more sunlight to reach the newly forming grass blades. 

5. Gradually raise the mowing height after the first cut.  Click here to visit our All About Mowing posts

6. Mow at least once a week in the spring. Try to “trim” the grass instead of “chop” the grass.  In other words, mow often enough so the clippings are short and so they can be left on the lawn.

7. Get your soil tested.  A balanced soil promotes a healthier lawn. Hidden problems like missing basic nutrients or poor pH can be affecting your lawn adversely. It can even prevent your fertilizer from working well.  Every state has an agricultural college that does soil testing. Many nurseries and lawn care companies will send samples out for you too. Or just google soil tests online and take your pick.  Make sure you get a complete test, not just the pH. Use Lime or our Liquid Lime to correct acidic soils.

8. Aerate and bioactivate the soil. Instead of poking holes with a coring machine, and exposing weed seeds to sunlight, try " liquid aeration " . We use Aerify PLUS for our liquid aerations.  If you are growing a lawn in a soil that is mostly clay, there are ways to improve it without tilling up the lawn.  If you are growing a lawn in a mostly Sandy, you can improve its water and nutrient holding capacity by adding compost or organic fertilizers.  One especially useful ingredient for sand improvement is humic acid, which is basically the concentrated essence of organic matter.  Check our our Nature's Magic which is 60% humic acid and is a fantastic soil improver for both clay and sandy soils.

9. If you had Crabgrass last year, there are plenty of things you can do to prevent it without using chemicals. Visit our All About Crabgrass page for more information.

10. If you fertilized in the mid-late fall, there is no reason to fertilize too early in the spring. The lawn should have plenty of food stored up for early spring growth. This growth helps thicken up the lawn and also helps crowd out incipient weeds and Crabgrass.  If you did not fertilize in mid-late fall and the lawn is looking weak and thin, fertilize early to stimulate both the above and below ground growth that you want to have in the spring.

11. For Flowers, Veggies and Citrus. You can get much better crops by using foliar feeding to get the plants exactly what they need - when they need it. Start planning for a better harvest by reading this article: 5 Step Garden Fertilizing Program

 

 

 Stuart Franklin is President of Nature’s Lawn & Garden, Inc. (http://www.natureslawn.com) a lawn fertilizing company and on line Web Store , located in the Buffalo, NY area.  He is also the author of Building A Healthy Lawn:  A Safe and Natural Approach (Storey Publications 1988)

 

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