Lawns
- Details
- Written by: admin
- Category: Lawns
- Hits: 6
I just learned this quick tip to make reseeding your lawn much easier
The winter is undoubtedly a tough time for our lawns, so it’s crucial to get your grass in the best possible condition for surviving the cold weather. In fact, my colleague Cynthia covered 5 easy ways to prepare your lawn for winter recently. Speaking from experience, lawns can take a lot of punishment through the summer and fall. They’re either used as play areas, thoroughfares or a food source for various insects and birds.
This last problem is one I’ve encountered myself over the last few weeks as I sought to prepare my threadbare and churned-up lawn for the long nights and plunging temperatures. My relatively small patch of lawn is a bit of a horticultural oddity since the soil is great quality and extremely fertile but because of the direction of the garden (and neighboring trees) it gets a relatively small amount of sunlight. This problem worsens in the winter of course, when the days get longer.
Bountiful soil means worms, grubs and other tasty treats for the nearby birds that make their home in the aforementioned trees. It’s a botanical poisoned chalice because, on the one hand, it’s nice to see birds flocking around the place but, on the other, it makes spreading seed to replenish my lawn mighty difficult. As if instructed by Hitchcock himself, the birds will head straight down to the lawn the minute my back is turned and start helping themselves to my carefully-placed lawn seed.
Burying it to the required ¼ inch depth doesn’t seem to do much good, either. Either the worms will churn it back up to the surface or the birds just scrabble around like they’re looking for buried treasure.
I was bemoaning this state of affairs to my neighbor — a good friend who also happens to be a bit of a gardening expert — and asked his advice. He listened to my plight and inquired whether I had aerated my lawn.
Aerating, essentially, involves piercing or dislodging the soil to some extent to reduce compaction and allow air circulation to get into the roots. This has the added benefit of sinking lawn seed into the soil a bit to keep it away from inquisitive beaks. You can aerate your lawn with a dedicated aerator like the Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless 14" Cordless Battery Dethatcher/Aerator ($459, The Home Depot). Or you can opt for a manual one or, if you’re really counting the pennies, a metal rake.
I was happy to inform him that I had indeed aerated the lawn (you should really be doing it every year and early fall is one of the best times) but it wasn’t helping much.
That’s when he imparted a bit of lawn wisdom I’m happy to pass on to you in case it should prove helpful.
“What you need to do,” he said with a knowing look, “is mix the lawn seed in with a bit of sharp sand — you shouldn’t need more than a half a bag — and then work that into theerated grass. It’ll stop the birds from getting at it and you should be all good.”
There it was. Just a bit of sharp sand (I live in the U.K. and from what I’ve heard, sharp sand is known as builder’s sand or masonry sand stateside) and my troubles should be over. Mix lawn seeds with sharp sand for an effective way to keep the birds away. He only told me this last weekend and I haven’t had a chance to implement the advice, but rest assured it’s rocketing up the top of my to-do list.
In fact, it’s not just sharp sand you can mix with lawn seed to deter birds looking for an easy buffet. You can actually buy bird-repellent lawn seed or invest in mesh netting (an example would be this Garden Netting Pest Barrier ($26.99, Amazon) or polythene sheeting to secure ultimate protection. My only response to those methods is they’re likely to be a bit more costly than a bag of builder’s sand that you can also repurpose elsewhere in the garden. Like if you fancy building yourself a new patio.
Meanwhile, if birds are also making a meal of any plants in your garden, here are 7 easy tips to stop birds from ruining plants in your yard.
How to plant grass seed
Let’s say your yard isn’t the victim of hungry pigeons and you can happily plant lawn seed without fear of it being eaten. There are still some things you’ll need to consider. We’ve gone over how to plant grass seed and get a greener yard here but the condensed version is planting over an existing lawn requires some prep work.
You’ll first need to mow the grass down as short as possible and try to rake over it to thin out what remains as best you can. Then you’ll need to shift to a metal rake to loosen the top ¼ inch of soil on the bare patches and remove any debris as you go. Lastly, remember to level out any uneven areas using the soil from your yard and mix in compost and fertilizer to help with growth.
Once this is done, you can evenly distribute your seeds and then carefully drag the top soil back over them, covering them until they’re about ¼ inch deep. Once you’ve done this, you can cover the seeds with mulch or compost as you like to help protect them from the wind. This last part is something I’ll also be doing once I get out into the yard to try and bring my own lawn back from the brink. Stay tuned.
- Details
- Written by: admin
- Category: Lawns
- Hits: 49
5 ways to get rid of moss in your lawn and keep it green
If you’ve noticed green, sponge-like patches appearing in your grass, you’ll need to know how to get rid of moss in your lawn. While it looks harmless, moss is one of the most common of lawn weeds, and an indicator your grass isn’t in good shape.
Typically, moss thrives in poor lawn conditions, such as damp soil, excessive shade or in compacted soil. While moss might be welcome in certain parts of your yard — there's no way grass is going to grow under that oak — you might not want it in other areas.
Alongside these five signs that your lawn needs urgent repairs, it’s important to remove moss immediately to keep your lawn healthy. If left untreated, the moss will quickly take over and crowd out the grass completely.
While lawn maintenance can be time-consuming, it’s not that hard to remove moss, and prevent it from coming back. All you need to do is find out what is causing the moss to develop, and change the conditions of your lawn. Best of all, it will only take a few easy steps, and plenty of TLC afterwards.
So, if you want a moss-free garden all year round, here’s how to get rid of moss in your lawn and keep it green.
Once you’ve mowed your lawn, here are 7 clever ways you can reuse grass clippings.
1. Rake and scarify your lawn
Typically, moss is shallow-rooted, so you may be able to remove it by simply raking your lawn or scraping it out from the grass.
Ideally, using a bow rake or even a leaf rake will successfully pull the moss from the soil. You can even use a rake by hand using a spine-tine lawn rake, and it’s easier when the lawn is moist from light rain or even from watering your lawn. Hand rakes such as Garden Guru Stainless Steel Hand Rake ($19, Amazon) only have a few long, pointed tines, but these make it ideal for digging in a small area.
However, if you’re dealing with a more extensive moss problem, you can remove moss while dethatching your lawn. This is usually done by fitting your lawn mower with a dethatching blade in order to pull up thick layers or clumps of dead grass smothering the surface. This method of raking is also known as scarifying, and removes both moss and thatch (dead grass) from your lawn to allow it to breathe and be healthier.
If you see bare patches in the lawn after raking, you can learn how to plant grass seed, and get a greener yard. In any case, grass shouldn’t be seriously damaged from raking as they have longer roots.
2. Aerate your lawn
Another main cause of moss is heavy soil compaction that prevents water, air and essential nutrients from reaching the grass roots. Aerating the lawn will relieve compaction, and allow better air circulation in the soil.
Typically, aerating a lawn involves puncturing the ground with either a spike or core lawn aerator. Spike aerators literally have long spikes that puncture the ground as you pass over it. While core aerators, pull up ‘cores’ of soil as they work, leaving them on the surface. By aerating the soil two to three times a year, this will help to discourage moss growth and allow for healthy grass all year round.
You can purchase aerators at your local garden centre or online like this Walensee Lawn Spike Aerator ($31, Amazon). If you have a large yard however, it might be worth renting a mechanical aerator.
3. Improve light levels to lawn
Moss tends to develop excessively in shaded areas, or where there is low-light for long periods. One method of preventing moss is to improve light levels over the lawn. You could do this by cutting back overgrown bushes, trees or tall hedges to open up the yard. You don’t want anything hanging over the lawn, that will block out essential light.
Depending on the type of grass, and climate, most grasses do well with at least six hours or more of direct sunlight each day. There are some shade-tolerant grasses that can thrive with only three or four hours. By increasing the sunlight levels, this will help to eliminate moss growth and improve the health of your lawn.
If you do have mostly shaded areas however, you can grow certain shade-tolerant plants, shrubs, or flowers that thrive well. These include perennials such as rhododendron, pachysandra, and ajuga.
4. Make a DIY moss solution
While there are plenty of commercial moss killers available, you can also make your own non-toxic remedy. Simply mix one to two tablespoons of mild dish soap with one gallon of lukewarm water in a garden sprayer. Then, pour the mixture evenly over the moss.
Leave on for at least 24 hours to a couple of days, and you’ll see signs of the moss turning yellow and eventually drying out. This will make it easier to rake out and remove. If not, keep reapplying the dish soap and water solution, until it kills the moss. Another solution is mixing baking soda to two gallons of water, before applying it to the moss. What’s more, these homemade solutions are quick to do, and safer to use around children and pets.
If you want to know more, find out the 10 things you didn’t know you could clean with baking soda.
5. Use a commercial moss killer
If you're after a quick-fix solution however, you can simply buy moss killer. Experts recommend buying a targeted product containing iron sulfate or ferrous ammonium sulfate, and always follow the mixing instructions stated on the packet.
Usually in granule form, such products often need a couple of applications, and can take a few weeks until you see results. Also, remember to take extra caution when using around children or pets, and always handle with one of the best gardening gloves. Bear in mind that not all chemical products are effective, and you’ll still need to deal with the causes of the moss problem.
Story by Cynthia Lawrence:Toms Guide