If it’s clover, consider that until the 1950s most grass-seed mixes included clover, which has pretty flowers, stays green all summer, and adds nitrogen to the soil, where grass can use it (see Establishing Clover in Lawns). Sort through that soil, looking for earthworms. Soil that crumbles at this stage probably has adequate if not stellar structure, but if you keep trying to crumble it and it keeps holding together, it probably has high clay content and poor structure. Search the Internet using the words "soil testing" and your state, look in your telephone directory under county government for "extension agent," or check with your local nursery. Run a de-thatching machine over the lawn to remove all the dead grass and leaves. For very shady areas, reseed with shade-tolerant grasses such as creeping red fescue or St. Augustine and mow them high to maximize their light-trapping leaf surface. In either case, you’ll need to amend your soil to improve its drainage. While herbicides with triclopyr or 2,4-D are effective solutions, the EPA considers 2,4-D a possible human carcinogen. There’s a section on all this here: the 50% solution. Trim back high hedges. Those small beetle larvae live in the soil and feed on lawn roots. Spots of dead grass will often repair themselves eventually. What happens to them? Also check the soil's acidity, or pH, and adjust it as needed. Here's PM's brutal but effective strategy: Kill it off, then start fresh. Controlling it isn't hard, but timing is crucial; many homeowners apply pre-emergence herbicides in late spring or summer, when it's too late for them to do any good. What's more, both chemicals require multiple applications and must be applied during periods of active growth. Our experts also suggest you make sure your mower blade is sharp and you choose grass that is hardy in your region. Over time, lawns can compact from regular use. Texture focuses on the mineral content, ignoring the organic material. You might know the answer, but if you don’t (and that would make you like most of us) you’ve got several options. The best time to prune either is in early spring, before the first flush of growth. A better way to do it and improve your lawn is to cut the grass and leave the clippings on the surface of the lawn… You may not want to cut into your lawn, but it’s the only way to get an accurate reading of the soil underneath, as the garden dirt right next to it probably gets treated very differently. Building new topsoil on an old lawn requires a more gradual approach, a combination of aeration, topdressing, and amending the soil. To perform an easy, time-honored test for soil texture, you’ll need to dig about five inches of loose dirt from under your grass (and it’s important to dig, as what’s right on top may not resemble what’s three inches down) and put it in a quart-sized jar. Adding a few inches of soil to a lawn that hasn’t been seeded is expensive but not impossible. Measure. We asked our on-staff experts and turf scientists across the country to identify some of the most common lawn weeds, pests, and diseases nationwide, as well as the most common mistakes homeowners make in dealing with them. Rain runs off or puddles rather than soaking into lawn. Early morning is best. These ground covers will also make mowing easier and protect trees from the occasional nicks that can allow disease to take hold. Grass roots extend less than three inches into top soil. If it doesn’t crumble, apply more pressure. Top dressing adds to the layer. Now we get to the highly technical part of this test: scoop up a handful of dirt and feel it. Sometimes it helps to start with the purely imaginary, before you’re brought back to earth by reality. Each 25 lb bag covers 1500 square feet. That’s in fact exactly what you are trying to do — but don’t use a lot of pressure. How do you repair a crappy, scrappy, weed-infested lawn? If only a few plants have appeared, pull them by hand, taking care to remove as much of the root as possible. The simplest way to assess the curb appeal of your house is to walk to the curb—or to the street—and view it with the critical eyes of someone who has never looked at it before. Mix with … Type(s). So, how deep is your thatch? Almost half of you hire others to fertilize, mow, apply chemical treatments, aerate the lawn, or do spring and fall cleanups. Dallisgrass, nimblewill, quackgrass, and tall fescue develop into unsightly patches and clumps. Aerate the soil. The result will be a lush, healthy lawn that knows who's … While you'll find a plethora of chemical herbicides and pesticides, the healthiest lawns resist weeds and pests without them. What do you want your lawn and garden to look like? Put the collection bag on your mower and then mow the lawn, cutting the grass to just 1½ inches long. You also need to be on the lookout for other widespread nuisances, like those listed here. Just sticking a shovel into the ground can give you a good idea of how much you have, because there’s usually a clearly visible line dividing topsoil, which is dark, from the lighter subsoil. And you should do so before the flowers mature and spread their seeds. Watering an overseeded lawn is the exception to the once a week rule. Readers overwhelmingly chose local companies over regional and national ones, 65 vs. 19 percent. 8 Easy Ways to Improve Your Lawn. Mineral content. If you don’t have a laptop, or a perfect memory, you’ll do a lot of running inside and out unless you pull a sprig (with a bit of root) and take it with you to wherever you’ll be doing the job. Topsoil is thin — less than 6 inches deep. However, chemical insecticides with imidacloprid aren't effective on mature grubs. The library and the internet can help you, but landscapers, bookstores, nurseries, neighbors, and local organizations can be great resources as well. Structure: does it crumble? If trees, shrubs, or structures prevent you from regrading the area, use underground drainage pipes or create a sump drain—essentially a hole in the ground with a grate over it. It’s impossible to have a really healthy lawn unless you have enough topsoil, that rich top layer that’s the same to soil as cream is to milk. Loam, at 20% clay, 40% silt, and 40% sand, is generally considered ideal for gardening. How often do you mow? But a thin layer of topsoil, for instance, will compact more quickly and completely than a thick one, so building up your topsoil helps to relieve and prevent compaction. Most U.S. lawns cannot boast so much, largely because most of us have been trained to rake up mown grass and fallen leaves, thus removing the only natural organic additions available. Think outside it. This powerful, quick-release concentrate builds healthy soil and thick green turf! How much water your lawn needs depends on the grass, the soil and the amount of rainfall your lawn gets. Our Landscaping Blog provides the ideas, information and practical experience you need to get the job done right. Vigorous, adaptable, and fast-growing, crabgrass thrives best in lawns that are underfertilized and mowed too low. Originally planted as an ornamental ground cover for shaded areas, ground ivy has become a common lawn weed. Maintain a healthy and vigorous lawn so that ground ivy has less chance of gaining a foothold. It should not “dissolve” into tiny sand-sized particles, but break apart into many pieces of varying sizes. 3. Using grass fertilizer… Derived from corn gluten meal, bone meal and potassium sulfate, Concern® Weed Prevention Plus (8-2-4) provides a fast green-up and will not burn. Instead of bagging leaves, use your mower to mulch them or add leaves to your compost pile. There are ways to improve an old lawn and … Moss prefers acidic soil but will grow in alkaline soil if shade and moisture are favorable. Low numbers indicate high acidity; high numbers indicate high alkalinity. Water Daily An oscillating sprinkler works best for getting your lawn started. It may start choking out the grass, and it may prevent light rain or watering from reaching the soil where it’s needed. Measure yours by setting empty containers around the lawn, running the sprinklers for 20 minutes, and measuring the depth of the water inside. We also asked those of you who use lawn services to rate them. Those professionals use piston-driven aerators with tines that move straight up and down, rather than the lightweight, less-effective aerators you'll find at many rental yards. You might need to mow more often during the peak growing season. What's more, that patch of dead grass is likelier to have been caused by your neighbor's dog than by fungus. A healthy colony of moss in your lawn means too much shade; acidic, compacted, or wet soil; or too little fertilizer. The Smart Yard: 60-Minute Lawn Care (by Jeff Ball and Liz Ball) devotes a chapter to assessment. Root Depth. Contains NO sewage sludge or bio-solids. Reduces compaction and thatch to let air, water and fertilizer down to the roots. Is it one of your pet projects, or is it the step-sister to the garden, which you love? A freshly seeded lawn will need a light watering twice a day. Don’t stop at finding the best grass seed for your neck of the woods; think also about adding rock, meadow or ornamental grasses, shrubs, and garden beds. Complete instructions are included, plus a chart of pH and NPK levels on over 100 plants. Figure on applying slow-release fertilizer three times a year if you mulch and five times a year if you don't. If you do start by assessing, don’t let what’s actually there keep you from seeing what could be. Don't bother with animal repellents; they're of little or no use, according to the experts we interviewed. Pelleted for easy application. Although there are plenty of grass varieties available that can tolerate a fair amount of shade, lack of sun can still be a factor in a failing lawn.Using shade-tolerant grasses like fescues is part of the solution, but other measures may need to be taken. Bring a clump from your lawn to the nursery to match grass types. That means you should probably cut your grass every 5 to 10 days on average, as 76 percent of you do. It’s a good thing as long as it’s only about a quarter to half an inch thick, as it helps slow evaporation from the ground, provides organic matter to the soil, protects both soil and roots from summer’s heat, and to some extent slows seed germination, thus providing a minor barrier against weeds. Structure, which describes how soil particles (or peds) group or amalgamate, is a critical aspect of soil health, but tests for it generally carry Do Not Try This At Home labels, if only because they’re too complex. There is no selective herbicide or other shortcut for those weeds. For moss in low-lying or moist areas, water only when you see signs of too little moisture (when footprints in the grass remain and don't spring back, for instance). Some areas may need something other than grass. Different tactics are successful with these different situations. Fungus must be diagnosed and treated before grass begins to die—a challenge for most homeowners because it's hard to spot or identify. If the dirt runs loosely through your fingers, like sand, it has poor soil structure. Moles tend to tunnel closer to the surface in spring when soil is moist, leaving a zigzag trail of raised soil. A soil test requires a good deal more soil than that, and accuracy requires that it be gathered from here and there about the yard, so that results don’t get skewed by odd, local factors. While you’re in the planning process, cast a wide net. Thatch is a … If you did the worm count mentioned above, check the sides of the hole. Provides organic matter and natural nutrients for flowers and vegetables. Avoid spreading fertilizer before a heavy rain, and sweep any fertilizer that ends up on driveways and walkways back into the lawn. Try pinching a piece between your thumb and finger. (Check grass plug! However, it also attracts bees, which is reason enough for some people not to want it around, especially if you have kids. A lawn is typically the basis of most landscapes and can either make or break the overall appearance. Your county extension office (again) will be able to put you in touch with soil analysis resources. Soil with good structure will crumble in your hand (and out of it) when subjected to fairly mild pressure. And follow the directions precisely. (Dig to check. If you use either herbicide, be sure to wear rubber gloves, eye protection, long pants, closed shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt. Finally, and this one may come as a surprise, walking on the lawn when it is frozen or snowy will lead to compaction. Check our Web site at www.GreenerChoices.org/lawn-care for more advice. Remember, climate determines not only the type of grass that grows best in your yard but also problems that might beset your lawn. Then dig straight down for seven to twelve inches, dumping the soil onto a tarp or square of plastic. Repeat until a full inch of water is applied to the soil. The amount of seed you should use varies based on the size of your lawn … The No. Wet leaves are heavy and promote disease. A barrier of chicken wire that extends 1 foot deep around your yard might help keep them out. Need help? For a quicker fix, cut out the dead spot and fill it in with plugs cut from a strip of sod. Use natural lawn fertilizers. If you’ve got twenty-five worms or more, you soil qualifies as “rich.” Congratulations! How can you tell? pH imbalances can be corrected with appropriate soil amendments. Or wait until grass-planting time—usually in the fall—and sow fresh seed after clearing away the dead grass and loosening the soil. Don't rely on rain or portable or hose-end sprinklers. Night watering promotes mold and fungus. There’s a more detailed discussion of soil itself in the page on Know Your Lawn; you can go there to get an idea of what precisely humus is, what pH stands for, and so on. The latter are "often problematic, "because people put them on and forget about them," says Ali Harivandi, Ph.D., environmental horticulturist at the. He has been teaching lawn care classes since the 1970s and has helped thousands of homeowners improve their lawns. On the downside, while the mole will die underground, eliminating the need for you to handle and dispose of it, you won't know whether you've killed it. Ice remains on lawn after snow has melted elsewhere. How long your sprinklers must run depends on how quickly they apply the water as well as how quickly your soil absorbs it. If you can squash but not break it, it has very poor structure. Those spots are most likely to show up during hot and dry weather, when lawns are under greater stress. Grass loves sun, so if you have shaded areas you may want to put another form of ground cover there. For too many of us, the lawn becomes a box. ways to check for organic content is to do an earthworm count. Read on to find out more. Lawn grasses grow best in a soil pH between 6.5 and 7. Check for grubs by cutting into the lawn near the edge of a brown area and lifting the sod. Soil should be damp 4 or 6 inches deep.). Products with dithiopyr, prodiamine, or pendimethalin are typical chemical alternatives. This will protect the soil from erosion (from heavy rain) and compaction. Wet, it feels slick or even slippery. If it’s where you set your lawn chair to read, almost anything will do. Water your lawn deeply and less often. It won’t break down … The #1 remedy for white grubs in turf! Most grasses are best mowed to 2½ to 3½ inches high. A motion-activated sprinkler system might help discourage droppings, but it won't distinguish between dogs, deliverymen, and welcome guests. Wait a couple of days and reseed or replant any damaged areas. Answers to these questions will help you determine your lawn needs. "By the time most fungus disease is obvious, the conditions that caused it have passed. An on-line search of that office should bring up a list of companies that do such analysis, detailing what precisely each one will test for and how much it costs. Seriously, subsoil performs important functions in the structure of soil, but it’s not what you want near the top. Both will help minimize fertilizer in the runoff. Also, figure out how much sun different sections of your yard gets. Knowing how to handle them can mean the difference between working on your lawn and simply enjoying it. (Just be aware that some hardy survivors from the old lawn will probably make it to the top of the new one.). (When the dirt is hard, the digging is harder.) Replace lawn beneath trees with bishop's hat, sweet woodruff, or other shade-tolerant ground cover as the tree grows and creates more shade. (Seven inches will often bring you to the end of your topsoil; twelve will usually take you down into the subsoil, making it easier to measure the topsoil — see depth, below.) "Soil analysis is a small investment that pays big dividends; it doesn't take much work," explains Peg Hoovler of Lynchburg, Va., a Consumer Reports online subscriber who was recently certified as a master gardener by her local cooperative extension service. Shorten common hedges such as arborvitae, English laurel, firethorn, and Japanese yew only a few inches each pruning, and don't cut into bare, leafless stems. Trees can be selectively pruned to provide a little more sunlight and also improve … Use to prevent crabgrass, dandelions and more! If kids are playing soccer on it, you’ll need a tough, resilient grass. See this book for great tips on how to figure out how compact your soil is, how healthy your grass is, and so on. Use a specialized, fork-like tool to pull plants and taproots out by hand. Eighteen inches of topsoil or more is optimal but rare; you can get away with six to eight inches. ), or you can pull up representative samples and drop in at your county extension office, where you’ll probably have to pay a small fee, or you can do the job yourself. It turns out the grass is not always greener next door: More than 40 percent of you had complaints—neighbors who don't mow their lawns, let their leaves pile up, or let trash, leaves, or other debris blow onto your property. Striking the balance of care needed for a successful lawn takes a bit of research and some practice. If you decide to use those broadleaf herbicides, apply them in fall, not spring. But your lawn might need more or less. But staying off wet lawns could help delay the inevitable. In nature, nutrients are recycled back into the soil through grazing animals. And no mature lawn needs watering every day or every other day, as 47 percent of those surveyed water. 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