When managed properly, a lawn can slow rainwater, allowing it to percolate into the soil and reduce sediment and other runoff into rivers and streams. Healthy lawns control dust, dissipate heat and noise, reduce glare, lower fire risk, and can improve soil and water quality.
Now is the time to stimulate a strong network of roots and top growth on lawn grasses. Here’s how to keep your grass green, thick and healthy.
Mowing
Mow regularly, cutting no more than one-third of the blade height. Cutting too much shocks the grass and makes it take longer to renew between mowings. Set mower for 3 to 3 1/2 inches. Taller blades of grass allow less weed competition and have more leaf surface for photosynthesis.
One common but incorrect mowing practice is cutting a lawn as low as possible once or twice a year for rejuvenation. This doesn’t make it stronger. If areas are scalped when mowing by using a low blade height, bare spots in the turf are exposed, and crabgrass and broadleaf weeds can get a foothold.
Keep the blades sharp. Dull blades tear grass and cause browning.
And make proper use of falling leaves. Mow autumn leaves that fall on your lawn into tiny particles; they help fertilize. If leaves become thick, grind with the mower or take them to the compost pile.
If matted on the lawn, they can weaken and kill grass. Keep heavy accumulations of leaves off the lawn, and continue mowing until growth subsides, in November or December. This greatly reduces the chance of the lawn having snow mold or other fungal diseases.
Aerating
Enrich the soil under your lawn by aerating with a core aerator, available from equipment and tool rental companies. It must be the type of machine that removes plugs of soil, not one that just punches holes. Go over the lawn three or four times. Soil should have some moisture for the aerator to penetrate properly, but never aerate when the ground is soggy.
Have the soil tested at your local garden center, or get assistance from your county cooperative extension service before amending the root zone with compost or fertilizer. This will alert you to shortages in nutrients and record the pH.
Spread compost, an integral part of the aeration process.
Sprinkle it into the aeration holes, but do not cover the blades of grass. If compost is fine-textured, use a broadcast spreader.
Otherwise, sprinkle it with a shovel or by hand. Commercial compost products, such as Leafgro, are fine- textured enough to use in a spreader and will fall through the grass blades and into the soil.
Your own organic material will work well if it is dry and powdery enough. After a couple of years, compost alone will make the lawn thick and green, without need for supplemental fertilizer.
Fertilizing
Lay fertilizer over the soil surface after aerating and sprinkling compost, to help it get to the roots. Use a broadcast spreader as long as you’re sure that the material contains no weed killer.
Use a product that is 40 to 50 percent organic or has 10 to 20 percent slow-release or water-insoluble nitrogen. Planet Natural (planetnatural.com) offers Premium Lawn Fertilizer, an all-natural lawn nutrient. Synthetic options include Turf Builder Pro Lawn Fertilizer and Greenview Fairway Formula Late Fall Fertilizer. Do not use fertilizer containing weed killer when seeding. Natural nutrients are derived from dehydrated poultry waste, blood, bone or feather meal, natural minerals and other organic materials. If you’re a pet owner, you might not want the organic program because dogs love these ingredients, especially the bone meal. Research indicates that synthetic fertilizers are equally effective for your lawn.
Spread lawn nutrients following all label instructions. If no application rate is given, spread at about 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
Weed control
Keep the turf thick, as this is the best defense against weeds.
Synthetic chemicals should be used sparingly and only if necessary.
Pull weeds by hand before they go to seed. When weeds become intolerable, use a spot treatment with liquid broadleaf lawn weed killer. Treating only spots where weeds are growing will use the least herbicide. There are a number of liquid lawn weed killers on the market, like Weed-B-Gon and 3-Way Lawn Weed Killer.
Pre-emergent weed killer is especially effective on annual weeds, such as crabgrass and annual bluegrass. WOW Plus and Weed Prevention Plus are just two of many corn- gluten-based materials that keep roots of newly germinated seeds from growing, helping to control young weeds. While control is not as immediate as a single application of synthetic weed killer, these products are safer and can be used spring and fall. After a couple of years, these products achieve the same results as synthetics.
To control grassy weeds like nuts edge and Bermuda grass, use a non- selective herbicide, such as glyphosate-based Roundup, and reseed the area about seven to 10 days later. Carefully follow all labeled instructions. Do not apply any weed control where you are seeding your lawn.
Seeding
Sow grass after aerating, which offers excellent distribution and contact with the soil because of the numerous holes.
Overseed existing lawns with 3 to 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet of grass seed. Pick the right varieties. Lawn grasses fall into two categories: warm season or cool weather. Warm-season grasses are brown in winter and don’t begin growing until average temperatures reach 60 degrees.
Cool-weather grasses stay green in cool temperatures and turn brown during drought and heat. Cool-season seed is best planted now. Choose between compact, turf-type tall fescues or fine-leafed types, like bluegrasses, fine fescues and perennial ryes. Tall fescues are wear-tolerant, disease-resistant and can be mowed higher, up to 4 inches. Fine-textured bluegrass, fine fescue and perennial rye are more prone to disease but softer to the eye and touch.
Joel M. Lerner is president of Environmental Design in Capitol View Park, Md., and author of “Anyone Can Landscape” (Ball, 2001).
