Body Building for Your Lawn
Your lawn is the basic unifying element of your exterior decorating plan that accentuates all other plantings or design elements. If you have any doubts about your lawn's aesthetic value, visualize yourself in front of your home with a lawn that is lush, green, well manicured, and without a weed in sight. Then picture your home fronted by a lawn that is matted, thin, patchy and overgrown with weeds.
While most homeowners want a lawn that is a pleasure to walk on and a joy to behold, they usually settle for much less. How much less depends on how much time, effort and money they are willing to invest. Actually, a picture postcard lawn doesn't require a lot of attention - just enough to at least compensate for the abuses a lawn is subjected to weekly. It all begins at ground level.
A good growing medium
To flourish, lawns need a growing medium that is porous, nutritious, holds water but yet drains well and is packed with those minute soil organisms (beneficial bacteria & fungi) that are vital to a lawn's good health. Unfortunately, most homes do not come equipped with such a medium, especially homes in sub-divisions where sod has been laid on a skim of topsoil that covers clay and construction debris. While sandy soils give poor results, the most common culprit of poor growth is a soil heavy with clay.
The treatment
There is a remedy for sandy and clay soils alike; it's a simple process that will allow you to convert a sparse lawn into thick green turf in one season. The main weakness of lawn soils that are predominantly sand or clay is a shortage of organic material. Organic material in soil adds porosity and holds water and nutrients where grass roots can reach them. Organic material also encourages the proliferation of soil organisms; these organisms convert nutrients into a form that is easily taken up by the plant's roots. There are products that can meet these criteria without causing weed or disease problems -- compost and fertilizers. The recommended treatment is best started in early spring but can be initiated at any time of the year, as long as it is repeated three times over a full season, in the spring, summer, and fall. Just before your lawn needs cutting, spread composted manure or well-cured home compost over the lawn surface. Use just enough to give it a rich brown hue. Add a good quality slow-release fertilizer with a formulation high in nitrogen, such as a 21-3-9, 21-7-7, 20-3-4. (Always use according to the manufacturers' label directions). Seed bare patches, in spring and early fall only, by simply roughing up the bare ground and spreading good quality grass seed (sunny spots with full sun seed, shady areas with shade seed) before you add the compost.
Mowing and watering
From that point on, cut your lawn twice a week with the mower set at 5 cm (2 inches). Finally, make sure you give your lawn a deep watering once a week, counting rainwater purely as a bonus. A good one-inch application of water once a week is what produces deep roots and healthy turf.
While you'll see the outstanding results after just one season's treatment, how many years you need to carry out the therapy depends on the original condition of your lawn's soil. One thing is sure; no matter how many seasons are necessary the process is a sure way of building up a healthy lawn that is a pleasure to walk on and a joy to behold.
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