Maintaining An Established Lawn

Once the lawn has established itself, you need to develop a program for maintenance. You need to water, mow, weed, and possibly fertilize. Mowing and watering are by far the most important. The healthier your lawn is, the less you need to worry about weeds, and the less fertilizer it needs.

Watering

Let's start with watering. Find an office building or apartment complex with a great lawn. See what they do. They probably water nightly, for just twenty minutes or so. They have a beautiful lawn, so this must be the right way, right? Wrong! This is the way to ensure that the lawn will need lots of maintenance, and lots of maintenance means more cashflow for the lawn service.

Frequent, shallow watering encourages shallow roots. A shallow rooted lawn is less able to survive a drought because the surface of the sod constantly dries out. A shallow rooted lawn will need lots of expensive water, and if there's water rationing, you may not be able to give it the water it needs. If the watering is happening during the day, a lot of it is evaporating in the sun. If the watering is done in the early evening, grubs and fungus can be problems. Thatch is also a greater problem with a shallow rooted lawn. Every couple of years these lawns may need to be stripped, and new sod put down. They require a crew to maintain, and are the bane of suburban home owners. Clearly, that's not the best way -- unless someone else is paying you to do it that way. (Bonus points if you can get them to pay for frequent applications of mystery chemicals.)

For the homeowner paying the bills and doing the work, the best way is infrequent, deep soaking watering. Ideally, you want to put down an inch a week, all at once. More than an inch is unnecessary in all but the hottest, driest places in full sun. Significantly less than an inch may not be enough, and your lawn may go dormant. If you're going to let it go dormant, don't even bother to start watering.

If you have run-off before a full inch is applied, the answer is not to water twice a week instead of once a week. Either get a different sprinkler that delivers the water slower, and/or plan to aerate and add more organic material (compost) in the fall. Until then, as soon as run-off starts, pause the watering for twenty minutes or a half-hour. Then resume watering. Continue this pattern until a full inch is down.

You can use a couple of empty tuna cans placed in different spots to see how long it takes to put down an inch of water with your sprinkler. Remember, more than an inch is just costing you money.

The best time to water is just before dawn. While the sun is down, there's less evaporation, and more water actually makes it to the soil. But if you water right after sunset, the water that remains on the blades of grass create a culture that encourages fungal growth. After the sun comes up in the morning, the water remaining on the blades will evaporate. We really want to water the soil, not the blades of grass.

Frankly, if you find me up before dawn, I'm probably still up from the night before. I'm not a morning person, and I know I'm not alone. So to water my lawn at dawn, I use a timer. I set what time it comes on, and I set what time it goes off. If you have a built-in irrigation system, you probably have timers in the control box. If you're using a hose and a sprinkler, there are small battery operated timers that you can put on the line. I have quick disconnects on both sides of my timer, and I can move it from hose to hose as I use it.

Even if you don't need a timer to start watering, it's a good idea to use a timer or a flow meter to turn-off the water at the right time. I can't tell you the number of times I forgot I was watering, and left a sprinkler on for hours longer than I wanted. My timer has paid for itself in lower water bills.

Mowing

Mowing is also important. The rule that most people already know is to not cut more than one-third of the blade at a time. Cutting off more than one-third can be traumatic to the blades, and lowers the ability to defend against diseases. But believe it or not, that's not the most important rule.

The most important rule is to not cut a wet lawn with a dull-bladed mower. In fact, you want to avoid cutting a wet lawn with a sharp blade, too. (And while we're at it, a dull blade on dry grass isn't right, either.)

Sometimes this leads to hard decisions in the spring. If it's raining every day, and the lawn is growing fast, the highest setting on the mower might take away more than one-third of the blade if you wait until the first time it's dry! But, to a point, that's what you need to do.

With this in mind, don't pass up a chance to mow your lawn in spring if you know it could grow too fast before the next time it's dry. Get your mower blades sharpened or replaced over the winter so they're as sharp as they can be in the spring, too. Don't plan on mowing in the morning. Even on dry days you'll need to wait for the dew to evaporate.

So how tall should you mow to? The odd answer is, taller than you think. Most people think they need to mow shorter than what really is the best for the lawn. Different varieties of grass have different optimal heights, but in general, if you're mowing shorter than two inches, you're mowing too short. A better height for your typical fescue, perenial rye and bluegrass mix is probably more like 2-1/2 inches. That means you need to plan to mow before the grass reaches 3-3/4 inches.

As summer approaches, adjust your target height up by a quarter or half inch. The longer your grass is, the more it shades the soil surface. The more it shades the soil surface, the less dry the surface gets from evaporation, and the cooler the roots remain in the soil. If you cut too short as the heat of summer comes, you'll need to water more, and the risk of browning goes up. As winter approaches, you may want to lower your mowing by a half-inch. The shorter grass will be easier to remove leaves from, and will also give you a little more time in the spring before you have to bring out the lawn mower again.

A brown lawn in summer usually isn't dead. If the lawn was healthy going into summer, and you don't water it in the summer, it'll go dormant, and survive. I water my front yard so the neighbors can see what a great lawn I have, but I let my backyard go dormant so I don't have to take out a home equity loan to water the grass. You don't have to mow a dormant lawn, either. You should, however, be vigilent about removing any weeds quickly. Few things look worse than a big green weed in the middle of a golden brown lawn.

If you do let your lawn go dormant, whether on purpose or by accident, don't try to revive it until fall. Let Mother Nature turn it green before you resume any watering schedule.

Weeding

The best time to weed is in the spring. In the spring the ground is wet, and it's easier to pull the weeds out. You may need to dig some of the worst out, and they may not appear until it's too late to grow new grass in their place for the summer, but if you don't get them out, they'll take over.

If you have too many weeds to manually remove them, you may want to use chemicals. If you're going to use chemicals that kill vegetation, insects, or animals are called pesticides. Pesticides can be non-selective (kills almost anything) or selective (intended to kill something specific), but even a non-selective pesticide is leathal to everything at the right dose.

Use of pesticides in a way other than what they are labeled is illegal. It's illegal not because someone wants to excercise power, or because the government wants to control your rights. Use other than by label is illegal because it's dangerous to you, those around you, and the environment you and your loved ones live in. This is not a matter of anything other than safety.

Some chemicals are so dangerous their use -- and possibly even their possesion -- will require a license. Some chemicals in high concentrations require a license, but may be available in lower concentrations to consumers. If you are really worried about chemical terrorism, take a look at the pesticide aisle at your local Home Depot. There, for any consumer to buy, you'll likely find enough leathal chemicals to kill everything within a few miles of the store.

I'm telling you this not because I'm against using chemicals. I'm telling you this because you need to understand and respect what the chemicals can do, and how they do it before you start casually using them. As a general rule, we want to use the least leathal method of control that is available to us, and still accomplishes our goals. That's what's known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and why if we can control weeds by picking them, we pick them instead of bombing them with leathal chemicals.

The principles of IPM are most often violated by homeowners who use "weed and feed" products. They think they're just fertilizing, but they're also spreading leathal herbicide over their entire lawn at the same time. In most cases, their weed problems are localized to a small area of the lawn, if they even have a problem. The weed and feed wasn't necessary. They used a leathal chemical without getting any benefit from it's use. Not only did they waste their money on chemicals they didn't need, they made their lawn a dangerous place for kids and pets. Some of the chemical will eventually was into streams, and get into the water supply for not only local wildlife, but any of us who drink the water.

A better idea would be to spot-treat the weeds. Round-up will kill the weeds, and any grass it gets on as well. Weed-B-Gone will kill broadleaf weeds, and, unless used other than directed, should leave the grass alone. I would suggest getting the pre-mixed foaming formulas. While you could save a little money by mixing your own from concentrate, the pre-mixed versions won't accidentally be too strong or too weak. The foaming agent will also keep the overspray down, and you'll be able to see right where you're placing the chemical.

Both Round-Up and Weed-B-Gone will take a few days to work. They need to be sprayed on the foliage of the weeds to be absorbed. They do no good sprayed on the ground as the roots will not absorb these chemicals. The way they work is they essentially mess-up the weed's growth system. It's like giving the weeds cancer. If you do not see a change in the health of the weed in two days, reapply the chemical. If the weed is flowering, you'll need to remove the flowers and seed pods, but leave the foliage before sparying. Do not put weed flowers or seeds, or any weed parts of a weed treated with chemicals into the compost pile.

Fertilizing

You may not even need to add synthetic fertilizer to your lawn. The key here is to use a mulching mower. Leave the clippings on the lawn, and those clippings will provide the nutriants your lawn needs. Most modern mowers are mulching mowers, but if in doubt, check the owners manual. If you need a special blade, get that blade.

The only time I ever fertilze my lawn is in the fall. A "winterizer" fertilizer is meant to help with root growth rather than top growth. A healthy root system will mean that come next summer the top will take care of itself.

Never, ever fertilize a lawn in the summer, even if you're using a summer formula. If you're following the suggestions in this article, there will be absolutely no need for a summer fertilizer, and if you're not, a summer fertilizer could be detrimental to your lawn's health. Summer fertilizers also often have pesticide to control grubs, and like weed and feed, there's no reason to treat a lawn that doesn't have grubs with a leathal chemical to control grubs that aren't there.

Fertilizer is not magic powder. Spreading it on your lawn will not magically make it grow. The purpose of fertilizer is to add nutrients to the soil. Fertilizer is more like vitimin pills than real food. Just as people can live to be 100 without ever taking a vitimin pill, there's no rule that says a lawn needs to be fertilized. Chances are, even if you're just fertilizing in the fall like I sometimes do, you're wasting your money at best. At worst, you could be causing an overdose situation just like you could do to yourself if you took too many vitimin pills.

The application rates on the bags of fertilizer assume two things: One is that you need to fertilize in the first place, and the other is that the faster they can get you to use the fertilizer, the more you'll buy. So if you do fertilize, cut the application rate to 1/2 or 1/3 the rate shown on the package.

Annual Autumn Care

When fall comes, leaves may fall on your lawn. They need to be picked-up, and the bigger they are, the sooner they need to be picked-up. Large leaves can smother the lawn much in the same way that putting a sheet of plastic over the grass can smother it.

You don't want to be raking a freshly seeded lawn. That's another reason for starting any renovation in early fall. You want the seedlings to have at least a month without having to worry about you collecting leaves off the lawn.

If the leaves are tiny enough, and come in a small enough quantity, your mulching mower may be able to handle them. If they're big, and/or there are a lot of them, they need to be collected and removed.

Raking is the least expensive way of removing the leaves, but even the lightest rake can tear-up the newly planted seedlings. You could also use a leave blower, but that's noisy and inefficient. There are blower-vacuums available, too. Essentially you replace the small nozzle on the blower with a wider tube. You put a bag on the machine, and reverse its airflow, and you have a small vacuum. If you have a big area, there are vacuums that look like lawn mowers from a distance. They'll pick-up far more leaves into a bigger bag (that'll get very heavy if the leaves are wet.) That's what I use.

Save your leaves. If they weren't shredded by your collection method, shred them. I then dump them on top of my empty vegetable garden, and cover them with a tarp. By spring, they've mostly decomposed into something called "leaf mould". Till that into the soil, and you'll have the biggest tomato plants you've ever seen. You could also add the shredded leaves to your personal compost pile. If you're getting "fresh" manure, also known as excrement, mixing enough leaves with it will allow it to compost by the following fall.

Other Care Issues

There are a couple other aspects of lawn care. Edging is one. Most perennial grasses spread by runner, and if you don't edge your lawn, eventually it'll creep into your beds. When I moved into my home, I discovered that the lawn had crept up to a foot into the beds! The new lawn edge was, in many places, under shrubs and other foliage in the beds. I had to dig-up this odd sod-like stuff. I replaced it with heavy mulch that was less hospitable to runners. Regular edging could have prevented it, and will prevent it from happening again.

Use an edger for edging, not a string trimmer. A string trimmer is for places where the grass grows, but the mower can't reach. Small corners. Next to fences or buildings. Near trees. Places like that. Don't use it as an edger. An edger cuts below the surface where the runners are running. A string trimmer only trims on the surface. It may be okay to do a quick touch-up for looks, but it will be just for temporary looks.

Speaking of string trimmers, be very careful around tree trunks. Constant abuse of the tree by the trimmer can eventually kill the tree by allowing pathogens into the trunk. Hand-held sheers may be a better choice in these delicate areas.

You can aerate in both spring and fall, but in most cases, fall is the best, and should be sufficient. Rent a core aerator. Leave the plugs on the lawn. Screen, sift, or fluff your compost so you can spread it easier. And lightly reseed over it all. The fresh, young grass will help the longevity of your lawn, and save you from

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Recommended Products

Gardena Aquazoom 350/T Oscillating Sprinkler This innovative oscillating sprinkler design can water medium-to-large yards, is fully adjustable, and comes with a built-in timer and flow control mechanisms. While many oscillating sprinklers allow you to adjust the range of the spray, this one also provides adjustments for controlling the width and the water flow. At the highest water pressure (56 psi), the width can be adjusted from 13 to 56 feet and the range from 23 to 69 feet. At low water pressure (28 psi), the width can be set from 11-1/2 to 47-1/2 feet and the range from 19-1/2 to 56.7 feet. The timer allows you to select watering times from 15 to 120 minutes, or it can be bypassed for constant flow. Gardena includes its Quick Connector hose adapter for easy time-saving hose changes and a special needle for keeping spray nozzles clean. The Aquazoom provides all the versatility and design features you could ask for in an oscillating sprinkler.

Melnor Electronic Water Timer If you'd rather have time to sip lemonade than spend time watering your lawn or garden, start thinking about a Melnor electronic water timer. Here's how simple it can be: attach the timer to your hose faucet, press a few buttons, and use the digital display to set the clock; then just press a few more buttons to establish a preset schedule, watering up to six times a day. That's it! You're free to enjoy a frosty beverage on your deck. Or water while you sleep in, taking advantage of the cool morning air to avoid excess evaporation. Either way, you won't have to worry about overwatering. This is Melnor's most advanced timer, so programming your own watering schedule (instead of using one of the five preset schedules) may take you a few minutes with the aid of the instruction manual. That said, the timer's infinite programmability and ability to water up to six times a day more than compensates for its operational complexity.

Push-Pull Weeder The Multi-Star system is a truly ingenious creation that allows gardener's to quickly change tools in one-click, and eliminates the need for having a garage full of unsightly, and space consuming long-handled tools. Our push-pull weeder works by simply working the blade back and forth below the soil level. Wavy dual-edged blades cut through the soil effortlessly. Side guards allow you to work closely to plants with disturbing them. Uses strong WOLF Multi-Star snap-lock handle connection. Requires one of our WOLF-Garten handles