A fine lawn is a thing of usefulness and beauty. If built right and well cared for, it should last a lifetime. All of us would like to have a beautiful lawn. With a little care and effort, there is no reason why we can’t.
The steps for building and maintaining a lawn are important. but simple and easy to follow. The basic rules are given in this article result of years of research and observation at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station.
Though minor variations between different parts of the country, most of these rules will apply anywhere.
Even if your basic lawn building is already completed, you can find ways of improving it, especially this fall, the season for lawn betterment.
A smooth, level lawn is possible only if the ground has been smoothed and leveled before seeding.
Take off the topsoil, and pile it to one side. Topsoil is precious, don’t waste it.
Then remove all sizable stones, sticks, and other debris. Level the subsoil to take out all ridges and depressions.
Changes In Grade
Any major grade changes are best made here.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Loosen the top 3” or 4” inches of the subsoil to provide a good bond between subsoil and topsoil.
- Then spread the topsoil evenly over the subsoil to a depth of at least 6” inches. It’s important to get it even, for shallow spots in topsoil will often appear as brown spots on the lawn.
- Rake the seedbed to get rid of stones, roots, and other debris, then roll to bring out any high or low spots.
- A second raking should take care of these and work the soil down smoothly.
The more a seedbed is raked and rolled, the smoother the lawn will be. A wooden rake is the best to use, and a water ballast roller works well.
For soils low in organic matter, add 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of peat or humus, or three bales of horticultural peat moss, or one cubic yard of wellïrotted farm manure per 1,000 square feet of area.
Mix it well with the entire 6” inches of topsoil. The lime and fertilizer mentioned below can be used with a hand cultivator.
A small spreader will be useful for applying lime and fertilizer.
Add 100 pounds of limestone per 1,000 square feet for strongly acid soils and 50 pounds for moderately acid soils. Mix it in with the top four or five inches of soil.
The best fertilizer is an 8-6-4 or 8-6-2 commercial lawn fertilizer with about 40 percent of the nitrogen in natural organic form. This.
This type of fertilizer will give nitrogen to the plants slowly over a longer time.
Apply 20 to 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet thoroughly mixed in the upper four inches of soil a few days before seeding.
Get Rid of Grubs And Worms
To get rid of grubs and worms that will injure a lawn, rake seven to ten pounds of arsenate of lead into the upper inch of soil a few days before seeding.
Complete mixing of all materials into the soil is important.
After the fertilizer, limestone, and other materials are in the soil, smooth the seedbed with a drag or use a wooden rake.
Then roll with a heavy roller to provide a smooth, firm seedbed. Loosen the top quarter inch with the wooden rake or a light harrow to -provide the germinating layer for the grass seed.
August 15 to the end of September is the best time to seed a lawn. This is nature’s seeding time; weed competition is minimal, and the rainy season helps the lawn get a good start.
Try to choose a seed mixture suitable to your climate and soil, and for the use, the future lawn will get. Don’t use cheap seed; it’s labor that you’ll be wasting if you do.
Seed when the soil is moist and the top fairly dry. Grass seed is very light, so it’s best not to seed on windy days.
The good idea is to divide the seed into two equal parts and sow half in one direction and half in a direction at right angles to the first.
This helps to ensure the uniform distribution of the seed. Seed at the recommended rates for the mixture you use.
Seed can be cast by hand for small areas or a seeder or spreader used for large areas.
After seeding, rake very lightly in two directions at right angles to each other. Use a wooden rake and only pull it toward you.
Pushing back may uncover some of the seeds. It’s very important not to press too heavily, for this will bury some of the seed too deep and cause uneven germination. Too deep seeds may never germinate.
After raking, roll lightly in two directions. This firms the soil around the seed and hastens germination. A water ballast roller with most of the water removed is about right for this.
As soon as the seed starts to germinate, the lawn should be sprinkled gently and thoroughly with a fine spray. Don’t let the soil become dry.
As soon as the lawn is well up, deeper. thorough soakings are needed for deep rooting.
However, caution is needed lest the ground becomes too wet. The saturation of the soil will produce a stagnant condition and poor aeration.
Mow the seedling turf just as soon as you can get a bite with the mower, particularly before the grass gets more than 1 ½” inches high.
Use a catcher basket for the first few cuttings, so the clippings will not smother the tender seedling turf. Keep mowing until the grass stops growing for winter.
Fertilizer And Lime
Both spring and fall, it’s a good idea to apply 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet of complete turf fertilizer to the lawn.
The best fertilizer is an 8-64 of 8.6-2 with at least 40% percent of the nitrogen in natural organic form.
It always pays to go easy with lime on lawns. Turf grasses like a slightly acid soil of about pH 6.0. If they are strongly acidic, 50 pounds of limestone per 1,000 square feet may be added.
If in doubt, contact your county agricultural agent or state experiment station for information about a soil test. Or you can easily make your own test with a kit.
Weeds and moss on a lawn usually indicate a lack of plant food rather than a lack of lime. The best defense against weeds is healthy, vigorous turf.
Keep the lawn mowed. Clippings should be removed when the lawn is new to prevent their matting down and smothering the new turf.
After the lawn is well established, short clippings may be left on to provide nitrogen for the grass.
Cut the short grass ¾ to 1” inch in height. We used to think that longer grass cut at 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches was the healthiest.
Still, years of observations on the experimental turf plots at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station show the opposite.
Lawns kept cut at an inch in height or less last longer and look better.
Someone once said that burning leaves was like burning dollar bills. That’s true, but the lawn is still no place for them.
Rake them off in the fall, for they will form a mat and smother the grass plants.
Reseeding Bare Patches
Reseeding can be done either in spring or fall, though fall is the best. Thin or bare spots can be scratched up with an iron tooth rake to allow the addition of any necessary lime and fertilizer before seeding.
Seed as described under making a new lawn. If seeding is done in the spring, it should be just as soon as possible to give the new grass plants a chance before the weeds come.
Grass plants often heave from frost action. In spring, after all, necessary reseeding and renovation are done, roll the lawn with a water ballast roller with enough water in it to press the heaved areas back into the ground. It’s best to roll in two directions.
A compost application once a year will help keep the lawn level and smooth and add food to the grass.
Make the compost with two parts garden loam, one part clean, sharp sand, and one part well decomposed organic matter (leaves and grass clippings. etc.).
Add up to one-half cubic yard (10 bushels) per 1,000 square feet. It should not be more than one-fourth inch at any one spot.
The back of a wooden rake can be used to work the compost around roots and stems. Apply either in spring or fall during a period of vigorous growth.
With some of the new chemicals available, several of the worst weed enemies of the lawn can be gotten rid of.
Applications of 2,4-D kill dandelions, plantain, and other broad-leaved weeds.
Crabgrass can be controlled by using one of the potassium cyanate or phenyl mercury acetate compounds.
In fact, crabgrass killer and 2.4-D can be applied together. Some companies are making a mixture of the two.
It’s wise to follow the manufacturer’s directions for these chemicals carefully. If used properly, there is no danger of damaging the lawn.
Cheap, hasty lawn construction does not pay. It’s expensive to correct a lawn’s faults after it’s grown.
Haphazard care is costly, too, for no matter how well a lawn is constructed, it will go downhill without good care.
A well-built, well-cared-for lawn will truly be a carpet in your own outdoor living room!