This is a topic near and dear to my heart. Ask my wife and she will tell you that I was obsessive over my lawn for the last two years ... I can not disagree.
It all started with a new house. Usually a good thing right? Our first new house to a new impasse with 5 other new houses. We got to pick colors and flooring and had some input in other matters.
CONSTRUCTION OF TRAUMA
I went out on my front porch every morning and practiced a little grasslings to grow up through the straw performers prescribed. I looked through my bedroom window one morning and Woo Hoo, I could see the green. So the rest ofof this summer I learned that the building is a hell of grassland and trees .
As I clean the straw, it was discovered there was more bald spots than the grass sites. And most of the bald spots, but the weeds! The ground was terribly non-even and there are rocks everywhere! Large rocks, small rocks, medium rocks ... lots of rocks!
Further investigation revealed that the construction crew is fertile top layer of dirt to fill in other parts of the cul-de-sac. As we discuss later, the top layer of dirt is very difficult to replace and take decades to form. Now mine is probably under the Black tip of my neighbors' August
to find out later how many trees do not like the entire construction rubble. They toughed it up for the first year and a half as a tough five-story tall columns of rock you would expect. But then one by one, they have less left until it was obvious that they are dead. We lost a dozen trees. Of course, each of them just around the house, including a magnificent large ones on the front lawn, which is defined by the curb appeal of the house.
So here we are with the barren waste land of the dead trees and mange lawn full of stones and weeds.
ERROR
first mistake I made was a classic, try to do as little as possible until you realize its taking more time and money than if you just started from scratch in the first place ".
Little by little
I brought in a dump truck loads of dirt to try and level of small parts. I bought a little patch of lawn bags of pellets for bald spots. I bought three things to a class of nutrients for the trees. I should just have hired a bulldozer to level the whole thing, and then spread seed and straw.
So, as I tried to patch and pick up rocks I started doing some research. My wife told me that the "clay soil". So I watched it and realized that clay is like concrete. Its a very dense, does not hold water, does not allow the roots to breath or move.
Gypsum
page says to add gypsum. Few small pebbles that look like those of volcanic rocks in a gas grill. place, he put the truck load on your lawn with a spreader every year for about 3 years. The idea was to work its way to the ground and create small pockets of dense clay, thus allowing the clay to breathe and to hold more moisture like a sponge. It sounded great, but most people I've said what I'm doing is saying that is a lie and the only thing you need is the top soil (the stuff that contractors took ).
Earth Worms, geese, and sand
the opposite of clay soil sandy soil so I figured that I just added my sand on clay is going to be perfect. Nope ... adding sand actually take the clay that may have some chance of being good soil some day and make it absolutely useless concrete.
I woke up one night with the perfect plan! Ill buy a couple of wheel barrels full of worms! Its great is not it? They aerate the soil with a little tunnel and they poop all over the place. It certainly would make me well again and the ground fast! Nope ... Further research told me that the worms do not make a good dirt, good dirt makes the worms. Mostly fall worms on my lawn would be like putting them in the middle of a large empty parking lot.
This disappointment led me to think of geese. If I put a bunch of bread or whatever they eat on my lawn they will come and poop all over it. Nothing is better for grass than poop! My wife informed me that, when the geese do not choose a place to poop they come back to the spot for everyone. I'm a little fertilizer, not a minefield for the rest of my life.
savior
My wife appreciates my obsession, because she knows to give me something to do. Therefore, keeping me out of trouble and out of her hair. But she does not like to see me in pain and loss is painful for me, especially when my opponent is dirt. So she bought me a book on the lawns. Scotts Lawn Your guide to beautiful yard Nick Christians.
Let me start by saying that this is a great book, and if you're obsessive like me, you should go buy right now. With that said, though ... I was wary when I first opened the book as the first piece of advice was to fertilize. Fertilize in the summer, fertilize in the fall, fertilize in the winter, fertilize in the spring, fertilize, fertilize, fertilize. Hmmm I thought the book Scotts lawn products tells me to fertilize. Excellent! Nobody really cares about my lawn they just want me to buy gypsum and fertilizers, and worms.
I was jumping to conclusions as you will see.
TLA
the quality of your soil is the key, if you did not realize that out already. This is not grass, weeds, or, or watering. Good soil is the answer to 90% of your problems.
There are three main types of soil:
Clay soil - clay is like concrete. Its a very dense, does not hold water, does not allow the roots to breath or move. Rain runs right through it consume everything that is not a blade of grass struggled to catch even more. When it is hot and dry summer in the clay soil dries out just like ... good clay.
sand soil - sand is like the network. It was very loose and airy. So, loose and airy that too does not hold water or nutrients. water flowing through it just right. This allows the roots to breathe and move so they can fall over. The rain can actually wash away the soil along with any grass that grew in May to have it.
clay - This is what you want! It even sounds good. Say it out loud ... looooaam. This is the stuff that formed my top layer before it was scrapped away. It is a matter that is under the leaves in the forest. It is a soft black dirt that was formed a decade of decay of leaves and plants. This soil takes water from rain storms, and it holds like a sponge to slowly seep through the dry days. This soil has nutrients and is sturdy enough to hold your plants are perky enough to allow them to breathe.
SECRET
OK, so we found that our soil is terrible. What now?
There are two fundamental questions with sand and clay soil. They have no nutrients, and they do not keep a good thing (nutrients, roots, or water). So, we simply need to build this layer of fertile land back as quickly as possible and provide the soil with nutrients, while the additional layer is built.
<] Q] How? You guessed one of them. Manure is a key nutrient. Organic material is the key to the fertile soil layer.
now I go to
Here, step by step what I did at the end of turn my lawn brown balding disorder in the lush green envy of my neighbors. I must give credit to the book (and my wife) for just about everything I'm about to tell you.
mulch
MowerIt is absolutely necessary. Spend most of their time and money on this one thing. I spent hours researching Consumer Reports to find the best mower that mulches. It was a Toro push mower, but may have changed since then. You really need to replace the missing decade of organic material, and the easiest material you have is grass. good Mulcher will cut them fine enough to decay much faster.
<] P] High and mow often
Obviously, you cut more grass and mulch faster you build this layer. Cutting high encourages deep roots and healthy grass. It does not cause you to have to mow more often. For cutting the grass short can actually do.
mulch leaves
Just like grass, leaves chopped to help build this layer of organic material. I'm actually rake and blow leaves from trees on my lawn to mow and chop more. If I could think of a way to get truck loads of leaves delivered to my lawn, I would. Think of leaves as a free loam and fertilizer to put together!
of the soil sample
Before you fertilize, you need to know what your soil lacks. Giving it the nutrients it's already too much just sends you back.
Just about every community has a "Cooperative Extension", which is not cheap soil samples. You can fill a few bags with dirt from the freezer two different places in your lawn and bring them into the application to say how big your lawn is, etc. If no extension can be viewed on the web for soil samples.
What do you get back is a map of what to give their land. Soil should be three key ingredients, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium i. The report should tell you exactly how many of each of your soil needs. In addition she will tell you if your soil too acid or too alkaline.
Fertilizers
fertilizer is what gives the three key nutrients above. And if you like my lawn ... The book is entitled, fertilize, fertilize, fertilize! But be sure to use the right mix!
All the fertilizer has a ratio of the package that tells you how much nitrogen,
Phosphorus and potassium has. For example, the ratio of 50-25-25 indicates that half bag of nitrogen, phosphorus and the remaining quarter is a quarter of potassium. Bring your computer for storage, although such numbers are never easy as I can in my example.
My sample of soil is said that the size of my lawn I needed:
45 kg of nitrogen, but I just need to put £ 15 down at the time.
0 Phosphorus as it was already too much.
42 kg of potassium, but I just need to put £ 30 down at the time.
Armed with this information I went to the store to buy fertilizer with the ratio of 15-0-30 or as close to how I could come up with a bag that had twice as much phosphorus and potassium and nitrogen.
You'll have to do some math (hence the calculator) to figure out the pounds you are actually slight. For example, 40 pounds of bags with the ratio of 22-0-11 means that half of the nitrogen bag is so about 20 pounds. I needed 15 pounds so close enough. One bag was good for my nitrogen but we need twice as much potassium, so you really need a bag with a ratio of 11-0-22. As I said, bring a calculator and get as close as you can.
Lime
remains an important ingredient for a good lawn is the proper pH level. Remember my soil report indicates that it takes 42 pounds of potassium. And it also said my soil is very acidic and need lime £ 3,150! Yes you read that right £ 3,150 of lime, 750 pounds at a time. At £ 40 a bag, it's about 19 bags of lime each year for the next 4 years. It is what it is.
for advice on a huge limestone. Spend the extra money and get the ball. I went cheap and bought 19 bags of powder. powder got clogged in the spreader immediately so I ended up tossing it into the air from my wheel barrel. It got on everything, including my house, my car, my child, and I still have the taste in my mouth today. It was literally eating my wife's favorite in the garden spade to me that the scoop of the bag. Lime is the opposite of acid, but not the same darn thing for metal believe it or not.
balls will work in a spreader, stay on the ground, not in the wind, and are usually released time to go into the ground instead of washing.
CONCLUSION
first year was wasted on my experiments. the second year I have all of the above and my lawn improved tenfold! I fertilized again this fall and is expected to really shine my lawn this spring.
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