#15 - May 2018 - Garden Stuff - © Sandy Lang - slang@xtra.co.nz
LAWNSMay: Late autumn. We most have lawns. Keenies want perfect lawns. These tips are for lazy and busy-elsewhere gardeners. A well-mown lawn almost looks after itself…
Mower: Sharp blades cut cleanly and don’t rip. A catcher stops grass walking into the house. Don’t cut wet grass. Longer lawns look better and are healthier. Set mower to 6 cm in summer and 4 cm in spring/autumn. Too short, stresses grass plants, too long encourages weeds.
Frequency: Cut weekly during the growing season. There’s a relationship between plant size and plant number. A longer lawn has fewer, bigger plants and a shorter lawn has more, smaller ones. Infrequent mowing means plant size keeps changing and plant population density is forever trying to adjust. The result is bare patches and damaged grass plants.
Around trees: Put a neat circle (60-120 cm diam) of ronded river/beach stones (~4 kg each) around island trees. Dump clippings on the stones - don’t mound round the trunk or it’ll cook - saves time, solves disposal, mulches and feeds the tree and feeds the blackbirds. They hunt for insects in the dead clippings and spread it 15 cm all around. This kills the grass beneath, so you mow up to weed-free stones. Easy…!
Shade: Discourages grass and encourages weeds/moss. Remove lower tree limbs and thin crowns for more light. Maybe replace a too-shady lawn area with a shade-tolerant ground-cover species.
Watering: Eastbourne’s on sand and grass roots are shallow - deep watering is wasteful. Water lightly, daily. Watering bans are normal in summer. Happily grass is drought tolerant. It soon browns but also soon greens after rain.
Feeding: Use lawn fertiliser spring and autumn so grass grows stronger and excludes weeds. Spread it evenly and water it in to avoid burning.
Weeding: Cut out weeds with a knife – remove taproots. A selective lawn-weed spray may be less work.
Seeding: A new lawn is lots of work and can be disappointing. The species mix of an established lawn has adjusted to the conditions. If your lawn is very patchy, try over-sowing the worst patches in spring or autumn. Use a lawn-seed species mix that best suits your garden (read the label). The new species will take over from the old and spread.
To over-sow: Mow short, rake to disturb soil, scatter potting mix, scatter lawn seed, water gently, daily. Don’t mow too soon. ___________________________________
Mower: Sharp blades cut cleanly and don’t rip. A catcher stops grass walking into the house. Don’t cut wet grass. Longer lawns look better and are healthier. Set mower to 6 cm in summer and 4 cm in spring/autumn. Too short, stresses grass plants, too long encourages weeds.
Frequency: Cut weekly during the growing season. There’s a relationship between plant size and plant number. A longer lawn has fewer, bigger plants and a shorter lawn has more, smaller ones. Infrequent mowing means plant size keeps changing and plant population density is forever trying to adjust. The result is bare patches and damaged grass plants.
Around trees: Put a neat circle (60-120 cm diam) of ronded river/beach stones (~4 kg each) around island trees. Dump clippings on the stones - don’t mound round the trunk or it’ll cook - saves time, solves disposal, mulches and feeds the tree and feeds the blackbirds. They hunt for insects in the dead clippings and spread it 15 cm all around. This kills the grass beneath, so you mow up to weed-free stones. Easy…!
Shade: Discourages grass and encourages weeds/moss. Remove lower tree limbs and thin crowns for more light. Maybe replace a too-shady lawn area with a shade-tolerant ground-cover species.
Watering: Eastbourne’s on sand and grass roots are shallow - deep watering is wasteful. Water lightly, daily. Watering bans are normal in summer. Happily grass is drought tolerant. It soon browns but also soon greens after rain.
Feeding: Use lawn fertiliser spring and autumn so grass grows stronger and excludes weeds. Spread it evenly and water it in to avoid burning.
Weeding: Cut out weeds with a knife – remove taproots. A selective lawn-weed spray may be less work.
Seeding: A new lawn is lots of work and can be disappointing. The species mix of an established lawn has adjusted to the conditions. If your lawn is very patchy, try over-sowing the worst patches in spring or autumn. Use a lawn-seed species mix that best suits your garden (read the label). The new species will take over from the old and spread.
To over-sow: Mow short, rake to disturb soil, scatter potting mix, scatter lawn seed, water gently, daily. Don’t mow too soon. ___________________________________