Feed it.....I think the watering thing is once a week but enough to feed deeper roots....don't cut it too short to let the roots develop more.
|
|
|
Anyone into gardening here?
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
Feed it.....I think the watering thing is once a week but enough to feed deeper roots....don't cut it too short to let the roots develop more.
Julz
Well-known member
I need recomendations on what to feed it thanks.
That link is pretty good for a quick summary of what to do and not to do. The only thing I would advise against is using synthetic fertilizers as they will hurt the soil more than help it. Focusing solely on N-P-K discounts the importance of many of the other things going on in the soil. Ironically, I teach Turf Management at Humber College. PM me and I'll give you a bunch of useful info.
One thing I always try to prescribe - feed the soil, not your plants. Topdressing and aeration can help a great deal. Also free nitrogen can be had from nitrogen fixers like clover, keeping your clippings on the lawn, using corn gluten in the early spring to combat weed seeds and get a nutrient boost.
Last edited:
Glad you liked it.I grow basil in my herb garden every year.The more you trim it,the bushier it gets.Plant marigolds around your garden to keep the pests away. Man i miss my Dad.
I found an enviro friendly concoction to spray my lawn with.We in Waterloo are on water bans all summer (water once per week only) and our lawns get weak and easily attacked by pests etc.Chinch bugs are the worst.Coons turned my backyard upside down about 10 yrs ago to get at them.I spray the lawn with a "dial a spray" set at #4.
1/2 can of coca cola
1/2 bottle of beer
1/4 cup of ammonia (makes the grass greener)
1/4 cup of mouthwash (attacks the chinch bugs epidermis,and your lawn smells minty fresh)
1/4 cup of dishwash detergent (kills em)
Sonova... neighbor convinced me to spread fertalizer the other day... his lawn looks really good so I said fark it, I will listen. But all readin I have done since says otherwise!!!
My grass is usually the most green on my street. Don't cut it too short. Leave the clippings on the lawn.
I see my neighbor cut their grass once a week and cut it almost in half, Dump a bag of fertilizer on it and then water it every day. The he walks over to me and asks why mine is greener when i do none of that stuff.
I see my neighbor cut their grass once a week and cut it almost in half, Dump a bag of fertilizer on it and then water it every day. The he walks over to me and asks why mine is greener when i do none of that stuff.
Yes. Aeration is poking holes in the ground, and even better is when cores are pulled out of the ground. If you have either compacted soil or poor quality soil, then aeration, followed by a a topdressing of some better quality soil (ie compost) will help to improve the overall health of your lawn. You can rent an aerator from Home depot or a tool rental place for a day.
And when you cut your grass, try to not cut more than 1/3 of the blade height off, otherwise it can stress your plants too much. As a rule of thumb, water infrequently, but deeply, to promote deep, drought resistant roots. When you water, try to water between 4am and 10am so you lose less to evaporation (ie watering during the day) and water does not sit on the grass all night creating an environment for diseases (ie watering in the late evening). It would take about 2 hours of watering to supply 1.5" of water with a typical sprinkler to your lawn. You can just use a tuna can to see how long it takes to add that much and then you know for the future how fast your sprinkler puts down water.
Don't forget that lawn go dormant (ie brown) in the prolonged summer heat - it's perfectly normal and once the weather cools down a bit and some rain follows, it will green right back up. Grasses that grow in Ontario have two dormancy periods - one in the winter and one in the summer, to help them survive through adverse conditions. You can minimize the summer dormancy period by watering, but it's not a good use of water, since the plants aren't dying anyways.
Lastly, if there was one book that does a great job of dealing with natural lawn care it's this one.
And when you cut your grass, try to not cut more than 1/3 of the blade height off, otherwise it can stress your plants too much. As a rule of thumb, water infrequently, but deeply, to promote deep, drought resistant roots. When you water, try to water between 4am and 10am so you lose less to evaporation (ie watering during the day) and water does not sit on the grass all night creating an environment for diseases (ie watering in the late evening). It would take about 2 hours of watering to supply 1.5" of water with a typical sprinkler to your lawn. You can just use a tuna can to see how long it takes to add that much and then you know for the future how fast your sprinkler puts down water.
Don't forget that lawn go dormant (ie brown) in the prolonged summer heat - it's perfectly normal and once the weather cools down a bit and some rain follows, it will green right back up. Grasses that grow in Ontario have two dormancy periods - one in the winter and one in the summer, to help them survive through adverse conditions. You can minimize the summer dormancy period by watering, but it's not a good use of water, since the plants aren't dying anyways.
Lastly, if there was one book that does a great job of dealing with natural lawn care it's this one.
^^ done regularly, this is the best approach
I realize its for the better environment (unless you own a golf course) but I really miss better living through chemistry. I could be a horticultural moron and still have a gorgeous lawn. Now I'm shoveling compost and throwing worms off the driveway back onto the grass.
You're better off without them. I worked with similar chemicals for years and it was some of the nastiest chemistry I've done (toxicity wise). We were taking similar precautions to working with nerve gases and I'm pretty happy not to be anywhere near that stuff anymore.
Lots of creatures serves a purpose in the ecosystem, I keep convincing myself that.
There was once a particular island in the Caribbean that had snakes, because the early European settlers didnt like snakes, they introduced mongoose a natural predator. Now there is no snakes but more rats!
Sent from my Phone, dont judge the grammar
My dad has a dethatching attachment for his lawn mower, it's like a blade with out the sharp parts and springs attached
Did not read thread, I hope this is relevant.
First time garden last year, all tomatoes. Bought 6 or 7 varieties @ garden center. Production was dismal except "Valencia". Obviously doing something wrong but going all Valencia this year.
Also, what's the deal with Emerald cedars? Running a 30% death rate. That can't be normal.
First time garden last year, all tomatoes. Bought 6 or 7 varieties @ garden center. Production was dismal except "Valencia". Obviously doing something wrong but going all Valencia this year.
Also, what's the deal with Emerald cedars? Running a 30% death rate. That can't be normal.
Not necessarily doing anything wrong...rot and mould have been a problem with my tomatoes for the past two years. Much more than in years past. I'll be trying a few different things this year like spacing the plants out way more and getting rid of a lot of the leaves on the plant when it comes time to ripen the tomatoes. Try planting varieties that ripen earlier, that should help. Also cherry tomatoes do pretty well (for the same reason). I also have a lot of success with Brandywine tomatoes which are an old heritage tomato that sometimes looks a bit ugly but tastes amazing.
One year I made a big mistake though..I planted tomatillos (to make green salsa with). Those things grew like weeds and spread and I realised that I didn't like green salsa all that much.
Is the turf management course for amateurs or designed for golf course management types?
I've resodded front and back yards the last two years and don't want to go back to the weed collection I had before.
The game plan for 2013 is fertilizing per online instructions from the sod supplier, weeky watering and a half an hour per week of weed patrol with a weed puller in hand.
It depends on where you bought your emerald cedars from. A big problem with the ones that are often sold really cheap is that they usually are grown from a place like Oregon or the west coast. They grow really fast there, are shipped out to Ontario and then can't survive our winters well. A high death rate with them is somewhat expected. Locally grown stock is generally considered much hardier to our winters and climate needs.
A few things you can do if you are going to buy them is to make sure that they are really well watered in upon planting. If they have any sort of southward exposure, I would also wrap them up with burlap over the first winter or two (minimum) to make sure they don't suffer a lot of winter kill from the harsh cold winds offset by the heating effect of the southern sunlight exposure.
The course I teach is within the Horticultural Technician Apprenticeship program - a red seal trade program designed to give students a broad exposure to the landscape industry - lot's of courses on Plant ID, Construction, Pests/Diseases and much more.
At least one good thing about putting sod down is that you smother the existing weed seed bank. For new ones that start to emerge, pulling weeds by hand (before they go to seed) is a great way to manage a home lawn and most of the time it's just being consistent with it. The best defense to a potential weed problem is to have a healthy lawn that does not allow weeds to encroach. Most weeds are also soil indicators - they will tell you if you soil is too compacted, nutrient deficient, wrong pH or whatever. Also Corn Gluten can also help manage some level of weed control as a pre-emergent - apply it in early spring when the forsythia's are in bloom.
|
|
|
|
|