Have you ever stopped to consider how many grass plants there are in your lawn? It won’t take you long to realise that you have more plants in your lawn than in your flower beds. When you consider the feeding, composting and mulching received by a flower bed, you’ll begin to appreciate that lawns are sorely neglected.
Post-frost care
After one of the coldest Gauteng winters on record, August is a great time to follow this programme to ensure that you have a lush green carpet of lawn this summer.
* Scarifying. This simple task removes dead matted or frosted grass (or thatch build-up) in indigenous cynodon or kikuyu lawns. If left untouched, this thatch will eventually smother new shoots, as well as prevent air, moisture and nutrients from penetrating down in to the soil.
To prevent your lawn deteriorating, remove the thatch using a lawnmower set on the lowest possible setting to cut away at least half the dead grass. Rake up and remove the remaining lower levels of thatch until there is only a sparse covering of old dead grass. Remember, bunch-type cool season evergreen grasses should never be scarified.
* Aeration. Grass, like all plants, needs tiny molecules of air around the roots in order to function healthily. Aeration also improves the ability of water and nutrients to quickly reach the roots. Either use a standard metal garden fork to spike the soil at intervals of 10cm or obtain a manually operated aerator which spikes the lawn by removing tiny plugs of lawn and soil in its hollow tines.
* Lawn dressing. Available from garden centres, lawn dressing is a sterilised mixture of soil and compost used to fill in holes in the lawn and even out a lawn.
* Fertilising. Slow-release lawn fertilisers are now available in various levels of chemical or organic certification. All can safely be used every four to six weeks during summer.
* Watering. Water lawns deeply after applying fertiliser. Water regularly during dry weeks in the growing season.
Plant a new lawn
August is also a good time to rethink your lawn strategy. Perhaps you would like to start afresh this season by removing your waterholic or weed-ridden inferior lawn, enrich the soil with fertiliser rich in phosphates and compost and plant a new lawn.
Follow this step-by-step programme:
* Kill the old lawn. Start by spraying the old lawn with a herbicide (Ridder or Roundup). Allow the grass 10 days to die, then mow it short.
* Fertilise the soil. Dig the area over, incorporating liberal quantities of compost, 40g (3tbs) of lawn fertiliser per square metre and 50g (3tbs) of superphosphate per square metre. Level the area and water to encourage any surface seeds to germinate. Spray with a herbicide again if necessary.
* Sow a new lawn. The most economical way to grow lawn is to sow lawn seed. Try Kentucky Blue, Bermuda (a Cynodon dactylon variety), kikuyu or an evergreen lawn seed (for shade or semi-shade). Mark out the area where you will be sowing seed. Divide the seed into two equal parts and sow one half, moving up and down the area, and the other half moving across. Rake the seed into the top 10mm of soil and compact lightly by rolling or tamping. Use a fine sprinkler to water after sowing. Water for few minutes at noon daily for two weeks. This will keep the soil moist and cool, allowing the seed to germinate and the seedlings to become established. For the next six weeks, water three or four times a week and thereafter only when required. Avoid over-watering in shade areas.
* Plant lawn plugs. Lawn plugs cost less than a third of the price of instant lawn, can be bought in trays of 200 plugs, are easily transported, and can be kept at their destination for up to five weeks before planting if they are stored in semi-shade and kept moist. As they have already rooted they will cover the lawn area in four to six weeks in favourable conditions.
* Plant lawn runners. Grass runners or sprigs are less expensive than plugs, but cannot be stored beyond a day or two. They also take longer to cover the soil as they have to strike roots. Prepare soil and fertilise. Plant runners in rows 30cm apart, and water regularly.
* Lay lawn sods. This is the most expensive way to lawn a garden, but it does provide instant lawn. Level and fertilise the lawn area. Remember to stand on a plank while laying the lawn to avoid indentations and to protect the new lawn. If there are curving beds, lay the turf sods along the edge of these beds end to end, and fill in the gaps in the lawn side of this edging with small pieces of lawn taken from the larger sods. Keep well watered until new growth is apparent. - Saturday Star