What’s up when your lawn is a rough ride?
Lee in Warrenton writes, “I have a 60-inch mower and use it to cut 24 miles worth of grass a week at my business. (My GPS told me the mileage.) It seems like the landscape is getting rougher every year. Is there a way to smooth it out? I’ve been thinking about aerating, but would that do the job?”
Compacted soil can make for a tough turf …
If you have to ask whether it’s time to aerate your lawn, it probably desperately needs it. Those big commercial mowers can really compact the soil over time and pulling out plugs to relieve that compaction will make you and the grass happier.
Core aeration — pulling out plugs of soil and sod to lessen the density of your dirt — is an overlooked and underutilized tool that can rejuvenate lawns that have endured a lot of traffic and/or struggle to survive in our terrible clay soils. But plugs must be pulled; just poking holes in the dirt won’t do it.
And the time to aerate is not now — you must wait until early September. Punching holes in a cool-season grass now would stress it greatly. Wait until right after the last big heat wave of summer is over and then wait for a nice dry stretch. It’s perfectly fine if it rains after you aerate, but you should never mow or pull plugs when the lawn is wet.
… but so can a bluegrass scalping
Yes, Lee; a machine as heavy as yours will pack down the dirt — but you also say that you’re out there every week, and you should not be mowing that often. No one should. Get a ruler and see how much green that monster truck is leaving after you cut. Ratchet the deck up until the lawn that’s left behind is a solid three inches high after cutting.
That’ll make for a smoother ride and help the lawn. Our most popular grasses — fescue, Kentucky blue and rye — brown out when they’re cut too short, especially in the summer. A three-inch cut keeps them green, and makes for a ride that’s kinder to your hinder.
Summer lawn care do’s and don’ts
Yes, summer is officially here (after all those weird tryout weeks during our so-called spring). That means it’s time to warn and/or remind you that this is the most important time to not stress bluegrass, fescue and other cool-season lawns, because they already hate the heat.
That means no feedings between now and mid-August. Summer feedings turn lawns brown.
It is also, more than ever, vitally important to have three inches of green remaining after you mow your lawn. Summer scalpings turn lawns brown.
But DO leave your clippings on the lawn; they provide a safe, gentle feeding every time you mow. And if you need to fill in bare spots or start a new lawn, get ready to hit the ground around Aug. 15 — the ideal time to sow cool-season grass seed.
Time for your stinking rose to be ready
Garlic alert! If you planted cloves last fall, it’s now time to check your work!
When the bottom third of most of your plants have turned brown, pull up a sample. If it looks like a big leek, wash it off, chop it up, use it to season tonight’s dinner and check another plant next week.
But if you get a nice big bulb covered with a paper wrapper, pull it all up and let it air dry for about a week in a cool breezy spot (out of direct sun), turning your harvest daily. Then brush the dirt off gently. Don’t wash your garlic!
As you break apart the bulbs to enjoy your happy harvest, save the largest cloves for replanting in September — but do that planting in a different spot than this year to avoid disease.
Oh — but DO sow some bush beans where this year’s garlic grew. There’s still time to get a nice run of green snap beans!
