Winter Ryegrass

Fall is in the air, fall is in the air so the song goes. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler.  The cool nights, ample rain fall and morning dew are about as good as it gets for grass to grow.  Many lawn expects claim that fall is the most important single lawn feeding of the year. By applying a fall lawn feeding  in early September will help your lawn to begin to rebuild grass roots that were damaged during the hot, dry summer.  A second lawn feeding in November will strengthen your grasses roots and increase nitrogen storage for an early spring green up and healthier lawn next spring. Just because the temperatures outside are no longer high you can not forget about waterng in the fall.
The first step in preparing your lawn for its long winters nap will vary, according to whether your lawn is composed of a warm season grass or a cool season grass. If you are unsure which type of grass you have in your lawn take a sample to your local county extension agent.
 Common cool season grass turf grasses include:
  Bluegrasses
  Bentgrasses
  Fescues 
  Ryegrasses
 Common warm season turn grasses are:
  Bermudagrass
  Saint-Augustinegrass
  Zoysiagrass
  Buffalograss
Once you know what type of grass you are growing in your lawn it is time to overseed. By overseeding with annual winter rye grass (Lolium multiflorum), lawns that are planted with warm season turf will we green all winter long instead of brown. When you buy the grass seed  make sure you are buying annual, not perennial. Annual winter ryegrass will die back when the hot summer heat returns, turning your lawn over again to your warm season turf grasses. The problem with the perennial winter ryegrass is that it doesn’t o away. It grows all year round competing with your warm season grasses for sunlight, water and nutrients. 
Lawns that are compossed of cool season turf grasses also benefit from overseeding. In this case the the motivation behind the overseeding is not winter cosmetics, but to fix bare spots, so they will come up green next spring.
Fall Lawn Mowing
If you are using cool season grasses adjusting the lawn mower height for fall mowing is not a problem.  Mow your grass the way you normally would right up to the time the grass stops growing for the winter.  If your yard is composed of warm season turf grasses then your mower’s height should be increased by ½  inch .

Do not forget your feathered friends. During the fall the birds sources of food a being reduced at the same time that they are beginning to migrate south for the winter and need plenty of substance to make their journey. A birdfeeder in your back yard will bring you joy as you prepare your lawn for the winter months just ahead.  Some colorful lawn decor items will also bring life back into your backyard for the fall season.

Mid to Late Summer Gardening Tips

Here are some tips on what I do to keep Linda’s Serenity Garden looking good without wearing myself out.

The Ornamental Garden

Now is the time to deadhead your flowing plants. This will help them to keep producing blooms over a longer period. This is a task that you can do while enjoying a summers evening. Get into the habit of taking a stroll around your garden every evening. Stop and snip or pinch off spent blooms. If you do a little of it often, then it is not a big project, rather,  a way to enjoy  the plants in your garden.

The Vegetable Garden

Harvest your vegetables as soon as they are ready to eat. You will enjoy them at their peak of sweetness and flavor.  Harvest continuous producers regularly to encourage more fruits to develop.

House Plants

It should now be warm enough for you to take your house plants out into the garden for a summer holiday which they will appreciate.

Lawns

If you didn’t get around to feeding your lawn in the spring, you can still apply a fast lawn feed now. You will really notice the results. Be prepared to push the lawn mower more often however!

Since you will be out in your garden more often during the summer months, take the opportunity to assess your garden and make notes of any changes you would like to make.  It always helps to take some photos though out the season to remind you what the borders looked like at various times. Digital cameras are great to use for doing this.

Do not forget that it is also time to be putting out garden decor and accents in your garden and lawn. Visit our website and check out the large selection of bird houses, birdfeeders, bird baths, garden gnomes, fountains, statues, English garden houses and troughs, wind chimes and much more. These will give your garden that unique personality that only you can give it.

The most important thing that you can do to take care of your lawn during the hot summer months is to properly water it. The stress of the summer heat makes proper watering important.

Water your lawn early in the morning. During the day up to 30% of the water from a sprinkler can evaporate before even hitting the ground! Water ing in the early morning hours prevents the water being lost to evaporation and allows it to soak into the ground before the heat of the sun can evaporate it. Do not water at night. Night watering invites fungus to form in your yard.

During the summer months cut your grass higher then you normally do during the spring and fall months. I recommend setting your mower blade at least one inch higher during the summer months. I like to cut my grass at least 4 inches tall during the hot summer weather.  The taller grass blades will help to shade your root zone and retain moisture.

Keep your mower blades sharp. The sharp blade cuts the grass blade straight across. A straight cut blade of grass will seal faster to retain water then a ragged edge grass blade from a dull lawn mower blade.  Leave your lawn clippings on the ground to decompose and also help keep the moisture in the ground.

Always fertilize your lawn in the spring. Do not fertilize in the summer. The fertilizer will put your lawn into distress. The fertilizer application you made in the spring suffice.  See our blog on using compost to fertilize your yard.

If you have areas of brown dead grass check to see if weather you can pull the grass up by its roots or not. Grass that is suffering from drought damage will not pull up by the roots. If the grass does pull up by the roots it you may have an infestation of bill bugs. Check with your local lawn and garden store for how to properly treat for bill bugs.

Remember that during June, July and August keeping the lawn sufficiently watered is the key to having a healthy lawn. With a great looking healthy lawn, garden accents from our website will give your lawn that unique look that only you can give it to personalize your lawn.

Using organic compost in the natural chemical free way to have a green healthy and vagrant lawn.

Compost is one of the easiest was to keep your lawn healthy and green. This is preferable because it’s is safe and organic. You are not constantly adding chemical based fertilizer to your lawn or garden.  It is best to compost your lawn 2 or 3 times a year.

Compost is great fertilizer because besides having nutrients like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus it often has trace elements in it. You normally do not find trace elements in commercial fertilizers.

Some additional benefits to using compost are:

                Compost will not burn your grass

                Compost won’t smell as old manure-based fertilizes

                Compost won’t stain your concrete or brick walkways

                Compost works fast

                Compost is not expensive compared to commercial fertilizers

Step 1

Start with a good, fine-textured compost. Garden centers carry good, bagged compost that is ready to use. You can also use home -made compost if you have some that you produced for yourself. Just make sure that it is fine  textured so it will rake out evenly without leaving clumps. I suggest using some fine hardware screen to sift out the lumps.

Step 2

                Spread the compost. You can use a shovel or just start dumping the compost out of the bag around your lawn. Do not apply it thickly.

Step 3

With a flexible garden rake spread out the compost over your lawn unit it is about ¼” thick. You want a fairly thin layer. Do not apply it much thicker.  More is not better. This will only cause you problems such as smothering your grass. When you are done raking you should not see very much compost showing through the grass.

Step 4

Once you have raked a nice thin evenly applied layer of compost, water it in for 15 to 20 minutes. Take care of your lawn as normal, applying water regularly. Do not mow your lawn for about 1 week.   Allow the compost 7 or 8 days to break down and release its nutrients. After one week you can return to mowing your lawn just as you regularly would.

That is it!

                If you compost your lawn 2 or 3 times a year, it will be very lush and healthy. You will never want to use regular chemical lawn fertilizers again. If you are looking for an organic way to have a healthier lawn, this is it. Also once you have your green healthy lawn do not forget to check out our website for items to bring that uniqueness that only you can bring to your lawn, garden or patio.