The amount of time and money you spend maintaining your lawn depends a lot on what your idea of a lawn should be-not necessarily what your lawn actually needs. Early lawns of the Middle Ages did not require much maintenance. That’s because they were inspired by glades or grassy openings in the forest (not pictures in magazines or golf courses). These lawns were meadow-like mixtures of grasses and flowers that were planted amongst fruit trees, vines, flowers and herbs and enclosed by fences or courtyards. There was no mowing. Grass was kept from growing too tall by trampling it into a soft, woven mat-like surface. If you too can adjust your expectations to taller grass, a mix of other plants in your turf, such as clover, and midsummer periods when your grass temporarily turns brown, you can achieve a low-maintenance lawn-and one that’s closer to the original spirit of the lawn.
* THE RIGHT HEIGHT
There are several reasons not to cut your grass too short. First, grass grows from the crown, not the blade tips. This trait makes grass ideal for lawns because they keep on growing despite the regular mowing off of their upper stem, leaf sheath and blades. This is also why it’s important not to damage grass crowns by accidental scalping with the mower. No crown, no grassy Second, keeping grass on the longer side also allows it greater surface area to carry out photosynthesis. This in turn results in healthier plants. Third, taller grass grows slower than shorter grass. You can use this simple fact to eliminate up to 20 percent of the mowing you do annually. That’s a savings of about 8 hours for the average lawn owner, not to mention a savings of gasoline and wear and tear on equipment. Finally, by keeping your grass at high end of its recommended mowing height, you can prevent 90 percent of all weeds from germinating and thereby eliminate the need for herbicides.
* WHEN TO MOW
Most cool season grasses should be cut when they reach heights of 3 to 3-1/2 inches, typically once a week. Warm season grasses should be mowed when it is 2 to 2-1/2 inches tall. Cut no more than one-third of the grass height at each mowing to avoid damage to plants. If the lawn grows too high for you to cut off one-third the height and have an acceptable length, cut off one-third now and mow one-third off again in two or three days. Cutting more than one-third the height will cause grass clippings to lay on top of the lawn and decompose more slowly and will give the grass a more open bristly appearance. In addition, short cutting will stunt or slow root growth and weaken the grass plants.
* WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR LAWN CLIPPINGS
Today’s advice, contrary to 20 or 30 years ago, is to leave clippings on the lawn. The old belief that clippings contribute to thatch build-up is false. Thatch is a build-up of roots and stems, not grass blades. Use a mulching mower and leave clippings where they fall. It not only saves the labor of collecting and composting them, it also reduces the need for adding fertilizer to your lawn and helps to conserve soil moisture. There are exceptions, however, to this advice. If you have neglected your mowing or must mow in wet conditions, the long clippings are likely to form heavy soggy clumps that cover the grass. In such cases, the clippings should be removed so they do not smother the grass. The idea of leaving clippings on the lawn is not new. In 1859 Henry Winthrop Sargent, a garden book writer and editor, wrote “except during may and June when the growth of grass is more rampant, and has to be gathered, we have removed our box for catching the grass as it falls from the rollers, and permit it to fly in a little shower all over the lawn as the cutting progresses. In this way, the lawn top-dresses itself, by returning all that it produces.”
Today’s new mulching mowers, also called recycling mowers, make it even easier to leave clippings where they fall. The deck and blade designs enable these mowers to cut each blade several times, producing a finely chopped clipping.
* WATERING FREQUENCY AND AMOUNT
You should try to give your lawn the water it needs-and no more. This conserves an important resource, saves money and helps prevent grass from becoming diseased due to too much water. How much water your lawn needs depends on the health of your lawn and soil, rainfall and on your climate. You may need only two waterings per year or as many as two per week.
The best approach to deciding when to water grass is to follow nature’s pattern of rainy periods followed by dry ones. Apply enough water to penetrate to the roots of the grass all at once, let the soil almost dry out and apply water again. Grass signals that it needs water by losing its spring-when you walk across the lawn and see your footprints, your lawn probably needs to be watered.
To decide how much water to apply, you should consider several things: the depth of your grass roots, your type of soil and water’s ability to penetrate it and, of course, the weather. First, check to see how deep the roots of your grass are. Add an inch to the average root depth, and this will give you a target for watering depth. It makes no sense to waste water by watering to a depth that’s deeper than your lawn’s root zone. Root depth depends on how much time you have taken to improve your soil and on what type of grass you are growing. Some grasses, such as tall fescues, have roots that can reach one foot deep. Others only grow to half of that, even in the best of conditions. As your grass develops deeper roots, you should adjust your watering target so that you continue to encourage roots to go deeper.
Next, determine how much water it takes to moisten soil to just beyond your root depth. A good rule of thumb is that you will need one to two inches, once or twice a week. If your soil is porous and drains quickly, you would apply one inch of water at the twice-a-week frequency. Conversely, if your soil holds water well, a good guess would be two inches once a week.
To accurately determine how long to run your sprinkler to deliver the desired amount of water, set out cans after a four-to-five day dry spell. Then run your sprinkler until you have delivered one inch of water to your lawn. Wait twenty-four hours to allow the water to penetrate the soil (12 hours if your soil is porous), and then check the depth of the moisture penetration.
If one inch of water moistens soil to a depth well beyond the root depth, try the procedure again but deliver less water. Conversely, if the root depth is not reached, try delivering more water. Keep accurate records of how long you run your sprinkler to deliver the required amounts of water, and base future waterings on what you have learned. If it rains during the week, decrease your watering by the amount of rain. If it has been hot and sunny or windy, you may need to increase your watering amount and frequency.
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