Dandelion! The Ultimate Weed!
Some people like the sight of yellow dandelion flowers in their lawn. Others may even appreciate their skyward-stretching puffballs. But if you're not one of those people, we can suggest some natural and organic methods for controlling dandelions.
Pulling dandelions by hand is not that easy, but it can be done. You need to get the whole tap root out—if you don't, the piece you've left in the ground will sprout new foliage and, eventually, yellow flowers and white puffballs.
For little weeds, pulling the tap root out is not too hard if you're careful. For larger specimens, it can be nearly impossible. A special "dandelion digger" tool can help, as can attempting your weed-pulling operation after it's rained, when the ground it still a little loose.
Dandelions grow in one of two ways; from a dandelion seed that germinates, or from a still-viable piece of tap root that's under the surface. If you can interrupt the seed production cycle AND starve the tap roots of nutrients, you can defeat your lawn's dandelions without having to buy any chemicals or other products. Here's how to approach this:
1. Pick off the Heads — As soon as you see a dandelion plant's yellow flowers, pick the heads off. That will prevent them from getting to the puffball stage, when they release the seeds for the next generation of your lawn's worst nightmare.
2. Pick off the Leaves — Picking the leaves off a dandelion will not kill it because the tap root remains below the surface and will quickly send up new leaves. But repeatedly picking off the leaves will eventually starve the tap root of nutrients and kill the weed.
3. Corn gluten meal—which, just like it sounds, is naturally derived from corn. It acts by suppressing the germination process of a variety of weed seeds, including crabgrass and dandelion.
A multi-year program of applying corn gluten meal every spring will eventually give you a weed-free lawn. Remember that corn gluten meal will suppress germination of grass seeds as well, so time your applications away from reseedings.
The only other downside of corn gluten meal is that it will also kill the beneficial, nitrogen-fixing clover in your lawn, but we recognize that from some people's perspectives, that's a good thing.
Corn gluten meal also benefits your grass by adding nitrogen to the soil.
If you like spending money on mechanical gadgets to help you with your gardening, you'll find a variety of appliances such as flame weeders, mechanical pullers, water-powered weeders, and heat zappers, all designed to kill your dandelions off. These do work but are expensive.
So your Lawn is full of the dreaded Clover. Well did you know that until fairly recently, clover was not considered as a weed at all and indeed was liked by gardeners because it gave their Lawn a deeper green look.
This happens because Clover removes Nitrogen from the air and transfers it to your Lawn. In fact, some garden suppliers include Clover in their proprietory lawn mixes even today! It helps the grass grow more pest resistant, reduces the amount of fertilizer required, (so is good for the environment) and leaves the Lawn much healthier.
As a kid you probably went clover searching - looking for that one magical four-leaf charm. Seeing clover's shamrocks and little white or pink flowers in your lawn nowadays probably doesn't make you feel lucky anymore. Like many a perennial weed, clover can be hard to evict from your lawn.
As a result, it's one of the most common weeds around. Even though it's green and its flowers are, admit it, sort of cute, it attracts bees, which can be an underfoot danger, and is also quite slippery when wet, another danger.
So your probably asking what's the best method of Killing Clover In The Lawn?
The most effective method of controlling clover is to maintain a dense and healthy turf area. Often weeds can be easily kept out if the Ph and nutrients levels are optimum. Then a cornmeal application can be use to control the weeds. Use 10 pounds per 1,000 sq ft every 120 days simply as a fertilizer as well.
Mowing height and the frequency of mowing also will deter these weeds.
Clover does especially well in moist conditions and in less than optimally fertile soil. The one nutrient it really goes for is phosphorous.
So if you cut back on the water and up the level of the nutrients, other than phosphorous, that your lawn needs to thrive, your lawn will do better and weeds like clover will do worse. The best defense against any weed, clover included, is a healthy lawn.
Pulling weeds by hand also works in small lawns. Clover has a taproot you can easily dig out by hand. For spot control a little spade action is hard to beat.
In the last resort, chemical action is sometimes necessary, especially when managing large areas. Always read and follow directions on the label and keep pets and children away! Post-emergent herbicides do a great job on clover. A weed-and-feed that lists clover as among its targets will help tackle any serious clover encroachments.
Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com
I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.
O.K. so you wake up one fine morning and discover - horror of horrors - that there are large bumps and hollows in your lawn. Or, perhaps you have just moved house and need to deal with a new garden.
Well first off, don't panic! Second off, forget your garden roller as a remedy! Using a garden roller simply enhances the bumps and hollows and compacts everything into a hard mass.
If you have "large hollows" in your Lawn, the only way to get rid of them is to strip off the turf and take out some soil before replacing the turf in its original position.
However, often times, it is simply an uneven lawn that is the problem. If this is the case then the easy answer is to bring the hollows up to the level of the bumps, thus creating a flat surface.
To define this in a more clear manner, if the hollows are about 2" deep then the lawn can be treated easily by filling the hollows up.
First thing to do is find a straight edge, perhaps a plank will do. Place the plank over the hollow to be treated and use it to spread a top dressing mix into the lawn to a rough level by "screeding" the edge back and forward.
Once the surface is level, then compact the soil by treading in with your heels. The final result should be only sufficiently firm as to not leave any fooprint.
Then rake the soil to its final level with as wide a rake as you can find.
Finally, spread a mix of grass seed over the treated area at about 1 good handful for each square yard, making sure of a wide, even spread across the area.
Rake this in lightly.
I suggest you protect your lawn against the ravages of birds, possibly with some form of net protection. Water the area and await results for about 2 weeks. By then the grass should have started to grow and you will have a lawn that is level and flat.
One of the classic blue shrubs (in more acid soils) is the Hydrangea macrophylla, or common hydrangea. This has become almost a signature plant of gardens in the U.K. and it's easy to see why, because it provides endless Summer Hydrangea. Hardy and requiring little maintenance, it delivers year after year, over a long flowering period from midsummer to late autumn. Hydrangea macrophylla is in fact divided into two categories. The most frequently encountered are the 'mopheads' or 'Hortensias'. These are the ones producing big, confident, dome-shaped blooms. 'Blue Bonnet' or 'Goliath' are examples.
If you are looking for something more unusual, the 'Lacecap' hydrangeas provide an exciting alternative. The flowers of the lacecap hydrangeas are quite different from those of the mopheads. They are made up of two parts - an outer ring of showy florets and a central arrangement of small fertile flowers. Hydrangea 'Blaumeise' is a wonderful lacecap to look out for. Also known as 'Blue tit' or 'Blue sky' it produces exceptionally deep blue coloured flowers set against dark green leaves.
Another great choice if you're looking for blue flowering shrubs is the buddleia. Ideal in a border, the arching stems, tipped with clusters of flowers of varying shapes and colours (depending on species and variety) are, like the hydrangea, a classic sight in the summer garden. 'Black Knight' and 'Empire Blue' are examples of Buddleia davidii bearing flowers with blue and purple hues whicb are very attractive to butterflies. 'Lochinch' and 'West Hill' are other examples of bluish buddleia.
Lavender is a shade in its own right, and fields of the plant shimmering under a hot sun are an image to take home from Mediterranean holidays. Bring some of that romance into your garden with one of the hardy lavenders grown in this country. Lavenders will bring fragrance and colour to shrub borders or rock gardens. They can also be used to form a low hedge, perhaps around a vegetable area.
Three very different shrubs, all with the potential to bring the beauty of blue into the garden. As with many shrubs, none of these require much maintenance and will thrive in most garden soils (though for best blues from your hydrangeas your soil needs to tend towards acid). Blue can be bold or it can be demure. Either way it is always the height of good taste.
lawn care
Lawn Mowers
The way you mow your lawn could mean the difference between a healthy lawn and a very healthy lawn. Most people are not thrilled when they have to mow the lawn or weed it. But these are important lawn maintenance tasks that have to be done.
The first step to mowing the lawn is to buy the right lawn mower. There are many different kinds of Lawn Mowers on the market today.
Push mower -These are probably the oldest lawn mowers in existence, but they are very effective for smaller lawns. You will get no special perks from this mower. With some updated mower, you may be able to change the blade height, but that’s about it.
All you have to do is manually push the mower over the lawn and it will cut the grass. It is important to make sure the grass is dry or it will get caught in the blade and you will have to remove it.
The clippings will fall on the lawn.
You can grab a bag and rake them up, or you can let them decompose and feed your lawn. It’s your choice.
Electric mower - An electric mower is a little easier to use because it is powers by electricity. This means that you will be able to cut your lawn faster than with a push mower. Older electric mowers have a power cord that you will have to plug in order to use. These mowers can be dangerous if you do not remember to look after the cord.
As with the push mower, you will have to clean up the clippings or leave them on your lawn.
Electric cordless mower - These mowers do not have cords which make them much easier to use and do not require you to find an outlet on both sides of the house. Electric cordless mowers also come with a bag that will store lawn clippings. When the bag is full, you will have to empty it. These mowers run on a battery that can be charged easily when not in use.
These mowers can also be used without the bag if you would rather let the lawn clippings fertilize your lawn.
Ride-on mower - For larger lawns, a ride-on mower will help you not run out of energy to complete other tasks around the yard once the mowing is complete.
These mowers have bags that will catch lawn clippings.
Mulching mower - If you want to use your lawn clippings, but do not like the site of them, you should look into investing in a mulching mower. These mowers will ground up lawn clippings so they are not as visible as regular clippings.
How to Mow
Regardless of which lawn mower you purchase, you should learn how to mow the lawn correctly so that you do not do unnecessary damage. You should consider following these tips:
You should mow your lawn when the grass is dry and is about three inches in length. If you mow any sooner, you may end up killing the grass. You will then have to reseed and start all over again. If you don’t want to walk outside each weekend and measure your lawn, you should mow about twice a month or every other weekend during the summertime.
Each time you mow your lawn, you should begin in a different direction. If you mow in the same direction each time, you will end up creating ruts in your lawn. These ruts could destroy your lawn and also make it look run down and unkempt.
Even if you do not want lawn clippings, and have not purchased a mulching mower, maybe you could compromise and only pick up lawn clippings once a month instead of twice. Full of nutrients, lawn clippings will make your lawn healthier.
Mowing the lawn is not difficult, but it should be done correctly so that you can get the most from your lawn during the spring and summer months. The nutrients you feed your lawn during this time will keep your lawn healthy for the entire year. While mowing too much can be a problem, so can not mowing enough. Long grass can cause shorter pieces to not get enough sunlight.
Mow your lawn consistently and you will enjoy a lush lawn all season long. Fertilize it with fertilizers, mulch, compost, and lawn clippings to keep that green alive all year long.
Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com. Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com
I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.
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