It is so nice when I can have a breathtaking yard and still have plenty of time to enjoy my yard. Lawn Time savers This will be tips that I can do to help in reducing the amount of time I will be out in my yard taking care of it. Making Mowing My Yard Easier One thing I can take some of my grass out of my yard and replace with a deck, brick, patio or make a gravel pathway or driveway. This eliminates some of the grass to be mowed so this makes it low-maintenance. Take out sharp corners and curves and try to connect areas of lawn so I can mowed a lot of area at one time. Also I place my mailboxes, boulders, and lampposts out of the way of where I will need to mow my lawn. If I have slopes in my yard, it is better to use ground covers, so I do not have to mow the grass there. Ground Covers I like to design my pathways, so I want have problem with mowing. I do not put any stones or bricks in my grass, because I will be always struggling to keep them clear, I will put concrete or bricks mowing strips at the edge of my lawn, so my mower will go over. Plant shrubs and trees in my yard where there is no grass. Reduce Raking and Fertilizing I will leave my grass clippings just where they fall. If I have a mulching mower I will use it because mulched clippings decompose in two weeks. I will always fertilize my lawn two or three times a year with a slow-release fertilizer. Garden Time savers These ideas below can help me create easy-care gardens and flower beds. Choose Easy-Care Flowers using one type of flower can be better maintain than a bunch of them. Don't use flowers that will need to be staked, like hollyhocks. Choose plants that do not need to be prune, deadheading or heavy feeding. Position Plants For High Impact If I put plants together and not all over my yard, this will require less maintenance. I will put my flowers where they can be seen, such as a walkway , in front of my house or near my deck. Another way to highlight my flowers is to put them in a raised bed. Design For Low Maintenance I will make my flower beds narrow enough so I can reach across and be able to work in them with ease. Between my gardens and lawns I will need to install edging strips of brick, metal, plastic or wood. This will prevent weeds and lawn grasses from going into the gardens. Fertilize less by using slow-release fertilizers. To reduce weeding and watering chores I will need to spread a thick layer of organic mulch. Tree and Shrub Time savers I try to make good selection and careful planning of my trees and shrubs are both beautiful and low maintenance. Choose With Care I always asks a lot of questions on my selections of trees and shrubs to see if they would be low-maintenance. Select Pest- and Disease- Resistant plants. I will make sure I asked about my selection of plants being pest- and disease- resistant before I buy them. Choose trees with noninvasive roots that will not break your pavement or intrude onto the lawn, such as hack berry. Always past on fast-growing and fast-spreading trees, like popular. Choose shrubs that require little pruning or thinning such as , Japanese barberry will not little or no pruning while a yew or boxwood will need a lot. Plan Before Planting Always make sure that I give my trees and shrubs enough room to grow to their mature height and width. Group plants with similar needs such as plants that needs a lot of water in one area and plants that do not need a lot of water in another area. Avoid trees that drop foliage or plant shade-tolerant ground covers, like periwinkle. Summary To have a beautiful low-maintenance yard, there needs to be a lot of planning before I can start doing anything in my yard.
I would like to check out what grasses grows good in the humid southeast because this is where my family and I live at. Bermuda grass is one type of grass that grows real good here. Bermuda grass is heat-and drought- tolerant and it is very fast-spreading to the point that it could become invasivice in a yard. Bermuda grass is planted in two different ways, which are by seed and the hybrid Bermuda grass is planted by sprigs or sod. The seeds varieties are better to plant if you want to have less maintenance. Some of the seeded varieties are Yuma, Cheyenne, Del Sol, Primavera, Sultan, Sonesta, and Salara.
Zoysia is another good choice for most Southernlawns. This grass starts slowly, but when it gets established it is relatively low-maintenance and it tolerates traffic, heat and drought. These are some improved varieties of zoysiaa, Victoria, El Toro, Emerald, and De Anza. These offer faster growth longer color and a finer texture.
St. Augustine grass is another good choice for the southern states. It is planted either by sod or sprigs and the grass is coarse with broad leaves and it spreads rapidly by surface runners. In my yard, we have Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses.
I would like to write about what grasses will be good to grow in different parts of the USA. I hope that this will help everybody.
In the humid northeast and northwest, it has to be cool-season grasses, which would be Kentucky bluegrass, fescues, and perennial rye grass.
Kentucky bluegrass is the most popular grass grown in this area. This grass grown in this area. This grass has fine texture, quick growth, deep color, and cold hardiness. Midnight and Unique are grasses that has improved disease resistance.
These grasses will remain as a dark green that needs less fertilizing, such as, Opal, Challenger, Midnight, Cobalt, Washington, and Livingston.
Perennial rye grass new varieties are darker green, more disease-resistant and they do not turn brown after the grass are moved. Some of them are Stallion Select, Divine, and Stallion Supreme and these types have endophytes which are leaf-inhabiting fungi that will repel or kill leaf-feeding insects.
If there is a place that has allot of shade in the yard, dine fiscuies are the right type of grass that requires less mowing and fertilizing. Some of these grasses are Banner 11, Aurora, Discovery, Brigade, and Flyer.
The transition zone is where the north and south lawn climate zones interest. The grasses that will grow in this area, depends on the property. If there is a south-facing slope with allot of sun, it will need to have a warm-season grass. But if it on a cooler north-facing slope, the grass needs to be a cool-season grass. The Fischer will tolerate allot of foot traffic, drought, heat, and shade.
Turf-type tall fescues have better darker color, better texture and more compact growth.Here are some that are good to check out, they are, Tomahack, Virture, Duster, and Monarch, and the ones that are enhanced with endophytes are Tar heel, Earth Seve, Rebel 111, and Titan11.
In the cool, dry west the cool-season grasses will grow there, but the grasses will require supplemental irrigation.
If water is not plentiful, buffalo grass is one that can be tried as an alternative.
In the grid and semiarid southwest, there is not much of rain that falls in this area, so irrigation is a must. Bermuda grass is a choice, with St. Augustine and Zoysia a good alternatives.If the area does not have water, buffalo grass would be a great choice. At higher-elevations, which are Prescott, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico the cool-season grass Kentucky bluegrass would do good there.
Organic mulch is one of the best things that I can do for my garden, because mulch will inhibit weeds, moderate the temperature, conserve moisture, and improves my soil. Mulch makes yards look neater and it needs to reduce the time that I need to spending out in my yard weeding, watering, and fertilizing.
I will mulch my established garden in the spring, when the soil has warm up enough for active root growth. If I have planted either new trees or shrubs in the summer. I will need to water the soil thoroughly first, at least 6 inches deep.
In the winter, my ground freezes so I have to cover my perennials. After it is frozen completely with 4 to 6 inches of loose mulch, which could be pine needles or straw. Once the soil starts to thaw in the spring, the mulch needs to be remove gradually.
I know that mulch does not kill existing existing weeds, I need to weed my garden before I start laying down the mulch. The best way to put down mulch is to make it thick enough. If I am using a type of fine mulch, such as, shredded leaves I will need to put the leaves 3 inches thick and if I am using a coarse mulch, such as, wood chips, I will put the chips 4 inches thick, but I have to make sure to keep the mulch away from plant stems.
Woody mulches such as straw, bark, and wood chips, will last several years before they will need to be replaced. These kinds of mulches are low in nitrogen and they will take it from the soil as they decay. I will counteract this, by adding nitrogen fertilizer to my soil in the spring. I will add 2 pounds of 10 percent nitrogen fertilizer for ever 100 square feet of my garden. Put the fertilizer evenly on the mulch, then I will need to slowly add water to the fertilizer. I will check my plants in early summer and if I find any of my plants in a weak, stunted or yellowish new growth, I know that I will need to repeat the nitrogen fertilizer system again to my garden plants.
Another way is to use landscape fabric under the mulch. Landscape fabric is used because this tight mesh will let water and fertilizer to reach my plants, but it will block the sunlight that weeds needs to grow. I like to use this landscape fabric around my permanent plantings, shrubs, and my trees.
I will lay the mesh down after I have planted my trees, shrubs, and other permanent plantings, and I will cut holes for all the plants. After this, I will cover with mulch for a beautiful appearance in my garden or yard.
Right now, I would like to talk about the many different types of mulches, so everybody will know there are more different mulches to be used than I have already talked about.
Lawn clippings are really available for anybody to use in their yard. Lawn clippings are high in nitrogen and fresh lawn clippings will mat and ferment and this can kill plants so the clippings need to be dry out and add shredded leaves to the mix and then add as a mulch.
Wood chips are a long-lasting mulch and they are very easy to use. They can be used for garden paths even when they have a real heavy rainstrom.
Pine needles are another great type of mulch that I have a lot of them, because we have a lot of pine trees on our property. Pine needles are free of weeds, longstanding and great for use around trees and shrubs.
Straw is good to used to mulch my garden9vegetables0 and winter cover. Straw decomposes real quick so I will need to reapplied regularly around my vegetables and winter crop.
Compost is another type of mulch and it is decomposed organic matter. Compost is a great soil builder but compost is not the best type of mulch because there will be weed seeds in the compost and it will blow away. Compost needs to be work into the soil and then put mulch over the compost.
Leaves decomposes rapidly and they will improves the soil. I always make sure that I have shred all of my garden. I do this because if I put whole leaves around my plants, the whole leaves will smother the plants.
Shredded or chipped bark is another good type of mulch that decays slowly and it won't blow away. They are good to use to suppress weeds around my trees and shrubs.
Stone is not an organic mulch, but it does have ways that it can be used in your yard. Stone is a low-maintenance ground cover that is used ground cover that is used around trees and shrubs. I put landscape fabric, under my stones, so I will not have problems with removing the stones.
I hope that this will help anybody with what kinds of mulching that is out there for everybody to use in their garden and yard.
I have allot of grass to cut, but I am very thankfully that I have it. My family and I live on my old home place.
There are ten ways that will help me to be able to grow and keep a healthy lawn.
The first way is for me to always mow the grass high. This is done because my lawn consists of million of grass plants, and every time I mow my lawn, this removes part of each plants leaf. Because if I mow too frequently, this limits leaf development, reducing the plant"s ability to produce and can not store enough nutrients. If this happens, my lawn will become thin, weak and there will be allot of weeds instead of grass.
Since I live in the south I mow the lawn higher in the summer and early fall, this is when the grasses are actively growing. St. Augustine and Bahia I cut them 3 to 41/2 inches high and Bermuda grass 2 to 3 inches high. Centipede and zoysia grasses I do not have, but they need to be cut 2 to 3 inches high.
I like to also write about grasses that are grown in northern lawn. In spring and early fall the lawns do not need to be no shorter than 3 inches high, when they are most actively growing. In summer mow higher around 4 inches. In late fall and early spring mow the grass 2 inches or less. As the grass becomes more active, gradually raise the mowing height on the grass.
The second step to a beautiful lawn is to not cut off too much at once. I I only cut it when it needs to be cut, because if I do not do this, the grass plant will put all of its energy into replacing the lost leaf area, and that stops root growth, food storage, and many other vital functions.
I always keep a check on my grass height and I do not let my grass grow no more than 41/2 inches. The third step is I do not bag my clippings, because I like to leave them where they fall so they can break down and feed my lawn, and this reduce its need for fertilizer. Another reason is this gives my lawn a greener, deep-rooted lawn, and it helps the environment because my grass clippings will not end up in a landfill.
I leave my grass clippings on my lawn up to 2 inches long and use my mulching mower to do this. Those finely mulched clippings will go to the base of my plants and they will decompose within two weeks.
The fourth way is to keep my mower blades sharp. If a mower blade is not sharp, the grass leaf will shred instead of cut and this leaves an unsightly gray tip and that will invite insects and disease.
I start off every mowing season with a sharp blade. I let professional sharpening my mower blades. If I get small nicks on my mower blades. I can use a file and I can smooth them out. If the nicks are large, I have to get a new blade I put up sticks, rocks, and other debris out of my yard, before I start mowing, trying to prevent damage to my blades.
The fifth way is for me to water wisely. If I water my lawn, lightly, this will cause my lawn to be more vulnerable to pests, weeds, and disease.
To help the lawn to root deeply, I need to not start watering my lawn to early in the spring. I need to let the roots reach deeper as the soil gets dryer. I can tell if I need to water my lawn when I walk across it and I can see my footprints on my lawn.
When this happens, I will have to fully saturate the soil for a hour or two. I push a spade 6 inches into the soil and move it forward; the soil should be moist all the way down to the bottom of the roots. After that, I will water my lawn heavy, one time a week, and twice if it is really hot, dry and windy. I always water my grass real early in the morning, so that it has all day to dry, because wet grass at nighttime will cause disease.
Lawns need about 1 inch of water every week. To make sure of the right amount of water, put a tuna fish can down and when it is full, then the water needs to be cut off.
If the lawn is overwatered this makes the soil to have no oxygen in and carbon dioxide can not get out. This also causes fungus and germinates weed seeds
The test of the soil is another good way for my lawn to be beautiful. I need to get my soil test, so I can find out if my soil is good for my lawn. The simplest and most inexpensive kind of soil test checks the pH level which is the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. On a pH scale, 7 will be neutral, lower is acidic and higher is alkaline. Lawn grasses grow best in 6.7pH, which is a slightly acidic soil.
Another way to keep my lawn beautiful is to have good topsoils which it may be that my soil is good enough, I may need to improve my soil. My soil is full of earthworms, microogranism that keep the soil loose and break down minerals. All of this makes the dirt into the fertile soil which make my soil real good.
Now if my soil is compacted, I will need to do some aeration. I will do this by using an aerating machine that punches holes into the soil about 2 inch deep and 6 inches apart, pulling out plugs of earth and this will provide room for water, air and fertilizer, so the roots can flourish. I need to do this when the grass is actively growing, so the roots can heal and then fill the holes before the weeds can get started.
The next one is not to overfertilize my lawn. Allot of lawn fertilizers are high in nitrogen and fast-acting, but this will weaken grass by overstimulating its growth.
The best fertilizer for my lawn is one that will feed it slowly. Organic fertilizer which is made from natural source such as grain, manure, fish, or kelp is one and the other type of fertilizer is a synthetic slow-release fertilizer with a high percentage of controlled-release nitrogen such as sulfic-coated urea. Fertilizers needs to be used only when the soil needs to have nutrients added to it. Since my soil is good, I will only fertilizer my lawn three times a day, and I don"t put more than one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet at a time.
The next way to have good lawn is to always feed the lawn at the right time. If fertilizer is put on the lawn at the wrong time it will be real bad for the grass, because the weeds will take over the grass.
Southern grasses needs to be fertilize two or three times a year. The best times are spring , summer,, and early fall. The last fertilizer needs to be done six to eight weeks before the first frost comes.
Northern grasses needs to be fertilize only once or twice a year. Northern grasses needs to be fertilize in the winter because this helps to nurture the grass through winter and thicken it in the spring. Do not fertilize anytime through the summer.
The last way is to get rid of thatch. Thatch is like a sponge that soaks up water and fertilizers before they can get to the roots of lawn grasses.
The best way to get rid of thatch is by using dethatching machines and power rakes and Northern lawns are done in early spring or fall and Southern lawns are done in late spring.
Now if you want to get rid of thatch permanently, it has to decompose. Earthworms and microbes digest thatch where it meet the soil. This is done by making sure the surface soil pH isn't too acidic. Biological dethatching products can add more of the soil microorganism that will decompose dead plant tissue, but it will not set rid of the thatch.permanently is to combine these approaches with the other nine steps of good lawn maintenance.
