June 18

A healthy lawn is your best defense against lawn diseases and other problems. But when the weather favors the disease more than your lawn, problems can occur. Here are a few tips from local lawn care owner, Eddie Sullivan of Village Lawns. • Mowing your lawn often, and on a regular schedule is probably the most important factor in keeping your lawn looking good and staying healthy. When a lawn is not kept at an optimal level, it can be difficult for fertil- izer, herbicides and pesticides to reach the soil where these products work. • How often should I mow? That depends on several fac- tors, including the current rate of growth, soil fertility (nitrogen is key) and weather and environmental con- ditions. Too much, or too little rain can dra- matically affect soil conditions. For Bermuda grass the optimal mowing fre- quency is 3 to 5 days. For Zoysia grass it is 10 to 14 days. For Centipede grass, it is 10- 14 days and for St. Augustine grass it is 7 to 14 days. • How low should I mow? Well, you really don’t want to remove more than a third of the height in any one mowing. If you do, you will end up with more clippings to deal with. It is best to lower the height gradually. • So should I bag the clippings or mulch them up? The Al- abama Cooperative Extension System offers an article that quotes research done on this subject. It states, “Re- cent research has shown that this (removing clippings) is wrong. In fact, turfgrass clippings contain approxi- mately 58 percent of the nitrogen that we apply to our lawns, so removing the clippings is equivalent to “sweeping up” almost one-half of the nitrogen fertilizer you have applied. Therefore, turfgrass clippings should be returned or recycled to the lawn because these nutri- ents will eventually return to the soil.” • What about irrigation? How often should I water my lawn? The optimal way, is to only water your lawn when it starts to show signs of stress. The grass is “thirsty.” But doing so will not meet our desires for a constantly green yard. It is best not to water every day, unless you are renovating the turf , or establishing new turf. Too frequent watering encourages shallow root growth. The best time to water is early in the morning, as this will minimize evaporation. How do I know when I’ve put out enough water? Well, there are mul- tiple sites with formulas to calculate how long and how often you should irrigate you yard. { in the garden } 20 RIVER REGION LIVING www.riverregionliving.com Keep Your Lawn Green and Healthy All Season Long GUEST EDITORIAL