Renovating a Lawn

“Use of good cultural practices, fertilization, irrigation, mowing, aeration, overseeding and topdressing will be more critical than ever to help customers maintain healthy lawns.” So advised Ontario provincial turfgrass expert Pam Charbonneau in trade periodical Horticulture Review.

In the intervening three years since Charbonneau tendered that advice, it remains the ne plus ultra for lawn care. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, lawns may have become neglected. Then resounds the cri de coeur: “How do I renovate my lawn?” The basic answer is with time, work and yes, money. First stop giving the lawn a crew cut every time it is mowed. Grass should not be cut shorter than two inches (5cm). This allows a sufficient length of green blades to feed the roots below and, once the lawn has thickened up, to choke out most weed seeds as they attempt to germinate. Over time, the soil that forms the base for the lawn becomes compacted, preventing air, water and nutrients from penetrating. A motorized aerator can be rented to correct this deficiency. A sister contraption is a dethatcher, used to remove accumulations of thatch, or dead grass, from the lawn. Badly neglected lawns seldom suffer from this latter problem, however.

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It has been said that in Hawaii the girls wear grass skirts – and the boys love to weed the lawns. Hiring local kids to do just that, to extract weeds from an infested lawn, might seem the perfect answer. Alas, social media and other distracting delights are likely to intervene in the acceptance of filthy lucre. How about those natural selective herbicides? Far from a cheap solution, they have not exactly found favour with commercial lawn care operators or when tested by researchers. Several mechanical devices are offered online and in stores to eliminate weeds, mostly by most satisfactorily violent means. As with the rest of the garden, grass requires fertilization. Twice a season using a granular fertilizer is adequate, once in late spring and again in fall. Liquid fertilizers may green up lawns within hours but are expensive, tend to encourage thatch and the results are short-lived. Prior to the advent of modern carefully formulated fertilizers, lawns were topdressed annually with weed-free rich soil. This practice has recently been revived with bags of special soil available at garden centres. Applying about a quarter-inch in spring or fall has the additional benefit of building additional depth of soil beneath the lawn. This encourages the roost to penetrate deeper and the lawn to better resist desiccation during dry periods. Many a lawn has declined thanks to lack of sufficient moisture. Turf requires a half-inch of water ever three days, whether naturally from rain or a garden sprinkler. Should Jupiter Pluvius fail to deliver, note that it is water every three days and not daily. The former again encourages deep rooting and a healthier lawn. Finally there is overseeding. A neglected lawn will almost certainly require such. Timing, though, is critical. Despite stored eagerly offering grass seed of varying quality in spring, the best time for overseeding may be in late August or even September. At that time year, days are still warm, nights cooler and soil moisture adequate for germination and subsequent growth. Lastly, an old timer’s tip to finish off any lawn. English garden editor William Robinson suggested in 1883 that, “Flower beds are often best set in grass, and those that are to see them will approach them quite as readily on grass as on hard walks.” True, but improve all edges where lawn meets beds, walks or driveways by trimming with a sharp lawn edger – that long-handled tool with a crescent-shaped blade on the business end. It’ll leave your neighbours green with envy.