How to restore the appearance of your lawn
Is your lawn yellowing, thinning and drying out? Do you wake up at night and think about the loss? Is your lawn ending but not wanting to grow? You might advise a grass care professional to buy a Lerator or recommend a new lawn. But that’s too expensive, because they probably spent the money to buy a lawn mower and are still spending the money now?
So let me introduce you to another, unusual and effective way to restore the perfect look of your lawn that lawn care salesmen and lawn care companies will be in awe of!
How to restore the appearance of your lawn – what problems do lawn owners face?
Every year, many suburban homeowners face a lawn problem. Plus, it’s a pretty common problem. I sit in gardening a lot and see a lot of questions asked by people concerned about the condition of their lawn.
Here are the main problems you may encounter: – sparser and more worn lawns; – bare patches showing up with absolutely no grass; – despite fertilizer and careful maintenance, the lawn is losing its lushness and beauty. If you are familiar with these problems, I suggest you read the story of Daria and Oleg, who were able to easily and cheaply restore the beautiful appearance of the lawn. Not many people know about this method.
How to Restore Lawn Appearance – Why Lawn Problems Arise?
Daria and Oleg have a small dacha in the Leningrad region. The main problem with their garden has been the lawn for years. It was ugly – sparse and yellowed. Two years ago they decided to completely remove the old grass and create a lawn from scratch. After removing the old lawn, the floor was cleaned of old grass and weeds, the top layer was mixed with compost and peat, and then raked. Everything was ready for seeding. Oleg evenly seeded the lawn. After sowing, the plot was watered and we waited for the sprouts. At first all was good. The grass sprouted evenly and the lawn was covered with lush greenery. Daria and Oleg cared about the new lawn, used proper fertilizers in the right doses, watered regularly and mowed it.
After the first winter, the lawn held up well, and spring work resulted in it healing quickly. But the summer drought came and the owners were a little careless, they didn’t always find enough time to care for the lawn. As a result, you could see the lawn was becoming neglected in the fall. In winter, the lawn was in a terrible state. Almost half of the lawn was covered with snow mold, and in some places they had to steal. Oleg and Daria took on the work with particular zeal and sowed the empty areas with fresh seeds. The grass became uneven, lost color in some places, and the empty spaces remained. Oleg began looking for a solution to this problem and searching for answers. Why is the lawn losing color so quickly and what to do next? Would I have to re-seed the lawn from scratch?
After searching the Internet and consulting with an expert at a nearby garden center, Oleg and Daria already knew that the cause of all these lawn diseases could be too heavy and dense soil, which presses on the roots of the grass and does not allow the lawn to grow normally. You could see this especially after a heavy rain – it would take a long time for the puddles to dry out. If the soil was loose and soft, the water would soak in very quickly.
How do I get my lawn looking better – why is it yellowing?
Yellowing of the grass is a common lawn problem. It can be caused by our negligence in taking care of the grass, fungal diseases of the grass, and pests that parasitize on the grass roots in the soil. Learn why the grass is turning yellow and wilting and how to prevent it.
Why is the soil under your lawn getting denser You’re probably wondering why the soil under your lawn is compacting and becoming dense? After all, if you are like Oleg and Daria, before sowing your lawn you have prepared accordingly: removed weeds, added peat and compost.
Grass roots grow quite deep and can die under unfavorable conditions. Despite careful cleaning, after each mowing the lawn is left with a residue of grass clippings. Subsequently, it accumulates more and more, thickens and forms an impermeable shell on the soil surface (so-called “felt”), as a result of which water, oxygen and nutrients do not reach the grass roots, and pathogenic microbes begin to develop. As a result, the appearance of the lawn deteriorates, the grass begins to hurt, and “gaps” appear.
How do I combat these problems in my lawn? How to get rid of them quickly and effectively? How to restore the beautiful and healthy appearance of the lawn?
How to Restore a Lawn’s Appearance – How to Prevent Turf Accumulation Under the Lawn
Already convinced that the soil under the lawn is very dense and compacted, Oleg turned to the garden center for advice on what to do now. How to restore the grass to its beautiful appearance? At the center, Oleg was advised the same thing all lawn care experts say: aerating the lawn. This procedure is carried out with a special device called an aerator. It allows you to soften the soil and allow air access to the roots of the grass. The grass really starts to grow, becomes stronger and gets a lighter green color. You need to aerate 2-3 times a season to see results.
Then a consultant at the garden center instructed Oleg to buy a specially designed device for aeration. It is similar to a lawnmower, but instead of cutting blades it has spikes that penetrate into the ground and allow the plant to breathe. Oleg was also advised not to take a cheap scarifier, as it can be very light and because of its weight will not be able to loosen the top layer of the lawn. Looking at the prices for aerators, Oleg got desperate, because he recently spent money on a lawn mower, and now he is buying an aerator worth tens of thousands of rubles, which is used several times a year. As a result, he again began searching for information on the Internet and accidentally on one of the forums saw another way to restore the lawn without buying an aerator.
How to restore the appearance of the lawn – a way to recreate a perfect lawn
The method that OLEG found on the forum is to use a liquid venting agent, which is placed in a container with a quick connector in a container, connect a garden hose and treat the lawn as with conventional watering. Thus, a significant amount of money is saved, as the liquid costs ten times less than a mechanical or electric ventilator. This preparation is produced by the Polish corporation “Gol”.
Now Daria is proud of her husband and is happy to see that the lawn is getting stronger and richer every day. How is it that Oleg was able to restore the beautiful appearance of the grass so inexpensively? The liquid air coating contains various microorganisms that help the floor breathe as well as nourish the soil. This makes the lawn come alive and restore its healthy appearance. Importantly, such preparations are based on natural components and are safe for the environment, people and animals.
The result of the effect of using a liquid ventilation agent: – the soil under the lawn becomes softer, thanks to which water, oxygen and fertilizers get to the grass roots; – the liquid ventilation agent accelerates root regeneration; – the lawn becomes not only brighter and richer, but also less susceptible to diseases and bacteria. – In addition, the drug compacts the soil and accelerates the decomposition of grass residue that remains after mowing, which prevents the so-called “feel”.
How to restore a lawn?
The quality, resilience and longevity of the lawn is not only determined by the selection of grass and the accuracy of laying the entire structure of the lawn, but also by the relevance and correct care. In the absence of proper care and all the necessary measures (watering, fertilizing, mowing) lawn grass in 4-5 years begins to decay and must be obsolete (Urazbakhtin Z.M., 2004). If not properly prepared, a lawn can be completely out of date in 3-4 years. However, even with normal care it can lose and degrade ornamental properties, but the intensity of this process depends to a large extent on all the agro-technical measures carried out.
The longevity of lawn grass largely depends on the type of navigation. Lifespan of loose grass species is 5-6 years, tight grass 35-45 years, rhizome-rooted grass 10 years and more. Under the conditions of central Russia lawns can generally retain their properties for more than 35 years (Lipkovich I.P., 2004).
So why do grasses that can live for 5-10 years retain their properties for a longer time? Oddly enough, it is due to mowing. Due to the fact that the plant is not applied in the phase of flowering and fruiting, it is simply not allowed to “shoot” the spike, prolong the youthful development.
On urban lawns, the method of root improvement is applied only if the lawns occupy less than 50% of the surface cover. The main causes of deterioration are excessive wear and tear and insufficient maintenance. In general, the condition of urban lawns leaves much to be desired, their very maintenance is quite expensive, and the budget is secured.
Lawn reconstruction in the city can be radical and superficial. Basic lawn restoration includes exposure of fertilizers, topdressing (covering unproductive or disturbed areas with a fertile layer), and seeding of lawn grass. Surface – fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, aerating the lawn and mulching. These agronomic techniques were adopted as standard in the 1950s because lawns were not yet subject to high ornamental requirements and there was no budget for lawn care.
Such measures did not mean that the lawn was getting much better. The negative effects of improper grounding of urban lawns are very common. The appearance of sand and mud deposits on the sides of civic ramps and streets is the result not only of illiterate city improvement projects, but also of such “grounding” when lawn soil is poured over the curb and washed down by rain onto sidewalks and paths. So all efforts, unfortunately, will be in vain, no matter how much they wash the streets in Russia, until they start doing the right lawn.
How do you restore a lawn after neglect or loss?
First of all, it’s important to understand what caused the lawn to fall out. If gross mistakes were made during installation, the lawn should not be restored, but created anew.
Gross mistakes include: using poor-quality soil, creating the wrong construction of the floor (i.e. wrong laying of drainage and nutrient layers, failure to comply with the required thickness of layers), creating a lawn in a deliberately unfavorable location (excessive moisture area, deeper shade, etc.). In the first and second case, as a rule, you have to remove the entire lawn and the floor under it and make a new one. In the third – to abandon the idea, to lay on this site lawn and replace it, for example, a shade-tolerant flower bed.
We will not answer the question of how to make a new lawn. The article “How to lay a lawn” describes everything in detail. We will, however, consider the causes of lawn loss and, based on them, analyze how the lawn can be restored.
Compression of the soil
If there was a big holiday at the dacha and guests trampled the lawn near the barbecue area, you should not refuse them, so everything can be restored. Overcompaction is promoted by two processes that should be used together – ventilation and vertical.
Ventilation in the cottage is recommended by using regular but sturdy hay forks. It is very simple – every 30 centimeters you stick the pitchfork perpendicularly to the full depth (20 cm) in the lawn and rock a little back and forth, so that the lower layer of the lawn loosened. It is worth scarifying after this process.
A scarifier is a lawn mowing device with knives on a shaft with a level of 2-3 centimeters, and thanks to its rotation and movement along the lawn, even cuts are obtained. But if the soil is overcompensated, the scarifier easily “plows” the soil, which means that the seeds brought in can germinate and put down roots better. After these processes, seeds can be sown and universal lawn fertilizer can be applied.
dry out
Crashed the police car, didn’t come to the cottage for a long time, the water was turned off or there were a number of other reasons for not watering the lawn and it dried out. What to do about it? First you need to understand the extent of the tragedy. If the lawn is completely dry and shows no signs of life, it needs to be renewed. Keep in mind that sandy lawns dry out faster. To ensure that sandy soil retains moisture better, you should apply organic fertilisers – such as humates.
In the middle belt of Russia, it is unlikely that the climate is humid enough and the rains are often missing. No matter how unfortunate it looks at first, you should try to restore it.
First of all, it is worth thoroughly combing it with a light, flexible rake to make it easier for the young leaves to sprout without damaging the node of the nipple. Pour 10-15 liters of water per square meter per square meter. That’s quite a lot; in fact, it’s almost two buckets. Remember how you water from a hose. After watering, you can treat with Epin-Exista, Zircon or Silpots stimulants.
At temperatures of 30 ° C and above without precipitation, water every day. Closely monitor the moisture in the soil: If the moisture quickly goes away, you need more intensive watering. But do not over water, the lawn should not form a puddle. The lawn should start to grow after 1 to 2 weeks. In the first 2 months you should not pump it too low. Leave 4-6 cm. With low mowing it should fully recover.
The lawn has not been mowed for a long time and has gone into a column
Another problem of busy people – went on vacation, did not go to the site for more than a month, and the lawn has already spiked. A simple mowing is no longer sufficient. Once the plant starts to toss its tops, the lower leaves start to turn yellow and die off due to lack of light. After mowing, you can see that the lawn is noticeably elongated and full of yellow leaves.
The lawn itself can only return to its pristine state after long and proper care, but this will take a season or two. A quicker way to bring back the beautiful look is as follows: When mowing, you initially roll the soil (evenly distribute the finely sifted fertile soil with a thickness of 1 to 2 centimeters) with a hand roller weighing 60 to 80 kilograms,,, Water every 1-3 days, depending on weather conditions.
In 2 weeks you need to start shading the seeds, in 3-4 weeks you need to make the first mowing of 4-6 centimeters. Thereafter, do not start the lawn and mow every 7-14 days, depending on the intensity of growth.
Lawn weed infestation
Use selective herbicides to control weeds in your lawn. The most popular and effective ones are Lontrel and Linthor. A good effect can be achieved by using a tank mixture (mixture of drugs in one volume) of these two drugs, and you should not reduce their concentration, and add to the aerosol as much as written in the instructions.
The principle of action of these two drugs on weeds is different, so they work perfectly. Herbicides affect the upper part of the plants, so you should not mow them and try to flood the root with the solution. You need to spray the leaves of the plants, and the drug works for 2-3 weeks and kills the entire weed plant.
There is a peculiarity: these herbicides destroy only dicotyledonous plants, and monocotyledonous lawn grasses are not touched. Therefore, it is impossible to kill monocotyledonous weeds with these drugs. The most vicious monocotyledonous weed is couch grass. It is very difficult to kill, as it spreads through underground rhizomes.
Couch grass is easy to recognize, it grows faster and has wider leaves than the rest of the lawn. You can either remove it mechanically by digging up all the roots (this is not a very effective way), or by continuous treatment with herbicides (tornado, roundup, gelios or others based on glyphosate), but in this case you have to do it after 2-3 weeks Restore the lawn completely.
Clover is very difficult to control in lawns. Selective herbicides have little effect on this plant, and clover regenerates quickly after treatment with lontrel and lintur. It likes clay floors with low nutrients, so proper lawn care, timely application of mineral fertilizers, timely mowing and watering the lawn reduces them.
Weeds are the most dangerous to young lawns, because before they get stronger, the weeds begin to reclaim space. Timely and proper lawn care allows us to grow the plants we need. A quality lawn is even a barrier for weeds, it forms a strong grass cover, thanks to which the weeds can not develop.
Lawn
If false soil with a large proportion of raised depressions was used when laying the lawn, the lawn usually begins to settle after 2-3 years. In our practice, this is not an uncommon case, because the cheapest part of earth mixtures is hohmortorf, and the unscrupulous earth mixture manufacturer adds more of it. Therefore, when using such soil, the lawn not only settles, but also can fail, since the acidity of the upper floor is high, and this environment is not favorable for lawn grass.
First you need to understand the extent of the problem:
- If the pH value (acidity) is between 5.5 and 7, and the peat layer does not exceed 10 centimeters.
In the case of heavy overgrowth of weeds, treat the lawn in the fall. After 2-3 weeks, when all the grass dries out, evenly distribute the fertile soil and sprinkle the soil at the level of the paths. Compact the soil with an 80-kilogram hand roller. After rolling the floor should be at 2-3 centimeters below the level of the paths. Apply 50 grams of compound fertilizer per square meter and sow a mixture of lawn grass seeds in the amount of 70 grams per square meter. If you want to lay sod the floor must be 4-5 cm lower than the paths. Then water generously.
- If the pH value is below 5.5, and the peat layer does not exceed 10 centimeters.
For example, dolomite flour in an amount not less than 300 grams per square meter (30 kilograms per hundredweight) should be added deoxy. Then you need to limestone the soil, flatten it and remove all plant residues. Add fertile soil (15% sand, 35% lowland, 40% earth), level to the level of the paths, act with a hand roller weighing 80 kilograms, add mineral fertilizers and knock in the seeds of lawn grass. Water with plenty of water and wait for sprouts to appear.
- If the pH is more than 10 centimeters from 5.5 to 7 and a layer of peat.
If a significant amount of topsoil has been applied (more than 10 centimeters), it may take more than 2-3 years for the soil to peel off. So it is worth to start by removing at least part of the existing manege and carry out the same operations as in the previous paragraph, except for the application of the deoxidizer. Remember: Order the floor by an average of 30% more, as its volume decreases after rolling. If you create a layer of 10 centimeters, you will not need 10 cubic meters of fertile soil per hundred square meters (100 square meters), but 13.
- If the pH value is below 5.5 and the peat layer is more than 10 centimeters.
Remove a piece of land with top peat (or a significant part of it, so that the peat layer does not remain more than 10 centimeters) and carry out the same operations as in the second point: Add shell rock, add fertile soil Also, expand them, apply rolls, apply mineral fertilizers and sowing.
The appearance of lawn mussel
The first thing to do is to determine the cause of the moss. This can be a disease, mechanical damage or lawn aging due to improper care. After eliminating the cause of the appearance of sprouts, make the soil with hooks and apply mineral fertilizer. Combat sprouting can be done on the plot, if there are few on the plot or on the whole plot.
Prepare excellent fertile soil. Apply mineral fertilizer to the whole place, install across the site) a layer of 1 to 2 centimeters, so that the driven poles are flush with the level of the main race, roll the place with a hand roller. If after rolling, the bald saves are below the level of the main lawn, reapply the fertile soil, level and roll again.
Lawn Restoration
