Watering Schedule

Lawn Care

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Watering Schedule

Lawn Care

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How To Measure Sod

To figure out how much sod you need, first figure out the dimensions of the area you’re covering. Multiply the length times the width to get the total number of square feet. For example, for a 10-foot by 12-foot plot, your total area is 120 square feet. Sod comes in slabs that are 18 inches wide and 24 inches long. One slab contains three square feet. Slabs come in two sizes: 18” by 24”, which equals 3 sq. ft. and 20” X 40” which equals 5.6 sq. ft.

New Lawn from Seed

Your yard should be cultivated prior to seeding with initial grading. If you've decided to establish a new lawn from seed, first cultivate the area to be seeded, down 4". Mix in a lawn starter fertilizer or bone meal, and some organic matter (peat moss or mulch). Make sure you remove any rocks and break up large clumps of dirt. Then rake the bed until it's level. Broadcast your grass seed: Tall Fescue mix 7 to 9 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., Bluegrass mix 7 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., 100% bluegrass 3-5 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. If you're using a spreader, put half the seed in and spread in one direction, then put the other half in and spread the other way, crossing your first path. Cover your grass seed with a thin layer of straw, topsoil or peat moss, to protect it from birds and to keep it moist. Water thoroughly, adding 1/2" of water. Keep it moist with a sprinkler for about a month. It is necessary to water the area even after germination due to the tenderness of new seedlings. Mow your new lawn when the grass is high enough, about 3-4". Change your mowing pattern on the first four mowings. Begin fertilizing when the grass begins to grow. A very good alternative is hydroseeding, which is spraying seed in a water-based slurry. All seeding should not be done in mid June through mid August unless there is an irrigation system or adequate watering.

New Lawn from Sod

Sod has the enormous advantage over seed that it is effectively InstaLawn. Where seed can take weeks to become established enough to walk on, sod is ready for traffic almost immediately. To prepare an area for sod, start as though you were going to seed. Cultivate the area down 4". Mix in a lawn starter fertilizer or bone meal, and some organic matter (peat moss or mulch). Remove rocks and break up large clumps of dirt. Then rake the bed until it's level. Lay the sod in staggered strips. Water every day (if no rain falls) for half an hour in each area or until fully saturated until first mowing occurs. After second mowing, water two inches per week. After around two weeks, check to see if the sod has knitted to the underlying soil by gently tugging on a corner. When it has knitted to the soil, begin normal watering. Wait at least 10 days to begin mowing, and when you do mow, keep the grass at least 3 - 3 1/2" high. Begin fertilizing and weed control after 3-4 weeks, if needed.

Controlling Grubs

White grubs are the soft, thick, worm-like beetle larvae. They feed on grass stems and roots. The affected grass turns yellow and then brown and is easily pulled up, causing yellow or brown patches on your lawn. Good lawn maintenance practices, including aerating, de-thatching and deep watering are effective natural ways of controlling grubs. Milky disease spores and predatory nematodes are two biological ways of controlling grubs without using toxic chemicals. There are also two kinds of pesticides for grubs, the kind that kill them when they are newly hatched. Grub-X or Merit can be used to control grubs by applying granulated product from April to September. Please remember to read your instructions on the container and water thoroughly after applying grub control.

Controlling Weeds

First of all, if you have a lot of weeds, your problem isn't that you have a lot of weeds, but rather that your lawn isn't healthy. First fix your lawn's underlying health problems (soil too compacted, excessive use of chemicals, insufficient water or too frequent waterings, bad mowing habits, thatch build-up, whatever). Then attack the weeds. In really bad weed situations, though, you may have to take action against the weeds before you can really restore your lawn to health. It’s sort of a chicken-and-egg problem. If the weeds have taken over, you're probably best off starting from scratch, and putting in a whole new lawn, either from sod or seed. This is best done in the early Spring or Fall but can be done during other months providing that proper watering and maintenance is scheduled accordingly, here in the Mid West. If you only have a small weed problem, the best approach, for your lawn and the environment, is to pull up the weeds by hand BEFORE THEY SET SEED. And keep an eye on those lawn maintenance practices: fertilizing and aerating. If that's not working, try careful applications of organic or the least toxic herbicides. Never apply herbicides to newly planted lawns (seed). To figure out what herbicide you'll need, first determine what weeds are your biggest problems: annual, biennial and perennial weeds should each be attacked somewhat differently. Annual weeds are the largest group, representing about 80% of most gardeners' weeds. They live and die in a single year, but their seeds can remain dormant and viable for several years. They typically have very few, and shallow, roots. An example of an annual weed is chickweed (hoe, and make sure you pull the trailing roots). Biennial weeds live for two years, and include grasses that have gone to seed. They produce leaves, stems and roots their first year, and in their second year, a flower with seeds. Perennial weeds can live for years and years, reproducing usually via their roots or stems. Perennials are probably the worst of all weeds. You pull up the top of a dandelion, twisting gently but firmly to get the whole root, but a tiny piece of root remains, to come back next year as three or four new dandelions.

Types of Grass

Most lawn grasses in the Ohio area are cool-season grasses. These types of grasses grow most actively in Spring and Fall. Cool-season grasses include Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and fine Fescues (Chewing Fescue, Hard Fescue, Red or Creeping Fescue). Fast-growing seeds will germinate in 7 to 14 days (typically annual grasses like Rye, fast growing but only good for one season). Slower growing perennial seeds germinate in 14 to 28 days. If you elect to let your yard go into a dormant stage due to monetary reasons or for other reasons please do not put any type of chemicals (no fertilizer, no weed killer, or pre-emergents) on the lawn. After temperatures cool down to a ground temperature of highs in the 70s or below, you can then begin applying chemicals if the grass has started to green up.

Lawn Care Basics

Water daily until grass is established, then water at a rate of 2 inches per week, preferably in early morning not in the evening and keep your grass above 3". These practices will strengthen your lawn, making it less susceptible to pests and disease. The stronger your grass is, the more reliant you will be on daily watering and chemicals (to control pests, disease, and weeds) and have a healthy, beautiful lawn. It is better to water deeply, maintaining 2" water in one session than to sprinkle lightly several times a week.

Aerating

For high traffic lawns, or lawns that are planted in thick, heavy soil, core aerating is a must. You can aerate small areas with a spading fork. Push it into the ground at an angle, to about 4" deep, wiggle it a bit, then pull it back out, repeating the process every foot or so. Core aerating should be done with a machine you can rent from a tool rental on larger areas of 2000 sq. ft. or more.

Watering on Established Lawns

During (the growing season), grass needs 2" of water a week. When you water, water deeply and frequently depending on temperature. Ideally, you should add the whole 2" at one time, so the water can soak deeply into the soil. The water should penetrate to the full length of the roots, around 4". This encourages deeper root growth, so the grass plants are more drought tolerant. The best time to water is in the early morning, so the blades of grass have time to dry out. Do not water in the evening after 6:00 p.m. if at all possible as this will promote fungus growth.

Mowing

Once your lawn is established, mow generally every week in the growing season. You want to aim to keep your grass about 3" high, so mow when the grass gets to around 3 1/2" and never cut off more than 1/3 the height. This shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and helps keep moisture in the soil, which helps promote healthy grass. Taller grass is more drought tolerant and more weed, pest and disease resistant. Never mow grass when it's wet. Mow in alternate patterns weekly. Clippings do NOT cause thatch on established sod. However, core aerating one year after sod is established will help prevent thatch. Keep your lawn mower blades sharp: sharpen them after every eight hours of use.

Fertilizing

Keeping your grass healthy and well fed will make it look nicer and help prevent weeds. A sign that you may need fertilizer is if your grass turns yellow. For the first year, use starter fertilizer, which has less nitrogen and is less likely to burn your lawn. Fertilize three or four times a year:

• March or when temperature dictates (very important)
• May
• August - beginning of September to promote new rhizomes before winter )
• November - winterizing fertilizer is very important

Slow-release fertilizers are as good for your lawn as they are for the environment in general, and your own soil in particular. Instead of just promoting green blades of grass, they encourage strong root-growth as well. Clover is actually a wonderful natural fertilizer. It's pretty little flowers are an added benefit, and the bees they attract help pollinate other flowers, too. Clover promotes nitrogen in the soil where it can be used by the grass as food. Another natural fertilizer is cut grass. Grass clippings that are allowed to remain on your lawn decompose and releases nitrogen and other nutrients back into the soil.