One of the biggest nuisances for gardeners who have many garden beds is that weeds love them. Many people try to use toxic chemicals to get rid of them, but those pesky weeds return as soon as the chemical has dissipated. Not only that, but you’ve just put chemicals in your yard that can be rinsed into the straight and into freshwater drinking sources. This is why mulch is great weed control. It’s non-toxic, and it works!
One of the sweetest things that gardens can produce each spring and summer is strawberries. Picking red, sweet morsels from your strawberry garden reminds each of us of happy days during childhood. Strawberry pies, shortcake, and ice cream are ten times better when they’re made from fresh-picked berries. That is why it is important to save your strawberries from insects.
If you have a wet spring or summer, you might find some mushrooms growing in your lawn. These magical little fungi can be a pesky eyesore up against otherwise beautiful grass.
If you have an ugly yard, you know it. There are definite trends in landscaping that come and go, but an ugly yard is an eyesore. It reeks of neglect and poor decisions. If you have an ugly yard, and you don’t know where to start, here are some ideas to fix it.
No matter what your current yard situation is, all yards have potential. A healthy lawn, clean edges, and the removal of any clutter can go a long ways toward making your lawn look perfect. The curb appeal will be enjoyable to you and anyone else who passes by.
If you feel like you don’t have time to do a total lawn makeover, consider hiring a local lawn care company. Professionals will make quick work of your lawn care. If you aren’t considering hiring it done, pick one or two items from the list above. Bit by bit, your lawn will start to look amazing.
People are always looking for alternative methods to beautify their lawn. The perfect lawn is green, thick, and even. How one achieves that is a different road for each person. One thing that many people struggle with is keeping their lawn even, which is why they consider rolling their lawn.
One of the greatest ways to make your lawn more inviting is to light it up. Not only does lighting create nice ambient and direct lighting, but it also increases safety and security around your property. There are many ways to install lighting around your house and lawn.
When you think about flower gardens, you probably imagine a rainbow of colors, various shapes, and big and small sizes of flowers changing throughout the seasons. If you think back to the indigo, or deep blue, flowers that you’ve seen, you’ll understand why indigo gardening is a 2020 trend. Indigo doesn’t occur only in plant life. Here are a few ways to introduce indigo into your outdoor gardening and decor.
If you want to keep up with the latest gardening trends, then indigo is the way to go. However, you don’t have to abide by the list above to get this beautiful blue in your yard. Come up with your own ways to insert indigo. There are many more indigo flowers than are listed above, and there are many more details that could be purchased or made in indigo as opposed to other colors. It is a trend that is popular now and has some long-term staying power. Once it is replaced with another trend, indigo will still be as beautiful as ever.
There are many reasons your lawns may need topdressing. Maybe extreme weather has caused the ground to expand and contract. Children, equipment, pets, or dogs, may have created uneven spots in your lawn. Maybe your sod was installed improperly. In many cases, topdressing is one solution to your lawn unevenness (and some other problems) that doesn’t involve ripping up your grass and amending the soil.
Topdressing is adding a thin layer of whatever your soil needs to the top of your grass. Yes, you cover your grass with a layer of sand, compost, and/or topsoil depending on what your soil needs. The material should be similar to what you have beneath your grass but with added benefits. The grass grows through the layer applied. What was above the grass eventually becomes what is below the grass.
There are many reasons to topdress your grass, and it is often done to address unevenness that occurs over time. Say you have a dip in your lawn that is causing a trip-and-fall hazard. You can fill it in with layers of topsoil, which the grass can grow through. Other reasons to topdress grass include:
You want the grass to grow through the layer you place on top of it quickly. That means you want to topdress your lawn in its primary growing season. For warm season grasses like bermudagrass or zoysiagrass, this means spring. For cool season grasses like tall fescue, topdressing should be done during the fall.
As stated previously, your topdressing should be similar to your pre-existing soil, so you don’t end up with a weird layer that doesn’t allow for proper drainage. For example, if you are adding sand to rough soil, use sand with larger particles, as fine sand will not mix well. Talk to a lawn care specialist to ensure you are adding the right components, and don’t make the layer too thick, or your grass won’t survive the topdressing.
Steps to topdressing include checking your soil’s pH to address it with the topdressing. Mow and thatch the lawn prior to topdressing to ensure the topdressing can quickly integrate with underlying soil. Scatter the topdressing by tossing/flinging the dirt out of the shovel in order to get an even application. Topdress a couple times and each year for best results.
May is almost too late to reap the best benefits of lawn scalping, but there’s still time. You want to do it when the grass starts to enter its green-up period after all chances of frost are gone. Too early, and you can damage your lawn. Too late, and you’ll be fine, but you won’t see as much of a benefit.
All lawns are different. Your front lawn may be different than your back lawn. Your entire lawn is a bit different than your neighbor’s lawn. Both of your lawns are different from the lawn three blocks down. That is why you must consider cross-contamination from mowers that are used in multiple yards.
