When is a lawn issue not truly a lawn issue? When the issue is with a gardener’s choice or habit, not the garden’s health. You may be able to cross off a number of the lawn issues you worry about in the spring if you look more closely at several of them.
Many gardeners reduce their effort while helping animals by forgoing tasks like raking leaves, weeding the lawn, and using insecticides to kill grubs. Are you prepared to start crossing lawn issues off your list? Continue reading.
Weeds: What You See Is What You Get
W weeds are unwanted plants that the gardener does not want to plant. Consider this. Dandelions are considered weeds by many gardeners, who spend hours pulling them out. Yet, many others grow these tasty blooming plants. (Nearly the whole plant tastes great when cooked.) It comes down to choice.
Dandelion and other supposedly undesirable plants, such as clover and yarrow, may blend well with your lawn or even completely replace it. Less labor for the gardener; no pesticides used on the grass; food for beneficial insects and animals. Natural grasses, sometimes considered weeds, are beautiful alternatives to lawns and excellent low-maintenance lawn options.
Raking May Not Be Required
Anybody mowing the lawn on a sweltering mid-summer day fantasizes about simple lawn care fixes for grass issues. Regular mowing is required if you have a typical lawn. The point of mowing may be lost by growing natural grasses.
Just say no when it comes to raking. Several gardeners have discovered that it is okay to leave the cut grass exactly where it falls as long as you mow it periodically and only remove the top third of the blades. You may have heard that thatch buildup is encouraged by clippings, but that is merely an old wives’ tale.
Clippings degrade fast, often within a few weeks. A mulching mower will further grind down the grass blades. Grass clippings have the equivalent of 4% nitrogen,.5% phosphorus, and 3.54% potassium per weight. Therefore they work as fertilizer on the lawn in either case.
Forget about spring lawn herbicides
Glistening white grubs are not found in every garden, but if they are, you may expect to see them in the spring in the freshly churned soil. In the late summer, these grubs, the June beetle, and its cousins’ juvenile life stage might harm grass.
Yet, in the winter and spring, they are mostly unharmful. The ones we see in the spring are in a condition of hibernation, during which the grubs are not actively eating. This stage lasts until May. Herbicide should be used in the summer.
Why not get rid of them as soon as possible? Because insecticides that kill grubs also kill other grubs, some of which are benign or in the larval stage of helpful insects. Many of these grubs will have grown and flown away if you wait until summer. You are also condensing your list of spring lawn issues and your to-do list for the garden simultaneously.