Get a Healthy Lawn – Aerate

An important part of building a healthy lawn often overlooked is aeration. As important as watering and fertilizing your lawn, aeration ensures critical nutrients get to the soil beneath the grass roots. Grass can then draw upon those nutrients to build strong root systems, fight the encroachment of weeds and survive during periods of drought.

Your yard could benefit from aeration if:

• it is heavily used, even children and family pets can contribute to compacting soil.
• the yard is thatched greater than a half inch.
• the grass was laid as a part of new home construction. Construction traffic is a major contributor to soil compaction.

These conditions all indicate a need for aeration; in any case, it should be considered a part of your yearly maintenance plan.

There are two types of aerating tools – plug and spike aerators. Plug aerators remove a core of soil from the ground, spike aerators punch holes in the ground. Of the two, plug aerators are recommended. The spike method can add to soil compaction, defeating the purpose of aeration. Aerators can usually be rented from garden or equipment rental stores. Be sure to take a friend along, they can be quite heavy, and you can share the cost if you convince your friend to use the machine as well. Before starting work be sure to mark any underground sprinkler heads. There’s nothing worse than creating extra work for yourself by puncturing a sprinkler head!

It’s important to aerate the yard when the soil is moist, plan on working after a rain shower or after watering your lawn. If using a plug aerator, don’t worry about the plugs left in the yard. They will dry and break up; or, if you just can’t stand the look for a short time, rake them up and put them into a compost pile. Your normal mowing will also break them up, but you might need to sharpen the mower blades before the next cycle.

After aeration continue with your normal yard maintenance schedule: water and fertilize.

Avoid aerating when the grass is dormant. Aerate when the grass is in its growing season, late April or May is a perfect time. Aerating the yard is not a difficult task, and you will find your lawn will be thicker, healthier and the envy of your neighbors. If you’ve never aerated or haven’t done it in the last couple of years, give it a try. You won’t be sorry.

 

Written by Cliff Blackerby, Master Gardener. March 2020.

Capture the plant’s life cycle.

Look at any book, magazine or website featuring pictures of flowers, and you’ll see beautiful, clear, pristine shots of perfect flowers. That’s not uncommon; we all appreciate beauty and perfection. Have you considered that there is also beauty in capturing pictures that show the life cycle of plants and flowers? Think of a walk through the woods on a fall day; the browns, reds and orange of leaves on the forest floor can make fantastic pictures. Plants that are in decline or decay can also present interesting opportunities. Capturing life cycle pictures can introduce the viewer to less seen and often ignored phases of a plant’s life. With life cycle pictures we can learn to appreciate that there is beauty and interest in, not only gorgeous flowers and plants, but also those in their decline.

A great way to let your flowers tell a story is by documenting their growth, flowering and decline through a series of pictures. Most of the people reading this article are gardeners or at least interested in gardening. Find a favorite flower in your garden and start capturing pictures. Take a series of pictures over time that show the plant’s growth, flower blooming and when its eventual death. Include shots that show the impact of weather, disease or insect on the appearance of your subject. You’ll be surprised at how interesting some of those shots will be.

Broaden your horizons and skills as a flower photographer; remember not everything has to be pristine perfect to make an interesting photo. There are lots of opportunities for life cycle photography; so grab your cameras and get started.

 

 

 

 

Written by Cliff Blackerby, July 2019.