There are grasses such
as buffalo grass, creeping red fescue or Korean grass that don't
require mowing. Carex
tumulicola or Carex praegracilis are not true
grasses but will require a third the resources of a grass lawn. If all you want is
lush and green and able to be walked on this could be the
answer. Buffalo grass doesn't require much water
either. The Buffalo grass and Creeping Red Fescue are usually planted
by seed, Korean grass with plugs. The Carex are new enough in the
trade that they are often only available as gallon plants, though several
growers have started putting out the plants in smaller containers.
Regardless the gallon plants are readily divided to make more. The native yarrow, Achillea
millefolium, has been used frequently as a lawn
substitute. They come in lots of colors, but the seed is
usually cheapest for the white one.
For a mowed grass lawn, Saint
Augustine or Tall Fescue are probably best. Blue grass and bermuda require
too many resources to look good and the bermuda escapes and is hard to
remove. In an area that gets significant frost Saint Augustine turns
brown for the winter. St Augustine will tolerate more shade than any
other mowed grass, except the Carex praegracilis.
Irrigation is crucial in our dry
climate. It is important to have a properly designed sprinkler system so that the
water will be evenly distributed. Or we waste a lot of water trying
to keep those brown spots green. I find that an irrigation
timer helps tremendously. Since I am forever forgetting to turn off
the water. I match the water that I use with the health of the lawn. I watch
to see when the grass starts to go flat or lose it's sheen. Too much
water and fungal diseases start to crop up. Several newer smart
timers
moderate the irrigation times based on weather data pulled from the
internet or from built in temperature and humidity sensors.
The height that we set
our lawn mowers will effect how much water the lawn uses and loses to
evaporation. I generally set my mower much higher than the
average. In the end the top of the lawn is level and it looks pretty
much the same. For cool season grasses such as a tall fescue I set the
mower blade 4" above the ground. On my mower that is the
highest setting. The more evaporation that takes place the more salt
will build up in the soil. You can't tell to look at it, unless
you look at your feet, because the top of the grass is all even regardless
of the mower setting.
It is particularly important
with cool season grasses like Fescue that they be cut at the tallest setting as this
gives them a competitive advantage against Kikuyu and Bermuda grass and
other weeds.
These grasses will invade eventually but the inevitable will be postponed
significantly by the higher mower setting. The taller grass
will shade the ground making seed germination of the weedy species much
less common as well as reducing evaporation. The chemicals used to
separate these grasses are hard on birds and gardeners alike.
Shifting the pH back to the acid side will help the cool season
grasses. And the larvae of a butterfly called the fiery
skipper eats just the roots of the warm season grasses.
The adults are very fond of plants in the sage family, particularly lavenders
and nepeta. So
including these plants in your near lawn plantings can help a little bit
too.
I delay
watering my lawns as long as possible in the Spring so the grass will send
its roots as deeply as possible into the soil. When I do start
watering the lawn, I water deeply and then wait as long as possible before
doing it again. I watch to see when the grass ceases to shine.
This is an indication that the cells are not full of water. By
driving the roots of the lawn deeper the grass will use a larger amount of
soil to absorb its water. This allows the lawn
to capture more of the water that I give it.
When
a lawn is planted it is extremely helpful to use a large amount of well
rotted organic material. I first roto-till the lawn area, then
install the sprinklers, then mulch, then roto-till again. The mulch
acts as a sponge and a habitat for a lot of creatures, who in turn are a
wonderful nutrient source. I spread the mulch 4"
thick. It often pays to wait a bit to make sure that whatever was
growing where your new lawn is being planted is dead. I am paid back in labor savings many times over by the
improved performance of the lawn by using a lot of mulch. It is difficult to add
organic material to a lawn in large quantities after the lawn has been
established. Mulching mowers can help some, though they don't seem
to think to make these sturdy enough for commercial use. It is just a lot easier
to do the mulching from the start.
Because the lawn growth slows down
tremendously in the cool weather I will skip weeks of mowing and do other
tasks in the garden instead. There is always loads of winter pruning
to keep me busy.
Organic fertilizers, such as
manure, or compost based products do almost nothing for the lawn unless
they are applied during the warmer half of the year. Bacteria
have to digest them to put them in a form that the plants can use.
And the bacteria are on holiday till the soil warms up. Generally
if the soil is good because you prepared your lawn area well before
planting fertilizer will be unnecessary. All of those creatures
living in your soil will each make a micro dose of fertilizer after every
meal. During the cooler
months the rain brings down far more nitrogen out of the atmosphere than you would ever buy in a bag.
If
the water runs off your lawn after just a couple of minutes I will set the
irrigation to water several times during a single day and
then skip days rather than water every day. This drives the water
deeper into the soil and helps the lawn extend its roots. If the
earth
still will not accept water due to soil compaction I will aerate the lawn
by poking holes in it or by renting a motorized lawn aerator that pulls up
plugs of soil.
My two favorite types of grass for a mowed
lawn
are tall fescue and St Augustine. The St Augustine performs better
in a shady location but can go dormant in a cold winter environment.
You
can buy lawn
turf from Rolawn Direct, the UK's premier supplier of high quality
turf, topsoil and bark as well as lawn fertiliser, lawn seed, compost and
soil improvers.
