By Mark Levisay

Most of us would like to have a nice lawn surrounding our home but sometimes that seems easier said than done. Here are some tips that can help you grow some nice healthy grass.

Spring cleaning

In the spring there are a number of things you can do to get started. If your yard isn’t too big, a good raking can pull up excess thatch (old grass cuttings) that may not have decomposed over the winter. This can also clean up leaves and sticks which may have also accumulated during the off season. On larger lawns a professional machine may be required, and lawn care services will be happy to do this for you. In high traffic or compacted areas aeration may also be beneficial. This allows the roots to have access to more air and water.

Spring is the best time to de-thatch and lime your lawn.

I always make an application of pelletized lime in the spring, as there are many factors that tend to make our Central Virginia soil acidic. Lime isn’t expensive and can be applied at any time—just follow the directions on the bag for the amount to apply. Lime also helps speed up the decomposition of the thatch at the soil surface. If you have trouble with crabgrass or other annual weed grasses, you can use a pre-emergent weed killer, which will keep the over wintered seeds from sprouting. Apply when the forsythias are blooming, as the seeds start to sprout when daytime temperatures warm. Many of these products contain fertilizer, which will help green up the lawn.

Moss in your lawn

What does moss indicate in your yard? Moss is a “plant” that tolerates shady, compacted areas with low pH (high acidity) and low fertility. Correcting any of these factors will help you reduce the moss population. If your yard has a lot of shade trees, you may have to plant a shade tolerant variety of grass. Most common tall fescue blends are made for areas with full sun, but other varieties of grass will do better in the shade. Remember that trees are competing for both water and food with the grass, so you may need to add more fertilizer, or water more often if that’s a problem. There are also moss killing products available if your problem is really severe.

Mow tall and often

My number one recommendation to promote a great looking lawn is to mow tall and often. It is called TALL fescue, after all! I have my “push” mower set at the highest cutting setting allowed. When I adjust my garden tractor’s mower deck, I measure 2 ¾” to the bottom of the deck, knowing that the blades are higher up in the deck than this. Cutting tall fescue at around 3” should be a good average to shoot for. Tall grass can help shade out lower growing weeds in addition to helping grow healthier grass.

By mowing often, you minimize the amount of cuttings generated so you don’t leave piles of clippings smothering the grass. Smaller cuttings will decompose faster (which feeds the roots) and prevent thatch build up. Changing the direction you mow from time to time will also help grow healthier grass.

Fall preparation

The fall is usually a good time to fertilize (late September through October). This helps the grass build a healthy root system to survive the winter. If you have trouble with weeds, use a “weed & feed” type fertilizer. Just don’t over apply (always follow the directions on the package) as too much will kill the grass in addition to the weeds! If you’re still having moss trouble, more lime is probably in order. You can hardly apply too much lime in our area, as our soils tend to be acidic, and grass likes a slightly higher than neutral (7) pH.

I use my mower and tractor to mow up fallen leaves in November and turn them into mulch on the lawn. It’s important to remove them in some way, as they can block out the light and kill the grass if allowed to sit all winter. These leaf “cuttings” will tend to acidify the soil as they decompose, which is another reason to add lime again in the spring.

In Central Virginia, lawns can still be beautiful well into the fall.

Mow correctly, lime generously, and fertilize when appropriate and you should improve the look of your lawn in a season or so. Good luck!

Have a garden question? Send me an email at marklevisay@gmail.com.

by Mark Levisay

Most people probably agree that a weed is simply a “plant out of place.” Tall fescue, your typical lawn grass, is certainly a weed in your vegetable garden. A beet showing up in your lettuce bed might be too, but maybe not as onerous! Dandelion flowers are lovely, but nobody seems to like them in the lawn—but the bees certainly appreciate their early flowers.

What makes a weed such a problem?

Many weeds are fast growers, and as such may out-compete the flower and vegetable plants you’re trying to grow. They take valuable nutrients out of the soil to support their own growth, robbing your desired plants of what they need. They may even shade or crowd your seedlings to the point they can’t grow at all. Many weeds excel at growing on poor and compacted soils where other plants can’t thrive, so Imagine how much they like your improved garden soil! Their fast growth and short reproductive cycle (many mature, bloom and set seed in just a few weeks) demand quick action.

Henbit, one of the most pervasive weeds in the garden early in the spring.

What can we do to stop the weeds?

Physically we can just go out and dig or pull them-most easily done when the ground is wet. For centuries, humans cultivated crops with hoes (and sticks before that) to kill weeds while preserving the desired plants. A few more modern ideas:

Use landscape fabric as a barrier to prevent weed seeds from sprouting and growing. It’s even more effective when used with mulch.
Mulch itself helps a lot. It makes the weeds that do appear easier to pull and improves the soil in the long run. Even newspapers can prove effective as a barrier.
Mow the lawn as high as your equipment allows so the grass will shade out weeds.
Plant wide rows of vegetable plants or put flowers in clumps close together to crowd out the weeds.

Chemical weed control

There are two fundamentally different ways to attack weeds with chemicals. One is a pre-emergent product which keeps weed seeds (many are annuals) from germinating. Crab grass preventer for lawns is one example. Applied at this time of year (when the forsythias are blooming) it keeps last year’s crabgrass seeds (and other annual grass seeds) from sprouting. “Preen” is a granulated pre-emergent product you can use in vegetable and flower gardens as long as you are NOT PLANTING SEEDS in those areas. This product works great around perennials, or where you might be planting established seedlings like tomatoes or peppers.

Contact herbicides can themselves be divided into two types. Broad spectrum chemicals like “Roundup” kill everything they’re sprayed on. Roundup (glyphosate is the active ingredient) is absorbed by the plant and disrupts the cycle of photosynthesis. More selective herbicides differentiate between monocots (grass) and dicots (broadleaf plants). These are usually applied to lawns to kill non-grass weeds like dandelions or chickweed. As always, read the label, follow the mixing instructions, and avoid contact as much as possible. Some of these herbicides are very controversial so make informed choices.

If you keep after them, you can get ahead of the weeds. Try to break their flowering and seed distribution cycle and you’ll have less work to do over time!

Have a garden question? Send me an email at marklevisay@gmail.com.