Dirt, Mud, Grass
You Can Grow The Perfect
LAWN
W.C. Nixon
Copyright © 2008 By: W.C. Nixon
Smashwords
Edition
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Table of Contents
Chapter
1 Humus & Loam
Soil
Types
Sandy
Soils
Loamy
Soils
Clay
Soils
Chapter
2 Soil Composition
The
Feel Test
The
Squeeze Test
The
Jar Test
Chapter
3 A New Lawn
Starting
a Lawn
Laying
Sod
Seeding
Sprigging
Plugging
Chapter
4 Grading
Grading
Fix
Grade Problems
Chapter
5 Trimmers
Understand
Trimmers
General
precautions
Gas
Battery
Electric
Chapter
6 Turf Removal
Remove
the Old Turf
Chapter
7 Weed Control
Weed
Control
Identifying
Weeds
Dandelions
A
Lawn with hundreds of Weeds
Grassy
Weeds
Fixing
Bare Spots
A
Thick Lawn
Insects
Chapter
8 Going Green
Think
Green
Appendix
A References
Appendix
B Checklist
Appendix
C Weeds
Eliminate
the Conditions that Promote Weeds
With all of the new technology on how to purchase the seeds, determine the number of clouds you see per day, the angle of the sun’s rays, no wonder we can not grow rich rewarding lawns.
You don't have to be an expert to grow a healthy lawn. The secret is to work with nature. This means creating conditions for grass to thrive and resist damage from weeds, disease, and insect pests. Caring for your lawn in an environmentally sensible way can have a bigger impact than you might think. Your lawn is only a small piece of land, but all the lawns across the country cover a lot of ground. That means you and your lawn care activities, along with everyone else’s can make a difference to the environment. And that's why taking care of the environment begins in our own backyards.
A beautifully manicured lawn starts with; you guessed it, dirt, rocks, soil, and mud. Which can only be enjoyed by rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty. Where did the quest for a perfectly manicured lawn come from? Does every climate have different growing seasons and requirements for their lawn grass? Soil, as we know it, is kind of subtle and at the same time very complex. The basic components of all soils are sand, silt, clay, and humus (No not humans). When they are mixed in the right amounts, you end up with loam; the fertile, free-draining, brown-color dirt.
Sadly, too few of our yards are blessed with this perfect blend of ingredients. Most soil tends to fall far to one side or the other of this perfect balance. What this means is that every type of soil drains at a different speed. This is known as its “percolation rate.” It affects how much and how often you need to put water on your plants. In fact, the difference in percolation rates of one type of soil over another can be as much as 100 percent! If you don’t know what type of soil you are watering, you could be substantially under-, or over-watering your grass without realizing it. This is why, when setting up an irrigation schedule for your landscaping, it is so important to know what kind of soil you have.
Soil Types
Most soil types are various combinations of the three most basic soil types: sandy, loamy, and clay. The ideal type is loam. If you could analyze one square foot of loam soil, you’d find it was composed of 10% clay, 20% silt, 20% sand and 50% air space!
As you can see, it comes in many varieties, and is a major consideration when creating watering schedules for your home’s automatic irrigation system.
Sandy Soils
Sandy soils are loose and allow water to drain readily. They tend to be low in nutrients and more acidic than loams and clays.
Loamy Soils