Lawn care — analysis of the main works by month. 140 photos of examples of an ideal lawn and its care
A well-designed lawn serves as an ornament to any suburban area. Decorative cultures and the house as a whole will look favorably on its background. A neat lawn actively absorbs dust, carbon dioxide, and car exhaust. Green color has a good effect on the nervous system. And how nice it is to walk and lie on such a covering!
Many novice gardeners, having once created a lawn, believe that you can forget about it forever. But this is not the case. He needs to be given constant attention.
Lawn care does not stop from the moment the snow melts until late autumn. Only with regular maintenance and optimal conditions of maintenance, a grassy lawn will please the eye and bring pleasure.
The whole range of lawn organization activities consists of 3 types of work: planting, watering and mowing.
The sowing of the lawn begins with determining the location of its placement. It is not recommended to choose shady and low-lying areas. Lawn grass reacts poorly to stagnant water and lack of light. The site is cleaned of debris, roots, stumps.
Herbicides can be used in weed control. The soil must be dug to a depth of 20 mm to improve the air exchange properties. After that, the land is fertilized.
Universal fertilizers are suitable for this purpose. If the composition of the soil is dominated by sand or clay, then you can dilute them with chernozem. Biohumus is introduced into dense, heavy soils.
The prepared surface is leveled with a rake and rammed with a garden roller or a conventional pipe. The rolled soil should be left for a few days so that it finally settles. After that, they proceed to sowing grass.
In the work, you can use a special seeder, or you can scatter the seeds manually by mixing them with sand in a ratio of 1:1. On average, the consumption of seeds per 1 meter of area is 30-40 gr.
The first shoots germinate in a couple of weeks, and the lawn acquires a finished look a month after planting.
Watering the grass
To maintain the lawn in a fragrant, fresh condition, it should be moistened in a timely manner. The purpose of this action is to replenish the liquid supply in the soil, not to bring the site to desiccation or waterlogging.
The required amount of water depends on the type of soil, grass variety and climate features in the region. An important rule for irrigation: it is better not to top up than to pour.
The first sign of insufficient moisture is the loss of turgor and elasticity of the grass. If you do not react at this moment in time, then the greenery on the lawn will turn yellow.
A few tips on proper watering:
- watering is carried out only after complete drying of the soil;
- the frequency of irrigation in the heat is up to 2 times weekly, on cool days the frequency is reduced to 1 time in 1.5 weeks;
- the depth of water penetration into the ground should be 15-20 cm, to ensure this condition, the liquid flow rate is taken
- equal to 10 liters per 1 square meter of lawn;
- watering should be carried out in the morning or evening hours, then the moisture evaporates not as actively as in the sunny afternoon.
- moisturize planting in the scorching heat. Water droplets can act as lenses, causing plants to burn.
It is possible to facilitate the task of irrigation of green areas with the help of automatic irrigation systems. They will ensure an even distribution of water and reduce the time of work.
A haircut
The next stage of care is lawn mowing. It is carried out after 3-4 months from the day of planting, when a small bushiness forms. The height of the grass can become a landmark for cutting. When reaching the mark of 9 cm, the greens can be cut.
Taller grass prevents sunlight from penetrating to the lower part of the plants, making their coloring pale. Therefore, it is important to mow the lawn in a timely manner.
Doing the first cut should not be very short to cut the grass. After cutting vegetation will go up, will get a neat look.
In addition to personally growing a green carpet, you can resort to a ready—made solution - to buy a rolled lawn. It is a natural covering in the form of a layer of earth with grass turf located on it.
The advantage of such a product is ease of operation and fast results. The lawn acclimatization takes place 2 weeks after installation.
Lawn care in spring
In the spring, work begins with warming and melting of snow. In March, it is important to prevent the formation of puddles and the accumulation of water in the irregularities of the ground. To do this, you should walk as little as possible on the damp ground and leave prints on it.
With the onset of April, when a positive temperature regime is established, mineral nitrogen fertilizers are introduced. If phosphorus and potassium are additionally present in the composition, then the growth of the grass lawn accelerates.
Another type of work in the spring is fertilization. The term means the removal of dead shoots, a dry layer of vegetation, felt. A rake or a ferticulator is used as a tool. This combing of the lawn not only cleans it of old turf, but also improves air exchange. In the presence of voids, the grass mixture is sown, choosing the same variety that was planted earlier.
May is the time for shearing the coating. It is advisable to cut almost twice, up to a height of 5-6 cm. Cut grass must be removed from the lawn so that it does not rot and does not interfere with the lawn's growth.
Below are photos of spring lawn care.
Lawn care in summer
In summer, the complex of lawn maintenance activities consists of irrigation, mowing, fertilizing, weeding unwanted weeds and aeration work. The first two procedures are standard and described above.
As for top dressing, then at this time of year you can use a mixture of "Lawn sand". It contains fine river sand, ammonium and iron sulfates. This composition saturates the soil with useful substances and effectively combats moss and other weeds.
For 10 sq . m . 150 g of sand is sown on the area. After application, abundant watering follows. Mowing the lawn for 4-5 days is not necessary.
Lawn weeding is carried out manually, or using chemicals (Agrokiller, Lontrel-zood). They work selectively, destroying only weeds.
By the end of summer, the soil becomes dense, oxygen access to the root system deteriorates sharply. To improve gas exchange, soil aeration is carried out using an aerator.
Care in the autumn and winter season
Autumn weather does not spoil the warmth, but if the coating is well monitored, then even in September it pleases the owners. Taking care of the lawn in autumn, pay attention to the need for repairs. In case of visual detection of lawn missteps ("bald spots"), restoration is necessary. Next, fertilization is carried out.
An important feature is the use of phosphorus-containing agents. They will help prepare the lawn for "hibernation", increase the frost resistance of crops.
Leave nitrogen fertilizers until spring, in autumn they will harm the grass. The final autumn action is the last lawn mowing. Depending on the weather, it is recommended to cut the grass in late October — early November.
Preparation for winter requires piercing the soil. This allows water to penetrate into the deepest layers of the earth. Activities are carried out on clear days using pitchforks. In case of heavy snowfall, it is necessary to remove the leaves so that they do not form a lawn felt.
Lawn care in winter is just as necessary as in that part of the calendar year when vegetation occurs. At this time, it is necessary to exclude movement on the lawn, reduce the load on the grass carpet.
It is not worth pouring a skating rink here, laying ski trails. A good protective cushion for the lawn is formed by a snow layer of 20-25 cm. At a lower value, it is allowed to artificially increase the snow cover to this value.
The crust formed after the thaw should be broken. Otherwise, it impairs the circulation of air masses and can cause root rot.
It is necessary to monitor the lawn all year round. Only with such a systematic approach it is possible to achieve a high-quality and beautiful herbal oasis.
Lawn care photos