Grass Roots Lawn Care – Starting From The Bottom Up!
And a challenge it can be, especially when there are so many ways to make a difference to your lawn, and so little time.
It’s at this stage that you might think that starting below the surface, with grass roots lawn care, is going a bit far. After all, what with weeding and feeding; manually tugging those obstinate weeds up by hand; not to mention the week in, week out need to mow, why would you want to work on the part that no-one sees?
Well then, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that whatever you do above the surface will be offset by the poor infrastructure that you can’t see.
And by taking your grass roots lawn care seriously, the good news is that your work above will not only be easier, but it will be more effective and better sustained too!
The healthiest lawns are those that get a broad range of maintenance and this will be a beneficial effect that will improve year on year. So, it’s really two good bits of news!
So, then, why is grass roots lawn care so important? Well, the thing is that the roots are where your grass starts to ‘breathe’ (not actually, of course, that’s the leaves), because without the opportunity to move and grow, the roots of your grass will be undernourished and squeezed.
Grass roots lawn care makes this much better and there are several ways that you can undertake the sort of work that your lawn needs.
And, you know what – they can be quite fun!
Here are a few examples that you might like to try. There are others and you can research them on the internet or in any gardening or lawn care books you might have, but these are the most typical and easiest.
1. Raking
First of all, when you rake, especially in the spring and early summer, you want to be sure that you aren’t pulling too hard at the roots of the grass. The same goes for the fall as well. Using a fine rake rather than a heavy one works well too.
Because, heavy duty rakes might seem to get nasty things out of the grass better, but they aren’t particularly good for your lawn care efforts, because they will pull up the grass at the roots.
That will kill some of the live grass off and give you bare patches, where weeds and moss can invade, especially through the winter months, giving you a headache next year.
To make life easier, you can get great little machines that will help you rake gently, evenly and thoroughly They are quick and pretty cheap to buy too, especially when you realize they will last for ages. They can be set up to suit your lawn and practically ensure that you do only good to your lawn.
In fact, you will be astonished at all the garbage that does comes up! It was just sitting there clogging up your grass roots and stopping their healthy development.
2. Hollow Tine
Told you this could be fun!
This is where you get a cool bit of kit – inexpensive again, that you push into your lawn to a depth of around 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) and pull out plugs of earth and debris and dead roots. There are at least two of these ‘hollow tines’ – half inch tube sort of shapes – and often four or six.
This really helps to aerate the soil and is an excellent grass roots lawn care tactic. It’s also a lot of fun to do. In fact so much fun that you might be able to have any kids you have lying around give you a hand.
Though like anything repetitive, it can get boring after a while. So it might be worth doing a bit at a time, especially if you have a big lawn to work with.
3. Sand
If you really want to do a great grass roots lawn care job, you need to follow up the hollow tining with a brushing of sand into the little holes you’ve made. Again a cool job for kids.
It’s important to make sure that you get a good lawn sand that is recommended by your nurseryman or garden center.
4. Water, Water Everywhere!
The icing on the cake is that all the excellent work you’ve done is made whole by ensuring that the new spaces you have created get the water they need. In some countries these days there are water restrictions and you may have to rely on what you get from above – at least what you do get, will be well absorbed and not lie on the top unable to penetrate.
In those countries where water is less restricted, you may find the investment of a good watering system (surface or integrated under your lawn) worthwhile. These can be comprehensively installed for a cost which might look a little steep to start with, but after all, you want a beautiful lawn and this will prove a good grass roots lawn care investment for many years to come.
On the contrary, too much water will not do any
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