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Category: Monthly Chores

  • Grass Mowing

    Grass Mowing

    Category: Monthly Chores

    Proper mowing of your lawn can kill weeds and chinch bugs, cure disease, save water and provide fertilizer. However, improper mowing can be harmful. Mowing is stressful to grass because it is meant to grow tall, mature and make seeds. Man decided that lawns look better when freshly mowed and most people feel the shorter the better. But a close cut doesn’t do much for your lawn or your water bill

    Roots & Leaves

    Grasses are basal-growing plants. The growing point is at the crown (the area between the root and the blade) of the plant near the soil line. The tips are the oldest part of the blade which means you can cut off their tops without killing them. When you cut the tips, new growth pushes up from the crown. When the mower cuts off those grass tips, it causes severe shock to the grass plant. Grass lives primarily on food manufactured in its blades not on what is drawn up through the roots. Cutting the blades reduces the ability of the plant to manufacture food. That food is used for both top and root growth so the shorter you cut the grass the less root growth you will have. A plant with deep roots will be better able to withstand drought, fight off disease and insects and store food manufactured in the leaves. So the longer the root the healthier the grass.

     

    Every time the grass is cut the root system is weakened to some degree. When cut too severely, the roots stop growing. Mowing tears the plant and creates ports of entry for disease. Sharp mower blades give a cleaner cut which heals faster. Another problem with close cutting is that it allows sunlight to dry the soil and the additional light will encourage weed seeds to germinate.

    A Thicker Lawn

    Mowing has actually tamed the wild grasses of our past. Mowing grass before it sets seeds prevents sexual reproduction and many grasses respond by reproducing asexually by spreading stolons and rhizomes creating a thicker lawn. How high you mow will also influence the spread of the grass. A higher cut makes healthier grass with deeper roots, more mass for photosynthesis and more stolons and rhizomes for a thicker sod which means less weed invasion.

    Seasonal Mowing

    You should also take into account that grass grows at different rates throughout the seasons. The summer months require more frequent mowing than our cold winter and dry spring months when you should not cut as often. Our coming cold weather will slow the growth and bi-weekly mowing will be all that is needed. Some lawns could go three weeks or a month without mowing. If the grass doesn’t need to be mowed save it from the extra stress and don’t mow it. As we move into the dry spring months grasses will be stressed by heat and drought so care must be taken to properly irrigate to help ease the stress of mowing.

    Watering

    In past years drought required the city to reduce our allowed watering to once a week. The fact is our lawns could easily survive on this schedule and be healthier for it. We should use horticultural practices every day which produce deep-rooted lawns that don’t require excessive water to keep them green. All lawns, properly cared for, could be conditioned to require no more than once a week watering all year. The exception would be during the cold winter months when once every two or three weeks will do.

     

    I remember the year the Phase 3 water restriction took affect on Marco Island and everybody thought their lawn would surely die if watered only once a week. People were surprised as their lawns remained green and lush. It was because it was during the winter months with the cooler temperatures and lower evaporation rates. That benefit ends as the temperatures begin to climb in March, April and May.

     

    Spring is when the benefit of a deep root system and tall grass blades come in to play to allow for less watering.

    Sprinkler Systems

    Check your irrigation system to be sure of proper coverage. It may seem that the sprinklers are reaching all areas but if you have dry spots on the edge of your sprinkler pattern you may not be getting adequate water at the edges of the sprinkler pattern. Place some empty tuna cans at the center of the green areas and also in the dry areas and measure the water levels after the zone has run. You’ll most likely find you’re not getting enough in the dry areas. This could be dirt in the sprinkler tip, heads not properly spaced or water pressure problems when the sprinklers are running in the wee hours of the morning. When not mowing every week be sure the sprinkler heads stay well cleared of taller grass blades to allow for proper coverage.

    “Clippings are a very good thing and should be left to break down and feed your lawn.”

    Clippings

    It was once believed that grass clippings were the cause of thatch accumulation in the lawn. It is now known that they do not accumulate unless the clippings are exceptionally long. They break down soon after they hit the ground. In the process they return a lot of nitrogen to the soil. Clippings are a very good thing and should be left to break down and feed your lawn. Just be sure to keep them out of the waterways where nitrogen is not so welcome.

     

    A lush, green lawn is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t need excessive fertilizer, chemicals and water use to look that way if you just raise the mower deck as high as it will go. A deeper lawn is a healthy lawn!

  • Fertilizers Facts

    Fertilizers Facts

    Category: Monthly Chores

    Fall is here and most of you have started thinking about or already have fertilized your lawn, shrubs and trees. I thought a few facts on fertilizers and nutritional needs of plants might help you with your fertilizer choices.

    Sixteen Elements

    There are sixteen known elements required for plant growth and development. Three of these, carbon(C), hydrogen(H), and oxygen(O) are all obtained directly from air and water. The other thirteen elements are supplied by the soil. These are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), boron (B), and molybdenum (Mo).

    A Delicate Balance

    These thirteen are elements plants obtain from the soil must be in a slightly soluble form so they can be taken up by the plant’s roots. Each of these elements has a specific function in plant growth and development. If one or more of these nutrients are present in excessive amounts, toxicity or a nutrient imbalance can occur. Or if one or more of these essential elements are in short supply a deficiency can result. Either way plant growth and/or quality may be affected.

    Macro-nutrients

    The nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the main components, or macro-nutrients, of a suitable fertilizer. The State of Florida is reducing the phosphorus in this equation however as this macro-nutrient is causing pollution problems in local waterways. Sometimes dolomite, a liming material providing both calcium and magnesium, may be included in growing media. Sulfur, the remaining macro-nutrient, may not be a component of the fertilizer and should not be overlooked. Look for fertilizer containing sulfur coated urea nitrogen. This is especially important if you have the dreaded Take-all Patch disease in your lawn.

    Nitrogen

    Nitrogen is available in two basic forms – inorganic and organic. Plants have a preference for the inorganic, or nitrate form of nitrogen. There are two primary organic forms of nitrogen. One is a man made organic called urea. The other form is a naturally occurring organic material such as sewage sludge and manure. These organic forms of nitrogen are converted to the plant preferred inorganic nitrate form by bacterial action in the soil.

    Soluble Nitrates

    The soluble nitrate form of nitrogen is quickly available to the plant causing the rapid growth rate which may cause thin cell walls to develop. Nitrate nitrogen doesn’t last long in the environment. It can leach readily from the soil and may even be lost as a gas. Nutrients should be supplied at the same rate the plant can use them. This means soluble nitrates must be applied frequently in very small amounts.

    “If you have plants which don’t do well around your pool equipment or overflow it may be chlorine toxicity.”

    Micro-nutrients

    The micro-nutrients to be used sparingly are boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. Chlorine ordinarily is not valued as a plant food in fertilizer. It can be injurious if high percentages are present, but small amounts may be beneficial under some conditions. If you have plants which don’t do well around your pool equipment or overflow it may be chlorine toxicity.

    Micro-nutrients

    Micro-nutrients are required by plants in low quantities so you should apply them cautiously. If a deficiency is suspected, it would be unwise to randomly apply all of the micro-nutrients. The result might be correction of one deficiency while inducing a toxicity of another micro-nutrient. This could also lead to an unhealthy plant appearance. Foliar analysis is the most accurate way to determine if a micro-nutrient deficiency is in need of correction.
    The Collier County Extension Office can help you with this test. Individual micro-nutrients are available with suggested rates provided for application. However, it is essential that all micro-nutrients be provided in your fertilizer program at least once a year. Fertilizer formulations are available for shrubs, citrus, palms, etc., containing a good balance of these necessary micro-nutrients. Nutritional sprays are liquid formulations that contain the micro-nutrients. These sprays allow the elements to enter the plant through the leaf surfaces.
    The micro-nutrients can be tied up in our alkaline soil, due to improper pH, when applied as a granular fertilizer and may not be available to the plant. Therefore, when a micro-nutrient deficiency is apparent, it is more effective to apply a nutritional spray.

    Following are some general symptoms of nutrient deficiencies:

    Nitrogen – yellowing of entire plant with lower leaves worse and stunted.

    Phosphorus – main veins of old leaves become purple or reddish.  On fruit trees blossoms drop, fruit is small and matures slowly and few flower buds are formed for next year’s crop.

    Potassium – faint yellowing, then browning of margins on old leaves.  Then veins become yellow.

    Manganese – mottled chlorosis between midrib and primary veins.  Entire leaf may turn yellow but midrib and large veins stay green longest.  Frizzle top, yellowing, dwarfing and distortion.

    Iron – pronounced yellowing on younger leaves with veins appearing as fine green lines, yellow to white if acute.  Dwarf leaves, leaf fall, dead wood, dead tips and reduced growth.

    Magnesium – yellowing begins on margin and near center of old leaf, progresses inward and downward; tip, upper margin and lower central veins may remain green; necrosis and leaf drop.

    Molybdenum – often mistaken for herbicide damage.  Dwarfed leaves with irregular, wrinkled margins and prominent midribs and main veins on your leaves and shoots.

    Boron – plants grow slowly.  Terminal buds die and plant tends to be bushy.  Later, lateral buds die, leaves thicken and fruits, tubers and roots become cracked and discolored.

    Copper – usually confined to peat or muck soils.  Slow growth or complete cessation of growth.  Tips affected first and eventually die back.

    Zinc – leaves become long and narrow, turn yellow and become mottled with dead areas.  Symptoms similar to iron deficiency.

    I hope these facts make this necessary chore in your yard a little easier to understand.

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