Gardening - Lawn Maintenance Chores Part V

In this next in our series of articles on lawn maintenance we're going to continue with chores that should be done around late July or early August. If you're planning on renovating your lawn, the end of July or beginning of August is probably your best time. By now the grass should be de-thatched and aerated. Get a de-thatching machine which you can rent for half a day. Your lawn will look like garbage after you're done but, it will clear off old grass and will prickle the soil. After you do this you can seed, apply topsoil and peat moss, and then water your lawn, a lot. Every day for about a week should do it. You can continue to re-seed until the third week in September but no later than that unless it is absolutely necessary. There are some lawn experts that will tell you that you can do this all the way up to just before the winter begins. Supposedly if you do this it will sit there over the entire winter and will help germinate the soil as the weather warms up. If you are using a seed mix that has a high proportion of blue grass, seeding too late will make it so that germination may not take place until mid October, which is not beneficial to young grass as it would be an easy target for frost kill. In September is the time to give your lawn its last feeding. If you haven't been doing this up to now, get a slow release fertilizer for this last application. If you're wondering why this is important, imagine what would happen if you didn't winterize your car by getting new anti freeze. Most likely you'd end up with a cracked radiator. Grass is no different. If you give your lawn a little nutritional lift at this time it will stand a better chance of surviving the winter that's ahead of it. So even though this last feeding may be costly it will be more than worth it in the long run. In October, as the weather is getting cooler, you can lower your mower blades. Around October, since the grass isn't going to be growing as much or as quickly, you can lower the blades to about an inch or inch and a half. One thing you should be aware of. If your lawn has a very bumpy surface, dropping the blades may create some bald patches. So when you set the blade height you have to take the surface of the lawn into consideration. Of course, if your lawn is very bumpy, you may want to think about adding some topsoil to it. This will help create a more even surface. In November, after the leaves have fallen, rake the grass and clean up any debris. Do one last mowing before the first frost. This kills two birds with one stone. You get the grass ready for winter and clean up your lawn at the same time.