To prepare for Easter, you had to quickly stroll around the yard to find the best lawns and hide the golden eggs. Some eggs can be placed anywhere. However, the golden eggs need to be strategically located in a location where most of the effort will be made to be found. In my search for the perfect hiding place, I confess to multitasking and gave an overview of my lawn care basics for the coming season.
Golden egg in the grass
Another confession: we don’t have a “Kodak Moment” turf. We have a yard. Our garden tolerates a number of stressful conditions; a great Pyrenees named Betty, grandchildren with campfires, dying ash trees, traces of utility vehicles, and a collection of incomplete visions at various stages of development, to name a few. We have challenges, but we love them. I will startle a fire every day when it means I can hear the laughter and see my family’s smiles.
There are many seeds to choose from. We choose Kentucky Blue Grass. Two considerations when choosing grass seeds are maintenance and location. I like to mow. I have a zero-turn mower that takes me to a place with rainbows and unicorns. Our yard is both sun and shade with wet and dry areas. Outside of mowing, we do little maintenance. Shipyards are subject to more seasonal grass growth cycles and less advertising. Spring is here and is known as the rapid growth and greening cycle. We don’t usually fertilize this time of year. Nitrogen is naturally released into the soil and is enough for it to grow. The other seasonal grass cycles are slow-growing summers with an emphasis on irrigation. Autumn is the cycle of root development and ideal for adding fertilizer. In winter the grass rests and the nutrients are stored for spring. Our farm is an established farm and does not require any significant sowing.
We always have dandelions or weeds. I’m one not particularly concerned by this, but there are many, and this is the time to research pre-emergent uses. I refer you to this website for recommendations. https://gddtracker.msu.edu/ Other methods that can affect weed control include appropriate techniques for mowing, watering, beneficial insects, and planting companions. Our cutting deck height is set to 3 inches. The blades are balanced and sharpened at a 45 degree angle and are free of chips and bends. My mowing season starts as soon as the grass turns green. I’m not one to bag my cuttings. Cuttings are beneficial when rotated back into the ground.
Finding disease and insect damage in our garden is a simple scanning exercise. I know the typical look of our farm. My eyes search for what is not “right”. Images that make me think about disease or insect damage can be brown or bare spots, patterns of different hues, and uneven terrain. too big or too short, too wet or too dry. Smell is another cause for concern. Sometimes Betty (our Great Pyrenees) does not venture into the field and is known to contribute to a brown or green patch in our garden. She is also guilty of digging a familiar courtyard space for comfort and relaxation. Not all scanning disorders are disease and insect related. In our home, spilled melted ice, left sacks of mulch outside at the end of the season, left sandpit lids unattended and similar results have led to false assumptions. Once human interference has been ruled out there are some disease and insect conditions that may require intervention: https://turf.purdue.edu/homeowner-publications/ So far, my garden has had its typical look and a golden egg wasn’t it for revealed this year.
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