By Bob Dailey
With proper lawn maintenance, your yard can thrive. Compost and organic fertilizer are critical to achieving a lawn this green.
Located outside the Woodlands Water building on Lake Robbins Drive, this lawn has not received irrigation, except for rainwater for the last 11 months.
How is that possible? Good lawn practices, proper (and inexpensive) care of the soil under the turf and only a small bit of organic fertilizer.
Here’s how it was done:
The lawn receives about an inch of compost per year. Two compost applications (each a one-half inch deep), made in October and early April, add organic material to the soil, as well as adding essential microorganisms that assist grass roots to grow and resist disease. Once a year, again in April, a scattering of organic fertilizer is spread on the lawn (about a tablespoon per square foot).
The lawn is mowed weekly ONLY between April and the first of October.
No large patch, take-all patch, sooty mold or insect problems are present. Â Because of that, no herbicides, fungicides or pesticides are used or needed.
Soil with sufficient organic matter can hold three quarts or more of water per cubic foot. Instead of rolling off the surface of the soil when it rains, good soil absorbs much of it. This transforms the soil under the turf into a passive rainwater catchment, which grass roots can access during dryer periods.
Water stored in the soil, and increased permeability of the soil because of the organic matter, allows grass roots to grow, enhancing the turf’s ability to withstand disease and pests.
For more information about lawn care, please visit the blog at www.woodlandswater.org.