Cyli's recommendations are spot on.
We live in Milwaukee (fertile loam), our dacha is in Brookfield
(clay). In the last 2 years we had to reclaim the grass at two houses.
The dacha lawn was in pretty good shape having been mowed, but we
needed to weed and feed in spring and then use weed-b-gone stuff the
rest of the year. we set a sprinker for every other day (it is on a
slope so excess would run down and water stuff at the bottom. the
watering system is on a well. it was cut regularily with a MULCHING
MOWER. by the end of summer most of the dog patches and chippie holes
had filled in, and the grass was thick and lush. (the tenant had
cats!).
at our rental on the next block the tenant had not been taking care of
the lawn as specified in her contract (she came with the rental when
we bought it). a cheap heavy board fence had fallen and the sections
were left to lay on the grass while it and the big weeds grew up
around the boards. it was a mess. after the fence, falling apart
picnic table, etc etc. was hauled off, the big weeds pulled, the
"grass" cut there was probably only 50% grass left with huge dead
sections. DH got this stuff that has paper like something mixed with
color and grass seeds. the lawn was sprinkled every morning. This
started in July of last year, not the ideal time to seed grass. by
fall it wasnt too bad, this year there are just a couple holes that
need to fill in. we always wonder if there was something spilled
where there are holes in the lawn. in one area out at the dacha there
had been a tree. DH dug the area around the hole, put in new dirt
and seed and it finally filled in.

when using a mulching mower the cut grass becomes the "green
fertilizer", but the clippings need water to decompose, much like a
compost pile.

I wouldnt bother with dethatching. if they laid the sod over the clay
without putting down a nice thick layer of compost, what you need to
add is gypsum and compost in tiny thin layers on top to gradually
build up the soil under the sod.

At our own house I dont have grass, well a 36" x 36" from our front
steps to the sidewalk. everything else is gardens, and in our back
yard we have gravel to show off the ponds and gardens.
http://weloveteaching.com/landscape/gravel/gravel.htm
of course, it looks a lot different now with all the plants grown up,
and the back yard is tiny, tiny, tiny. but I do understand the need
for grass in some places. good luck.
Ingrid

On Fri, 25 May 2007 01:18:55 CST, Cyli wrote:
An inch a week will make for healthier roots that will go deeper and
keep the grass greener. A bit every day makes the roots stay close to
the surface and they'll dry out in the first of sunshine.
Clay holds water nicely. The once a week (only bother if it hasn't
rained an inch during that week) watering is best.
And mow the stuff as near to every 5 days as possible. Most people do
once a week, but more often is better. Every 3 days would probably be
ideal, but you'd have to be the groundskeeper at a golf course working
on the greens to do that....

Try to ignore the 'common wisdom' you'll hear from your neighbors and
relatives. They're mostly repeating stuff they've heard that sounds
good to them. Like the idea that you shouldn't mow when it's been dry
out for quite a while and should let the grass grow taller. Wrong.
Under that one, when you do finally mow again, the grass will have put
so much energy into growing long that you'll be shocking it and may be
pulling so hard with the mower blade it'll damage the roots. (Yes,
mower blades pull as well as cut.)

The idea that all cut grass should be caught up in bags or trailers
and then kept away from the grass always seemed strange to me. I
don't have anything to back it up, but I think that's nonsense. Let
it fall where it's been growing. Don't worry about the (what I think
is) mythical thatch problem. The fallen grass (as long as you've been
mowing frequently) will fall onto the growing grass, fall between the
leaves of the grass and help fertilize it and shade the roots,
eventually disintegrating into a better soil. And I guess I do have
something to back it up. My beautiful velvet lawn was cut and kept
that way.

Don't bother to feed the lawn often. At most twice a year. Better
once a year. Okay to never do it in many places.

When I was in charge of our lawn at the old house, we had a velvety
yard. Our neighbors got a lawn service because they couldn't stand
the look of theirs next to ours. And all I did was water the inch a
week during dry spells (only during dry spells) and mow often. Very
often. I only once used fertilizer on it and never weed killer.
Healthy grass will crowd weeds right out. Then my husband took over
and did the more common once a week mowing and started weed and feed
two to three times a year, just like the rest of the neighborhood. It
still looked okay, but no longer was velvety. And the weeds started
being able to lift their heads above the grass.

One reason not to weed and feed is that every bit of that stuff goes
into the ground and from the ground into the ground water or runs off
into the drainage system.

If you have an in ground pond, you _don't_ want that stuff near your
pond. Unless you like the blanket of green algae and ishy weed stuff
on most of the top of it.


If you do have an in ground pond, remember to plant a bunch of stuff
as a barrier around it, so that things like lawn chemicals (if you
insist on using them) will be filtered or stopped before reaching the
pond.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

You're welcome. You probably won't follow it. Nobody does. They let
all that common wisdom wash over and into them and have ordinary lawns
that cost them money for weed and feed, but let them use only one day
a week for mowing.