Hello all,

Something came over me this year and I am on a mission to have
a healthy lawn. Over the past few years the lawn at our house has been
wasting away. The back of the yard has "dirt spots" as well call them. There
are spots in the yard that completely have no grass at all and the spots
that do have grass is very healthy. I am not sure what the problem is. The
grass in our front yard basically just does not grow and is very thinned
out. Well, this summer / year, I want to get our yard back in shape. So I am
coming to you all for your advice on how I should get started. I really have
never worked on a lawn before so I would define myself as a beginner.
Your advice would be helpful and I am also looking for book
recommendations. I am willing to learn and practice and hopefully develop my
studies into an interesting hobby. To give you some background, I live in
southern/central Illinois (about 30 miles from st louis).

Thanks for your suggestions and advice,
-EB

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 13:13:18 -0500, Eliot Bisky wrote:
Something came over me this year and I am on a mission to have
a healthy lawn. Over the past few years the lawn at our house has been
wasting away. The back of the yard has "dirt spots" as well call them. There

My SWAG from your description is that you're probably dealing with
a combination of drought in that region in the last few years, and
probably soil compaction, and probably some bad mowing, and maybe
the wrong lawn grasses for your conditions.

My very favorite book for beginning gardeners is Rodales' Chemical-Free
Yard and Garden, by Anna Carr et al. See:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/0875966942

It starts with examining your soil, and figuring out what's going on with it,
then improving the soil, choosing plants that are well adapted to the area
and how much work you want to put in on them, and correct cultural practices
like mowing. It's clearly written, and there's nothing in it recommended
that will do you or your lawn any harm. My sole reservation about some of
the recommendations for "organic sources of plant nutrients" is that
some are more expensive than need be if you choose to garden by the LISA
model (Low-input, sustainable agriculture) rather than by the strictly
organic model. And yes, I garden on the LISA model.

Also, check with your state's extension service and with local botanical
gardens (you've got one of the premier botanical gardens in the US, Missouri
Botanical, in St. Louis). They can give you suggestions on strains
of lawn grasses that are well adapted to your area (why drive yourself
nuts trying to grow something that doesn't grow well in your area and soil?)
and can point you at resources like soil testing labs.

Some extension service links for your area:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge/
http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/

Kay Lancaster

Hmmm,

I will bookmark and look at those links and purchase that book or try
to find it at my local library.

Thanks for the suggestions,

EB

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 13:13:18 -0500, Eliot Bisky
wrote:
Something came over me this year and I am on a mission to
have
a healthy lawn. Over the past few years the lawn at our house has been
wasting away. The back of the yard has "dirt spots" as well call them.
There

My SWAG from your description is that you're probably dealing with
a combination of drought in that region in the last few years, and
probably soil compaction, and probably some bad mowing, and maybe
the wrong lawn grasses for your conditions.

My very favorite book for beginning gardeners is Rodales' Chemical-Free
Yard and Garden, by Anna Carr et al. See:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/0875966942

It starts with examining your soil, and figuring out what's going on with
it,
then improving the soil, choosing plants that are well adapted to the area
and how much work you want to put in on them, and correct cultural
practices
like mowing. It's clearly written, and there's nothing in it recommended
that will do you or your lawn any harm. My sole reservation about some of
the recommendations for "organic sources of plant nutrients" is that
some are more expensive than need be if you choose to garden by the LISA
model (Low-input, sustainable agriculture) rather than by the strictly
organic model. And yes, I garden on the LISA model.

Also, check with your state's extension service and with local botanical
gardens (you've got one of the premier botanical gardens in the US,
Missouri
Botanical, in St. Louis). They can give you suggestions on strains
of lawn grasses that are well adapted to your area (why drive yourself
nuts trying to grow something that doesn't grow well in your area and
soil?)
and can point you at resources like soil testing labs.

Some extension service links for your area:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge/
http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/

Kay Lancaster