Howdy all,
I am looking for good books on lawn care. What are your favorites
and/or which do you suggest. Any are of interest especially ones on
organic lawn care.

Thanks,
Gello!

"Gello" wrote in message
nk.net...
Howdy all,
I am looking for good books on lawn care. What are your favorites and/or
which do you suggest. Any are of interest especially ones on organic lawn
care.

Thanks,
Gello!

Mow medium high in the spring. Set mower at highest level for summer, and
mow rarely. If anyone comments on this being wrong, hose them down and chase
them off the property. If you feel you need to water during the summer, do
it late in the day, and water for a LONG LONG TIME, just like rain that
lasts all day. But, remember many grass varieties naturally turn brown in
the summer and green up again in the fall, so don't try to change nature TOO
much. It's a waste of time.

In fall, put the mower gradually lower as winter approaches. For the last
mowing, go down to putting green height, especially if the ground tends to
stay snow-covered.

Feeding: Take the time to visit various garden centers until you find a lawn
food which contains no poisons. You don't need them.

Dandelions: If you're pretty sure some fool isn't spraying anything on or
near your lawn, pick the leaves and put them in salad, especially in spring
when they're less bitter. This is one of the greens that you pay large money
for in "gourmet salad mixes".

Other weeds: Care for the lawn properly for a couple of years and see if the
grass doesn't dominate the weeds. It usually does. Since none of the
weed/bug control chemicals have been or ever will be tested for safety, you
probably want to avoid them, especially if you have children and pets.

Other tips: http://www.garden.org/home

Doug Kanter wrote:
If you feel you need to water during the summer, do it late in the
day,

I agree with what you say, except this.

If you water during the day, a lot of water is lost to evaporation. Some
won't even hit the grass before it evaporates. So you want to water when
the sun is down (and the wind is calm), but if you do it in the evening,
the blades of grass can stay wet all night, and invite fungal problems.

If you water at (or just before) dawn, you lessen the amount you loose
to evaporation before it even hits the ground. You'll loose some water
to evaporation - the water that never got to the ground, but remained on
the blades - when the sun comes up. You'll have less opportunity for
fungal problems. Remember, you really want to water the soil the grass
is growing in, not the blades themselves.

There's a link to my recently posted essay on lawn care in my signature.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Your Guide to the Care and Feeding of a Suburban Lawn:
http://www.holzemville.com/community...are/index.html

"Warren" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
If you feel you need to water during the summer, do it late in the day,

I agree with what you say, except this.

If you water during the day, a lot of water is lost to evaporation. Some
won't even hit the grass before it evaporates. So you want to water when
the sun is down (and the wind is calm), but if you do it in the evening,
the blades of grass can stay wet all night, and invite fungal problems.

If you water at (or just before) dawn, you lessen the amount you loose to
evaporation before it even hits the ground. You'll loose some water to
evaporation - the water that never got to the ground, but remained on the
blades - when the sun comes up. You'll have less opportunity for fungal
problems. Remember, you really want to water the soil the grass is growing
in, not the blades themselves.

There's a link to my recently posted essay on lawn care in my signature.

I've heard about the fungus risk, but never had a problem with it. Still,
it's probably a good precaution, if you can water in the morning. In my
previous house, I could not because the water pipes made so much noise that
it disturbed people who were sleeping. Didn't water much anyway, which drove
my neighbor crazy. The guy was a moron when it came to mowing correctly. He
mowed at crew-cut level all season, and by early to mid June, his grass was
not just brown, but mostly dead. So, he'd water like crazy and have some
lawn spray idiots come to do the too-much-nitrogen trick. Former neighbors
say he's still struggling with the same routine of endless failure. :-)